Orne and Dives Air Assault Zones

Paratroopers from the British 6th Airborne Division, Major General Richard Gale commanding, were landed at night onto the left flank of the Normandy Invasion area in order to help isolate the battlefield for the seaborne invasion force that was to land on the beaches at dawn. The operation was part of the overall scheme of the invasion, but it was particularly related to the assault on nearby Sword Beach.

The drop zones for the 6th Division were labelled "X," "Y," "N," "K," and "V." Drop zones "X" and "Y" were glider landing zones for a coup-de-main operation to seize, intact, two bridges over the Orne River and the Caen Canal near the village of Benouville. Drop zone "V" was the glider landing zone for an attack on the Merville battery, and zones "N" and "K" were on the Ranville ridge separating the Orne and Dives Rivers.

Gliders lie scattered across landing zone "N"

German forces in the area consisted of elements of the 716th Infantry Division. The dominant defensive position was a battery at the coastal town of Merville, with four guns of undetermined size fortified in hard casemates.