11/06/2025
On 9 June 1944, Allied transport moves across the Caen Canal Bridge at Bénouville in Normandy. The bridge was renamed Pegasus Bridge by the Corps of Royal Engineers, after the mythical winged horse on the formation sign of British airborne forces.
Bénouville was the scene of the first – and possibly most vital – battle of the Allied invasion of Europe on , 6 June 1944 and the night before.
A reinforced company of glider-borne troops from the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, led by Major Reginald John Howard, landed around the bridge over the Caen Canal at Bénouville in three Horsa gliders and captured it from the Germans in a swift and dramatic attack.
Control of this bridge was vital to the success of the whole Operation Overlord invasion, because it would be the route of any German counter-attack eventually with their "Panzers" against the seaborne forces, which were due to start landing a few hours later on Sword beach.
Today, Pegasus Bridge and the nearby Café Gondrée are the scene of many pilgrimages and commemoration ceremonies, particularly around 6 June.
