Memorial Pegasus at

Ranville Ranville () is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. Ranville was the first French village liberated on D-Day. The village was liberated by the British 13th Parachute Battalion, commanded by Lieute ...

Lower Normandy Lower Normandy (french: Basse-Normandie, ; nrf, Basse-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Lower and Upper Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. Geography The region included three departme ...

is a museum and memorial to the 6th Airborne Division in the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

and particular the

capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges The capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges (wrongly known as Operation Deadstick (which in fact was a specialized glider exercise), and in official documents as Operation Coup de Main) was an operation by airborne forces of the Briti ...

.Memorial Pegasus Ranville-Benouville Guide Book, English Version.

History

In 1974 the Airborne Forces Museum was opened 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 by the D-Day Commemoration Committee. It was opposite the glider landing site and close to the Bénouville Bridge. The museum was opened by British General Sir Richard Gale who had been the divisional commander of the 6th Airborne during the Normandy Landings. Because of problems caused by the end of the lease the museum closed in 1997. The Bénouville Bridge had been renamed

Pegasus Bridge 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 cent ...

on 26 June 1944 in honour of being the first objective taken by the airborne troops in the Normandy campaign. In 1993 the Bridge over the Caen Canal was removed and replaced by a new structure. The bridge was placed on waste ground close to its original position. With the closure of the first museum a campaign was started by Raymond Triboulet and the D-Day Commemoration Committee to raise funds and find a site for a new museum. In 1999 the original Pegasus Bridge was bought by the Committee from the French authorities for one

Franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

to be a focal-point for the new museum. The new museum ''Memorial Pegasus'' was opened on 4 June 2000 by the then-

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

, who was Colonel-in-Chief of the Parachute Regiment. Airspeed Horsa Benouville France Feb2008

On 5 June 2004 a replica of the first Airspeed Horsa glider to land close to the Bénouville Bridge was officially inaugurated. At the inauguration, the Horsa glider was shown to the Prince of Wales by Jim Wallwork, the pilot of the first glider to land in June 1944.Michael Horsnell. "Glider hero returns for royal duty." Times ondon, England26 Apr. 2004: 10. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 21 Jan. 2013.

Museum

The museum building exhibits artifacts, exhibitions and personal objects related to the 6th Airborne Division. A three-acre park contains the

, the replica of the Horsa glider and memorials to the men who captured the Caen canal and Orne river bridges.

References

External links

{{coord, 49.2423, -0.2717, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Museums in Calvados (department) Operation Overlord museums in France 2000 establishments in France Museums established in 2000