Men of France, You May Fire First

One of the objectives on D-Day for the British 1st Special Service Brigade was to clear the gun emplacements outside the seaside resort of Ouistreham. Captain Kieffer, in charge of the contingent of Free-French Commandos, asked permission to lead the …

1944-06-06

HoN12

One of the objectives on D-Day for the British 1st Special Service Brigade was to clear the gun emplacements outside the seaside resort of Ouistreham. Captain Kieffer, in charge of the contingent of Free-French Commandos, asked permission to lead the operation. Colonel Dawson, their commander, responded, "'Messieurs les Francais - Tirez ies premiers!" This was in honor of a response by a French noble who in 1745 said the same to a British regiment. The French commandos courageously accepted the role of leading the first assault on a rubbled casino in the adjoining village of Bella Riva. Unfortunately, they would soon find the casino was more heavily fortified than originally thought. Nevertheless, with help from a tank commandeered by Kieffer, the commandos pressed on.

Ouistreham, France

The Capture of the Caen Canal and Orne River Bridges (wrongly known as Operation Deadstick (which in fact was a specialized glider exercise), and in official documents as Operation Coup de Main) was an operation by airborne forces of the British Army that took place in the early hours of 6 June 1944 as part of the Normandy landings of the Second World War. The objective was to capture intact two road bridges in Normandy across the River Orne and the Caen canal, providing the only exit eastwards for British forces from their landing on Sword Beach. Intelligence reports said both bridges were heavily defended by the Germans and wired for demolition. Once captured, the bridges had to be held against any counter-attack, until the assault force was relieved by commandos and other infantry advancing from the landing beach.

Wikipedia: Capture of the Caen Canal and Orne River Bridges

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