Operation Deadstick 1944, but was delayed and then cancelled. The plans were adapted, and became Operation Market Garden. This operation would involve three airborne divisions, however the "coup-de-main" assault plans were not carried out. Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory, of the Royal Air Force, praised the pilots involved saying the operation included the "most outstanding flying achievements of the war". Of the 181 men (139 infantry, 30 engineers and 12 pilots) of 'D' Company involved in the capture of the bridges, two were killed and an additional fourteen wounded. The 7th Battalion's losses during the defence of the bridges amounted to 18
American airborne landings in Normandy American airborne landings in Normandy The American airborne landings in Normandy were the first American combat operations during Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy by the Western Allies on June 6, 1944, during World War II. Around 13,100 American paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions made night parachute drops early on D-Day, June 6, followed by 3,937 glider troops flown in by day. As the opening maneuver of Operation Neptune (the assault operation for Overlord) the two American airborne divisions were delivered to the continent in two parachute and six glider missions. Both divisions were part of the