Pegasus Bridge: The Full Story and Visitor Guide

The Plan: Securing the Eastern Flank

The Caen Canal and the River Orne formed a strong defensive line east of the invasion beaches. Holding the bridges that crossed them, at Bénouville and Ranville, meant the Allies controlled the only route across that line, protecting the beachhead’s eastern flank from German forces on the far bank and further along the coast toward Calais, and slowing down any attempt to counter-attack or reinforce German units in Normandy from that direction. Just as important, holding both bridges kept the landing beaches connected to the 6th Airborne Division, landing by glider and parachute around Ranville, and gave the Allies a route of their own when the time came to push east.

The 6th Airborne Division was given the job of securing that flank as part of its wider D-Day operation, Operation Tonga. Taking the two bridges intact, before the Germans could either use them or blow them, called for something faster and more precise than a parachute drop scattered across the dark. The solution was a coup de main: a small force landing directly on the objective by glider, with the element of surprise. That operation was given its own name, Operation Deadstick.

The Assault: Six Gliders, Ten Minutes

D Company, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, part of the 6th Airlanding Brigade, was reinforced with extra platoons and combat engineers for the operation and placed under the command of Major John Howard. Six Horsa gliders carried the force in, three toward the Bénouville bridge over the Caen Canal, and three toward the Ranville bridge over the Orne a short distance away.

Cast off from their tug aircraft a few miles out, the gliders came in silent and unlit. Staff Sergeant Jim Wallwork piloted the lead glider. The Horsa came down in the dark, in a field it had never seen except on a model, and stopped close enough to the bridge’s defences that the assault troops were on their objective within seconds of the crash landing.

The garrison, small and not expecting an attack from this direction, was overwhelmed almost immediately. Organised resistance at the canal bridge was over within about ten minutes. The Ranville bridge fell with comparatively little fighting. By the time most of the seaborne invasion force had even begun its final approach to the coast, D Company held both crossings.

Café Gondrée: The First House Liberated

Beside the canal bridge stood a small café, run by Georges and Thérèse Gondrée. It is widely cited as the first house liberated in mainland France on D-Day, and the family’s own story has become part of the bridge’s legend: that Thérèse Gondrée had quietly understood German for years without letting the occupying soldiers know, and that the family had bottles of champagne buried in the garden, saved for exactly this day.

The café is still there, still run by the Gondrée family’s descendants.

Casualties: Brotheridge and Greenhalgh

Although highly successful, the capturing of Pegasus Bridge did not come without cost. Two men were killed in the initial assault.

Lance Corporal Fred Greenhalgh never reached the bridge. Thrown from Glider No. 3 as it came down, he landed in a pond beside the landing zone where he drowned. He is often cited as the first Allied death of the entire invasion, killed not by the enemy but by the landing itself.

Lieutenant Herbert Denham Brotheridge led the charge across the canal bridge and was shot as he reached the far side, dying of his wounds shortly afterwards. He is widely regarded as the first British soldier killed by enemy action on D-Day.

Lieutenant Brotheridge is buried close by, at Ranville church, among the small number of graves lining one of the perimeter walls of the church itself. Greenhalgh is buried further away, at La Délivrande War Cemetery in Douvres.

Holding the Bridge

Once captured, D Company and the reinforcing paratroopers who reached them in the following hours had to hold both crossings, against whatever the Germans could throw at them, for most of a day.

A German counter-attack came within hours, probing the canal bridge with armour. It was turned back at close range with a PIAT, the British Army’s man-portable anti-tank weapon, one of the more remarkable individual actions of the whole operation. Through the rest of the morning the defenders held on under intermittent fire, reinforced as more of the 6th Airborne’s paratroopers and glider infantry arrived, but still a light force holding open ground against whatever counter-attack the Germans could organise.

Relief finally came from the sea. Lord Lovat’s 1st Special Service Brigade, advancing inland from Sword Beach with Piper Bill Millin playing them forward, reached the bridge in the early afternoon. For the full story of that advance and the beach landing behind it, see our guide to Sword Beach and the story of Piper Bill Millin, who played the relieving commandos across the bridge that afternoon.

Why It’s Called Pegasus Bridge (and Horsa Bridge)

Neither bridge was called Pegasus or Horsa on 6 June 1944. The canal crossing was simply the Bénouville bridge, named for the village beside it, and the river crossing was the Ranville bridge.

Afterwards, both were renamed in honour of the men who took them. The canal bridge became Pegasus Bridge, after Pegasus, the winged horse worn as the shoulder emblem of British Airborne Forces. The river bridge became Horsa Bridge, after the Horsa gliders that carried D Company’s assault force in.

Visiting Pegasus Bridge and the Mémorial Pégasus Today

The spot on the Caen canal where the bridge stood originally, along with the memorial park, is the first stop on many of my visits to Normandy.

If travelling to Normandy on the Portsmouth to Caen night ferry, my preferred way of getting to Normandy, Pegasus Bridge and Ranville are just a few minutes’ drive from the ferry terminal, letting you make the most of your time before the main museums open. Visit the location of the original Pegasus Bridge with its memorials, then head to Ranville to visit the church and cemetery, before returning just in time for the Pegasus Bridge Museum to open.

The Original Landing Site

The field where the gliders came down is now a small park, a short walk from the bridge itself. Markers show where each of the three gliders landed, along with a memorial to Major Howard and Lance Corporal Fred Greenhalgh, and a German anti-tank gun.

