Pegasus Bridge

Ranville, FR

The bascule bridge over the Caen Canal at Bénouville, whose capture in the first minutes of D-Day is considered the first successful Allied ground operation of the entire invasion. Six Horsa gliders of **D Company, 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry**, led by Major John Howard, landed within meters of the bridge at 00:16 on June 6, 1944, storming across before German defenders could react. The original bridge is preserved at the adjacent **Mémorial Pégase** museum.