BENOUVILLE BRIDGE ('PEGASUS BRIDGE')

Operation 'Coup-de-Main' - Operation 'Tonga' - 6th Airborne Division


Richard N. Gale
John Howard
James Wallwork
Den Brotheridge
Geoffrey Barkway
 
On the night of 5 June 1944, a force of 181 men ('Operation Tonga'), led by Major John HOWARD, took off from RAF Tarrant Rushton in Dorset, southern England in six Horsa to capture 'Bénouville Bridge', and also 'Ranville Bridge', a few hundred yards to the east, over the Orne River.
The force was composed of D Company (reinforced with two platoons of B Company), 2nd Battalion, Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry; 20 sappers of the Royal Engineers of 249 (Airborne) Field Company; and men of the Glider Pilot Regiment. The object of this action was to prevent German armour from crossing the bridges and attacking the eastern flank of the landings at Sword Beach.
Five of the Ox and Bucks's gliders landed as close as 47 yards from their objectives from 16 minutes past midnight. The attackers poured out of their battered gliders, completely surprising the German defenders, and took the bridges within 10 minutes. They lost two men in the process, Lieutenant Denaham M. BROTHERIDGE and Lance Corporal Fred GREENHALGH.
Greenhalgh drowned in a nearby pond when his glider landed. Lieutenant Den BROTHERIDGE was mortally wounded crossing the bridge in the first minutes of the assault.
One glider, assigned to the capture of the river bridge, landed at the bridge over the River Dives, some 7 miles off. Most of the soldiers in this glider moved through German lines towards the village of Ranville where they eventually re-joined the British forces. The Ox and Bucks were reinforced at 03.00hrs by Lieutenant-Colonel Geoffroy PINE-COFFIN’s 7th Parachute Battalion, and linked up with the beach landing forces with the arrival of Lord LOVAT's Commandos.
 
      
 
Commander: Major General Richard N. Gale  [voir le dossier]
  6th Airlanding Brigade: Brigadier The Honourable Hugh Kindersley  [voir le dossier]
    2nd Battalion The Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Inf.: Lt. Colonel Michael Roberts  [voir le dossier]
      D Company: Major John Howard  [voir le dossier]
       
Glider #1 (Glider Chalk No. 91)
  Staff Sergeant James H. Wallwork  [voir le dossier]: Glider Pilot Regiment (Pilot)
  Staff Sergeant John Ainsworth  [voir le dossier]: Glider Pilot Regiment (Co-Pilot)
  Major John Howard  [voir le dossier]: Headquarters, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Tappenden  [voir le dossier]: Headquarters, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Lieutenant Denaham M. Brotheridge  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Sergeant Ollis  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Bailey  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Caine  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Webb  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Lance Corporal Minns  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Lance Corporal Packwood  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Baalam  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Bates  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Bourlet  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Chamberlain  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Denis Edwards  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Gardner  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Gray  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Jackson  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private O'Donnell: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Wally Parr  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Tilbury  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Watson  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Windsor  [voir le dossier]: No. 25 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Watson  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Danson  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Ramsey  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Wheeler  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Yates  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
   
Glider #2 (Glider Chalk No. 92)
  Staff Sergeant Oliver Boland  [voir le dossier]: Glider Pilot Regiment (Pilot)
  Staff Sergeant P. Hobbs  [voir le dossier]: Glider Pilot Regiment (Co-Pilot)
  Lieutenant David J. Wood  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Sergeant Leather  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Cowperthwaite  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Godbold  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Ilsley  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Lance Corporal Drew  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Lance Corporal Roberts  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Chatfield  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Cheesley  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Harry W. Clark  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Clarke  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Dancey  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Harman  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Leonard  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Lewis  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Malpas  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Musty  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Pepperall  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Radford  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Warmington  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Waters  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Weaver  [voir le dossier]: No. 24 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Lance Corporal Harris  [voir le dossier]: Headquarters, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Captain Jack Neilson  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Conley  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Haslett  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Lockhart  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Shorey  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
   
Glider #3 (Glider No. 93)
  Staff Sergeant Geoffrey S. Barkway  [voir le dossier]: B Squadron, No. 1 Wing, Glider Pilot Regiment (Pilot)
  Staff Sergeant Peter Boyle  [voir le dossier]: Glider Pilot Regiment (Co-Pilot)
  Lieutenant Richard A A Smith  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Sergeant Harrison  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Aris  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Stanley Evans  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Corporal Higgs  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Lance Corporal Cohen  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Lance Corporal Fred Greenhalgh  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Lance Corporal Madge  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Anton  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Basham  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Burns  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Crocker  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Golden  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Hook  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Keane  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Noble  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Slade  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Stewart  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Tibbs  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Turner  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Watts  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Private Wilson  [voir le dossier]: No. 14 Platoon, D Company, 2nd Bn. Oxf. & Buck.
  Major C J Jacob-Vaughan  [voir le dossier]: 224th Para Field Ambulance (Medical Officer)
  Lance Corporal Albert Gregory  [voir le dossier]: 195th Airlanding Field Ambulance (Medic)
  Lance Corporal Waring  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Clarke  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Fleming  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Green  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company
  Sapper Preece  [voir le dossier]: 249th (Airborne) Field Company