Memorial Horsa Gliders

This memorial is in honor of the crews of gliders 4, 5 and 6 who landed here on the night of June 6, 1944. The text on the monument reads as follows:

The nearby Horsa Bridge was a strategically vital objective on D-Day in 1944. The original bridge was a steel lattice swing bridge which was replaced by the present structure in 1971.

At 20 minutes past midnight on 6th June 1944 two Horsa Gliders landed near here as part of the first operation of D-Day. Each glider carried 30 men of the 2nd Battalion the Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and Royal Engineers whose task was to capture the bridge intact and hold it until relieved by the 7th Parachute Battalion. Number 6 glider arrived first carrying 17 Platoon, led by Lt D Fox. It was soon reinforced by 23 Platoon in Number 5 glider led by Lt HJ Sweeney. Number 4 glider with 22 Platoon was also due to land here but mistakenly landed at a similar site near Varaville on the River Dives.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Koos Winkelman