page_title: Operation Deadstick
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Deadstick / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: Original Pegasus Bridge, now in Pegasus Museum. Note the rivetted patch on the right wall of the bridge that shows where the bridge was extended after the War, before removal.
context_page_description: Operation Deadstick was the codename for an operation by airborne forces of the British Army that took place in the early hours of 6 June 1944 as part of the Normandy landings of the Second World War. The objective was to capture intact two road bridges in Normandy across the River Orne and the Caen Canal, providing the only exit eastwards for British forces from their landing on Sword Beach. Intelligence reports said both bridges were heavily defended by the Germans and wired for demolition. Once captured, the bridges had to be held against any counter-attack, until the assault force was relieved by commandos and other infantry advancing from the landing beach.
  The mission was vital to the success of Operation Tonga, the overall British airborne landings in Normandy. Failure to capture the bridges intact, or to prevent their demolition by the Germans, would leave the British 6th Airborne Division cut off from the rest of the Allied armies with their backs to the two waterways. If the Germans retained control over the bridges, they could be used by their armoured divisions to attack the landing beaches of Normandy.
context_section_description: The Caen Canal bridge was renamed Pegasus Bridge after the emblem of the British airborne forces, while the River Orne bridge became Horsa Bridge. The road across them is now the "Esplanade Major John Howard". Since the end of the war, Pegasus Bridge and the adjacent Café Gondrée have become a place where British veterans of the conflict visiting Normandy congregate. In 1994, Pegasus Bridge was replaced by a new structure and the old bridge was added to the displays at the Pegasus Museum in Benouville.
  The original model of the area around the bridge, that was used to brief troops taking part in the assault, is preserved in Airborne Assault: The Museum of The Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces, located at the Imperial War Museum Duxford.
caption: The original Pegasus Bridge at the Memorial Pegasus in Benouville.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon DIGITAL IXUS 40", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2005:07:22 14:33:17", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5108", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4235", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2005:07:22 14:33:17", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2005:07:22 14:33:17", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "287/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "159/32", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "29/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1024", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "768", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "1024", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "768", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "2142", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "32000/7", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "32000/7", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}