Pegasus Bridge

E86608

World War II site bascule bridge tourist attraction

Pegasus Bridge is a famous World War II bridge in Normandy, France, captured by British airborne forces during the D-Day landings.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Capture of the Orne River and Caen Canal bridges	1
new Pegasus Bridge (1994)	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	World War II site ⓘ bascule bridge ⓘ tourist attraction ⓘ
assaultLedBy	Major John Howard ⓘ
battle	Battle of Normandy NERFINISHED ⓘ
capturedBy	British 6th Airborne Division ⓘ British airborne forces ⓘ
capturedByUnit	D Company, 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry ⓘ Glider-borne infantry ⓘ
capturedOn	1944-06-06 ⓘ
commemoratedBy	annual D-Day ceremonies ⓘ war memorials at the site ⓘ
conflict	World War II ⓘ
constructionType	bascule-type drawbridge ⓘ movable bridge ⓘ
country	France ⓘ
crosses	Caen Canal ⓘ
distanceFrom	approximately 10 km northeast of Caen ⓘ
era	20th century ⓘ
hasFeature	memorials to 6th Airborne Division ⓘ plaques honoring British airborne troops ⓘ
hasMuseum	Memorial Pegasus ⓘ
hasNearbyCemetery	Ranville War Cemetery ⓘ
locatedIn	Bénouville ⓘ Normandy ⓘ
material	steel ⓘ
namedAfter	British airborne forces emblem ⓘ Pegasus (emblem of British airborne forces) ⓘ
near	Ouistreham ⓘ Ranville ⓘ
opened	1934 ⓘ
operation	Operation Deadstick ⓘ
originalName	Bénouville Bridge ⓘ
originalStructureRelocatedTo	Pegasus Bridge museum area ⓘ surface form: Pegasus Bridge Museum
partOf	D-Day landings NERFINISHED ⓘ Operation Overlord NERFINISHED ⓘ
protectedStatus	historic monument ⓘ
region	Calvados department ⓘ
replacedBy	Pegasus Bridge self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: new Pegasus Bridge (1994)
roleInWWII	first bridge to be captured by Allied forces on D-Day ⓘ secured intact by coup de main glider assault ⓘ
significance	key objective in securing approach to Caen ⓘ symbol of airborne operations on D-Day ⓘ
strategicImportance	prevented German counterattacks from crossing Caen Canal ⓘ secured eastern flank of Allied landing beaches ⓘ
theaterOfWar	Western Front ⓘ surface form: Western Front in World War II
tourism	popular site for military history visitors ⓘ
usedFor	road traffic ⓘ

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Caen Canal → crossedBy → Pegasus Bridge ⓘ

Sword Beach → nearbyFeature → Pegasus Bridge ⓘ

Caen Canal → notableBridge → Pegasus Bridge ⓘ

British 6th Airborne Division → notableEngagement → Pegasus Bridge ⓘ

this entity surface form: Capture of the Orne River and Caen Canal bridges

Pegasus Bridge → replacedBy → Pegasus Bridge self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: new Pegasus Bridge (1994)