D-Day and Normandy · permanent subject timeline
The glider and airborne assault protecting the eastern flank. This page combines historical context with 11 matching records drawn directly from the World History Database Normandy archive.
Historical context
British airborne troops landed by glider near the Caen Canal and River Orne during the opening minutes of D-Day. The force seized the Bénouville bridge, later known as Pegasus Bridge, and held the crossings until relieved.
Holding the bridges protected the eastern flank of the invasion area and restricted German movement toward Sword Beach. The operation became one of the best-known examples of a precision glider assault.
World History Database records
The records below are selected from the 455-record D-Day and Normandy archive and rendered as static HTML in chronological order.
Capture of Horsa Bridge
The attackers pour out of their battered gliders, completely surprising the German defenders, and take Horsa & Pegasus bridges within 10 minutes. A force of 181 men, led by Major John Howard, take off from RAF Tarrant Rushton in Dorset, southern England in six Horsa gliders to capture Pegasus Bridge, and also "Horsa Bridge", a few hundred yards to the east, over the Orne River
Operation Overlord
Commands infantryman who land by glider & capture 2 bridges codenamed Pegasus & Horsa
Capture of Pegasus Bridge
Lieutenant Brotheridge is killed crossing the bridge in the first minutes of the assault and thus becomes the first member of the invading Allied armies to die in combat on D-Day. Leads the infantry capture of 2 bridges codenamed Pegasus & Horsa. 1st Allied death in Normandy
Capture of Pegasus Bridge
Parachutes behind enemy lines & captures Benouville, including Pegasus Bridge
Capture of Pegasus Bridge
Commands infantryman who land by glider & capture 2 bridges codenamed Pegasus & Horsa
Capture of Pegasus Bridge
Parachutes behind enemy lines & helps secure Pegasus Bridge
Capture of Pegasus Bridge
One of the members of the 7th Battalion reinforcements is young actor Richard Todd who would, nearly two decades later, play Major Howard in the film The Longest Day
Operation Overlord
Leads the infantry capture of 2 bridges codenamed Pegasus & Horsa. 1st Allied death in Normandy
Operation Overlord
Parachutes behind enemy lines & captures Benouville, including Pegasus Bridge
Operation Overlord
Parachutes behind enemy lines & helps secure Pegasus Bridge
Siege of Benouville
Parachutes behind enemy lines & captures Benouville, including Pegasus Bridge
Editorial provenance
Compiled and edited by World History Database.
Historical context is editorial material; the chronology is generated from World History Database D-Day and Normandy records.
Last reviewed: September 2026.
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