Merville-Franceville-Plage is located on the Côte Fleurie 6 km from Cabourg and 14 km from Caen, on the right bank of the Orne Bay by 49 ° 16'59 "N 0 ° 12'04" W.
The hinterland is a plain, favorable to cereal cultivation.
The 9th Battalion of British paratroopers, composed of 750 men, belonging to the 6th British Airborne Division, and commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Terence Otway has the priority mission to attack, the night of June 5 to June 6, 1944, the battery of Merville with 4 150mm guns that can take in their fire the mouth of the Orne and the landing area Sword Beach. About 150 men parachuted into the night managed to gather at Gonneville-en-Auge but most did not receive their equipment. If the battery is important, it is not vital. Others are trapped in the marshes of Varaville. Otway engages the assault without heavy equipment at 4:30 and neutralizes the battery, discovering in passing that the alleged 150 mm guns were actually 100 mm Skodas guns. Otway loses about half of his men. The German losses are even heavier with only 22 soldiers valid on 130. This action, described as "unimaginable assault", will remain one of the most heroic of the day J.
In 1976, the Association for the Safeguarding of the Pegasus Bridge Site-Museum and Battery of Merville, presided over by General Sir Richard Gale, supported the idea of Françoise Gondrée to buy the land by the Conservatoire du Littoral and undertake the restoration of the battery. A stele erected on the site of the battery of Merville represents the "Old Chief" at the time of the Allied Landing. Terence Otway died on July 23, 2006 near London. A tribute was paid by the municipality on July 30 on the site of the battery Merville in the presence of civil and military authorities and Veterans of the 9th Battalion.
