Immerse yourself in the modern museographic space of the Pegasus Memorial, a museum to discover the memories that retrace the arrival of the first liberators of the 6e British Airborne Division on Normandy soil on the night of June 5 to 6, 1944.

Details of Operation Tonga

Lieu de mémoire du Mémorial Pégasus
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Located halfway between Caen and Cabourg, the Pegasus Memorial Museum is located in the town of Ranville, opposite Bénouville.

Inaugurated on June 4, 2000 by Prince Charles of England in person, the museum explains the details of Operation Tonga (from preparation to completion), the 6e Airborne Division commanded by the General Richard Gale.

This mission was to secure the area between the Orne and the Dives in order to prepare the landing of the 3e British infantry division (no less than 25 men) on the sword beach, known today as one landing beaches.

A rich collection of objects and memorabilia

Letters, photos, weapons, uniforms, parachutes and many other artifacts and memorabilia from Operation Tonga rest at the Pegasus Memorial Museum. In the center there is also a projection room where an archival film is broadcast as well as a model of the territory to explain the map and the challenges of the operation. Guided tours, lasting 1h30, are also organized there.

  • Intérieur du Mémorial Pegasus
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  • Maquette présente dans le musée du Mémorial Pegasus
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  • Groupe de visiteurs devant une maquette présente dans le Mémorial Pégasus
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A historic bridge between two shores

The museum is also a park where symbols of war are exhibited such as a half-tank, a centaur IV tank, guns (including an anti-tank and an anti-aircraft gun), the life-size replica of a glider Horsa, and the original Bénouville bridge, renamed Pegasus bridge.

Vue aérienne su rle pont de Pégasus

But why Pegasus bridge?

After the war, theauthentic Bénouville bridge, which bore the scars of the assaults of the Second World War, was replaced in 1994 by a structure with an identical profile. His new name, Pegasus bridge, he bears it in honor of the 6e Airborne, whose emblem was none other than Pegasus. the Ranville Bridge, meanwhile, was renamed Horsa Bridge in homage to the gliders having transported the paratroopers. A wider fixed bridge succeeded it in 1971.