D-Day Today: 1. Pegasus Bridge

When I first visited the Normandy beaches in 1980 I was a bit disapointed at how few bunkers and relics I could find.  But things have inproved greatly in the last 26 years.  Many more bunkers have been either unearthered or had the scrub cleared away and been made accessable to the public.  The sites are now well signposted, both with direction signs and interpretation boards.  There are also many more museums and monuments.  I got a 7am start from Paris and reach my first objective, Pegasus Bridge  at 10.

This was the objective of a Brit para drop the night before D-day.  Was it Sean Connery who took the bridge ?

Pegasus Bridge looks exactly like Griggy's model.  I don't know how much of it is original, but the repairs pretty well maintain the design. 

The cafe beside the bridge is still there and still run by the same family as in 1944. 

The point of note is that the canal under it is a major obstacle - deep and wide.  The river a 100m east is much smaller. 

There is a CS Cromwell on the west bank as a monument.