The Café Gondrée is a small

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

in the French community of Bénouville. The cafe is located on the west bank of the

Caen Canal Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Bénouville Bridge, now commonly referred to as the Pegasus Bridge. The building was the site of first combat during the

D-Day invasion The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, and is best known for its role commemorating those events.

History

The two-story red brick building was built at the end of the 19th century. The nearby Bénouville Bridge was a key objective of the British 6th Airborne Division. A unit of Glider infantry of the division's 2nd Battalion was to land, take the bridge intact and hold it until relieved. The unit was led by Major

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

. Howard and his men boarded three gliders. Released at 8,000 feet in the pitch black of a storm filled night, all three gliders managed to make a rough landing in a field almost directly on top of their objective. Leaving the broken gliders, the men engaged in a short, fierce firefight which ended with the British paratroopers in control of the bridge. Three British paratroopers entered the café at 6:20 am on 6 June 1944, thereby liberating it. At the time of these events the café was run by Georges and Thérèse Gondrée. They had been involved in the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

, and had passed on information about the defenses around the bridge to British intelligence through the French underground. The successful taking of the bridge played an important role in limiting the effectiveness of a German counter-attack in the days and weeks following the Normandy invasion. With the passing of the Gondrées, ownership was taken over by their daughter, Arlette Gondrée, who was a little girl of 5 at the time of their liberation. A determined, fiery woman, she is famously referred to simply as "Madame".

After the war

The structure is arguably the first French house to be liberated. After the war the café became a place of honor for the men who came and fought in the Normandy campaign. British paratroopers also celebrate the D-day anniversary at the café every 5 June. Every June 5, at 11:16 pm, she offers champagne to the veterans present. The walls of the café are decorated with shoulder patch badges, regimental insignia, old uniforms, helmets and photos of the leaders of the operation. The café was also a destination for speakers at the military lectures that the war colleges put on in Normandy in the summers each year. Officers involved in the Normandy battles were asked by the war colleges to return to Normandy and speak of their experiences fighting there, and included such men as Major General "Pip" Roberts, Brigadier David Stileman, Major John Howard and Colonel

Hans von Luck Hans–Ulrich Freiherr von Luck und Witten (15 July 1911 – 1 August 1997), usually shortened to Hans von Luck, was a German officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Luck served with the 7th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer ...

, an officer with the 21st Panzer Division. Because the owners were still severely anti-German, Howard covered for Luck by passing him off as Swedish. The Café Gondrée still serves as a café, though it is now known as the ''Pegasus Bridge Café''. On 5 June 1987 it was listed as an Historical Monument.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Café Gondrée Bascule bridges Buildings and structures in Calvados (department) Military history of France during World War II Military history of Normandy British airborne landings in Normandy World War II sites in France Tourist attractions in Calvados (department) Operation Overlord Coffeehouses and cafés in France