British 6th Airborne

 

The insignia of the British 6th Airborne Division, from Smith www.normandyallies.org/6abhist.html

 

Major General Richard Gale, commander of the British 6th Airborne Division, from MacDonald p. 94.

         The British 6th Airborne division was given the task of securing the eastern flank of the allied invasion area. Their specific D-Day missions included the seizure of strategic bridges northeast of the vital city of Caen, as well as the destruction of a German gun battery at Merville. Overall command of the British 6th was under General Richard Gale, with Major John Howard commanding the bridge seizing missions northeast of Caen and Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway in charge of the Merville operation.

 

Airborne landing sites for D-Day. The British 6th landed northeast of Caen to protect the eastern flank of the allied invasion, from MacDonald p. 110.

         The two strategic targets northeast of Caen were bridges over the River Orne and over a canal at Benouville. The main attacking force for these operations was six platoons, each transported by glider. Of the six gliders, five set down exactly on target, twenty minutes after midnight on the morning of 6th June, 1944. The sixth glider landed only a half-mile off target and although delayed, was able to take part in operation. Five of the six platoons were to carry out a surprise attack on the Orne bridge while the remaining platoon was to simultaneously secure the bridge in Benouville. Because of the speed and accuracy of the attack, both bridges were captured intact within 10 minutes, and with a loss of only two allied dead. A close bridgehead and perimeter defense was also established and reinforced by paratroopers which jumped over the two bridges shortly after the glider attacks. By 0500 hrs on June 6th, the Germans launched several counter attacks by tanks, armored cars and infantry, but these attacks were isolated and uncoordinated and were successfully repulsed by the British paratroopers. Airborne engineers then went to work on demolishing the fields of anti-paratrooper defenses known as “Rommel’s Asparagus” so that additional gliders could land with vehicles, light artillery and other supplies.

 

Paratroopers assemble as a British Horsa Glider comes in to land behind them, from MacDonald p. 138.

Paratroopers drop over enemy territory, from MacDonald p. 108.

         The attack on the Merville gun battery began with less precision than the two glider attacks. The British paratroopers were hampered by windy conditions and experienced a fairly scattered drop. The assault on the gun emplacements began with only 150 men of the 750 planned for the operation. The ensuing battle for the gun battery was fierce and half the attacking force became casualties before the paratroopers finally captured their objective. Of the 200 German soldiers garrisoned in defense of the guns at Merville, only 22 were left uninjured by the assault.

 

         The remainder of the 6th Airborne division continued to drop throughout the night and early morning, reinforcing existing British Airborne held positions as well as carrying out missions which destroyed five German held bridges over the River Dives to impede the movement of any Nazi reinforcements. Although the British 6th sustained substantial losses, they successfully achieved the primary objectives of their D-Day operations.

Abandoned gliders in the fields of Normandy after D-Day, from MacDonald p. 117.

 

Index     Introduction     Training and Preparation       Equipment     Anti-paratrooper Defenses      US 101st     US 82nd    British 6th     Conclusion     Bibliography