57th Anniversary of D Day (June 6, 1944)
Midnight at the D-Day Bridges

Columnist Capt (Retd) A A JILANI of 1st PMA recaptures the heroic performance of the first troops to land on the continent about 6 hours before the massive sea-borne invasion.

Cadet John D Eisenhower was due to pass-out from the West Point Academy on 6 June 1944 and his distinguished father was amongst all the concerned parents invited to attend this auspicious occasion, but General Dwight D Eisenhower regretted that due to the exigencies of war he would not be able to join the ceremony — although he could not possibly reveal the actual reasons even to his own son. Later on he confided that on 5 June 1944 he was the loneliest man in the world because he alone would have to take the momentous decision and bear the consequences of launching the greatest seaborne invasion of all times. As Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, there would be no shared responsibility and no general consensus. Late that afternoon Ike was briefed by his meteorological experts with details about the weather, the moon and the tides. No other suitable opportunity would arise for another month or so and the massive concentration of troops and landing-craft was already in place. Any further postponement could jeopardise the secrecy and the security precautions for D-Day. That evening Ike summoned General Montgomery who was to be Commander of Land Forces along with the senior Staff Officers of SHAEF, looked them in the eye resolutely and simply said — "OK, let’s go". So thorough and so fool-proof were the security arrangements for D-Day that the German High Command was not anticipating any cross-Channel action by the Allied Forces at this juncture, and so complacent was the Commander of Army Group-8 (Field-Marshal Erwin Rommel) responsible for Northern France, Belgium and Holland including the mythical "Atlantic Wall" that on 5 June 1944 he left his HQ at La Roche Guyon (near Paris) to proceed to his home at Harrlingen (Bavaria) to celebrate his wife’s birthday on 6 June 1944. Not only that, but Colonel-General Friedrich Dollman Commander of the German 7th Army whose jurisdiction included the Normandy  and Brittany coast-lines had also left his HQ on the same day (5 June 1944) to attend War Games at Rennes. The seniormost Commander present on the spot was the aged General Erich Marcks Comd 84 Infantry Corps at St Lo in Normandy who had an artificial/wooden leg due to injury in World War I. By a curious stroke of Fate 2/Lt John D Eisenhower passed out from West Point and Frau Rommel celebrated her birthday both on D-Day, while the Army Group Commander and the Army Commander responsible for the Normandy  beaches were both absent from their respective HQs on D-Day, reaching back late afternoon by which time the Allied Forces had already secured a beach-head.

But our story today is dedicated to those lesser known heroes Major John Howard DSO and Sgt Roy Howard DFM who glided out of the midnight skies into enemy territory six hours before the D-Day armada in order to secure the extreme left flank for the Allied invasion forces. Their mission began in Dorset on that beautiful summer evening of 5 June 1944 while Field-Marshal Rommel was so placidly driving through Verdun and Metz en route to Germany. Major John Howard DSO was in overall command of 6 Horse gliders, each carrying 28 heavily armed troops, which would move out over the airfield at Tarrant Rushton with four-engined Halifax bombers acting as the towing aircraft. Their objectives were the bridge over the Caen Canal and the adjacent bridge just 200 yds to the east over the River Orne. The first 3 gliders to get airborne were destined for the Caen Canal bridge under command of Major John Howard while Sgt Roy Howard was in command of one of the other 3 gliders bound for the River Orne bridge. The Caen Canal runs parallel to the River Orne.

