09/06/2026
Paracadutisti americani del D-Day a cavallo.
🪂🐎 D-Day’s Airborne Cavalry
On 6 June 2026, we mark the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, the Allied landings in Normandy.
Most people think of landing craft, aircraft, and men storming the beaches. But one of the more unusual stories came from the small French town of Sainte-Mère-Église.
After American paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions landed in Normandy, they found something the retreating German army had left behind: horses. Lots of them.
The German army still used horses for transport, so the paratroopers made use of what they found.
To save fuel, move quietly and cover the French lanes, some of these heavily armed airborne troops swapped parachutes for saddles and patrolled on horseback.
Cavalry paratroopers sounds like something from a film, but it really happened.
A small, strange and brilliant reminder of how men on the ground had to adapt fast on D-Day.
🫡 Lest we forget.
