All language subtitles for Forgotten.Frontlines.S01E05.Pegasus.Bridge.1080p.WEB-DL.DDP5.1.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] June 6th, 1944.

D-Day.

As the Allies are
storming the beaches

in the largest amphibious
invasion in history,

a group of light infantrymen are

in the midst of a dangerous
operation behind enemy lines

that will be critical to
the success of D-Day.

The mission?

To capture and
defend two bridges

near the Orne River
in Northern France.

A crucial point
in both the Allies'

and the Nazis' battle plans.

Although small in stature,

these bridges will prove
immensely important

in the battle for
Northern Europe.

- D-Day is the beginning
of the end for the Nazis.

And pretty much hinges
on these two small bridges.

- It's got all the elements

of a really cool
secret operation,

'cause it is.

- This was a feat of daring do.

It was a specific enemy target

and one, crucially, that
had to remain intact.

- [Narrator] But how
did they get there?

And how long can they hold out?

[dramatic music]

[suspenseful music]

June 5th, 1944,
just before midnight.

Only hours before the
planned start of D-Day,

six Horsa gliders, towed
by Halifax bombers,

take off from RAF Tarrant
Rushton in Dorset, England.

They are embarking on a mission

that could decide
the fate of D-Day.

- The weather's bad.

It's overcast.

It's drizzling.

It's windy.

They gotta be able to get
behind enemy lines safely

and in a stealthy manner.

- [Narrator] Their
mission is to capture

two strategically
located bridges,

vital to ensuring
an Allied victory.

- If this early
mission is detected,

it could undermine the secrecy

and element of
surprise for all of D-Day.

- [Narrator] The Allies
aim to change the course

of World War II,

beginning with the
liberation of France.

[suspenseful music]

With the invasion
of Poland in 1939

marking the start of the war,

the Germans are
on the offensive.

Hitler has his eye on France.

This strategic location
will provide a tactical base

for air and sea
attacks against Britain.

In March of 1940,

the Germans begin their
campaign against France.

The French army has been
weakened by World War I

and France is officially
under German control

just two months later.

[suspenseful music]

Amidst German occupation,

an elaborate resistance
network is created

by French patriots.

- They're the unsung
heroes of World War II.

Men and women, regular people,

now fighting against
Nazi occupation,

belonging to organized
resistance groups

like the Maquis or Allez Ons.

- [Narrator] These
operatives are essential

to inform the Allies of
German activity in the area.

- Aerial reconnaissance,
at least at that time,

could only go so far because
we are about observing things

from thousands of feet away

from very high up.

There were certain details
which would be available

only to people on the ground.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] By 1943, the
tides of war are changing

for the Germans.

- This is not Germany of 1939.

This is a nation ravaged by war.

Allied bombing has
taken a significant toll.

And their resources
are seriously depleted.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] After a string
of victories throughout 1943,

the Allies regain territories
occupied by the Nazis.

- The more successes you have,

the more you believe that you
can continue to be successful.

And so you tend to go to
bolder and bolder actions.

[suspenseful music]
[explosions booming]

- [Narrator] The Allies formulate
a plan to liberate France

and bring an end to the war:

Operation Overlord.

339 Allied divisions
commit to this battle.

Over 1 million troops in total.

- Resources are coming
from virtually everyone

who opposes the Nazis.

So you have Free
French soldiers.

You have Canadians,
the Americans, the British.

And you have assorted persons

from a variety of
occupied countries.

- [Narrator] On June
6th, 156,000 of these men

will attempt to land on
the beaches of Normandy

in what would become
known as D-Day.

- We're talking about the
greatest amphibious operation

in history, and there's no
guarantee it's gonna work.

- The resource allocation
for D-Day is like nothing else.

There is no precedent for it.

Certainly not on that scale.

It takes years in preparation.

- 156,000 men, 5,000
ships, 11,000 aircraft.

This is gonna change the
course of the Second World War.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] Supreme
Allied Commander,

General Dwight Eisenhower,

draws up plans to
invade five beaches

on the coast of Normandy,

paving the way for an inland
advance on the eastern flank.

- You are landing a force

the like of which the world
has never seen before.

If you can't get them out

from the beaches upon
which they've landed,

you've got a problem.

You need to ensure
you have your routes

into mainland France.

So you need to
secure bridges out.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] Eight kilometers
in from the Normandy coast,

a bridge over the Caen Canal

will allow the invasion force

to quickly move
east after landing.

Another bridge
just 470 meters east

over the Orne River will
provide a continued path inland

from the beaches.

- We have to hold the bridge

so that the thousands and
thousands of men and trucks

and supplies can move
their way toward Paris

and, ultimately, Berlin.

Secondly, we have to hold
the bridges as a choke point

so that the Nazis
can't reinforce

their overrun
troops at Normandy.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] Major
General Richard Gale

of the 6th Airborne
Division is tasked

with formulating a plan to
complete this critical task.

Gale selects Major John Howard

to lead the operation
on the ground.

- Major John Howard is the pinup

of the so-called people's war.

He's the guy who's climbed
up through the ranks,

through dint of personal
endeavor and military acumen.

And he's a team player.

He looks out for his boys.

He's the man you
want at the helm.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] The initial plan
was to capture the bridges

using paratroopers,
an idea that quickly falls

by the wayside
in favor of gliders.

- Transport plane can come in

and drop down hundreds,
thousands of men.

But they're like dandelion
seeds in the wind.

Where are they gonna end up?

A glider, on the other hand,

you're all landing in the same
aircraft in the same place.

You get out together.

You're still one unit.

Not a minute is lost.

- The glider is quiet
and it has no engines.

And it will be
dropped off by a tug,

that is a bomber pulling it,

a fair distance away from
where it's actually gonna get to.

But of course, a
bomber makes noise.

