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To the east of
the Orne estuary, where the Plain of Caen and the Dives marshes
converge, there lies a stretch of lowland which the Germans had
deliberately flooded in 1944. This was where the men of Major-General
Gale’s 6th Airborne Division were to jump, in the night of
June 5th-6th. They had been given the vital task
of taking up position here in order to shield the left flank of the
landing zone from German counter-attacks when the Allied forces launched
their assault at dawn.
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Pathfinders sychronize their watches before their departure. (IWM) |
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Certain groups
was allocated specific targets. The 2nd Battalion of the
Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (Ox & Bucks), for instance,
commanded by Major Howard, was to capture the bridges of Ranville and
Bénouville intact. Lying just a few hundred metres apart along the same
road, they provided the only means of crossing the Orne and its canal
between Caen and the sea, and would enable the units landing on Sword
Beach to come and reinforce the airborne troops without delay. Landing
shortly after midnight, on board six gliders, the paratroops
successfully brought off their audacious coup de main without any
major difficulties. |
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Channel stopped you, but not us".
(IWM) |
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Major Rosevere was driving a jeep very similar to this one when he went to
blow up the bridge at Troarn. (IWM) |
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Another, very
different, mission consisted in destroying a series of bridges over the
Dives and its affluent the Divette, in order to prevent any rapid
intervention on the part of the units of the Fifteenth German Army which
were stationed east of the river. Nobody is ever likely to forget the
sight of Major Roseveare and his handful of men hurtling through the
village of Troarn on board their jeep, on their way to blowing up the
bridge at Saint-Samson.
For its part,
the battalion of paratroops led by Lieutenant-Colonel Otway was ordered
to capture the Merville battery so that the nearest landing beaches
would be safe from the fire of its guns. Although some of the men had
been dropped a considerable distance away, it was decided to go ahead
with the assault anyway. After a furious mêlée, which left only a few
survivors on the German side, the battery was taken. It was then that
they realized that the guns were of a far smaller calibre than had been
expected and would not, therefore, have posed any real threat.
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During this
time, the bulk of the 6th Airborne had landed on Norman soil
shortly before 1 am, though not without a few mishaps. Many men became
lost, some falling straight into the marshes. Ranville, captured at
around 2.30 am, had the distinction of becoming France’s first liberated
village. Shortly afterwards, an initial wave of gliders arrived with
fresh troops and heavy weapons. A second wave was to follow that
evening.
In the face of
early German counter-attacks, a defensive perimeter was rapidly
established around the Bénouville and Ranville bridges, which is where
the first reinforcements advancing from Sword Beach met up with the men
of the 6th Airborne early that afternoon.
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Parachutists in a
defensive position near Ranville.
(IWM) |
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