This is a story by a son of Cpl Ted “Ham & Jam” Tappenden.
Dad was a member of the elite “Coup de Main” force sent to Normandy on the eve of D Day .
He was the Company Clerk, not a sit on your hands job, but a member of the 6th Airborne Division, Ox & Bucks Light Infantry. An elite company of men, led by Major John Howard, whose job was to capture “intact” the two canal bridges over the River Orne. A very daring and dangerous operation. 6 Horsa Gliders, 3 to each bridge, were loaded with men and equipment to the maximum. Dad was Major Howard’s radio operator and had to ensure that he was at the Major’s side at all times.
My father was in No 1 glider piloted by Sgt Walwark, whose aviation skills enabled him to land a few metres from the bridge with the aircrafts nose pushed up against the barbed wire. The timewas 00.16am 6th June 1944, - - the invasion force was still 5 hours away at sea.
The stealth and secrecy of the operation ensured that the German guards were unaware of the landing. So much so that there was little resistance until the first grenades exploded in the pill box. Lt Brotheridge led his men across the bridge firing and screaming (I’m told that this effect would put the fear into anyone) at the entrenched Germans. Lt Brotheridge suffered a fatal gun shot and it is believed that he was the first man to die from enemy action on D Day. The Detachment of Royal Engineers swung under the bridge and found no explosives. The Major was pleased with the result and remembering his orders, “Hold until relieved”, at this point turned to my father and ordered him to send the code to the paratroopers that the bridges were captured intact. The code was “Ham and Jam”, and dad sent the message: “Hello Four Dog, Ham & Jam, Ham & Jam”. He transmitted for some considerable time unaware that the radio operator he was sending to had been killed when his chute failed to open. After much frustration of not receiving a reply, dad is well remembered for: “Hello 4 Dog, Hello 4 Dog, Ham & Jam, Ham & Bloody Jam, where the hell are you”.
My family and I have had the pleasure and honour of taking some of the veterans back to Normandy every year for the past 40 years. We would sit with them at PegasusBridgelistening in awe to their stories - sad, comical, boastful and heroic. The Coup de main force was made up of ordinary “London” lads, who were trained, coaxed and encouraged and who performed one of the most successful operations in WWII.