And the Allies
had a cunning plan.

The bombers continue on
a slightly separate course

and then drop as if
they're on a bombing run.

And this, of course,
was completely credible

because that part of the
coast was being bombed,

day after day after day,
in preparation for D-Day.

- It's a really smart
decision by the British

and starts this chain of events

that certainly plays out
very famously on the beaches

on the morning of June the 6th.

But a lot was going on

on the ground
overnight further inland.

And it really does start

with those 181 guys
taking off from Dorset.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] The force is
comprised mostly of D Company

of the Oxford and
Buckinghamshire Light Infantry:

The Ox and Bucks.

They're reinforced by two
platoons from B Company,

plus 20 Royal Engineers
and 12 glider pilots.

The gliders will land
southeast of Sword Beach,

where the British landing force

is due to arrive hours later.

Once the bridges are seized
and ready to be reinforced,

Major Howard will tip
off intelligence officers

with the code
words, ham and jam.

As they approach their targets,

Major Howard in the lead
glider recognizes the area

from reconnaissance photographs

and knows exactly what the
German defenses are down below.

At this stage of the war,

the Allies control the skies
and take every opportunity

to take aerial photographs
of potential invasion sites.

- 17 million photographs.

Every gun emplacement,

every bridge,

every infantryman,

every pole to prevent
the landing of a parachute.

Each and everyone was noted.

- And, of course,

we're also getting information
from agents on the ground,

from resistance leaders,

all putting together
this picture.

- Certain number of ways in
which you can attack a bridge.

The Germans set
up all the defenses

in order to prevent that.

- They've got relatively
formidable defensive positions.

They've got machine
gun nests on both bridges.

On one bridge, they've
got an anti tank gun.

- [Narrator] Barbed
wire and a trench system

are set up around the bridges,

manned by 50 riflemen
and machine gunners.

The 736th Grenadier
Regiment of the 716th Infantry.

This unit is largely made
up of poorly equipped men

from German-occupied nations,

with some older
Germans mixed in.

The German soldiers
have instructions

to destroy the
bridges if necessary

to stop them from
ending up in Allied hands.

At seven minutes after
midnight on June 6th,

the bombers, towing
the British gliders,

cast off their lines in
preparation for landing.

- Three gliders are gonna
land next to one bridge

and three next to another
bridge, 400 meters away.

So it's a relatively
tiny strip of land

that they've got to land in.

And they've got to
land one after the other

in synchronized order.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] Major
Howard instructs

the glider pilots to land

with the nose right
against the barbed wire

surrounding their
assigned bridges.

- You don't have as much control

of the aircraft as you
would with an engine.

So it's a great challenge,
particularly to do it at night.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] In
order to pinpoint

this exact location in the dark,

the glider pilots must
execute the dangerous

and risky task of
performing a dive approach

and pulling up at
the very last moment,

slamming the glider into the
ground as smoothly as possible

and hoping for the best.

But as the glider
landings begin,

things don't go to plan.

- And the very first glider with
Major John Howard comes in

and sort of crash lands.

The good news is it crash
landed right next to the bridge.

- They were going too
fast when they came in

and then the final violent stop.

So violent, in fact,

that the two pilots are
thrown out of their seats

and up against the windshield.

And yet, despite this,

they land at exactly
the right place.

It couldn't have
been more perfect.

If you'd written that
sequence of events in a novel,

people wouldn't
have believed it.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] With the
bumpy glider landing,

Major Howard's
seatbelt is broken

and he bashes his
head on the ceiling,

rendering him unconscious
for a few minutes

and with a possible concussion.

- When you're concussed,
you're dizzy, headaches.

Sensory information, lights,
and sounds can cause pain

that would make it very
difficult for him to concentrate

and very difficult to be
efficient in his decision making.

- [Narrator] Despite his injury,

Howard leads his
platoon out of the glider.

Two other gliders, filled with
infantrymen and engineers,

land nearby for the attack,

all within 42 meters of
the Caen Canal bridge.

If the Germans
attack the gliders now,

the loss of life
could be catastrophic

to the success of the mission.

But, luck is on their side.

The German sentries,
only meters away,

disregard the sounds
of the landing gliders,

assuming they're
hearing falling debris

from a crashing bomber.

East of the canal,

the three gliders approaching
the Orne River bridge

are not so lucky.

Two of the three
gliders land successfully,

but the third glider
takes a wrong turn.

- This is the glider

that contains Howard's
second in command,

Captain Priday, and this
goes completely off beam.

- [Narrator] Although
he's missed his target,

fate will hand Captain Priday
a different role on D-Day.

[suspenseful music]

Meanwhile, at the Caen Canal,

Major Howard's D Company troops

rush towards the canal bridge.

[suspenseful music]
[guns popping]

Leading the charge is
Lieutenant Den Brotheridge,

commanding the
first platoon across.

- He wants to be first
across that bridge.

He knows it's
gonna be dangerous,

but he's gonna be
the man doing it.

- There are two German sentries.

One of them
manages to fire a flare

and then he's shot and killed.

The other one runs.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] As they
continue across the bridge,

Brotheridge and his
platoon are attacked

by machine gunfire coming
from the far side of the canal.

- And one of those
bullets sadly goes

through Brotheridge's throat
and he's mortally wounded.

- [Narrator]
Lieutenant Brotheridge

becomes the first
battle casualty of D-Day.

But his men are so
dedicated to seizing the bridge

that they don't even
notice he's fallen

until minutes later.

Brotheridge's platoon
continues across the bridge

to take a defensive
position on the west bank

as the Royal Engineers
search for explosive charges

on the bridge
and cut their fuses.

- It's pretty much standard
operating procedure

that if you're assigned
a key bridge like that,

if you cannot hold it,

you blow it up.

