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The Pegasus and Orne Bridges: Their Capture, Defences and Relief on D-Day
This WWII history chronicles a daring airborne mission that was vital to the success of Operation Tonga, D-Day, and the liberation of France. When the British Army landed on Sword Beach in Normandy, their only exit eastward required passage across the River Orne and the Caen Canal. But the two bridges fording these waterways—the Pegasus and Orne Bridges—were heavily guarded and wired for demolition in case of a Germans retreat. Capturing these bridges would be next to impossible. Operation Deadstick, conducted by Major John Howard and his company of Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, was a superbly daring, brilliantly executed 'coup de main' assault. The glider-borne troops not only seized both bridges but faced a ferocious and prolonged German counterattack. Neil Barber, a military historian and expert in British airborne operations, uses extensive personal accounts to tell this incredible story of Allied victory. Covering events and operations from Ranville in the East to Benouville in the West, Pegasus and Orne Bridges chronicles the combat of the 7th, 12th and 13th Parachute Battalions and reinforcements such as the Commandos, seaborne engineers and the Warwicks.
627 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 8, 2014
Important to Remember
As I read The Pegasus and Orne Bridges by Neil Barber the seventieth anniversary of the D-Day landings are taking place. Just after midnight in the early minutes of 6th June 1940 the British Prime Minister and Normandy Veterans are at Pegasus Bridge with fireworks going off around him. Seventy years earlier some of those veterans were young men who captured the bridge the first of many successes that would take place that day. Today those men were driven to the bridge seventy years earlier they had either parachuted in or in the back of a glider.
This book is a gripping description of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the 7th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment capture of the bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne. This book describes in detail the planning of the operations and their successful execution of those plans in what is a wonderfully readable account of that day.
One of the most important things in this book is that there are historical explanations of what was happening throughout the book which neatly dovetail with the words of the soldiers and officers on the ground of that day. This really gives a lot of resonance to their story rather than a bland account by a historian.
Pen & Sword Military Publishers really do cover Military History so well as they not only print books about the big battles and dates in war but also some of the stories that could easily be forgotten so easily as the men that participated in the various theatres of war are very few and their number dwindles by the year.
This book uses the words of the officers and men along with war time pictures and right now I can hear the voices of those men. My interest in this part of history is not just that I am a qualified historian but my own grandfather was a paratrooper who knew and trained many of the men that served their country and adopted country so well on 6th June 1944. This is a wonderful book that really should be in every library.
This book is a wonderful testament to those who fought to take and defend the bridges over the Caen Canal and the Orne River we owe them a debt of gratitude. This really is an important book to read and cherish.
As I read The Pegasus and Orne Bridges by Neil Barber the seventieth anniversary of the D-Day landings are taking place. Just after midnight in the early minutes of 6th June 1940 the British Prime Minister and Normandy Veterans are at Pegasus Bridge with fireworks going off around him. Seventy years earlier some of those veterans were young men who captured the bridge the first of many successes that would take place that day. Today those men were driven to the bridge seventy years earlier they had either parachuted in or in the back of a glider.
This book is a gripping description of the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the 7th Battalion of the Parachute Regiment capture of the bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne. This book describes in detail the planning of the operations and their successful execution of those plans in what is a wonderfully readable account of that day.
One of the most important things in this book is that there are historical explanations of what was happening throughout the book which neatly dovetail with the words of the soldiers and officers on the ground of that day. This really gives a lot of resonance to their story rather than a bland account by a historian.
Pen & Sword Military Publishers really do cover Military History so well as they not only print books about the big battles and dates in war but also some of the stories that could easily be forgotten so easily as the men that participated in the various theatres of war are very few and their number dwindles by the year.
This book uses the words of the officers and men along with war time pictures and right now I can hear the voices of those men. My interest in this part of history is not just that I am a qualified historian but my own grandfather was a paratrooper who knew and trained many of the men that served their country and adopted country so well on 6th June 1944. This is a wonderful book that really should be in every library.
This book is a wonderful testament to those who fought to take and defend the bridges over the Caen Canal and the Orne River we owe them a debt of gratitude. This really is an important book to read and cherish.
April 26, 2023
I've read two other books about the operation to seize the bridges by glider assault. One was Ambrose's Pegasus Bridge and the other the Osprey book. This is a far better accounting than either of those.
First, it's a proper history, in that it doesn't take the interviews of the participants at face value, but compares them, notes the discrepancies, checks them against the official record and tries to make an account that makes sense in light of the known facts (Ambrose had a great tendency to take the oral interviews as fact, even when they were clearly not). Footnoted to provide additional information, and crediting the other sources (such as German sources) which clarify some actions.
Second, it isn't trying to read like a novel. Yes, it reads well, but it's a history, not fiction. There are gaps, there are varying viewpoints, and there is the chaos and terror of the battlefield.
Finally, it isn't sterile. Both of the previous reads had led me to believe that this was a pretty straight-forward coup-de-main and the British took fairly light casualties. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the six assault gliders did not arrive at the target at all, many of the troops in the gliders were injured and bashed about (by some miracle, only one was killed) by the landings, and although they rushed and seized the bridges quickly, they were under German fire fairly quickly and casualties steadily mounted. The paratroops were scattered, so there was not nearly the number of reinforcements to defend the bridges as expected, German snipers were very active, and it was a touch and go affair until the arrival of the commandos or even after.
Highly recommended.
First, it's a proper history, in that it doesn't take the interviews of the participants at face value, but compares them, notes the discrepancies, checks them against the official record and tries to make an account that makes sense in light of the known facts (Ambrose had a great tendency to take the oral interviews as fact, even when they were clearly not). Footnoted to provide additional information, and crediting the other sources (such as German sources) which clarify some actions.
