The Travels of Tel's Tin Tent.

Many thanks Terry, it's good to see and learn.

With Vic. Who are those weird French guys in that first pic though?

We borrowed them from the cast of 'Allo, 'Allo !

I need to clarify a point regarding all the bridges, as my initial post might be rather misleading.
Although the bridges over the Caen canal and Orne river had to be seized and held, to prevent a German counter attack on the beaches and allow Allied forces to move, the bridge over the Divette river, and four bridges over the Dives river, needed to be seized and destroyed, not held.
This was to prevent German forces from occupying the area on the east side of the Orne, and to protect the assault on the Merville battery, blocking German forces from moving to counter attack, or even prevent, the battery's capture.
This also contributed to causing a "bottle neck" for German forces falling back towards the east, later in the battle of Normandy.
When these crossings were needed for allied use, Bailey bridges were erected across these rivers.

I hope to be back later tonight, with more on the fighting around Pegasus bridge, Benouville and Le Port, with more "then and now" photos, and brief descriptions of the actions.

Really liking this Terry.

Thanks Andy.

A little more on some of the actions around the bridge, then I'll move onto the Memorial Pegasus Museum, before returning to the developing battles in and around Benouville and Le Port.

The first day that we visited Cafe Gondree, it was heaving down with rain, albeit for a relatively short period, so outdoor photography was very limited, and photography/filming inside this small cafe is not allowed. Therefore there's not much to show.
However, some background information will perhaps help in understanding the importance of this building.
The cafe was bought from it's previous owners in the late 1930s by Georges and Therese Gondree, who had two daughters, Georgette and Arlette.
In June 1944, Arlette, the youngest of the two girls, was 4 years old, and today, as Arlette Gondree-Pritchett, she still owns and runs the cafe !
Therese was born in Alsace, so could understand German, and was able to overhear conversations between German soldiers who frequented the establishment. Much useful information was gathered, and passed on to the Resistance (including the Matron at the maternity hospital in Chateau du Benouville, further down the canal, who was the local coordinator/courier for the Resistance cell).
One such snippet which was of extremely high value was the location of the German demolition charges and detonator controls for the bridge.
There is much that can be told about Cafe Gondree, but space won't allow, so again I refer you to the references to be posted later.
However, Cafe Gondree was the first house in France to be liberated on D-Day and, to this day remains a shrine to British 6th Airborne Division.

Directly across the road from Cafe Gondree, set back from the road in a former garden, is another Cafe/Bar, "Les 3 Planeurs" (The 3 Gliders).
This is built on the site of what was Cafe Picot at the time of the landings.
This cafe was owned by Louis Picot, a very active member of the Resistance. Hearing the noise of the gliders landing, and the subsequent sounds of battle, he looked out of a window, ready to welcome the liberators, only to be mistaken for a German soldier, and was shot and killed by "friendly fire".

On the east bank of the canal, to the left of the bridge, there is a German PAK 50mm AT gun in a concrete gun pit. This was originally further forward but, when the canal was widened and the new, longer bridge constructed in early summer 1994, the gun, and the pit, were moved further back (towards the east) in an effort to preserve this historic relic as it would have looked at the time, relative to the bridge. (note that the railings seen in the photos were not present in 1944).
This gun was used at one point by Cpl. Wally Parr, in an effort to silence German snipers thought to be located in the maternity hospital in the Chateau du Benouville, about 700 metres down the canal on the west bank, and a nearby water tower ( he was unaware that the chateau was a hospital at the time, and felt somewhat guilty when he learned of this later).

The pics below show Cafe Gondree frontage, the original Cafe Picot and the current "Les 3 Planeurs" on the same site, taken from outside Cafe Gondree, with some pics of the AT gun. The pics of the Chateau were taken from the edge of the gun pit, with the second image being a closer shot using "zoom" on my 'phone (wish I'd used my camera instead !).

Still lots more to come from the bridge area and Benouville / Le Port. Back soon ............

Great thread Terry. Well done, and cheers!

Great stuff Terry!

And now, a short break from the battle sites around the bridge and village, with a tour of the Pegasus Memorial Museum.

The Museum was opened in 2000, and is located on the east bank of the canal, on the north side of the road just a short distance from the "new" bridge. There is ample parking, with disabled access, and the entrance fee is a very reasonable 9.50 Euros (£8.23, $11.20 US), and, from memory, it was either free, or reduced rate, for disabled people.
The modern, bright and spacious building houses a vast amount of artefacts, weapons, relics, photographs and equipment relevant to the battles in and around the bridge area, whilst in the extensive grounds there are a number of artillery pieces, vehicles, a full-size replica Horsa glider and, pride of place, the original bridge !

To cope with the larger ships using the canal, from the sea port at Ouistreham to the docks at Caen, the canal needed to be widened further at Benouville, therefore a new bridge was constructed, in the same style as the original bascule bridge. This took place in 1994, not long before the 50th Anniversary of D-Day, and resulted in much protest, particularly from veterans, including Richard Todd, who wanted to delay the work until after the Anniversary Commemorations. Although the local authorities understood and sympathised with the view of the veterans (and local residents), nothing could be done to delay the planned changes, in order that local, and maritime disruption be kept to a minimum.
However, rather than just scrap the original bascule bridge, it was removed and placed in the meadow alongside the canal, where it lay for some years, before being, "rescued", restored by local and veteran association funding, and re-located for display in the new Museum.

