The Pegasus and Orne Bridges

Author: Neil Barber
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473830095
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
This WWII history chronicles a daring airborne mission that was vital to the success of Operation Tonga, D-Day, and the liberation of France. When the British Army landed on Sword Beach in Normandy, their only exit eastward required passage across the River Orne and the Caen Canal. But the two bridges fording these waterways—the Pegasus and Orne Bridges—were heavily guarded and wired for demolition in case of a Germans retreat. Capturing these bridges would be next to impossible. Operation Deadstick, conducted by Major John Howard and his company of Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, was a superbly daring, brilliantly executed 'coup de main' assault. The glider-borne troops not only seized both bridges but faced a ferocious and prolonged German counterattack. Neil Barber, a military historian and expert in British airborne operations, uses extensive personal accounts to tell this incredible story of Allied victory. Covering events and operations from Ranville in the East to Benouville in the West, Pegasus and Orne Bridges chronicles the combat of the 7th, 12th and 13th Parachute Battalions and reinforcements such as the Commandos, seaborne engineers and the Warwicks.

Merville Battery & the Dives Bridges

Author: Carl Shilleto
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 178383000X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 342

Book Description
This battlefield guide is the companion work to Pegasus Bridge & Horsa Bridge. Together, these two books form the fully revised and updated edition of the previous best selling Battleground Europe Series book Pegasus Bridge & Merville Battery.This book examines, in great detail, the attack by 9 Para Bn of the British 6th Airborne Division on the German gun emplacement known as the Merville Battery on D-Day, 6 June 1944. The actions of 8 Para, 12 Para, Canadian 1 Para, attached engineer and support units, and commando raids in this area of Normandy are also told. In particular, the importance of destroying the five bridges, and a drainage culvert, in the Dives valley are explained along with the importance of taking and holding the high ground to the north-east of Caen. These combined actions resulted in the protection and securing of the left flank of the greatest combined military operation in history; Operation OVERLORD.In addition to explaining how these objectives were achieved, this battlefield guide relates the battles to the area as it is today. The book contains details of the museums, memorials, cemeteries and associated organizations. All of which will unravel the history of the area to the visitor and armchair traveler alike.To further aid the battlefield tourist, GPS data is also provided for either satellite navigation by vehicle or for viewing on Google Earth.

Pegasus Bridge & Horsa Bridge

Author: Carl Shilleto
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1783830204
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 269

Book Description
This battlefield guide is the companion work to Merville Battery & The Dives Bridges. Together, these two books form the fully revised and updated edition of the previous best selling Battleground Europe Series book Pegasus Bridge & Merville Battery.This book examines, in great detail, the attack by 2 Oxf Bucks and engineers of the British 6th Airborne Division, in six gliders, on the Caen Canal and River Orne bridges in the early hours of D-Day, 6 June 1944. It also describes part of the battle for the village of Bnouville by 7 Para and Ranville by 13 Para. It was the combination of these actions that allowed the link-up between the commandos and airborne troops on D-Day. Thereby, forming a bridgehead to help secure the eastern flank of the greatest combined military operation in history; Operation OVERLORD.In addition to explaining how these objectives were achieved, this battlefield guide relates the battles to the area as it is today. The book contains details of the museums, memorials, cemeteries and associated organizations. All of which will unravel the history of the area to the visitor and armchair traveler alike.To further aid the battlefield tourist, GPS data is also provided for either satellite navigation by vehicle or for viewing on Google Earth.

Pegasus Bridge & Merville Battery

Author: Carl Shilleto
Publisher: Leo Cooper Books
ISBN: 9781580970105
Category : Bénouville (Calvados, France)
Languages : en
Pages : 208

Book Description
A then-and-now guide to the sites of daring airborne operations on the eve of D-Day.

Pegasus Bridge

Author: Stephen E. Ambrose
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439126674
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 218

Book Description
The acclaimed WWII historian’s “illuminating account of . . . an operation as strategically important as any fought on D-Day” (The New York Times Book Review). In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, a small detachment of British airborne troops stormed the German defense forces and paved the way for the Allied invasion of Europe. Pegasus Bridge was the first engagement of D-Day, the turning point of World War II. It was a mission so crucial that, had it been unsuccessful, the entire Normandy invasion might have failed. In Pegasus Bridge, Stephen Ambrose draws on original interviews with British, German, and French survivors to present a thrilling, ground-level view of the battle. Ambrose traces each step of the preparations over many months to the minute-by-minute excitement of the hand-to-hand confrontations on the bridge. This is a story of heroism and cowardice, kindness and brutality—the stuff of all great adventures.

