page_title: Operation Deadstick
section_title: Bridges
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Deadstick / Background / Bridges
caption_attribution_description: English: The Orne River Bridge near Caen, a vital bridge which was held by glider troops until the main body of invasion forces were able to reach them.
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 Ranville bridge spans the River Orne and the Bénouville bridge crosses the Caen Canal to the west. They are 5 miles (8.0 km) from the coast and provided the only access to the city of Caen. The main road between the two communes crosses the bridges and then continues east to the River Dives. At 190 feet (58 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, the Caen Canal bridge opens to allow canal traffic to pass underneath. The controls were housed in a nearby cabin. The canal is 27 feet (8.2 m) deep by 150 feet (46 m) wide, with earth and stone banks 6 feet (1.8 m) high. Small tarmac tracks run on both banks along the canal's entire length.
  Between the two bridges there is a strip of mostly marshy ground about 550 yards (500 m) wide, broken up by ditches and small streams. The Ranville bridge over the River Orne is 350 feet (110 m) long, 20 feet (6.1 m) wide and can be opened to allow river traffic to pass. The river is 160–240 feet (49–73 m) wide and with an average depth of 9 feet (2.7 m). It has mud banks averaging about 3.6 feet (1.1 m) high and a tidal rise and fall of 16–6.5 feet (4.9–2.0 m). A number of small houses lie to the west of the river, connected by a track 8–10 feet (2.4–3.0 m) wide, that runs along both banks.
caption: The River Orne Bridge
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