The gliders descended silently in a ragged single file line Pilots slowed the planes as much as possible Still they were traveling approximately 90 miles per hour 145 kmh as they prepared to touch down in moonlit fields The men inside the aircraft interlocked arms and braced for the landing The ground rushed up toward them One glider splintered to pieces as soon as it hit the dirt The bottom was ripped away and the front canopy was smashed knocking the pilots unconscious The glider careened sideways as the men inside struggled to shield themselves from flying wood fragments rocks dirt and sparks The wreck finally came to rest PEGASUS BRIDGE nose first against an entanglement of The Bénouville Bridge over the Caen Canal barbed wire at the far edge of the field was later renamed Pegasus Bridge after the flying horse emblem worn by British airborne TAKING THE BRIDGES troops Local authorities replaced the bridge in Amazingly few men were injured They 1994 using the same design as the old bridge poured out through the side door and the The original structure was moved to a memorial museum nearby gaping hole in the front of the plane and prepared to attack Nearby other gliders skidded to a halt They were within a few yards of the German defenders guarding the bridges Yet until British soldiers began firing and throwing grenades the Germans had no idea enemy troops had arrived A German guard who rushed outside after hearing a noise in the nearby fields became the first soldier to die in combat on D
Securing key bridges was one of the most important objectives in the early hours of the D Day
Distinctive stripes enabled Allied aircraft to easily identify each other during the
Within 15 minutes both bridges were secured Only two of the men in the man killed the first 180 unit were Allied soldiers to die during the invasion The seizure of the bridges among the earliest Allied actions on D Day was quick efficient and almost mistake free Very little else would run as smoothly through the rest of that long day By nightfall on June 6 thousands of German British Canadian and American troops would dead and around beaches lie on the of Normandy STRIPES with thousands of aircraft flying toward France on D Day Allied planners worried confusion could lead to aircraft being shot down by accident To prevent this the wings and fuselages of all Allied planes were painted with large stripes before D Day black and white just This would enable antiaircraft gunners on the ground and fellow pilots in the sky to quickly recognize friendly aircraft 13