The Day the Devils Dropped In

Author: Neil Barber
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1844150453
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Book Description
The first hours and days following the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944 have a strong claim to be amongst the most crucial in world history. Spearheading this vast undertaking were crack British and American airborne forces. The Day The Devils Dropped In examines in fascinating detail the pivotal role of the 9th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment over the first week of the landings. Tasked with neutralizing the mighty Merville Battery, capturing Le Plein and the Château St Côme on the Breville Ridge, failure by the Paras to achieve any of these key objectives could well have unraveled the whole OVERLORD operation with catastrophic consequences. In his quest to uncover the true story of the early days of the landings, Neil Barber has successfully tracked down surviving participants in the operation. As a result he is able to tell the full story of the fierce fighting that characterized the early days of the landings largely in the very words of those who lived through the experience. This adds much to the credibility and immediacy of this enthralling book, which paints a superb picture of what soldiers care to call 'the fog of war'. The result is an inspiring and revealing read and a fine tribute to those whose contribution must never be forgotten.

Fighting with the Commandos

Author: Neil Barber
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1844685721
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 281

Book Description
Fighting With The Commandos tells what the Second World War was like for a fighting soldier. After enlisting underage, he was 'found out', joined the Home Guard and then a Young Soldiers Unit (for those too young to serve overseas). He managed to get out to Iraq but was again sent home.He then joined 3 Commando led by Brigadier Peter Young and landed on SWORD Beach on D-Day. He graphically describes the action thereafter which included being among the first to reach Pegasus Bridge and relieve the glider borne troops under Major John Howard. Plenty of excitement and danger were to follow and readers will revel in a no-holds-barred memoir which points an illuminating picture of life for the rank-and-file in the build-up to the climax of the war.

The Silencing of the Merville Battery

Author: Neil Barber
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781220139
Category : Merville-Franceville-Plage (France)
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
This comprehensive pocket guide is designed for anyone visiting the Merville Battery but is equally useful for anyone wanting an accurate understanding of exactly what went on and where. Neil Barber uses photographs and first-hand accounts to simply explain what happened in those first few vital hours of D-Day.

Operation Tonga

Author: Jon Cooksey
Publisher: Pen & Sword
ISBN: 9781844152032
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Book Description
The seizure of Pegasus Bridge by six glider borne platoons of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry under Major John Howard very early 6th June 1944, is one of the better-known stories of D-Day. Landing just yards from vital bridges over the River Orne and the Caen Canal near Benouville, Howard's men took and held the bridges in a remarkable coup de main operation with minimal casualties. The 7th Parachute Battalion dropped in soon afterwards to relieve Howard's men and the action remains, by any standards, a remarkable feat of arms. But it was only one act in a much grander production put on by 6th Airborne Division that night to secure and protect the eastern flank of the Allied landings inland from Sword, the British landing beach. Key bridges over the Dives had to be blown to foil possible German counter attacks and to north east, at Merville, a battery of guns which the allied planners thought could wreak havoc on the beaches and ships at sea, had to be eliminated. The task fell to the men of the 9th Parachute Battalion, whose actions in assaulting the Merville Battery became another D-Day epic - but for very different reasons."

The First Wave

Author: Alex Kershaw
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 045149007X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 401

Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of Against All Odds, returns with an utterly immersive, adrenaline-driven account of D-Day combat. “Meet the assaulters: pathfinders plunging from the black, coxswains plowing the whitecaps, bareknuckle Rangers scaling sheer rock . . . Fast-paced and up close, this is history’s greatest story reinvigorated as only Alex Kershaw can.”—Adam Makos, New York Times bestselling author of Spearhead and A Higher Call Beginning in the predawn darkness of June 6, 1944, The First Wave follows the remarkable men who carried out D-Day’s most perilous missions. The charismatic, unforgettable cast includes the first American paratrooper to touch down on Normandy soil; the glider pilot who braved antiaircraft fire to crash-land mere yards from the vital Pegasus Bridge; the brothers who led their troops onto Juno Beach under withering fire; as well as a French commando, returning to his native land, who fought to destroy German strongholds on Sword Beach and beyond. Readers will experience the sheer grit of the Rangers who scaled Pointe du Hoc and the astonishing courage of the airborne soldiers who captured the Merville Gun Battery in the face of devastating enemy counterattacks. The first to fight when the stakes were highest and the odds longest, these men would determine the fate of the invasion of Hitler’s fortress Europe—and the very history of the twentieth century. The result is an epic of close combat and extraordinary heroism. It is the capstone Alex Kershaw’s remarkable career, built on his close friendships with D-Day survivors and his intimate understanding of the Normandy battlefield. For the seventy-fifth anniversary, here is a fresh take on World War II's longest day. Praise for The First Wave: “Masterful... readers will feel the sting of the cold surf, smell the acrid cordite that hung in the air, and duck the zing of machine-gun bullets whizzing overhead. The First Wave is an absolute triumph.”—James M. Scott, bestselling author of Target Tokyo “These pages ooze with the unforgettable human drama of history's most consequential invasion.”—John C. McManus, author of The Dead and Those About to Die