| In the footsteps of D Company 2nd
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry D-Day, 6 June 1944
By: Ian R
Gumm
On the 6 June 1944 the greatest seaborne invasion the
world has ever known took place on the Calvados Coast of Normandy, France.
This invasion was the beginning of the end of the Second World War and the
6 June 1944 will be forever known as D-Day. This article is an account of
the first action that took place on D-Day at the Caen Canal and River Orne
Bridges near Bénouville, France. It tells the true story of the
coup-de-main assault by British Gliderborne soldiers to capture these two
vital bridges.
Preceding the seaborne landings three Allied Airborne Divisions were
dropped to secure the flanks of the five-invasion beaches where the Allied
21st Army Group was to come ashore. In the west two US Airborne Divisions
dropped onto the Cotentin peninsula behind UTAH beach and in the east the
British 6th Airborne Division (Br 6 AB Div) dropped into the area between
the River Orne and River Dives to the east of SWORD beach.
One of the primary tasks of the Br 6 AB Div was to seize intact the two
bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne near Bénouville and hold them
until relieved against any German counterattacks. This mission was
considered to be vital to the success of the invasion, as it would allow
the seaborne forces to reinforce the Br 6 AB Div’s area and subsequently
break out to the east. D Company the 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire
Light Infantry (D Coy 2 OBLI) commanded by Major John Howard was selected
to carryout this mission and this is their story.
On the morning of 5 June 1944 the men of D Coy 2 OBLI started their final
preparations and at noon Maj Howard learned that the invasion was on. He
ordered the men to rest and when the evening meal was over they boarded
the trucks to go to their gliders. As they climbed into their gliders he
shook hands with the officers and called out words of encouragement to the
men. Finally he moved to his own glider, upon the nose of which Pte Wally
Parr had chalked ‘Lady Irene’ to name it after his wife. When Maj Howard
got in the glider, the door was closed and on schedule they started to
move down the runway. At 22.56 hrs ‘Lady Irene’ was airborne and D Coy 2
OBLI was on their way into history.
The six Halifax bombers from 298 Squadron RAF took-off with the
accompanying Horsa gliders in tow and crossed the English Channel flying
at an altitude of 7,000 ft. All around them were Heavy Bombers going to
drop bombs on German positions in the invasion area, Caen or other
selected targets. With all of this air activity the German anti-aircraft
and searchlight crews failed to notice the gliders.
At the appointed time the Halifax bomber released the first glider to
begin its run into the target. In the glider S/Sgt Wallwork checked their
altitude and the compass, whilst S/Sgt John Ainsworth checked his
stopwatch. At the appointed mark they turned to starboard and halfway down
the crosswind leg of their approach S/Sgt Wallwork saw it, he could make
out the river, the canal and both bridges. With visibility good and the
target in sight he dropped the glider’s nose and made for the LZ. With the
ground rushing up at around 95mph he held the glider on course; they hit
the ground and caught the first of the wire defences. Jim Wallwork
shouted, “Stream” and John Ainsworth released the arrester parachute; it
lifted the tail, forced the nose into the ground, tore off the wheels and
bounced the glider back into the air. The arrester parachute did its job
and they hit the ground again; this time on the skids. Jim Wallwork
shouted, “Jettison” and John Ainsworth pressed the button to release the
parachute; now travelling at about 60mph the glider threw up hundreds of
friction sparks from the skids as they passed over rocks. Seeing these
sparks through the open door Maj Howard thought that they had been spotted
and were being fired upon. All of a sudden there was an almighty crash and
the glider came to a jarring halt; Jim Wallwork and John Ainsworth were
hurled out through the cockpit still strapped in their seats. It was 00.16
hrs early in the morning of D-Day 6 June 1944 and the first Allied
soldiers had arrived on French soil.
The glider’s passengers were momentarily knocked unconscious, but Maj
Howard’s fanaticism for physical fitness paid off; they quickly recovered
and in a matter of seconds their training kicked in. Automatically
removing their harnesses, they exited the glider through any hole they
could make or find. On reaching the outside Maj Howard realised that there
was no shooting and they had landed without being spotted. Looking around
he thanked god for Jim Wallwork and John Ainsworth; they had put the
glider right into the corner of the field where he wanted it.
