Mémorial Pegasus
Avenue du Major Howard
14860 Ranville
https://musee.memorial-pegasus.com
The Memorial Pegasus is open everyday from 1st February – 15th December
- 1st February – 31st March from 10.00 – 17.00
- 1st April – 30th September from 9.30 – 18.30
- 1st October – 15th December from 10.00 – 17.00
Admission fee
Aircraft collection
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PF800 |
Airspeed Horsa I (fuselage wreck)
Airspeed Horsa (replica) |
The Pegasus Memorial Museum, located between Caen and the sea, tells the story of when the very first liberators from the British 6th Airborne Division landed on Norman soil on the night of the 5th to the 6th of June 1944.
Pegasus Bridge, originally called the Bénouville Bridge after the neighbouring village, is a road crossing over the Caen Canal, between Caen and Ouistreham in Normandy. The original bridge, built in 1934, is now a war memorial and is the centrepiece of the Memorial Pegasus museum.
In 1944, this field was the site of one of the most spectacular landings of the 2nd World War. Three Horsa gliders, each carrying 30 men, landed here in the assault on Pegasus Bridge. The pilots, using only a stop watch and a compass, landed the first glider 47 meters from the bridge. The commander of the D-Day Allied air forces commented that it was the greatest feat of precision flying of World War Two.
Today, monuments mark the emplacements of the gliders.
Bill Millin’s Bagpipes
Bill Millin was the bagpiper of the legendary Commando leader Brigadier Lord Lovat.
On D-Day, Millin played his pipes, under gunfire, as the Commando Brigade landed on Sword Beach. He subsequently led the brigade up to Pegasus Bridge where it made the junction with 6th Airborne Division.
The images of the piper were immortalised in the 1960s film “The Longest Day”.
Photos Rob Vogelaar
Mémorial Pegasus Ranville, France | Rob Vogelaar
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