On 6th June 1944 the role of the 6th Division in the initial assault into the Normandy coast was to seize, intact, the bridges over the river Orne and the canal de Caen (Pegasus Bridge) east of Benouville and to establish a bridgehead east of the river to secure these crossings. Additional tasks were to silence the guns of a coastal defense battery southeast of Merville and to destroy certain bridges over the Rivers Dives and Divette. In the early hours of the morning a coup de main party landed in the dark in gliders and captured the bridges, whilst before dawn the Merville Battery had been silenced. The securing of this east flank was vitally important, as it was eventually the hinge on which the entire Allied armies would pivot as they broke out of the bridgehead to sweep out to Paris, Brussels, Antwerp and the Rhine. -- From the forward.

Includes index.

Before the invasion -- Pegasus Bridge -- The Merville Battery -- Pegasus Bridge to the Merville Battery -- The high ground -- Bridges over the Dives and Divette.