Lt Herbert Denham ‘Den’ Brotheridge and the men of 25 Platoon swiftly
exited the glider and quietly shook out into their assault formation. Lt
Brotheridge whispered into Cpl Jack Bailey’s ear and off he went with his
two men to deal with the pillbox where the firing mechanism to blow the
bridges was located. Gathering the remainder of his platoon he gave a
whispered, “Come on lads” and they made a dash for the bridge.
One minute had passed since the first glider had landed and S/Sgt Oliver
Bowland at the controls of glider 92 came down within 25 yards of glider
91. Lt David Wood was thrown clear still clutching on to his sten and
canvas bucket of extra grenades; relieved to find himself in one piece he
pulled himself together, gathered his platoon and set off for the wire
perimeter where Maj Howard would be waiting.
Lt Brotheridge and 25 Platoon were moving on to the bridge at a steady
trot as two German sentries passed each other in the middle. The sentry
walking towards the eastern end of the bridge was suddenly confronted by a
pack of British airborne soldiers coming out of the night; confronted by
this hellish sight he turned tail and ran shouting “paratroopers” as he
went. The second sentry, a German NCO, turned to see what was happening
and on seeing the British paratroopers running towards him pulled out the
Verey pistol that he was carrying. Pte Billy Gray sent a burst from his
Bren towards him and Lt Den Brotheridge fired off a full magazine from his
sten. The German NCO was hit by a storm of bullets, but as he fell dead to
the ground the Verey pistol went off and a flare shot up into the night.
As the flare went off Cpl Bailey and his two men arrived at the pillbox
and tossed their grenades in through the weapon slits; the grenades were
followed up with a burst of fire and they looked inside when the dust
settled to find no one left alive.
Pte Wally Parr was just running on to the bridge when the flare shot
skywards; he saw the door of a nearby dugout half open and abruptly shut
again. Pulling out a grenade he ran across the road and by the time he got
to the dugout the pin was out. Opening the door just enough to throw it
in, he tossed the grenade through the opening and quickly shut the door.
As the grenade exploded Pte Charlie Gardiner jumped into the dugout, Wally
Parr opened the door again, and Gardiner finished off the Germans inside
with a burst from his sten.
The shouts of “paratroopers” from the running sentry, the sound of Lt
Brotheridge’s sten, Pte Gray’s burst from his Bren, the crump of Cpl
Bailey’s grenades going off and the flare from the German NCOs Verey
pistol brought the other German defenders to life. Many of the private
soldiers were foreign conscripts and these quickly faded into the night,
but the NCOs all of whom were German sprang to their positions.
Back on LZ ‘X’ glider 93 came to a halt with a shuddering crash on the
edge of the pond between the two gliders already on the ground, as it did
so it swung ninety degrees breaking in half. Capt John Vaughan RAMC was
thrown clear and knocked completely unconscious. Lt Richard ‘Sandy’ Smith
was also thrown clear to land face down in the mud; he had lost his sten
and momentarily did not know where he was or what he was doing. Picking up
the nearest sten Lt Smith gathered his platoon together and made for Maj
Howard’s position. One of the other members of 14 Platoon however, was not
so lucky; L/Cpl Fred Greenhalgh was knocked unconscious on impact and
thrown clear to land face down in the pond where he drowned.
By now the sappers from glider 91 were under the bridge cutting wires and
looking for explosives as they went. Lt David Wood’s 24 Platoon were just
arriving at Maj Howard’s position and barely two minutes had passed since
the first glider had touched down.
The German sentry reached the far end of the bridge without being hit and
threw himself into a trench. The Germans in their trenches turned their
weapons to point at the running airborne soldiers. Lt Brotheridge was
almost across the bridge when he saw the first of the enemy beginning to
react and pulled a grenade from his pouch as he ran. Pte Billy Gray fired
his Bren from the hip towards the enemy, as did many of the other charging
men of 25 Platoon. Getting the pin out of his grenade Lt Brotheridge threw
it at one of the enemy occupied trenches. As he did so a machine-gunner in
another enemy trench off to his right sent a burst in his direction. As
his grenade exploded in the enemy trench wiping out its occupants Lt Den
Brotheridge was thrown back by the force of the machine-gun’s bullets to
land on his back in the middle of the road. Other members of 25 Platoon
began firing at the Germans in their trenches; the combination of this
fire and a burst from Pte Gray’s Bren knocked out the machine-gun that had
brought Lt Brotheridge down.