Second, it isn't trying to read like a novel. Yes, it reads well, but it's a history, not fiction. There are gaps, there are varying viewpoints, and there is the chaos and terror of the battlefield.
Finally, it isn't sterile. Both of the previous reads had led me to believe that this was a pretty straight-forward coup-de-main and the British took fairly light casualties. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the six assault gliders did not arrive at the target at all, many of the troops in the gliders were injured and bashed about (by some miracle, only one was killed) by the landings, and although they rushed and seized the bridges quickly, they were under German fire fairly quickly and casualties steadily mounted. The paratroops were scattered, so there was not nearly the number of reinforcements to defend the bridges as expected, German snipers were very active, and it was a touch and go affair until the arrival of the commandos or even after.
Highly recommended.
May 2, 2020
A detailed account of the British operations to take the bridges over the Orne river and canal the early hours of D-Day. The operation is rightly heralded as a success and feat of arms - the accuracy of the glider landing in particular.
Whilst the coup de main operation was a stunning success, this book sets out the broader context of the next 24 hours of D-Day, showing that the operation was much more at risk than is often realised. The scattered paras, without much of their heavy weapons and ammunition, grimly held on, amidst risking casualties and growing pressure from the German forces, before commandos and soldiers from the Sword beach landings broke through to relieve them.
Neil Barber provides an account here that mixes operational narrative with first hand accounts from the allied side creating a good blend of information, that brings the operation to the personal level, he also challenges some of the myths of the operation, especially those perpetuated by ‘The Longest Day’ Perhaps my main criticism would be the limited reference to the German perspective or their movements. They are of course referenced, but more as a shadowy foe without clarity of objectives or purpose. Recommended for anyone with an interest in airborne operations, or the true story of the D-Day landings.
Whilst the coup de main operation was a stunning success, this book sets out the broader context of the next 24 hours of D-Day, showing that the operation was much more at risk than is often realised. The scattered paras, without much of their heavy weapons and ammunition, grimly held on, amidst risking casualties and growing pressure from the German forces, before commandos and soldiers from the Sword beach landings broke through to relieve them.
Neil Barber provides an account here that mixes operational narrative with first hand accounts from the allied side creating a good blend of information, that brings the operation to the personal level, he also challenges some of the myths of the operation, especially those perpetuated by ‘The Longest Day’ Perhaps my main criticism would be the limited reference to the German perspective or their movements. They are of course referenced, but more as a shadowy foe without clarity of objectives or purpose. Recommended for anyone with an interest in airborne operations, or the true story of the D-Day landings.
September 25, 2017
Well written with the eyewitness accounts woven in.
I enjoyed reading this. It seems pretty well researched and covers the operations around the bridges in those first few hours as well as some of the planning and training that went into the landing. My only complaint would be the lack of clear modern illustrations/maps on positions in the text.
I enjoyed reading this. It seems pretty well researched and covers the operations around the bridges in those first few hours as well as some of the planning and training that went into the landing. My only complaint would be the lack of clear modern illustrations/maps on positions in the text.
October 3, 2017
Extensively researched
For a clear account in detail of the operation, this account is highly recommended. It certainly gives a good and balanced report that also makes the reader appreciate all the more the sacrifices that were made.
For a clear account in detail of the operation, this account is highly recommended. It certainly gives a good and balanced report that also makes the reader appreciate all the more the sacrifices that were made.
August 24, 2018
Exceptionally well researched and put together.
Really enjoyed this book. The sense of just how stretched the forces were really comes across. The attention to detail in making the testimonials work chronologically is very much appreciated.
Really enjoyed this book. The sense of just how stretched the forces were really comes across. The attention to detail in making the testimonials work chronologically is very much appreciated.
December 30, 2024
Powerful imagery
A meticulously researched account of the Airborne assault on the vital Orne and Caen canal bridges…these personal accounts make harrowing reading at times but graphically depict the horror, humanity and heroism of war as experienced by that greatest generation…
A meticulously researched account of the Airborne assault on the vital Orne and Caen canal bridges…these personal accounts make harrowing reading at times but graphically depict the horror, humanity and heroism of war as experienced by that greatest generation…
September 16, 2017
Incredible!
Full of great detail and fantastic first person accounts. Great read. Great photographs. Highly recommended. It's poignant and compelling. !
Full of great detail and fantastic first person accounts. Great read. Great photographs. Highly recommended. It's poignant and compelling. !
September 22, 2017
i couldn't get on with this book , not sure if it was the writing style or what
but hey you cant like them all
but hey you cant like them all
July 27, 2020
Pegasus Bridge
Excellent account.
Only criticism/suggestion is that provision be made to refer to the current relevant map, and then find you last read place in the text.
Excellent account.
Only criticism/suggestion is that provision be made to refer to the current relevant map, and then find you last read place in the text.
January 29, 2021
Good book
Nice description. Although more information of german side seems to be needed. But it is good for readers who want to know more information about pegasus bridge story
Nice description. Although more information of german side seems to be needed. But it is good for readers who want to know more information about pegasus bridge story
June 2, 2024
Very comprhensive
Author went to great lengths to get as many actual accounts from many different prospectives. Great detail from before during and after orgasms
Author went to great lengths to get as many actual accounts from many different prospectives. Great detail from before during and after orgasms
January 15, 2025
thank you
Heroes all the skill ,the bravery ,and sacrifice of all the men who took part not just at Pegasus but on all five beaches
Heroes all the skill ,the bravery ,and sacrifice of all the men who took part not just at Pegasus but on all five beaches
October 3, 2016
This was an excellent account of what happened at Pegasus Bridge on D Day. I found the mix of narrative and first-hand accounts really interesting and brought home the horrific reality of what happened.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews