The Pegasus & Orne Bridges extract

PEN & SWORD MILITARY BOOKS

‘A splendid book.’

P EGASUS A RCHIVE

‘The author uses extensive personal accounts to tell this thrilling and inspiring story.’

W ORLD WAR T WO R E - ENACTORS M AGAZINE

‘This is a book which will fascinate all Glider Pilots...Neil Barber tells the complete story in far greater detail than has been achieved before...highly recommended.’

T HE E AGLE

The glider-borne operation to capture the Pegasus and River Orne Bridges has an established place in the annals of warfare. Conducted by Major John Howard and his six platoons of Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, it was a superbly daring, brilliantly executed ‘coup de main’ assault.

Equally brave, but less well known, are the subsequent events from Ranville in the east to Benouville in the west involving the 7th, 12th and 13th Parachute Battalions and other troops of the 6th Airborne Division who put up a desperate defence against ferocious German counter-attacks aimed at penetrating the precarious Allied bridgehead. The vital support supplied by such units as the Commandos, seaborne engineers and the Warwicks is also described.

The author, who has a deep specialised knowledge of the area and period, extensively uses dramatic personal accounts to tell this thrilling and inspiring story. This splendid book will be enjoyed both by readers at home and those who are lucky enough to visit these historic sites. The gripping text is well supported by rare contemporary photographs.

uk £14.99 us $24.95

Cover design: Jon Wilkinson

www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

SCAN THE QR CODE FOR MORE WWII TITLES FROM PEN & SWORD

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:35 Page 72

Chapter Six

The Coup de Main Operation

T

he Coup de Main party continued on its way unmolested. Captain Priday, Glider 94, carrying 22 Platoon:

At 2350 hours, thirty minutes before we were due to land, I stopped smoking and had the lights put out for fear of enemy fighters. We checked our equipment and weapons, and I wondered whether our grenades would explode if we had a heavy landing. I said nothing of this. I stressed the importance of shouting as we came in to land, since I did not want deaf men to deal with when we reached the ground. I again went into the cockpit and kept a running commentary going of all I saw. I didn’t see very much, for it was a dark, cloudy night.

At this stage, about 0005 hours, I ordered safety belts to be put on and gave a reminder about holding on to one another and lifting the legs clear of the floor for the landing.

The tugs began to approach the designated cast-off point on the Normandy coast.

Due to cloud, the Halifax towing Glider 91 was at 4500 feet. Staff Sergeant Jim Wallwork, Glider 91: The tug pilot said, ‘Weather’s good, the clouds are at 600 feet,’ a couple of minutes before we cast off, ‘and we all wish you the best of luck.’ Thanks to our tug crew we were dead on time and dead on target, and saw the French coast in plenty of time to get set. Five, four, three, two, one. Cheers! Cast off! Up with the nose to reduce speed whilst turning on to course. That was when the singing stopped and the silent flight started.

Major Howard was once again going through the operation in his mind: Amongst those main worries was of course, that one of surprise, which was one of the salient points throughout the whole of our training and that question of the machinegun, any enemy machine gun pointed towards one glider, wiping us out all together in one fell swoop before we could have a chance to fight back. Going through the things again, there were the poles, the explosives we carried in the glider, whether they would explode on landing, and of course whether we would be the first there.

72

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:35 Page 73

About ten minutes before reaching the coast, Glider 95, with 23 Platoon, had run into cloud but subsequently crossed the coast by the River Dives. Warrant Officer Peter Bain, the tug pilot, asked through the intercom, ‘Can you see the Orne estuary?’ The glider pilots said they could and Bain turned to starboard. 1 Lieutenant Sweeney, 23 Platoon: I said, ‘Good luck lads. Now don’t forget, as soon as we land, we’re out and no hesitating . . . and all the very best . . .’ The pilot turned back to me and said, ‘I can see the mouth of the River Orne,’ and then there was a certain amount of anti-aircraft artillery. I don’t think it was very close but there was that sort of ‘CRUMP, CRUMP’.

On Glider 96, carrying 17 Platoon, one of the pilots invited Lieutenant Fox into the cockpit: He pointed out first of all, where we were going to land. I could see the shining on the river and the canal, and we agreed between us that that was the right place . . .

Lieutenants ‘Sandy’ Smith and Dennis Fox

73

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:35 Page 74

He turned round, gave a thumbs up to the men, sat down and strapped himself in: We all had our rifles pointing downwards . . . for fear of it going off up your chin.

‘Wagger’ Thornton, without being asked or anything, walked up and down, made sure everyone, as I should have done and never thought to do, was buckled in.

Staff Sergeant Roy Howard, pilot, Glider 96: Paddy O’Shea, the tug navigator came up on the intercom which ran down the towrope, and told me what to set my gyro compass on. He gave me ‘Three minutes to cast off.’

The glider cast off at 5700 feet above broken cloud and the drone of the tug was replaced by the hiss of the glider sliding through the air on its descent towards the River Orne Bridge. It was travelling at 120mph: To reduce us to our planned gliding speed of 80mph, I immediately applied full flaps.

But I realized at once that she was nose heavy, and even with the control column pulled right back against my chest I could not get her to slow below 90mph. We were dropping like a streamlined brick and I knew at once that we were not only incorrectly loaded, but overloaded.

Howard yelled at Lieutenant Fox to quickly move two men from the front to the back, and fortunately this had the desired effect. They were now back on the planned descent rate of 200 feet per minute and their first course of 212 degrees. Freddie Baacke was navigating using the Sperry Gyro Directional Indicator and a stopwatch lit by his tiny hand-held light. They then turned on to 269 degrees before finally turning to port on 212 degrees for the run-in. Roy Howard: As we made our third change of course and were down to 1200 feet, I could suddenly see the parallel waterways of the Caen Canal and River Orne glistening silver in the diffused moonlight glowing from behind the clouds.

I was afraid that we were still going down too fast, so I took off the flaps for a moment to flatten the glidepath. I just managed to miss the tops of the fifty-foot trees at the beginning of our field and immediately deployed the parachute brake, wheel brakes and full flaps to prevent us careering into the embankment at the far end.

There was our final, unexpected, hazard; no one had mentioned that there would be a herd of cows. I am sure we hit a cow, which knocked off our nose wheel. It was nine minutes past midnight when, with a rumble and final chatter, I came to rest six yards from our allotted spot, less than 100 yards from our objective of the bridge. There was the briefest moment of total silence. ‘You are in the right place, sir’ I announced to a pleasantly surprised Mr Fox, and before I could even leave my seat he and his men had flung open the door and alighted in a stampede of boots.2 Lieutenant Fox:

74

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:35 Page 75

We jumped out and Tommy Clare who jumped behind . . . had unfortunately got his Sten gun on fire, not on the safety thing, and on automatic too . . . He landed on the ground and his Sten gun hit the ground and shot off a burst of fire straight into the air.

I thought, everyone thought, that we were being fired at. We made this arrow formation under the wings which we had practised and practised and practised, and then absolute silence. We then discovered what had happened.

They could see the bridge, and immediately began to move towards a hedgerow on their right. Sapper Cyril Larkin: I had been detailed by Major Howard earlier on to check that everybody had got out of the glider. The reason I suppose was obviously if someone had come to grief and got caught up behind. I had to feel my way around the glider if there were any personnel

Cyril and Claude Larkin

75

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:35 Page 76

hanging around but there wasn’t. So then I realized I had to jump out of the rear side door . . . The drill was to get out as quickly as possible, flatten yourself on the ground and observe around, and there wasn’t a soul there! I quietly searched either side of me and there was no other glider, so I thought ‘Well I seem to be alone here somewhere.’ All I could see was about half-a-dozen cows and they’d got their heads down wondering what on earth I was doing! There was no movement, no sound. So I assumed that perhaps the glider was pointing in the right direction, so I ran past that . . . Beyond I could see a dark object which I presumed was a hedge, so I ran to that and there were a few Oxf and Bucks lads there and they were kneeling on one knee . . . I enquired of them if they were the Scout party because as an Engineer, I was in the Scout party. The pleasant reply came back to ‘Shut up.’ I left them and went on and found a few more fellows.

The leading section, led by a corporal, moved towards the road but came to a halt about fifty yards from it. Lieutenant Fox and his HQ Section, followed by the other two sections, bunched up behind. Fox went forward to the corporal to find out what was causing the hold-up: He said he could see someone with a machine gun. So I said, ‘To hell with it, let’s get cracking.’ So at that stage I did in fact lead. Not through any heroics or anything like that, but just to get on, and this machine gun opened up. It was a Schmeisser and it wasn’t a very effective fire . . . Dear old Thornton, as quick as ever, had got, from way back from his position, a mortar trained and he put a mortar slap down on that bridge, a fabulous shot.

Cyril Larkin: Then we all started to move again. We made a left turn at the hedge and there was a huge bank on the roadside, I didn’t realize the road was so close, but there was a ditch too alongside. So we dropped down into this ditch, ran a few yards along the ditch and then up onto the road and just ahead of us was the bridge.

Lieutenant Fox: We just rushed the bridge. I had assumed that ‘Tod’ was already there . . . as he should have been, as indeed should Brian Priday, and that I would have just been the back-up, but it was obvious pretty quickly that no one had been there otherwise we wouldn’t have been fired at, and there was no-one around. I went across yelling, ‘Fox, Fox, Fox, Fox,’ and the soldiers came with me. We got to the other side and there seemed to be no opposition at all.

Cyril Larkin: We had an aerial photograph on the Saturday before we went over and there was a disturbance or something, alteration in the road, just about seven or eight feet from the 76

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:35 Page 77

actual beginning of the bridge. My Engineer Officer had detailed me to check that out.

What I found was a light-hearted thing. A horse had stopped there and deposited its job there!

I ran over the bridge. I got off the bridge and down onto the river bank and you could hear people running away from the bank and that was the defenders there, whoever they were and how many there were, running off.

Lieutenant Fox: O’Shaughnessy, I remember, as a precaution, went around all of the trenches he could find dropping a hand grenade down it and then up came Sergeant Thornton and said that he’d set himself up on the inside of the bridge . . . He thought that was the best place for him to be at the moment so he could cover us if anything was needed. He suggested to me that we ‘Spread out a bit and not all stand clumped up at the end of the bridge,’ quite rightly, which we did.

Lieutenant Jack Bence’s section of Engineers began their tasks. Cyril Larkin: I went down underneath the bridge and there was a well-worn path down the grass bank . . . Then I looked up into the girders of the bridge and I could see a scaffold board . . . and that ran all the way through the bridge as far as I could see in the dark. Right under the middle of the bridge was a dark object . . .

His immediate impression was that it might be a barge containing explosives: And then in a bit of moonlight I thought, ‘It isn’t that,’ there seemed to be some brickwork somewhere. So I got onto the bridge, underneath. Just before getting on, actually I thought ‘I’ve got to have some assistance here’ and I quietly called out, ‘I want some help here . . .’

His twin brother Claude appeared. Cyril Larkin: I said, ‘I’m going to check along this scaffold board and see what’s the other side because to me, that’s where the explosives will be, in the middle of the bridge.’ Crawling through the girders with rifle and backpack was no joke, and the water rushing below me was not inviting either. The ‘dark object’ turned out to be a huge brick pier containing the bridge opening equipment and thankfully, no explosives. Obviously in past time it had been an openable bridge, but it had been dismantled and all the cogs, wheels, stood up on end against the outside brickwork. So that was a relief ’cos I realized that the bridge couldn’t open.

17 Platoon now had sections at either end of the bridge, but there was no sign of Gliders 94 and 95. * Glider 91 had cast off and headed for the Canal Bridge. Staff Sergeant Jim Wallwork: 77

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:35 Page 78

Alter course, air speed right, John Ainsworth with the stopwatch, I’m checking the compass, he’s checking the air speed. The downwind leg at 185 degrees for three minutes forty-five seconds at ninety miles per hour went smoothly as Johnnie checked the stopwatch . . . We cruise along and then ‘Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Bingo,’ right turn to starboard onto course. Halfway down the crosswind leg, I could see it. I could see the river and the canal like strips of silver and I could see the bridges; visibility was awfully good.

Major Howard was sat immediately opposite the front door: Sitting on my left, was Lieutenant Brotheridge my leading platoon commander, and he undid his safety belt, leant forward, I held his equipment one side, his platoon sergeant on the other side, and he leant forward very precariously and opened up the door which lifted up into the roof.

Ted Tappenden: We couldn’t get the door open at first, that was sort of stuck, but we eventually got it open before we hit the ground. It took two or three of us to wrench the door open.

Wally Parr, assisted by Corporal ‘Cobber’ Caine, opened the rear door. Major Howard: When Den Brotheridge slunk back into his seat and put his safety belt on, I looked forward at the fields of France and it had an amazing tranquillising effect on me and those near to me who could see this, because there you had that amazing stock of horses, cattle grazing very, very quietly, with all these bombers going over. They were taking no notice of it at all and it was so quiet it was like being on an exercise in England.

I knew exactly where we were because I had been studying the aerial photographs until I was starry-eyed. I recognised from the shapes of the villages, the churches and crossroads that we were absolutely on course. In any case one of the glider pilots had been giving the thumbs up ever since we cast off!

Glider 92 had approached the coast at 4800 feet with the men still singing so Staff Sergeant Boland, shouted ‘Casting off. Shut up!’ Oliver Boland: Pull the button, like a bath plug, and you’re on your own. Dead quiet, floating towards and over the coast of France, and know that there’s no turning back whatsoever.

The third combination, involving Glider 93, had been through cloud several times at 4000 feet but managed to climb to 5800 feet. Sergeant Peter Boyle: The navigator said something like ‘The target’s coming up,’ and he gave us the wind speed and wind direction. Then he said, ‘You can pull off when you’re ready and good luck guys.’

78

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:36 Page 131

The driver of the car had badly shattered legs and one of them I had to amputate with scissors. Not however, having a couple of bottles of blood for transfusion about me at the time, I wasn’t in the end able to save the poor fellow’s life.

Shortly after returning to the bridge, an ominous sound could be heard approaching from the direction of Benouville. Major Howard: I heard tracked vehicles moving up along by the Mairie at the road junction at the top.

They were obviously tracked, tanks of some kind or other and we all became extremely apprehensive.

However, the vehicles did not turn towards the bridge but headed in the direction of Le Port. Jim Wallwork: We knew we needed Gammon anti-tank bombs, which Howard sent me to fetch. I did not have much joy pottering about in the dark in a damaged glider looking for ammo, and I just could not find those bloody bombs. So I took a case of .303 instead, which made him rather cross. ‘Get the bloody Gammons’ he hollered, all politeness now gone.

So back I went again. This time I was using my flashlight to be sure they were either there or not when I heard a sharp rapid tapping on the wooden fuselage just above me.

Woodpeckers? At night? In a battle? No. It was German Schmeisser following the stupid clot who’s using a flashlight. So to hell with Howard and his Gammons. I had had enough, and told him so.3 On the other side of the bridge, mines carried by the men were collected. Nobby Clark: We got the Hawkins anti-tank mines together and put about six of them on a bit of string so we could draw them across the road. * Private John Butler of ‘C’ Company, 7th Battalion had landed at the southern end of the DZ. Recognizing the Ranville Church, he knew exactly where to go to reach the RV, but upon arrival found only about forty men and an officer, this being Captain Webber of ‘A’ Company. Jim Webber: From the RV it sounded as though a battle was still raging around the bridges. After some time I still appeared to be the senior officer there and was just considering whether or not to go and help at the bridges with the troops that had arrived when I heard the CO’s voice in the darkness. I was delighted and relieved.

Colonel Pine-Coffin was informed about the numbers that had arrived: The system [that] had been developed within the battalion for reporting the state of forming up was for the sub-units to pass to Battalion HQ, at regular intervals, their percentage strength.

131

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:36 Page 132

This enabled him to gauge when the battalion was strong enough to move off. The first reports stated that only thirty per cent of Major Taylor’s ‘A’ Company, twenty per cent of Major Neale’s ‘B’ and fifteen per cent of Major Bartlett’s ‘C’ were present.

Bartlett himself was still missing.4 However, the bugler, Private Lambert, had arrived and began sounding the rallying signal. This was obviously a great help. Geoffrey Pine-Coffin: Officers and men began to come in from all sides and it was good to see how many had joined up into groups to come in as formed bodies, with their own protective detachments and the senior of the group in undisputed command although there were several groups without officers or NCOs in them. The heavy kitbags containing boating material slowed the men up a lot. The normal drill of coming in to the RV at the double was quite impossible.

