The objectives of the 6th Airborne were to seize the critical bridges over the Orne River and Caen Canal, securing vital exit routes for the forces scheduled to land at Sword beach; to destroy the bridges over the Dives River, thus denying the Germans route to the invasion area from the east; to hold the dividing ridge between the Dives and the Orne from an expected German counterattack; and finally, to destroy the battery at Merville, which threatened Sword Beach with its big guns.

At 0016 hours on D-Day, gliders containing Company D, 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, commanded by Major John Howard, touched down precisely on target at the bridges. Within 10 minutes, and with the loss of only two men dead, the daring attack placed both bridges in Allied hands. Howard's company became the first attackers on French soil and the first unit to achieve its objective on D-Day.

The silencing of the Merville battery fell to Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway's 9th Battalion. The 9th, however, had a bad drop, and the attack began with only 150 men of the 750-man force. The daring attack captured the battery at a cost of half the attacking force. The defending Germans paid a terrible price: only 22 men of the 200-man garrison were uninjured.

The rest of the 6th Airborne troopers continued to land throughout the night, although many were scattered. Nevertheless, small parties found one another and managed to destroy five bridges over the Dives.

Troops of the 1st Commando Brigade (in berets) link up  The Caen Canal Bridge, securely in British hands, is crossed by military

with 6th Airborne Troopers (in helmets) at the Om River  vehicles on June 7. The gliders that carried the assault troops can be seen

on 1)-Day.  in the background. The bridge soon became known as Pegasus Bridge,

The Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, London  after the insignia of the British 6th Airborne Division. The Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, London

By morning, as the invasion force rolled ashore on Sword Beach, the left flank of the area was indeed secure. By 1300 hours elements of the 1st Commando Brigade, under the command of Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, had connected with Howard's glider troops at the bridges. As evening fell on June 6, the 6th Airborne Division was generally in place and had achieved its objectives.