D-Day Landings: Pegasus Bridge

"In the first minutes of 6 June 1944, glider-borne troops of the 6th Airborne division

captured the bridge which was on this site over the Caen Canal. It was one of the first

objectives of the Allied landings in Normandy. It was renamed Pegasus Bridge

after the emblem of British Airborne Forces."

Pegasus Bridge, Normandy

This vital bridge, secured by the British in advance of the D-Day landings, was replaced in 1994. The original structure is now part of the Pegasus Memorial in Benouville.

The New Bridge of Benouville (1994)

Pegasus Memorial

Next to the bridge on the Caen Canal is Café Gondrée, a small family-run café and the first building to be liberated from Nazi-occupied France on the night before the Allied landings. It's been reported that café owner Georges Gondrée greeted the soldiers with a bottle of champagne he had hidden from the Germans in his garden.

Café Gondrée

My visit in 2019 coincided with the 75th Anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. The French people welcomed visitors from around the world to attend official ceremonies, participate in military camp re-enactments and tour important WW II sites.

For more information, visit the Memorial Pegasus website.

Next:  Juno Beach