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Parachute Regiment

22nd Independent Parachute Company pathfinders receive their D-Day briefing from Lieutenant Robert Midwood. They would jump first, marking the drop zones for 6th Airborne Division's follow-on assault.

⚔️ D-Day: Ranville, Merville Battery and 6th Airborne Division, 6 June 1944

British 6th Airborne Division’s role on D-Day was multi-faceted. In the opening minutes, glider-borne troops would seize the bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne. Soon afterwards, paratroopers would neutralise Merville Battery. Others would destroy key bridges over the Dives and prepare for German counterattacks. The mission was audacious, high risk, and critical to the success of the D-Day landings

Pegasus Bridge Glider Assault, by Frank Bourlet

⚔️ D-Day: Pegasus Bridge glider assault,
6 June 1944

In the opening minutes of D-Day, British airborne troops conducted a glider-borne coup-de-main assault to seize the bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne. Their mission was simple but dangerous: capture the bridges intact and hold them against German counterattacks, thereby securing the eastern flank of the Normandy landings.