- The engineers
would have to come in

and secure those explosives

so that the Germans
could not do that.

It would've been
extremely dangerous.

When you're working
with explosives

that any wrong move
could potentially be set off,

or the Germans
could just go ahead

and actually blow up the
bridge if they were so inclined.

- [Narrator] On the east bank,

Howard's other two platoons
clear bunkers and trenches

with grenades and gunfire.

The German defenders
are overmatched.

By 21 minutes after midnight,

German resistance on the
Caen Canal bridge is over

and Major Howard's D Company,

The Ox and Bucks,
have full control

of this critical throughway.

Howard soon gets word that
the nearby Orne River Bridge

is also fully
captured by his men.

- Fortunately, the defenders
to that bridge don't put up

even as much of a fight as they
do on the Caen Canal bridge.

And they flee before
there's even a shot fired.

- [Narrator] But a lone
German soldier manages

to survive the bridge attack

and retreats to headquarters
to inform his commander.

Major Howard knows
he's in for a tough night

defending these bridges.

The Allied invasion of
France is just hours away.

And the Germans haven't
got a clue about what's coming.

- It was a nasty night.

They assumed that
nobody he was going to land

and boy, did they assume wrong.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] The Germans
predict an Allied assault on France

as early as 1942.

But they are unable
to predict exactly where

and when it might be.

So they bolster the defenses
across the Western Front.

- For the last two years,

one of the great
obsessions of Hitler

had been reinforcing
this Atlantic Wall.

This extraordinary
concrete fortification

that ran from Norway right down

to the Franco-Spanish
southern coast.

- That is a massive
defensive structure.

Thousands and
thousands of landmines,

thousands of machine gun nests,

thousands of artillery.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] In early 1944,

Hitler assigned
one of his best men,

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel,

to improve the wall's defenses

in preparation for
an Allied attack.

The highly decorated Rommel
had earned the nickname

the Desert Fox for his exploits

as commander of the
German forces in North Africa.

[suspenseful music]

The Germans suspect the
attack will come at Pas de Calais,

350 kilometers east of the
actual D-Day landing sites.

- Ideally, you want
the shortest crossing.

And that was this crossing
from Dover to Pas de Calais.

So it was identified
as being the location

where the Allies would hit back

at German occupation in France.

And, of course, we
played to that presumption.

- [Narrator] The section
of the Atlantic Wall

at Pas de Calais is strengthened

with an enormous amount
of concrete and steel.

And the Nazis install
three major gun batteries,

pointing their 406-millimeter
cannons at Dover, England.

- There were things called
hedgehogs wedged down

into the ground with a
sharpened spike at the top.

The boats would've been
hung up on the hedgehogs,

which would've caused a
massive water traffic jam

and prevented the
Allies from landing.

- [Narrator] In the months
leading up to D-Day,

the Allies launch a massive
disinformation campaign

aimed at keeping the Nazis
attention on Pas de Calais.

But the actual attack
will happen in Normandy.

And the first Allied troops
are already on the ground.

[suspenseful music]

30 minutes after
the gliders first left

for the coast of Normandy,

the capture of the
bridges is complete.

Major Howard sends
the magic words back

to British intelligence
operations, "ham and jam."

This signifies that
reinforcements can begin

to move in to
bolster the troops.

But one of the six
gliders is still missing.

Major Howard's second in
command, Captain Priday,

realizes that they have
landed in the wrong place.

The nearby bridge is not
the one he's meant to capture.

- First of all, they're let
off in the wrong place

by the tug.

And then the pilot of the
glide mistakenly identifies

the Dives River as the
location where he should be.

Now, this group have
now got a problem.

- He's going to be
feeling the level of anxiety.

So he's operating in a vacuum

where he doesn't
know what's happening

and he bears responsibility
as second in command

for making it successful.
- He has to make good.

Luckily, he's used to having
a bit of military authority.

He's clearly got
his wits about him.

And he buckles down
and secures a bridgehead

on the Dives River.

- [Narrator] Although this isn't

Priday's original objective,

he decides to capture
the bridge anyway.

The Germans put up a fight,

but they're are no match for
Captain Priday and his men.

And the bridge is taken.

- This was a job that has
actually been assigned

to the 1st Canadian
Parachute Battalion.

And once they've
secured that bridge,

they then begin to move back
towards their actual location,

which is Ranville,

and then those two bridges.

- [Narrator] Around the
time that Howard and Priday

are securing their bridges,

other Allied missions
are beginning,

paving the way for the D-Day
landings later that morning.

A 1,200-airplane assault
heads to the coast of France

to target the Atlantic Wall.

- Where you send in the bombers

in advance of the land invasion

to compromise as best you
can the German defenses.

The more damage that
you can inflict from the air,

the more likelihood for success

you have on that beach invasion.

- The bad news is
there's terrible weather.

There's a lot of cloud cover,

which makes bombing
really tricky at best.

And, of course, you still
have anti-aircraft defenses,

which the Germans are manning,

which makes your life
a little bit of a nightmare.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] Meanwhile,
at the Caen Canal

and Orne River bridges,

Major Howard and
his men are braced

for a German counter attack.

- They need to hold
them long enough

for the 7th Paratroop Battalion

to get there in time
to reinforce them.

- [Narrator] At around
50 minutes past midnight,

the 600 paratroopers,

led by Lieutenant Colonel
Richard Pine-Coffin,

start to land in their
designated drop zones

east of the bridges.

- They're expecting 7th
Para to arrive within the hour.

But, of course,

as is the way with
parachute troops

who tend to be dropped
over a dispersed area

and it takes them a long
time to finally all meet up

and then get on the march.

That one hour is gonna
string into more like two.

So you've got
this crucial period

that can this small
group of force hang on

until the paras
come to their rescue?

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] While Howard is
waiting for the 7th to show up,

he gets a welcome
visitor who had parachuted

into Northern France
an hour earlier.

Brigadier Nigel
Poett is on a mission

to set up a base in the small
French village of Ranville.

He was accompanied in
his jump by a pathfinder unit,

a small advanced
force of paratroopers

tasked with setting up
the drop zones for the 7th.

As Poett confers with Howard,

they can hear the
sounds of German vehicles

in the nearby villages of
Bénouville and Le Port.

If reinforcement
don't arrive soon,

they will lose their
hold on their bridge.

- What they're concerned
with is what's gonna happen

if the 21st Panzer
Division comes into play.

[suspenseful music]

- The Germans build
some impressive tanks:

The Panzer, The
Tiger, The Leopard.

These tanks are larger
and much more powerful

than what the Allies have.

There were multiple battles

where it would take two,
three, four, five Sherman tanks

to neutralize one of these
massive German tanks.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] The commander
of the German 716th Infantry

is informed at 1:20 that
the British are in control

of the Orne River and
the Caen Canal bridges,

which are fully intact.

To stop the allies
from encroaching,

the commander attempts to
order the 21st Panzer Division

to defend the
bridge landing areas.

- Now, if he could
have counterattacked,

they could have
probably reclaimed them.

But they couldn't

because of this very
complex command chain

going right back to Berlin.

- One person has
insisted no Panzer divisions

will be moved without his order.

And that, of course,

is the dictator Adolf Hitler.

He's asleep and no one has
the courage to wake him up.

- We know that this
person had bouts of anger

and would lash out sometimes
at the bringers of bad news.

So understandably, his
staff was a bit concerned

about waking him up.

- Hitler's unwillingness
to allow other people

to make decisions
speaks to a couple things.

One, his just total ego

that he would not allow
anybody else to do that.

His also distrust

of a lot of the people
who were around him.

Therefore, he had to be the
one who made all the decisions.

And ultimately, that
was to the detriment

of the German forces,

because that is not
a sustainable model

for military decision making.

- [Narrator] Although
the Germans are aware

that the Allies may attack
Northern France anytime,

they have no idea
that June 6th is D-Day.

And as the weather
has taken a turn

for the worst in early June,

they're led into a
false sense of security.

They were so unconcerned that
Nazi commander Erwin Rommel,

in charge of the
forces in Normandy,

is not even in
France at the time.

- He pops back to Germany
to give his wife a pair of shoes

for her 50th birthday,

because he thinks that the
weather simply isn't going

to invite this unprecedented
amphibious attack.

And he gets it very wrong.

- [Narrator] The German
forces are left in the hands

of lower ranked officials.

- If Rommel had been there,

he may have ignored the fact

that Hitler wasn't
able to give an order

or no one was
prepared to wake him up.

But he wasn't there

and his more junior
commanders were not prepared

to take that risk.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] Although
the German commanders

are not permitted to
order the Panzers to move,

they are able to move the
support units assigned to them.

And so begins the
German counter offensive

to recapture the bridges.

The 125th Panzergrenadier's
is ordered to assemble

just to the east
of the Orne River

to wait for further
instructions.

The 192nd Panzergrenadier's
is ordered to move in

from the west,
recapture the bridges,

and attack the
parachute landing zones.

These troops don't have
any heavy armor or tanks.

So they are reinforced
here by two other units,

the First Panzerjäger Company

and parts of the 989th
Heavy Artillery Battalion

from the north.

- And they do have
some armor, actually.

And they eventually put
together a small column of tanks.

- [Narrator] The Germans
head towards the bridges.

But having had a
few hours to dig in,

Howard's men are
ready for an attack.

And they got a good bit of luck.

One of the weapons at
Howard's disposal is the PIAT,

a handheld anti-tank gun.

As the first tank
comes into view,

one of the troops
from D Company fires.

- And incredibly, this charge
explodes inside the tank

and it blows up the ammunition.

So there's an
enormous explosion.

And this so terrifies
the Germans

that not only does the
rest of that column back up,

they're now convinced that
there's a much stronger force

at the bridge

with really effective
six-pounder anti-tank guns,

which they don't have.

And this gives the airborne
troops crucial breathing space.

- [Narrator] The
192nd heads back

to headquarters in
Bénouville to regroup.

The German commander
needs to assess the situation

before attacking again.

But the 192nd will
return to the bridges.

Having fought
back the first attack,

Howard and his men are relieved

to see the first
group of paratroopers

from the 7th Battalion
finally arriving at the bridge.

- That's the moment
where the squaddies,

the ordinary soldiers
on the bridge,

can breathe the
first sigh of relief.

Because most of the
defensive heavy lifting

from this point is
gonna be carried out

by the 7th Parachute Battalion.

- [Narrator] Sometime later,
the regiment commander,

Lieutenant Colonel Pine-Coffin
arrives with more men

for a total of 200 men
in three companies,

fewer than 50% of
the men expected.

- Ultimately, a lot of
those missing guys

do trudge in later on.

But it's all about getting the
maximum amount of force

into the right place
at the right time

so that they can
take up positions

and defend it against
the counter attack.

- The 7th A and C
companies are positioned

just outside of Bénouville,

facing south towards
the city of Caen.

And B Company in Le
Port, facing Ouistreham

to the north near Sword Beach

where the British troops
will soon be landing.

Howard's D Company is
pulled back as reserved

to hold the area
between the two bridges.

The 7th will bear the brunt
of German counterattacks

on the west side of the Caen
Canal throughout the whole day.

- You've got 200 paratroopers,

so they don't have any big guns.

All they've got are
handheld anti-tank weapons,

and Gammon grenades
to stop an armored attack.

But you've got a potential force

of thousands
bearing down on you.

