Operation Deadstick

Operation Deadstick
Part of the Normandy landings
Caen canal bridge 9 June 1944, with Horsa gliders in the background.
Date 6 June 1944 Location Normandy, France Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Nazi Germany
Commanders and leaders
John Howard Richard Pine-Coffin	Hans Schmidt Edgar Feuchtinger
Units involved
'D' Company, 2nd Battalion, Ox and Bucks Light Infantry 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion Glider Pilot Regiment	Company, 736th Grenadier Regiment 21st Panzer Division
Strength
'D' Company 180 men 7th Parachute Battalion ~ 200 men Glider Pilot Regiment 12 men	~50 at the bridge 21st Panzer Division 12,350 men 127 tanks 40 self propelled guns
Casualties and losses
2 dead, 14 wounded 'D' Company 18 dead, 36 wounded 7th Parachute Battalion	Men unknown 14 tanks 1 gunboat

Operation Deadstick was the codename for an operation by airborne forces of the British Army that took place on 6 June 1944 as part of the Normandy landings of World War II. The objective was to capture intact two road bridges in Normandy across the River Orne and the Caen Canal, providing the only exit eastwards for British forces from their landing on Sword Beach. Intelligence reports said both bridges were heavily defended by the Germans and wired for demolition. Once captured, the bridges had to be held against any counter-attack until the assault force was relieved by commandos and infantry advancing from the British landing zone.

The mission was vital to the success of the Operation Tonga, the British airborne landings in Normandy. Failure to capture the bridges intact, or to prevent their demolition by the Germans, would leave the British 6th Airborne Division cut off from the rest of the Allied armies with their backs to the two waterways. If the Germans retained control over the bridges, they could be used by their armoured divisions to attack the landing beaches of Normandy.

Responsibility for the operation fell to the men of 'D' Company, 2nd (Airborne) Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, part of the 6th Airlanding Brigade of the 6th Airborne Division. The assault group comprised a reinforced company of six infantry platoons and an attached platoon of Royal Engineers. They flew from the south of England to Normandy in six Airspeed Horsa gliders. Through what was later described as the "most outstanding flying achievements of the war", the gliders delivered the company to their objective. After a brief exchange of fire, both bridges were captured and then defended against tank, gunboat and infantry counter-attacks, until the company relief arrived.

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Wikipedia