John Howard (British Army Officer) - D-Day Landings

D-Day Landings

The Orne river formed the eastern, or left, flank of the Allied landings at Normandy on 6 June 1944. Control of both bridges was vital because Allied forces needed the Orne as a geographic barrier against an immediate counter-attack against the allied flank by German forces, and because access to a lateral road would ensure supplies from Sword Beach to the 6th Airborne Division, which had been dropped to the east of Caen. Supplies of ammunition, fuel and rations were essential if the 6th Airborne was to effectively protect the left flank of the Allied invasion force. Furthermore, the crossings had to be held, undamaged, so as to serve as causeways from the beach landing areas, when the Allies moved forward.

Howard led 'D' Company and an engineer detachment, in a gliderborne assault in the early hours of 6 June 1944. Released at 8,000 feet over the Normandy coast, three gliders, each carrying about 28 heavily armed troops—in total 90 men, pilots included—clipped the tops of a group of poplar trees skirting a very small field and a dangerous pool and bounced to a halt only a few yards from each other, at precisely 0016 hours. All gliders were brought to an immediate halt, almost on top of the objectives—the nose was "buried in barbed wire and almost on the bridge", in the words of a soldier under Howard. The assault troops engaged their objectives almost from the moment they stepped outside of the wreckage of their aircraft. The German defenders were taken completely by surprise for they had almost no time to react, form, and attempt a defence of the objectives; since, the British force had, in effect, landed within the boundary of the objective. Some of the Germans were caught asleep in their gun pits. Only one German soldier was able to fire a Very pistol to try to warn soldiers on the Orne bridge a few hundred yards away, but by the time he fired, the other bridge had been overrun. There was no time to attempt to blow the bridge, and even if there had been, the explosives needed for the job had never been fitted to the bridge. It was the classic example of a “commando-style” military operation, where surprise is the attacker’s greatest asset; and when it is executed as planned, surprise is complete because the attackers in the event, face essentially no opposition. And virtually all of their casualties in the assault, are either from friendly fire, or accident.

At least two armed German halftracks belonging to an engineer company and followed by panzergrenadiers tried to attack the bridge at 01:30 a.m., but the first was destroyed by a PIAT. The other Panzers thought they were up against a bigger enemy force armed with a 6 pounder anti-tankgun and so immediately retreated. A more forceful German counter-attack came in the early hours of D-Day, when German divisional headquarters realised the bridges had been taken intact. By that time, Howard and his glider troops had been bolstered by both fresh airborne parachute landings and a detachment of commandos led by Simon Fraser, who marched to the bridge to the tune of Bill Millin's bagpipes. With these reinforcements, they were able to hold Pegasus Bridge against an attack by elements of the 21st Panzer Division, strongly supported by artillery.

Following the attack on the bridges on D-Day, instead of being removed from the line to commence training for further operations 'D' Company was used as a normal infantry company. Howard was nominated for the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership during the capture of the bridges, and on 16 July 1944, Howard was presented with the medal by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, although the award was not officially confirmed until 31 August. 'D' Company remained in Normandy fighting until 5 September 1944, after 91 days of continuous fighting.

Upon return to Bulford, Howard began to reform and reorganise his company in preparation for future operations. They were not withdrawn from the line in time to take part in Operation Market Garden and in the end it had been decided not to employ a coup-de-main assault on the bridges at Nijmegen and Arnhem. Nevertheless, Howard began the process of training 'D' Company in the hope of returning to combat, however, it was not to be. On 13 November 1944, he was involved in a car accident and was badly injured. He would take no further part in the war and remained in hospital until March 1945. 'D' Company would, however, led by Major, later Colonel JMA Tillett, go on to fight during the Battle of the Bulge and the subsequent crossing of the Rhine in Operation Varsity.