IT WAS about 7.30 am on D-Day when the ramp went down from the landing craft carrying 3-Troop of No. 3 Commando.

Their orders were clear - get to the River Orne and relieve airborne troops who had captured what became known as Pegasus Bridge.

But instead of Dakotas and gliders, the commandos had been given bikes. They had to rely on pedal power to get them across country.

For Ted Gowers, from Halling, on the River Medway, the journey was made even more arduous, because in addition to his rifle and full pack he had to carry a collapsed 18-man rubber dinghy across his handlebars.

"When we got to Sword Beach someone shouted to go over the side because the ramps were insecure," said Ted.

"It had been drummed into us to get off the beach as quickly as possible. Our sergeant shouted to us to go through a hole in the barbed wire.

"Men behind me were getting killed by rifle, machine gun and mortar fire. Some men - not from our troop - were trying to dig themselves in on the beach."

Once clear of the beach the commandos had to wade through floodwaters up to their chests in places, before pushing on to the Orne.

On reaching Pegasus Bridge they came under fire from the opposite side of the Orne. A voice urged them: "Go on lads make a dash for it."

"I now know that was Mike Todd the actor," said Ted.

Despite having taken many casualties the troop pushed on and took cover in a garden where they were given cider by a French civilian. They were then ordered to attack the village of Amfreville on high ground above them.

"Our section led the attack coming under heavy rifle and machine gun fire," said Ted. "Several of our men were hit and either killed or wounded. I helped one of them, Paddy Harnet, back to the dressing station and as I came out another chap, Les Hill, gave me a glass of whisky. Where he got it from I'll never know."

He ran across the road to get some cover and fight his way back up to his section, and found himself lying next to an officer who turned out to be Lord Lovat, who had already achieved fame after a number of exploits including the Dieppe raid.

Ted regained his section and they fixed bayonets before moving through an orchard to where the houses were.

"My orders were to run to the top of the hill where a machine gun had been," he said. "When we got to the houses we charged about shouting, and we got behind some of the Jerries. I ran like a hare and jumped a low wall behind where two Germans had a Maxim type of machine gun.

"They had moved it to a gateway so they could fire it down a street but to my relief they gave themselves up once I dropped behind them. I felt as big as a house - my first prisoners." 

The action was over quickly without further casualties for the commandos. Some Germans escaped, others were taken prisoner. However as the British commandos moved through orchards around the village the enemy hit back with shell and mortar fire, with devastating effect.

That night they dug into a bank alongside a hedgerow.

"By this time we had lost more than half our men, including two of its three officers," said Ted. "We had also won four military medals and one military cross."

The commandos held on to their position, which turned out to be vital. It was a vantage point from which German guns could have pounded the invasion beaches.

Doggedly they resisted shell, mortar and sniper fire. After a week they were relieved. But of the 70 men of 3-Troop who landed on Sword Beach, only 20 had survived.