Wally Parr was trying to shout “Able, Able, Able” as he ran on to the
bridge, but the words would just not come out. Freeing his tongue from the
roof of his dried out mouth he finally let out a yell of “Come out and
fight you square-headed bastards” in his broad Cockney accent. Lt David
Wood’s men were now starting to get to grips with the Germans on the home
bank.
Running straight past Maj Howard, 14 Platoon raced on to the bridge; Lt
Sandy Smith had wrenched his knee and more hobbled than ran. As he crossed
the bridge he saw Lt Brotheridge’s Platoon firing their weapons and
throwing grenades at the German defenders. As he reached the far end he
saw a German soldier near the low wall in front of the Café Gondrée about
to throw a stick grenade; with a burst from his sten he sent the German
sprawling across the wall dead, but the grenade landed close to Lt Smith
and went off. He did not feel a thing and it was only when one of his
corporals who was nearby asked if he was all right that Lt Sandy Smith
noticed the holes in his Denison smock and trousers; he had been hit by
the grenade’s fragments and the wrist of his trigger hand had lost all of
its flesh, but he could still use his trigger finger.
Inside the Café Gondrée the owner, Georges Gondrée, had been awakened by
all the noise. Crawling to one of the upper floor windows he peeped over
the sill to see what was going on; as he did so Lt Smith saw the movement
and thinking that it was a German soldier let off a burst from his sten in
the direction of the Café. Fortunately for Georges Gondrée the burst went
high shattering the window and hitting the wooden beams. He beat a hasty
retreat, gathered his family together, and then took them downstairs to
the comparative safety of the cellar. Lt Smith continued with the task in
hand and led his platoon in the clearing of the remaining trenches on the
western bank of the Canal.
At 00.21 hrs, the fighting at the Caen Canal Bridge started to die down
and Pte Parr made his way to the Café that was the rallying point for 25
Platoon. As he ran past the end of the bridge he saw one of his comrades
lying on the ground in the middle of the road. Knowing that he had to
report to Lt Brotheridge he continued on for a few more paces before he
pulled up short. Turning around he realised that the soldier on the ground
was Lt Brotheridge. He went back and knelt down beside his Platoon
Commander; Lt Brotheridge had been shot in the neck, his eyes were open
and his lips were moving, but not a sound came out; as Wally Parr put his
hand under Lt Brotheridge’s head to lift it up his eyes just rolled back.
24 Platoon had finished clearing the trenches on the home bank of the
canal and Lt Wood decided to report to Maj Howard that his task was
complete. With Sgt Leather and a runner he was moving back towards Maj
Howard’s position when a burst from a German schmeisser rang out. Three
bullets caught Lt David Wood in the leg and he fell to the ground.
Bleeding profusely, frightened and shaken up he tried to stand but found
he was unable to so. Both Sgt Leather and the runner had also been hit and
lay on the ground nearby. Cpl Godbold one of his section commanders took
over command of the platoon.
It was about this time that a shaken, but none too seriously injured S/Sgt
Jim Wallwork started to regain consciousness; he was lying on his stomach
with his seat on top of him. He could hear John Ainsworth calling out his
name and asking if he was all right. Looking around he saw S/Sgt Ainsworth
pinned under the wreckage of the glider’s nose and when he asked him if he
could crawl out he replied, “No.” He asked if he lifted the nose of the
glider could he crawl out, to which he received the reply, “I’ll try” and
as he lifted the wreckage John Ainsworth crawled out. After getting a
medic to see to John Ainsworth’s injuries, Jim Wallwork began his
secondary task of unloading ammunition and carrying it forward to the men
on the bridge.
It was now 00.22 hrs, six minutes after the first glider had landed, and
reports of what was happening started to reach Maj Howard. The first
information to come in was about Den Brotheridge; this was devastating
news, as they were the best of friends. The next piece of news he received
was that Lt David Wood and his Platoon Sergeant had also been hit; two of
his three platoons at the bridge were now without their Platoon Commander.