- [Narrator] While
the men at the bridge

are busy holding
off the Germans,

eight kilometers
away at Sword Beach,

the British begin their
aerial and naval assault,

targeting the German
artillery and coastal defenses

in preparation for
the beach landings.

- The landing on Sword Beach,

as far as the Pegasus
Operation is concerned,

is absolutely crucial
because this is where

the relief is going to come.

They don't know quite
how long it's gonna take

for them to get
through those defenses.

So although they
estimate they might be able

to relieve the
bridges by midday,

possibly a few hours later,

they don't know for sure.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] The first
beach landings in Normandy

are only a few hours away.

To ensure that the
Germans have no idea

where the actual planned
invasion will occur,

the Allies create one of
the biggest deceptions

ever carried out
in military history.

- I think one of the keys
to the success of D-Day

is actually this
incredibly sophisticated

and ultimately very
successful subterfuge operation

known as Operation Fortitude.

- [Narrator] Operation
Fortitude is a component

of a massive
disinformation campaign

called Operation Bodyguard.

- In order to secure the truth

that the Allies are planning

this massive assault
for Normandy,

they have to go through
an elaborate series of lies

to convince the Germans that
the attack is coming at Calais.

And it requires
significant moving parts,

a lot of details,

double agents
working for the British

who have cover stories,

and then all of
those military assets.

- [Narrator] To
create the illusion

of troops building up
near Southeast England,

a phantom fighting
force is created,

led by American
General George Patton.

- We had intercepted a
German communication saying,

Patton is the most
gifted general,

the one they're most afraid of.

So they knew Patton was
gonna be the tip of the spear.

The point that led the invasion.

And Patton's fake army,

it was inflatable tanks,
balloons, wooden structures.

It was like a
Hollywood movie set.

- [Narrator] In the months
leading up to D-Day,

decoy fleets of landing craft,

simply painted canvases
covering steel frames,

are placed around
the River Thames

and other important waterways.

Inflatable Sherman
tanks are deployed

and moved to different
locations at night.

Rollers are used to
simulate tire tracks

to keep up the pretense.

To further ramp up the
disinformation campaign,

the Allies increase aerial
attacks on Pas de Calais.

They also hire an
Australian actor,

Lieutenant M.E. Clifton James,

to pose as General
Bernard Montgomery,

the commander of all
Allied ground forces.

Dressed in one of
Montgomery's uniforms,

Lieutenant James, who
bears a striking resemblance

to the general, flies to
Gibraltar and then Algiers,

where he's sure to be
spotted by German intelligence.

It's hoped that the Germans
will think Montgomery

is in Africa.

They won't be
expecting the Allies

to attack mainland
Europe without him.

- And we knew from our
extraordinary levels of intelligence

that, in fact,

the Germans had fallen for
our plan, hook, line, and sinker.

And those cannon, the
Panzer reinforcements,

the big guns, literally, on
Germany's Western Front

were pointing in the wrong
direction, in the wrong place.

- There were multiple
divisions redeployed to Calais.

If they had been
deployed at Normandy,

that could have
changed the whole nature

of the D-Day landing.

- [Narrator] But ultimately,
the success of D-Day

could be significantly set back

if the bridges come
back under enemy control.

This is now a strong possibility
as, just after 03:00 hours,

the Germans launch
another attack.

The newly arrived 7th
Paratroopers are facing an onslaught

from a well-armed battalion

of the 192nd
Panzergrenadier Regiment.

As the battle rages,
the 7th holds their own.

But it's only a matter of time

before the Germans
receive permission

to mobilize their Panzers.

And there's no way
the 7th can defeat them.

- Every time they rebuff
a German incursion,

it depends on the
toll it takes on them.

As long as the toll is light,

then you're going to continue
to feel a series of successes.

And it's going to
strengthen your resolve

and make you feel
like this is doable.

On the other hand,

they're also in a
hyper-alert state

that is going to wear on them.

This leads to what's
called operational fatigue.

The longer you're on,

the more likely you
are to make mistakes.

- [Narrator] As the battle
for the bridges continues,

French families in the dwellings

dotted around
the canal and river

take cover in their houses.

One such home on the west
bank of the canal is Café Gondrée,

which is about to
earn its place in history.

- It's a cafe which has
served as a bit of a refuge

for this German
sentries who go in there

to take break from
their sentry duty.

- [Narrator] As soon
as the fighting started,

the cafe's owners, Georges
and Thérèse Gondrée,

took shelter in the cellar
with their two young children.

- Monsieur and Madame
Gondrée are actually sympathizers.

They are in touch
with the resistance

and they've been handing over

a certain amount of information.

- The information
that would be gathered

in these types of cafes

would be through
the conversations

that were taking place
between the German soldiers.

They were excellent
sources of intelligence.

And this intelligence
would then be carried

to the French resistance,

who could utilize it themselves

or transmit it across
the Channel to the Allies.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] Not knowing
who's prevailing outside,

they're apprehensive when
they hear a knock at their door.

They're relieved to see
three British soldiers.

The Gondrées are eager
to help the British liberators

in any way they can.

And the cafe is converted
into an aid station

as casualties are
brought inside,

away from enemy fire.

Café Gondrée becomes
the first house in France

to be liberated by the Allies
as the beach landings begin.

At 6:26, the Americans land
on Omaha and Utah beaches.

Their main objectives
are to secure

an eight-kilometer beachhead
between Port-en-Bessin

and the Vire River,

and to take the Cotentin
Peninsula to the west.

The force at Omaha is expected

to battle a single
German regiment.

But instead, they're up
against the entire 352nd Division

and suffer the most casualties
of all the beach landings.

- The way the German
defenses were organized,

one regiment would be in charge

of this part of the
Normandy coast,

another regimen in
this part and so forth.

Right where the Allies
came ashore at Omaha,

it constituted the division
between two different regiments.