In the very first battle to be fought between British and German troops on D-Day just after midnight, Major John Howard led his company of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry in an airborne assault on this vital bridge over the Caen Canal which has since been immortalised as the "Pegasus Bridge". One of the most spectacular assaults in the annals of airborne operations, this brilliant strike produced results which were decisive in the development of the first day’s fighting. Major John Howard successfully landed his group of 3 gliders into a small patch of rough field between a pond and the Pegasus Bridge while Sgt Roy Howard piloted his own glider which spearheaded the capture of the Ranville Bridge over the River Orne which lies just 200 yds to the east of the Pegasus Bridge. Both these bridges carried a lateral road which had to be captured and held in order to ensure supplies from the Sword Beach to the 6th Airborne Division which would be dropped to the east of Caen. It was essential that both these key bridges were to be captured simultaneously. Without sufficient supplies of ammunition, fuel and rations from the beach-head, the 6th Airborne Division would not be able to carry out its designated task which was to secure the left flank of the entire Allied invasion force. This was an airborne assault which required pinpoint accuracy of flying against all odds of low clouds and bad weather. Too much height and the 3 gliders heading for the Pegasus Bridge would smash into the roadway embankment at the far end of the field, whereas if the gliders landed substantially short the screeching noise would alert the bridge defences which would result in a hot reception to the dazed glider troops. The flying and navigation of the glider pilots was exemplary in weather conditions far from ideal. Released at 8000 ft over the Normandy coast, the first group of 3 gliders clipped through the tops of a belt of poplars which skirted the field and crashed to a halt at precisely 0016 hrs just a few yards from each other.

Although shaken by the impact, the glider troops poured out of the wreckage and with Major John Howard at their head rushed the bridge with fixed bayonets. They were spotted by a young conscript of the German 716th Infantry Regt who alerted his comrades which resulted in a furious firefight with the clattering of German Spandaus interspersed with the crackle of Bren and Stengun fire. The surrounding German dugouts were blasted with high explosive and phosphorus grenades. Sgt Roy Howard’s glider was released just before midnight three miles short of the Normandy coast. The towing Halifax bombers had come in at 6000 ft to delude the German radar that this was just another bombing raid on Caen. This height had to be lost in less than five miles which necessitated a perilously steep angle of descent. He had to clear a belt of 50 ft trees and land in a small area of rough pasture without smashing into the 14 ft road embankment. Suddenly, out of the darkness, Sgt Roy Howard picked out the silvery gleam of the Caen Canal and the River Orne ahead. Unfortunately his particular glider was the only one of the group of 3 gliders scheduled for the Orne bridge to land in the right place; the second glider had landed in a field 400 yds back and the third glider landed on the River Dives about ten miles to the east due to a navigational error. However, by 0026 hrs (just ten minutes after landing) both these vital bridges were secured by the gallant British troops.

In the event, Major John Howard’s bold airborne assault prevented the Germans from launching a counter-stroke for several hours. It was not until 0200 hrs that the German Divisional HQ realised that it had been deprived of this vital artery and could not move against the beach-head without facing stiff opposition. By this time Major John Howard’s glider troops had been reinforced and resolutely held off fierce assaults from a Panzergrenadier Battalion. The impact of this small-scale operation was incalculable. Thereafter all movements of the German forces between the east and west banks of the River Orne had to be made via Caen — a detour of 6 hrs. For his sterling leadership qualities Major John Howard was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and also decorated by the French Government with the coveted Croix de Guerre. Sgt Roy Howard, for his courageous performance with hardly one-third of the allotted troops, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal.

The first vital objective of the D-Day airborne operations had been achieved 6 hrs before the seaborne troops hit the beaches. It was a tactical surprise out of all proportion to the small number of troops deployed. Although the Ox & Bucks troops holding the bridges were strongly attacked later that day by elements of 21 Panzer Division, but the fresh airborne landings enabled them to hold fast. Photographs of the steel girders of Pegasus Bridge have become part of the D-Day iconography and the overall Commander of that operation Major John Howard DSO has become a legendary figure. Every year without fail he returned to Normandy on 6 June to lay a wreath at the spot where the gliders landed and also to avail the welcome hospitality of the Pegasus Bridge Cafe. He was also closely associated with the establishment of the Airborne Forces Museum nearby which was opened on 6 June 2000 but sadly without the presence of Major John Howard. His name was just as well-known amongst the citizens of Normandy as it was amongst the British Army veterans of those times.

Sgt Roy Howard DFM died on 22 March 1999 aged 76 years and today his son is the Secretary-General of the UK Glider Pilots Regt Association. Within the short span of 1 1/2 months, Major John Howard DSO died peacefully on 5 May 1999 at the ripe age of 86 years. Although they were not destined to see the dawn of a new century, but both their names have enriched the history of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry which featured so prominently in the long and bitter struggle against His Majesty’s enemies.

Almighty in thy gracious keeping, leave we now thine soldiers sleeping.