This was followed up with a report from 14 Platoon that informed him of Lt
Smith’s injuries. Whilst Sandy Smith was still on his feet Maj Howard
could not help thinking that he had effectively lost all three of his
Platoon Commanders at the canal bridge; added to this he did not know what
was happening at the Orne River Bridge.
At the Orne River Bridge the action was nowhere near as dramatic, glider
94 had missed the target area altogether landing some eight miles away
near one of the bridges over the River Dives by Varaville; the Halifax
crew had released the glider in the wrong place due to a navigational
error.
Glider 96, piloted by S/Sgt Roy Howard and S/Sgt Fred Baacke, was the only
one of the three gliders to come to rest on LZ ‘Y’. At 00.20 hrs they made
an easy landing coming to a halt some three hundred yards from the bridge;
in this glider were Lt Dennis Fox and 17 Platoon. On landing Sgt Thornton
reminded Lt Fox that he had forgotten to open the door, but when Dennis
Fox tried to open it the door would not budge so Sgt Thornton had to show
him how it was done.
A minute later glider 95, piloted by S/Sgt Stan Pearson and S/Sgt Len
Guthrie, touched down and came to a halt short of LZ ‘Y’, some 700 yards
away from the bridge. This glider carried Lt H J ‘Todd’ Sweeney and 23
Platoon.
Dismounting from their glider 17 Platoon shook out into their approach
formation; one section to the front followed by Lt Dennis Fox, the
remaining two sections and Sgt Thornton with the remainder of platoon
headquarters at the rear. When the lead section did not move off, Dennis
Fox went forward to find out why. The section commander pointed out a
German manning a machine-gun at the bridge. Lt Fox told him to get moving,
but he still hesitated; so taking the bull by the horns Lt Dennis Fox led
17 Platoon off to start their approach. They had just got moving when the
German at the bridge saw them and opened up with his MG 34; the men of 17
Platoon dived for cover. Sgt Thornton at the back grabbed hold of the
platoon’s 2-inch mortar and immediately returned fire, putting a mortar
round right on top of the machine-gunner. Seeing this land, Lt Fox and his
platoon got up and charged to the bridge shouting “Fox, Fox, Fox” as they
went. Reaching the bridge they were just in time to see the last of the
Germans running away. One of the NCOs from the 17 Platoon’s lead section
jumped into the empty machine-gun pit, grabbed hold of their discarded MG
34 and sent a long burst of fire after them. These were the only shots
fired in the capture of the bridge over the River Orne.
Lt Todd Sweeney and 23 Platoon dismounted from glider 95 to hear the
machine-gun open up at the bridge. They quickly shook out and headed off
for the bridge at the double with Lt Sweeney leading the way. The only
casualties they suffered were those that failed to see the drainage
ditches that crossed their approach. Soaked to the skin and covered in
mud, Lt Sweeney led his men up to the bridge. Unnerved by the seemingly
calm situation and the lack of any opposition on the bridge, he made the
final approach with caution. Leaving one section to secure the home bank,
Lt Sweeney led the remainder across at the run. As they reached the far
end Lt Todd Sweeney saw Lt Dennis Fox. Lt Sweeney raced up to him,
“Dennis, how are you, is everything all right?” to which he received the
reply, “Yes I think so, but I can’t find the bloody umpires!”
Leaving Lt Fox to organise the immediate defence of the River Bridge Lt
Sweeney made his way to the Canal Bridge to report to Maj Howard. At 00.26
hrs, ten minutes after glider 91 had landed, John Howard had the news he
had been waiting for; D Coy 2 OBLI had seized both bridges intact.
Exuberant Maj Howard turned to his radio operator Cpl Tappenden and told
him to send the message that the bridges had been captured. “HAM and JAM,
HAM and JAM, HAM and JAM” out over the radio the codewords went; “HAM and
JAM, HAM and JAM, HAM and JAM” Cpl Tappenden continued to send. What Maj
Howard and Cpl Tappenden did not know was that Brig Poett was unable to
receive the message.
The Caen Canal Bridge was named “Pegasus Bridge” after the Pegasus emblem
worn by the British 6th Airborne Division in memory of this action. The
River Orne Bridge was renamed “Horsa Bridge” after the gliders that
carried the men who landed here.
Article Source:
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