Memorial Pegasus and Pegasus Bridge

The first allied troops to land in France on D-Day were the British glider borne troops sent to capture two key bridges over the Caen Canal and the Orne River. The actions became so iconic  that the two bridges were renamed by the French as Pegasus Bridge (over the Caen Canal) and Horsa Bridge (over the Orne River). The name Pegasus came from the shoulder flash of the British unit (the 6th Airborne Division) which carried out the attack and Horsa is the type of glider used in the landing.

The order to the unit charged with the attack was to take the two bridges and hold them until relieved. The gliders landed at 22:56 on 5 June (and were reinforced by Para troops at 0.50 on the 6th) . The intention was that a special group of commandos, led by Lord Lovat, would advance quickly from Sword beach and relieve the lightly armed airborne troops within hours of the landing. Lovat's commandos arrived at about 13.30 (along with a number of tanks supporting them) after the airborne forces had fought off both tanks and a gunboat.

The action to capture the bridges , and the subsequent relief by Lovat, have become etched into D-Day legend, not least because both were depicted in great detail (if not with great accuracy) in the famous movie; "The Longest Day". This included the role played by Lovat's personal piper, Bill Millin who played his bagpipes both on the beach and as the relieving troops crossed the bridge. A set of pipes which Millin used later in the Normandy campaign (after the originals were damaged) were donated to the  Memorial Pegasus  Museum.

In 1994 the lifting bridge (Pegasus Bridge) over the Caen Canal was replaced with a new bridge and the old bridge was deposited on the bank of the canal.

In 1974 a Museum was opened on the west bank of the Caen Canal at Benouville . It was opposite the glider landing site and close to the two bridges.  The museum closed in 1997 due to the end of the lease. In  1999 the original Pegasus Bridge was bought by the D-Day Commemoration Committee Committee from the French authorities (for just one Franc) to be the central feature of  a new museum. In 2004 a replica of the first Horsa  glider to land close to the Bénouville Bridge was installed at the site.

The museum building exhibits objects and material related to the 6th Airborne Division. The museum is in a  three-acre park which contains the old Pegasus Bridge the replica of the glider and memorials to the men who took part in the raid.