So now, visitors from all over the world can see, and walk across, the first objective captured by Allied forces on D-Day.
However, the preserved bridge is not quite original to 1944 standard (explanation below), although this by no means detracts from its historical significance, importance, and visual and emotional impact.
Those scenes of the bridge in the 1962 movie "The Longest Day" were actually filmed on the bridge as it was during the battle, and the keen-eyed will notice that the road bed is made from wooden planks, the original bridge surface. (after the battle, these had to be replaced about every two days, due to wear and tear inflicted by heavy Allied traffic, particularly tanks and other tracked vehicles).
Two years after filming, in 1964, the canal needed to be widened slightly (vessels getting bigger, as later in 1994), so the bridge was extended by around 12 or 15 feet (maybe a touch more). and this can be noticed at the western end of the bridge, where the extra side "panels" can be seen as welded, rather than riveted, like the original sides. At this time, due to the extra weight, and also for better resistance to wear and tear, the wooden-plank road bed was replaced with a steel grid bed, which can be seen in the photos below.

The preserved bridge still bears scars from the fighting, with bullet holes, grenade and shrapnel marks, and a large dent in the upper superstructure.
This dent was caused by a bomb dropped from a FW190 during the afternoon of June 6th, 1944. The pilot achieved an amazingly accurate direct hit on the main support braces around the counter-weight "tower", but the bomb bounced off, fell into the canal, and failed to explode.
(one veteran account states that the bomb bounced off and fell onto the road bed, where the casing split open and the explosive could be seen leaking out, but it's not known if this is actually what happened, as the majority of accounts agree with bomb ending up in the canal).

The photos below show the bridge as it is today, with Karl giving an idea of the size, and some of the visible battle scars. I tried to photograph the damage where the bomb hit, but the brightness of the light, looking up to the back-lit clouds, prevented me from obtaining a usable photo (I knew I should have taken my Nikon DSLRs !!)
Other exhibits shown are a British 5.5 inch howitzer, the Centaur IV close-support tank, with its 95mm howitzer, a 25 pdr, field gun, and the devastating 17 pdr AT gun (same type as fitted to the Sherman Firefly).

I have a few domestic irritations to attend to over the next couple of days, but I'll try to continue with the Museum coverage as soon as possible.
Thanks for the continued interest in what was an amazing tour.

Must have been interesting moving that entire bridge to the memorial site. No doubt the counterweight ballast was removed.

Yep, I've often wondered how they moved it - twice !

Great photos and history again Terry, thanks!

Excellent shots Terry!

Thanks Terry.

More from the grounds of the Pegasus Memorial Museum.

It was during the "ride" around the neat, smooth paths, that my mobility scooter had a hissy fit, and declared that it didn't want to play anymore.
I gave it a stiff talking to, but to no avail, and had to 'phone International Rescue, aka Karl, who was elsewhere in the grounds (with the the odd helping push, it managed to just about hold out until being able to get it re-charged).
Consequently, I didn't get all the photos I'd hoped to get and, with the Horsa in particular, missed some opportunities for detail shots, and relied on Karl for the internal photo (looking aft from the front entrance door).

The photos below show the statue of Brigadier James Hill, DSO and 2 bars, MC, the Commander of 3rd Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Divn, the full-size Horsa replica and, in the glass-fronted building, the remains of an original Horsa.
The 40mm Bofors AA gun is shown in front of the impressive museum building, and from the opposite side, with the original bridge in the background.
The other pics show the White half-track, and a quad .50 cal AA mount.

The Horsa replica was specially commissioned for the Museum, and was built using the original plans, but is not cleared for flight !

Back soon with some of the Museum internal exhibits, artefacts and relics.

Great shots Terry!

Thanks Hugh.

Now moving into the Museum building, and a series of pics showing just a few of the many exhibits, artefacts, relics and weapons on display, in no particular order.

Pic 1. Part of the impressive entrance foyer.
Pic 2. Locally recovered relics, including a MG 42 and Sten guns
Pic 3. Items related to the local Resistance cell.
Pic 4. Display of German weapons.
Pic 5. What a "Rupert" really looked like, far from the exotic "gummi puppen" portrayed in "The Longest Day" movie !
Pic 6. A WW2 British Para, with the notorious leg bag, alongside a present day Para. (apologies for the reflections on the glass).
Pic 7. A closer view of the leg bag. Note the lack of a reserve parachute. These weren't introduced into British Airborne units until the mid 1950's - not much use when jumping from 500 feet, or less !
Pic 8. A very large model of a Horsa glider, suspended from the ceiling in the foyer.
Pic 9. A rare weight and balance calculator for the Horsa glider.
Pic 10. A very poignant exhibit. This is the remains of the Bren gun carried by L/Cpl Greenhalgh, who drowned after being knocked unconscious in the wreckage of the glider that ended up in the pond. It was only recovered from the pond in recent years.

More from the Museum, probably tomorrow .................

Great pics Terry. I never realised that so much had been preserved and was on display in Normandy. We often see pics of the huge cemeteries but not much of the museums.