So instead of fighting one,
they ended up fighting two.

But they somehow managed to
come ashore and take the beach.

- [Narrator] Having failed
to recapture the bridges,

the Germans try a new tactic.

- The main hazard they
had through the morning

was from sniper fire.

- [Narrator] But D
Company fights back.

Ironically, using a German
weapon against them.

- They bring the
anti-tank gun into action

and actually manage to
knock out a water tower

that they're convinced
the sniper is hiding in.

- [Narrator] D
Company does their best

to take cover from the snipers
and maintain their positions.

But they do suffer casualties

and the wounded are
taken to Café Gondrée.

Thérèse Gondrée
is a trained nurse

and works with the troop
doctor to treat the wounded.

- And you see this
actually throughout France

during the liberation.

There's an excitement to
help in whatever way they can.

And certainly this is a
great example of that.

Where she's there,

she wants to assist,

use her skills as a nurse.

- [Narrator] But Café
Gondrée isn't the only thing

to be liberated.

Outside, Georges Gondrée
is digging up his yard,

unearthing 90
bottles of champagne,

buried since the German
occupation began in 1940.

- We know from accounts
of German occupation

that they had a
tendency to appropriate,

basically steal, luxury goods.

They certainly did not want
the average French person

to enjoy such luxuries.

- If you're a
French nationalist,

what has happened from
the time the Germans came in,

that's not France.

That's not French culture.

That's not French life.

And once the Germans are out,

bring up the champagne.

And it's sort of a
symbolic acknowledgement

that this is France again.

- [Narrator] But
for Major Howard,

there's no time for celebration.

He's worried about his second
in command, Captain Priday,

and the other men
who he now must report

as missing in action.

- The position of Priday
and the missing platoon

is very hazardous

because they're behind
enemy lines, basically.

You never know whether
Germans are gonna pop up.

- [Narrator] After
securing the bridge

across the Dives River,

some 10 kilometers east
of their intended destination,

Captain Priday and his
men continue moving,

constantly checking their
surroundings for the enemy,

as they head towards Allied
headquarters in Ranville.

As they push forward,

they face enemy
fire from the woods.

To keep his men safe
from the Germans,

Captain Priday leads
them off the road.

- It's water logged.

They're coming through
dykes and ditches.

So it takes Priday
an awful long time

to slowly but surely work
his way to the bridges.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] An hour
after the Americans land

on Omaha and Utah beaches,

the British and Canadian forces
are faced with choppy seas.

At Gold Beach,

the British 50th
Infantry Division decides

that instead of using tank
landing crafts 500 meters out,

they will run their tanks
to the beach directly.

The British secure a beachhead

and take out the
big guns in the area

with relatively
light casualties.

But the Canadians due
to land at Juno Beach

will be delayed until 07:45.

In the meantime,

the British and
Free French forces

are starting to land
at Sword Beach.

The British 3rd
Infantry Division

is tasked with the assault.

Fortunately, German
fortifications at Sword Beach

are lighter than the
other landing sites.

- The Allies were
expecting barbed wire

and an array of
anti-tank defenses,

which is consistent
with the Atlantic Wall.

Well, turns out the Germans
don't do very much here,

but their fortifications need
to be cleared and secured.

- [Narrator] Two squadrons
of Royal Engineers worked

to clear the beach,

allowing the troops to
penetrate the coastline.

Facing moderate fire from
German machine gun nests,

the troops advanced to
capture the beachfront villas

and resorts with
little difficulty.

- Fortunately, Sword
Beach is the beach

where some of the
fewest casualties

are taken by the
Allied landing forces.

- [Narrator] Success at
Sword Beach is critical

to Major Howard and his team,

who are waiting for these
troops to relieve them.

The men at the
bridgehead are able

to hear the landing
action from their positions,

just eight kilometers
away from Sword Beach.

- Can you imagine it's
a sort of festival of noise.

And you're sitting there,

bedded in in a gun
pit under a bridge.

Knowing that you're
outnumbered by the enemy,

hearing your own guys
at sea, in the air overhead,

doing what they need to do

to try and make sure your
gains are gonna be held onto.

- [Narrator]
Amidst the activity,

two Spitfires fly
over the bridges.

- And they amazingly drop
the morning's newspapers,

which, of course,
announced D-Day.

It's extraordinary
to think, isn't it,

as they're making history,

the news of that history
is actually dropping down

on their location.

- [Narrator] With the quick
victory at Sword Beach,

the British troops begin
their advance towards

the Orne River and
Caen Canal bridges.

While the British
are taking Sword,

the delayed Canadians
finally land at Juno.

During the first
hour of fighting,

the Canadians face
heavy resistance

from the German 716th Division.

Suffering, a 50% casualty rate,

comparable to their American
counterparts on Omaha Beach.

- That stands out to me
when I think about that day.

Whose story ended on that beach

for no other reason
than they just happened

to be at that
place, at that time?

And the person who was
maybe a foot two to the right

or the left, their
story continued.

- [Narrator] Once
the beach is secured,

the Canadian forces
will move inland

to capture the
nearby seaside towns

before pushing
south into Normandy.

At the time of the
D-Day beach landings,

Hitler is still asleep.

None of his generals dare

to reposition the Fuhrer's
troops without his permission.

Vital hours are lost

as the German Supreme
Commander slumbers.

The exhausted 6th
Airborne Division

has been holding the bridges
for hours amidst enemy fire.

At 09:00 hours, Brigadier Poett

returns from Allied
HQ in Ranville,

along with Major General Gale,

who had arrived in Normandy
by glider just after 3:00 AM.

They brought with them
the news that reinforcements

are on their way,

though it would
be a few hours yet.

[suspenseful music]

Although cheered by the news,

the troops defending the bridges
suddenly have an unexpected

and dangerous visitor.