With the Companies so short in numbers, several immediate changes had to be made to the original plan. Lieutenant Tommy Farr, 4 Platoon, ‘B’ Company was due to capture Le Port: This was slightly changed in the RV, and 5 Platoon was detailed for the clearing of Le Port and I, with 4 Platoon, was switched to the spur to the south-west; this was necessary as I had not enough chaps to tackle the village. As we had all been briefed for all these three tasks this made no real difference and I was confident that my chaps would do their new task just as well as the one which they had expected to do.

Lieutenant Ted Pool’s 5 Platoon had had a good drop and nearly all his men had arrived at the RV. Geoffrey Pine-Coffin therefore selected them to move off in advance. Ted Pool: Lieutenant Colonel Pine-Coffin changed its original task and ordered us to occupy the village of Le Port, which stood over the bridges on the road towards the beaches. It was vital to reinforce the 52nd as soon as possible, to get into Le Port as soon as I possibly could. * Following the movement of the tanks towards Le Port, sections of 17 Platoon, ‘B’ Company had moved up either side of the road towards the T-Junction and halted.

Sergeant Charles ‘Wagger’ Thornton: Fox told me to get up and see the situation. I was trusted with this PIAT and off I went.

Thornton, who moved up the left-hand side of the road with Corporal Lally’s Section, had two bombs. He crawled forward, alongside a hedge: A PIAT is a load of rubbish really . . . the range is about fifty yards and no more . . . even fifty yards is stretching it. It was indoctrinated into your brain, you must never, 132

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:36 Page 133

never, miss. If you do, you’ve had it. So I thought to myself, ‘I’ll get about thirty yards from the ‘T’ Junction.’ I don’t mind admitting it, I was shaking like a bloody leaf!

Private Alf Whitbread went with him: We went up to the crossroads. There was so much going on. There was a lot of firing going on to the side of us. We were in trenches which the Germans had dug at the side of the crossroads on the left-hand side. ‘Wagger’ sorted himself out and said to me, ‘Give me a hand.’ He said to me, ‘Right, load the gun’, which I did. ‘Get yourself covered ’cos you know what these PIATs are, [it] might turn around and come back at you!’5 Lieutenant Smith was feeling pretty helpless: We were without an anti-tank weapon except for the one we’d given to Dennis, with my platoon only about seven or eight strong and Brotheridge’s twenty-odd people. I thought ‘This is going to be it.’

Two tanks then began to come down the road from Le Port. Smith noticed that his men were looking at him for some reaction, and so said, ‘Look to your front!’:

Alf Whitbread (standing 2nd from left) with part of his section

133

Pegasus and Orne Bridges - UPDATE - Amended - Printer PDF 17/03/2014 13:36 Page 134

I gave that order because they wanted some form of reassurance, although I must confess, I didn’t feel that reassured myself. Anyway, a minute or two later, this rumbling of the tank was heard getting louder and louder.

Lance Corporal Arthur Roberts was on the right-hand side, next to La Chaumiere: It don’t always pay to take on a tank with a Bren gun and a rifle. The best thing to do is stalk it, which we could have done because it was dark. And then again, we didn’t know what sort of infantry they had behind it.

‘Wagger’ Thornton: Sure enough, within three minutes this bloody tank appears, more hearing it than seeing it ’cos the wheels were rattling away there. They hung around for a few seconds to figure out where they were.

Their commanders got out and exchanged words and then got back inside. I knew that I would have to act immediately.

Bill Gray, on the ridge on the left-hand side, had a clear field of fire, straight up the road: There was more firing from our front and then the sound of a tank coming down the road. We could see it quite clearly, this big tank, German infantry beside the tank.

‘Cobber’ Caine, who was our section commander said, ‘Hold your fire,’ which we did.

It was definitely a tank, a fully-covered armoured vehicle.

Thornton took aim at the leading vehicle: I made sure that I had him right in the middle. Anyway, although shaking, I took an aim and BANG, off it went.

Major Howard: We heard the ‘ping’, we could almost see in our minds the bomb floating through the air and thank God, the first bomb to hit the leading tank was a direct hit. It exploded tremendously and there was a hell of an explosion and not only that, but it must have been full of ammunition because, WHOOF, it kept on exploding afterwards just like a boxed firework display, and it went on for a long, long time.6 Bill Gray: We opened up on the infantry and they just dashed back to the crossroads where they’d come from.

Two or three guys jumped out of the tank and I said to my Number Two to give them a burst from the Sten, which he did.

134