Operation Tonga

Operation Tonga is an account of the Glider Pilot Regiment's role in the first stage of the airborne assault in the Normandy landings, 6 June 1944. The story is told through the eyes of those who were there-glider pilots, paratroopers, pathfinders, tug crews and passengers-and covers the operation from training through to evacuations after D-Day.

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From training for the operation to the evacuations after D-Day, this is the story of the Glider Pilot Regiment's role in the first stage of the airborne assault in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944. Operation Tonga was vital to the success of D-Day. It included the famous attacks on the Merville Battery and the bridges over the Orne River and Caen Canal, as well as the lesser-known, though equally important provision of an anti-tank screen to protect the southern and eastern flanks of the invasion beaches from German counterattacks. This account, the product of several years of research, is told through the eyes of those who were there-glider pilots, paratroopers, pathfinders, tug crews and passengers. It includes the stories of the crews that evaded capture by the Germans and pays tribute to the help they received from local resistance fighters. The contribution of the nine gliders that took part in the 'Coup de Main' landings has been well documented, but little has been written of the other eighty-nine gliders that participated. Operation Tonga-The Glider Assault: 6 June 1944 tells the full story.