The Cohhilition

Operation Deadstick was the codename for an audacious airborne operation by the British Army that took place on June 6, 1944 as part of the Normandy invasion. The operation’s objective was to capture two road bridges in the French villages of Ranville and Bénouville that led to Sword Beach, where British forces would be landing. It was a vital mission for the overall success of the D-Day operation; if the Germans were able to demolish the bridges the British 6th Airborne Division would be cut off from the remainder of the Allied forces and if they remained intact, but in German control, they could be used to get German armour to the landing beaches of Normandy.

At 16 minutes past midnight the first of the gliders touched down. Within minutes both bridges had been taken in a textbook coup de main assault, and the paratroopers held the bridges against several counter attacks, including tanks, until they were relieved.

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