...except this one happens to be true. Of all the stories of 6 June 1944, few are as extraordinary - or as important - as this one. The description of the taking and holding of Pegasus Bridge by British airborne troops under the command of the late Maj. John Howard just after midnight on 6 June, including the training leading up to it and the aftermath, is an amazing one. The glider landing, in a tiny space through barbed wire and within yards of the bridge itself, was described as the best bit of flying of the whole of the war. It all went perfectly to plan, one of the few things on D-Day that did. One can only wonder what would have happened had it not - and be thankful that it did (not to mention that Hitler had gone to bed and could not be disturbed to release the Panzer Divisions under his personal command).
One of the old soldiers interviewed by Ambrose stopped a German tank by holding his fire until the thing was almost on top of him. "Now don't you be making me out to be some sort of hero!" he said. To which Ambrose delightfully retorted that he didn't make heroes, he merely wrote about them. And he does very well. The story is well-written and gripping.
A nice touch. One of the reinforcing paratroopers dropped in after the initial glider assault was a Captain Richard Todd. Todd was later to play Maj. Howard in the Darryl Zanuck fim "The Longest Day".
Amazon Home