Plowing up the river
from the Normandy coast,

they spot two powerful
German gunboats.

All the victories and sacrifices
that had been achieved

could be wiped out in
a matter of moments.

- They don't have
long-range weapons.

They have hand grenades and
they have STEN machine guns,

which have an effective
range of only about 100 meters.

So they can't hit the
boat, until it's close.

- [Narrator] The lead boat
gets dangerously close,

but a weapon that had been
successfully employed earlier

is again put to good use.

- And they open up on it,
not with the anti-tank gun,

which they can't swivel
around to get into position

to fire up the canal.

But with a PIAT, this
handheld anti-tank weapon.

And it's a brilliant shot.

Goes straight through
the wheelhouse.

Explodes, knocks the boat out.

The boat kinda slews
around onto the coast.

And they capture the
occupants of the boat.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] As the Germans
are marched off to captivity,

the second boat turns around
and heads back to the coast.

The bridges and beaches
remain in Allied control.

[suspenseful music]

But German opposition
is ramping up.

- If you're the Allies,

you're thinking that
you're in a very good spot.

The Germans do
have people in the area

who weren't on the beach,

who can certainly
attack the beach

or retreat and head inland
and go to the bridges.

- [Narrator] Just to the east,

there are over 2,000 German
troops waiting for permission

from Hitler to attack.

Other German threats are
less than a day's march away.

The 12th SS Panzer
Division in the Lisieux

and the Panzer Lehr
Division in Chartres.

At 10:00 hours,
the D Company men

on the canal bridge
face another challenge.

- After holding the
bridges all night long,

turning away tanks,
turning away infantry,

dealing with snipers.

In the sky, a lone
German bomber appears.

They have no weapons
that can deal with this.

And the bomber flies directly
overhead and releases a bomb.

And that bomb sails directly
down and strikes the bridge.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] This
is a rare bombing

on a day in which the
Luftwaffe was mostly absent.

- The head of the air
force, Hermann Göring,

grotesquely mismanaged
the Luftwaffe in all aspects.

And he fell out of favor
with Hitler as a result.

- The whole Luftwaffe,

which was the pride and joy
of the German Armed Forces

at the beginning of the war

has been really
eroded and depleted.

The Germans just
don't have the capacity

to churn out
airplanes like they did

in the early stages of the war.

And they also
don't have the pilots.

- With a thousand ships
at anchor off the coast.

And thousands of men on a beach,

had the Luftwaffe
come in with bombs

and strafing with machine guns,

D-Day would've been a bloodbath.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] But
bombs are still dropped.

D Company and
reinforcements at the bridge

do their best to take cover
from the incoming bombs.

- Can imagine their hearts
must have been in their throats.

You know, all that
work for nothing.

And then that is gone.

Piff, paff, poof.

- But with incredible
good fortune,

it hits, doesn't detonate,

and bounces off into the waters.

- So now you've got a
number of very lucky events.

So it's gonna be
a big morale boost,

but you still have a job to do.

But now you start
thinking that you're lucky

that you're gonna
succeed no matter what,

that you can beat the odds.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] Even
while the Allies

are attacking in Normandy,

they continue their mission
to convince the Germans

that an even bigger assault
is imminent at Pas de Calais

to the east.

To reinforce this subterfuge,

Allied aircraft drops hundreds

of dummy paratroops in the area.

- We had what
were called Ruperts.

Like a crash test, dummy.

They would fly over a
part of Europe in a bomber,

put parachutes on these Ruperts,

and throw 'em out the window.

- And when they hit the ground,

they would trigger off
gunfire and crackers.

They even landed
special operations troops

to play phonograph records,

to make it seem like you
could hear their voices.

Incredibly sophisticated.

And this, of course,
happened well away

from the Normandy landings.

- The Germans
had spotters literally

from Norway down to Spain.

And they would see
and radio back, it's here.

I imagine the Germans
charging out into the field

and holding up these little
dummies with parachutes on.

And being duped time
and time again by it.

- [Narrator] Around 10:00 AM,

Hitler finally emerges
from his slumber,

greeted with the news of
the Allies' amphibious assault.

He's excited by this news,

believing Germany can
achieve an easy victory.

- I think this is the success
of Operation Fortitude.

He's still not entirely convinced
this is the main landing.

So although he does
give the go ahead

for some counter attacks,

he doesn't order all the
other Panzer divisions

located further north
in the Pas de Calais

to move towards the
Normandy beachhead.

And this, of course,
is another mistake.

- [Narrator] But unfortunately

for Major Howard and his troops,

around midday, the
Germans mobilized 17 tanks

towards the town of Bénouville.

- Imagine being out on
the road to try to meet them.

And seeing these
multiple ton gigantic tanks

with very thick armor

and guns the size of a
telephone pole headed toward you.

- [Narrator] After hours
of staving off attacks

to hold their positions,

the British 6th
Airborne Division

is exhausted and depleted.

- Physically and
emotionally, mentally,

they would've been
absolutely spent.

And then you have
17 German tanks roll in.

Must have been a
very intimidating sight.

- [Narrator] But
although exhausted,

the troops resolve
to keep the Germans

from retaking the
bridges hold strong.

As the tanks bear down on them,

they manage, against all odds,

to destroy the lead tank
using an improvised grenade

called a Gammon bomb.

- A Gammon bomb kind of
looks like an oversized gourd.

It's like a bottle, basically.

And it is a hand grenade,
at the end of the day.

The difference is
that it can be adapted

to have an explosion that's
small, medium, or large,

basically speaking.

For things like
tanks, of course,

you're gonna pack
it full of explosives

and it can do sizeable damage.

And it does the trick.

- [Narrator] The other tank
gets stuck in a traffic jam

behind the destroyed tank,

giving the men the opportunity
they need to attack the rest.

