The Veterans Charity

Ride To Horsa has been created to honour the heroes of two operations which took place on D-Day, 6th June 1944; Operation Coup de Main and Operation Elmira.

Ride To Horsa takes place over 3 days of riding from 5th to 8th September with the fourth day being planned to unveil a significant new memorial at Horsa Bridge, to honour the heroes who spearheaded the entire liberation!

During the ride, we will take in breathtaking and beautiful scenery from start to finish. The ride begins at Tarrant Rushton in Dorset at the former airfield site where gliders took off on the night of 5th June 1944 destined for Pegasus and Horsa Bridges in Normandy. The full 150 mile route will take in many very special locations:

Day 1 - Thursday 5th September 2024: Tarrant Rushton | Blandford Forum | Milton Abbas | Milbourne St Andrew | Bovington (feed station at The Tank Museum) | Lulworth | Wareham | Lytchett Minster (Camp 1)

Day 2 - Friday 6th September 2024: an early start to ride to Poole for the ferry to Cherbourg | Cherbourg | Montebourg | Sainte Mere Eglise (Camp 2)

Day 3 - Saturday 7th September 2024: Landing Zones W and O for Operation Elmira | Dead Man's Corner | Carentan | Isigny-sur-Mer | Grandcamp Maisy | Utah | Omaha | American Cemetery at St Laurent (group stops to honour those who fell during Op Elmira) | Port-en-Bessin (feed station) | Gold | Arromanches | Royal Engineers Memorial | British Normandy Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer (group stops to honour the fallen of the Battle of Normandy) | Juno | Coleville Montgomery | Sword | Piper Bill Millin Statue | Ouistreham | Pegasus Bridge | Horsa Bridge | Ranville (Camp 3)

Thanks to the Mayor and Community of Ranville, the camp area at Ranville Sports Ground is also available for the night of Sunday 8th September to enable participants to stay another day and enjoy the area!

Places for this very special ride are limited to 150 cyclists so, don't delay to avoid disappointment. Registrations can be made at https://www.veteranscharity.org.uk/horsa