- In this photo, the British paratroopers of the 6th airborne division wrote messages on their Horsa MK 1 glider before climbing in and being dropped into occupied France on D-Day (June 6, 1944). One operation the British paratroopers accomplished was Operation Deadstick. Operation Deadstick's objective was to capture intact two road bridges in Normandy over the River Orne and the Caen Canal. The British needed the bridges to not be demolished by the Germans, since the bridges were the only easterly exit for (British) forces landing on Sword Beach. If Operation Deadstick had failed and the Germans demolished Ranville Bridge and the
Benouville Bridge, then the 6th Airborne Division would have been cut off from the rest of the allies, and the Germans’ armored divisions could have attacked Normandy Beach.
The paratroopers appear confident that Operation Deadstick will be successful, since they wrote quotes such as “The channel stopped you, but not us”, “… now it’s our turn” and “you had your time you German (winhunds?)”This photo was taken by Capt. Edward G. Malindine, one of the War Office official photographers from 1940 to 1945 in Britain, France, and Northwest Europe, according to Bergen-Belsen.co. He was appointed to the fifth section of the Army Film and Photographic Unit, and was responsible for photographing the Normandy operations and landings. The photo is now at the Imperial War Museum. Judging by the number 13 drawn in chalk, the glider could be glider number 13.