On the morning of June 6, 1944, a handful of gliders carrying a handpicked strike force landed behind enemy lines in France and set out to destroy bridges along the Orne River and the Caen Canal. For most of the glider-borne force, the mission proceeded pretty much according to plan. In fact, the assault would go down in the history books as one of Britain’s most notable D-Day successes. But for the troops who came across the English Channel in Glider No. 4, June 6 would turn into a confusing, if ultimately rewarding, episode in their own Normandy experiences. Today the story of those men who rode to battle in Glider No. 4 is largely forgotten.

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The idea for the daring British glider attacks began in the mind of Maj. Gen. Richard Gale, widely known as ‘Windy.’ Gale commanded the British 6th Airborne Division in 1944 as General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff were fleshing out the plans for the invasion of Normandy. Eisenhower’s plan was for an amphibious assault, shrouded in secrecy and deception, which would storm five invasion beaches along the Norman coast, gain a foothold and then break out to advance through France. Failure was a very real possibility if the Germans got wind of the operation and were able to meet the Allied invasion at the beaches with superior forces.

Those superior forces, including the entire German Fifteenth Army, were stationed to the east of Normandy around Pas de Calais, awaiting an anticipated invasion. It was an obvious location, since Calais was the shortest distance across the Channel — only 25 miles from Dover. But Eisenhower instead chose to send his troops across the longest distance: almost 100 miles from England to Normandy. That move would afford him some advantage in the form of surprise, but any initial success gained through that measure could be negated if the Fifteenth Army reacted quickly and moved its forces to the west. The Germans could strike Eisenhower’s vulnerable left flank at Sword Beach and then systematically roll up his entire force with continuing flanking attacks, smashing west along the Norman coast.

Eisenhower tasked General Gale with preventing that dreaded flank attack. Gale’s lightly armed paratroopers — seemingly the least likely unit to stop an armored thrust — were the only force capable of getting in quickly. Speed was vital. Once in Normandy, they would have to hold until relieved. And if things did not go well for the rest of the invasion force, that could be a tall order.

Gale planned to drop his division east of Sword Beach and destroy the bridges along the Dives River, 10 miles farther to the east. He would then have his troopers form a semicircular defense behind the Dives, where they would await their fate. But there was one problem. The Caen Canal and the Orne River ran adjacent to Sword Beach and would be directly behind his defenses facing the Dives. Gale’s men would be vulnerably sandwiched between the Dives and those two bodies of water.

If the attacking German forces could destroy the bridges over the Orne River and the Caen Canal, they would have succeeded in isolating Gale’s men from the very beaches they were trying to protect. The British 6th Airborne Division would then be left on its own, fighting with its back to the water, facing possible annihilation. To overcome this unpleasant possibility, General Gale conceived of a strike force that would land in gliders prior to the main parachute drop. Six gliders carrying a total of 180 men would land and attempt to seize the two bridges intact, before the Germans could destroy them.

The bold plan, even on paper, did not look easy. It would fail if not executed perfectly, but Gale thought it had a reasonable chance of success. The 6th Airborne’s commander reasoned that the forces defending the bridges might be somewhat lethargic. After all, the Germans had occupied northern France for four long years, during which time they had been guarding many such crossings against little or no opposition.

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