London - The D-Day hero who led the airborne assault on Pegasus Bridge has died. Maj John Howard, who led his men to take the French bridge from the Nazis in the early hours of June 6th, 1944, died yesterday.
The story of Maj Howard (84) was immortalised in the film The Longest Day. He and his team swooped silently in on gliders, taking the Germans completely by surprise, then held the bridge until they were relieved later that day by troops making their way inland from the D-Day invasion beachheads.