- They somehow managed to
neutralize 13 of the 17 tanks.

So, yet again, they
managed to hold the bridges.

It's a one in a million
situation, but they did it.

- And it's at this point
that Howard is asked

by the commander of
the 7th Parachute Battalion

if he will send some of his
men and back across the bridge

to help bolster the
defense on the west side

of the Caen Canal bridge.

- [Narrator] While Howard's
men are covering the bridges,

the 7th push forward
to the town of Bénouville

and engage in
house-to-house fighting

to clear the lurking
Germans occupying houses.

- There were frontline
soldiers who were billeted

in French homes.

That's what occupying forces do.

The Germans used those
towns as defensive networks.

And also to rig them, to
line them up with explosives

so that you hinder
the enemy's advance.

So these towns
become really critical.

- Just after midday,

the German 21st Panzer
Division finally receives permission

to attack the Allied
forces advancing

from the Normandy
beach landings.

- The Germans are
slow off the mark.

If they'd been allowed
off the leash sooner,

they would've had a
chance to drive all the way

into Sword Beach
and possibly beyond.

- The 125th
Panzergrenadiers are ordered

toward the Orne River
and Caen Canal bridges.

But they are easily
spotted by British troops

To keep morale
high at the bridges,

Georges Gondrée has a plan.

- In a very French style,

the cafe owner brings out
the secret store of champagne

to celebrate the
Allied invasion.

- [Narrator] Gondrée
hands out the champagne

to the British troops.

This gesture is well received

and many of Major
Howard's men find excuses

to get their free drink at
various points during D-Day,

amidst constant enemy fire.

- Probably quite
warm, you'd imagine.

Been sitting in the June soil.

But anyway, any tipple,
I guess, is welcome

once you've been through a night

like the 5th and 6th of June.

- [Narrator] Major Howard and
his men have been holding on

for over 12 hours.

But Captain Priday
is still missing.

Priday and his men
continue onwards to Ranville,

the location of
Allied headquarters.

On their route,

they encounter elements

of the 1st Canadian
Parachute Battalion

and are invited
to join their attack

on the German-held
town of Bavent.

But Priday declines in
favor of bringing his men

to the bridges as
strong as possible

and completing his mission,

although somewhat late.

After swift success
on Sword Beach,

the British push
further into France,

dealing with pockets of German
resistance as they meet them.

The troops are now free to
head towards the Caen Canal

and Orne River bridges and
the anxiously waiting soldiers.

Their arrival at
13:30 is announced

by the sound of bagpipes,

played by piper Bill Millin

of the 1st Special
Service Brigade,

who had played
his pipes constantly

since arriving at Sword Beach.

- I'm sure it was a very
sweet sound for all those

who were at the
bridge to hear that

and to have that signal that
reinforcements were coming.

But it also is a sign
that what was happening

at the beach had
gone according to plan.

- It's a bit of a taunt,

saying, we can do this
because we're in control.

We're gonna keep these bridges.

We're gonna take back France.

This is just the start of a
whole series of dominoes,

and everybody's gonna
be in a huge positive morale

and a lot of happiness.

- [Narrator] But the
Germans still haven't given up.

At 15:00 hours, yet
another gunboat approaches.

This time from
Caen in the south.

- And they attack this
with the anti-tank gun,

because that can
swivel into a position

that it can engage
the boat coming up.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] They
miss their first shot,

but the second round hits
from over 200 meters away.

- It knocks out this boat,
forces it to turn around.

But it just goes to show
how vital the capture

and therefore the counter
destruction of the bridges was

for the Germans.

They realized they needed
to knock out those bridges.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] Through the late
afternoon and early evening,

German attacks on
the bridgehead taper off.

Just after 21:00 hours,

as hundreds of British
airplanes and gliders

are flying overhead,
dropping men and supplies,

the Second Battalion Royal
Warwickshire Regiment

of the 150th Infantry Brigade
marches in from Sword Beach.

Howard hands over the
bridges, intact and secure.

- They're finally
relieved completely.

And this is the moment
where they can relinquish

all responsibility
for those two bridges

and go into reserve
in the town of Ranville.

- [Narrator] And after
briefing the new commander,

Major Howard and his
exhausted men are finally able

to depart for battalion
headquarters,

a full day after taking
off from England.

When they reach Ranville,

Major Howard is
pleasantly surprised

to see his second in command,

Captain Priday, who has
just arrived after a waterlogged

and woodsy trek from Varaville.

- D-Day's an
overwhelming success.

There are objectives
which aren't achieved

on the initial day,
that's for sure.

And there are
mistakes that are made.

But it is the
beginning of the end

for the Nazis in the
Western Europe.

- [Narrator] Over 150,000
troops arrive on D-Day.

And by June 17th, over 500,000
soldiers are on the ground

to push the Germans
out of France

and move inland
to liberate Europe.

[solemn music]

A month after D-Day,

the two bridges are
renamed to honor the British

who held them strong
throughout the long battle.

- The bridge at the Orne
is renamed for the gliders.

And the bridge over the Caen
Canal is renamed Pegasus

for the logo on the
airborne uniforms.

And the road leading to them

is now named for
Major John Howard.

- [Narrator] For his leadership

during the capture
of the bridges,

Major Howard is nominated

for the Distinguished
Service Order

and presented with a medal

by Field Marshal Bernard
Montgomery on July 16th, 1944.

The Gondrées
continued to run their cafe,

renamed Pegasus
Cafe to this day.

Paraphernalia from the battle
is displayed on their walls,

including Major Howard's beret.

- Pegasus Bridge
is not as well known

as many of the other stories
of the Second World War.

And yet it should
be better known.

The course of the
Second World War hinged

on the success and the
incredible professionalism

and determination
of that small force

of soldiers in capturing
and holding that bridge.

[dramatic music]