The gun pit here, still visible today, has its own story, one of the few genuinely funny moments in an otherwise deadly serious day. In his memoir The Devil’s Own Luck, D Company’s Denis Edwards recalls Corporal Bill Bailey brewing what was almost certainly the first cup of tea of the invasion of France, a mess tin of water balanced on a tiny spirit-tablet heater in the bottom of the pit, painfully slow going even before Wally Parr and two others started examining the captured German gun. Just as Bailey’s water was on the verge of boiling, an enemy gunboat came into view, and Gus Gardner fired the gun. It went off with a crash that showered the pit in dirt and dust, and Bailey’s brew was ruined at the very last moment. Entirely unmoved by the gunboat, he let rip: “Yer bloody idiots, look what you’ve bleedin’ done, it took me over ’arf an hour ’ter get this bloody tin of water ’ot, and just as I am about ready ter make a brew of tea yer ’ave ter find out ’ow that bloody gun works, look at me mess can.” Everyone except Bailey, Edwards writes, was doubled up laughing.

The Mémorial Pégasus Museum

The original bridge was replaced by a modern lifting bridge in the same style during canal widening works in 1994. The original was moved a short distance down the road, where it now forms the centrepiece of the Mémorial Pégasus museum’s grounds, alongside a full-size Horsa glider replica and exhibits covering the whole story of the 6th Airborne Division’s part in the Normandy campaign.

Walking along the original bridge, damage from the coup de main assault, such as bullet strikes, is still visible today.

Before you plan a visit, check current opening status. In a typical year the museum opens from 2 March to 31 August (10:00 to 17:00 in March, 9:30 to 18:30 from April onward) and closes for winter from 16 December to 1 March. For 2026, the museum has confirmed an extended closure from 1 September, with renovation work already underway during the final weeks of the open season, reflected in a temporary reduction to admission prices. Current hours and prices are always worth checking directly on the museum’s own site before you travel.

Café Gondrée

Still run by the Gondrée family’s descendants, the café sits at the foot of the bridge and holds a small display of wartime memorabilia alongside its tables.

Horsa Bridge

A short distance away, the Ranville bridge and its own memorial mark the second objective of the Coup de Main operation, usually overlooked by visitors who stop at Pegasus Bridge and turn back.

Ranville Church and Commonwealth War Cemetery

A few minutes from the bridges, Ranville’s church holds a small number of war graves lining one of its perimeter walls, among them Lieutenant Brotheridge’s. Alongside the church, a larger Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery was built later, holding many more of the men of the 6th Airborne Division who died securing Normandy’s eastern flank.

Getting There and Combining Your Visit

Arriving via the Portsmouth to Caen night ferry, docking at Ouistreham, Pegasus Bridge is only a few minutes’ drive away, making it a natural first stop before the rest of Normandy gets going. It also marks the far eastern edge of the invasion area itself, so starting here sets you up to travel west through the whole beachhead: Sword, Juno, and Gold, then on to the American sector at Omaha and Utah. Free parking is available near the museum and landing site. Allow at least two hours to see the landing site, the bridge, Café Gondrée and Horsa Bridge properly, longer if the museum is open and you want to go through its exhibits.

For the wartime map of this ground, our archive holds an original GSGS 4250 sheet covering Bénouville and the surrounding area.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Pegasus Bridge story?

Pegasus Bridge is the crossing over the Caen Canal at Bénouville, seized intact in the first minutes of D-Day, 6 June 1944, by a glider-borne assault force under Major John Howard. It was the first Allied objective taken in the liberation of France, secured to protect the eastern flank of the invasion from German armour before the seaborne landings even began.

Who captured Pegasus Bridge on D-Day?

D Company, 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, part of the 6th Airborne Division’s 6th Airlanding Brigade, commanded by Major John Howard. They landed by glider directly beside the bridge shortly after midnight and took it from its German garrison within about ten minutes.

Is Pegasus Bridge worth visiting?

Yes. Beyond the bridge itself, the site includes the original glider landing ground with position markers, a museum housing the actual 1944 bridge, Café Gondrée, the sister crossing at Horsa Bridge, and the war graves at Ranville. It rewards at least two hours and combines naturally with a Sword Beach visit.

What time does the Pegasus Bridge museum open?

In a typical year, from 2 March to 31 August, opening 10:00 to 17:00 in March and 9:30 to 18:30 from April onward, with a winter closure from 16 December to 1 March. For 2026, the museum has confirmed an extended closure from 1 September for renovation work. Check the museum’s own opening-times page for the current status before travelling.

What is Café Gondrée?

A café beside Pegasus Bridge, still run by descendants of the family who owned it in 1944 and who are widely credited with sheltering intelligence about the German garrison before D-Day. It’s often described as the first house liberated in mainland France, and still operates today as a working café with a small wartime display inside.

Who was the first British soldier killed on D-Day?

Lieutenant Herbert Denham Brotheridge, killed leading the charge across Pegasus Bridge in the opening minutes of the assault, is widely regarded as the first British soldier killed by enemy action on D-Day. He is buried at Ranville.

Conclusion

Everything that followed on D-Day, the beach landings, the link-up, the weeks of fighting through the bocage, depended on a coup de main that took about ten minutes and cost the assault force a handful of men. Pegasus Bridge is where that gamble paid off, and it’s one of the few D-Day sites where you can stand on the exact ground, look at the exact bridge, and see how close together it all really was.

Combine it with a visit to Sword Beach to see where the day’s other half of this story unfolded, and allow time for Ranville: it’s a short stop, but the sort that stays with you.

Phil – creator of Normandy War Guide
I started the site more than a decade ago after my first trip to Normandy and have been hooked ever since. I visit a few times each year to explore new sites and update the guide. Over the years I've also transcribed thousands of WWII war diaries and scanned original maps to keep this history accessible for everyone.