The British 6th Airborne Division, under the command of Major-General Richard Nelson Gale, was one of the first Allied units to arrive in Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and successfully secured the left flank of the invasion zone.

After six days of counter-attacks by German armour and infantry, the division's position was secure by the end of the Battle of Breville on 12 June.

[8] When issuing his orders, Lieutenant General John Crocker, the Corps commander, aware that the 6th Airborne had almost no artillery, vehicles or engineer equipment, did not expect them to advance quickly.

[14] When it was clear at 03:00 that the German Army in front of the division was pulling back, the first divisional unit to follow up was the 3rd Parachute Brigade.

The lead battalions advanced under heavy mortar and machine gun fire, until stopped by a strong defensive position at Cabourg.

[15] The next day, the battalion was relieved by the Belgians and moved to a brigade concentration point, first at Le Plein and then at Troan, which they reached by the morning of 21 August.

[16] At 03:00 on 22 August, the battalion started an outflanking attack on Branville, which they occupied by 08:00,[16] and later the same day they liberated Vauville and Deauville, where they secured the high ground to the north of the town.

With local French assistance and a collection of small boats and rafts, the rest of the battalion were also able to cross the river, entering Touques on 24 August.

The next day they liberated Saint Philibert, La Correspondence and Petiville, and reached Malhortie where the Germans were still defending the bridge and high ground.

[16] The next morning the brigade advance continued into Goustranville, where they came under heavy artillery fire from the high ground at Putot.

[10] At 22:00 the 3rd Parachute Brigade moved forward, capturing the two canal bridges intact, and 150 prisoners from the 744th Grenadier Regiment.

[10] En route, the 7th Parachute Battalion came under fire from German machine-guns, then observed a line of troops approaching them.

[23] The next day, 21 August, the 3rd Parachute Brigade advanced towards the River Touques at Pont-l'Évêque, fighting through a German infantry and armour position at Annebault.

The Germans opened fire when they were around 400 yards (370 m) from the river; only ten men from the battalion succeeded in crossing, and then became trapped on the far bank.

[26] The next day, patrols from the 7th Parachute Battalion discovered that the Germans had withdrawn during the night, and they therefore crossed the river and secured the high ground to the north, closely followed by the rest of the brigade.

[27] On 25 August the 1st Special Service Brigade took over as the lead formation, and headed towards Beuzeville, but once again German defences held up the advance.

[28] Later that day, Gale received orders that the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division would take Pont Audemer.

On 26 August the men of the parachute brigade, some mounted on the Cromwell tanks of the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment, raced towards the bridge from the east while the Dutch headed there from the west.

[28] Having reached the River Seine, the division was ordered to hold firm between Honfleur and Pont Audemer and prepare to return to England.