On the night of the 5th/6th June 1944, men of the 2nd Battalion the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, known as “the 52nd”, took off from Tarrant Rushton Airfield in Dorset in six Horsa gliders and headed towards their objective; two vital bridges over the Caen Canal and River Orne by the village of Benouville. This coup de main operation was called “a suicide mission that might just work” by some senior officers but thanks to the training and skill of those involved, the men achieved their objective and seized both bridges in under ten minutes. No4 glider, carrying 22 platoon, was released in the wrong place and landed some ten miles away from their objective. Despite landing in the wrong location, the men successfully seized the bridge where they landed and then began to make their way towards Pegasus Bridge and the rest of the Battalion. Despite several sharp encounters with the enemy resulting in four men being killed and several wounded they eventually joined up with the rest of the 52nd near Ranville after 18 hours of marching, wading and fighting during which time they added various parachutists and an airman to their number.
