A few kilometres from the city of Caen a bascule bridge takes road users across the Caen Canal near the village of Benouville. The original bridge was taken by the Ox & Bucks Light Infantry on the night of D-Day in a ‘coup de main’ surprise attack by glider-borne troops. One of the most successful Allied missions on D-Day resulted in the capture of the bridge which the troops held until the following day when reinforcements arrived from Sword Beach. You can walk across the new bridge (a near-replica of the original which now sits in the excellent Pegasus Memorial Museum opposite), have a drink in the Café Gondrée (the first civilian building liberated on D-Day) and see the memorials that mark the positions – only a few yards from their target – where the three Horsa Gliders landed. A monument to Major John Howard marks the spot where he and his valiant troops first set foot on French soil.

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