D-Day: Assault on Pegasus Bridge: D-Day and the Battle of Normandy Short Historical Military Fiction

6th June 1944
00:16
Pegasus Bridge, Normandy, France
D Company of the Ox and Bucks supported by two platoons from B Company led by Major John Howard make a glider borne landing in Normandy, France in a daring coup de main operation to capture two key strategic bridges spanning the Caen canal and the River Orne vital to the success of D-Day.
This fast-paced fictive / descriptive historical short story takes you to the heart of the battle. Follow the actions of individual soldiers as the Ox and Bucks fight hard to win through.
NOTE: This is a stand alone short story that is a key chapter in my full length novel D-Day Pegasus Bridge (Available on Kindle and in paperback from Amazon).
NOTE: Assault on Pegasus Bridge is available on Kindle and in paperback from Amazon.
Bonus Chapter: Assault on Pegasus Bridge for Boys is a 'PG' version intended for minors and taken from my novel D-Day Pegasus Bridge for Boys.
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Historical Background to D-Day and the Assault on Pegasus Bridge
D-Day took place on 6th June 1944. Allied activity started around midnight 5/6 June when pathfinders landed in the Normandy area to guide in paratroopers. The British 6th Airborne Div. Canadian 1st (Independent) Parachute Div and the U.S. 82nd and 101st Parachute Divisions descended behind the coast line to seize vital objectives and disrupt German attempts to reinforce the beaches. The British were tasked with two important objectives: seizing the bridges over the Orne canal and the River Orne, the operation carried out by the Ox and Bucks, and destroying the Merville battery close to Ouistreham and capable of shelling Sword beach with heavy caliber artillery. This task fell to 9th Para Battalion.
Despite the paratroopers often been scattered and landing in areas some distance away from their intended Landing Zones, the airborne forces performed admirably throughout the night.
At dawn seaborne troops were scheduled to make landings at five beach. From east to west these were codenamed Sword (British 3rd Infantry Div supported by the 27th Armored Brigade and the 1st and 4th Special Service Brigades), Juno (3rd Canadian Infantry Div supported by the 2nd Canadian Armored Brig and No. 48 Royal Marine Commando), Gold (British 50th Infantry Div supported by the British 8th Armored Brig, British 56th Infantry Brig and No. 47 Royal Marine Commando), Omaha (U.S. V Corps comprised of the 1st Infantry Div, the 29th Infantry Div and the U.S Army Rangers) and Utah (U.S. VII Corps comprised of the 4th Infantry Div, the 90th Infantry Div and the 4th Cavalry Regiment).
Sword beach was closest to Caen and what would later be named Pegasus Bridge and it was from here that Lord Lovat was to lead his commandos to establish the first link up with the Ox and Bucks from the sea. Omaha beach saw the heaviest fighting with perhaps some 2,000 casualties. The U.S Army Rangers 2nd Batt was tasked with a particularly dangerous mission: scaling 90 foot cliffs at Pointe du Hoc while under enemy fire to destroy 155mm guns (which, as it turned out, had been moved from the area).
Before the troops landed a massive air and naval bombardment was carried out. The air bombardment for the most part was a failure, but the naval bombardment, which was far more accurate, met with some success and smaller vessels were able to continue to provide support fire throughout the struggle for the beaches.
By the end of the day all the beaches were secure and the Allies had advanced inland; not as far as intended or planned, but nevertheless a foot hold in western Europe had been established and more men and materiel would arrive through Normandy in the coming days and weeks allowing the Battle of Normandy to be successfully fought and won.