Recently I got interested in the details about the battle but I can't find the answer to one question I have... What made those two bridges so important? I can only assume that there was at least one bridge at Caen (like there is today) and it is only 5 miles to the south. Why couldn't the German covered that distance to get over the Orne?
The issues is not whether the Germans could have crossed the river further upstream - they could and did. It was about allied access to the island between the Orne and Dives rivers. When Eisenhower became the Supreme allied force commander in Dec 1943-Jan 944 he and his land force copmmander Montgomery insisted that the beachhead be widened. As soon as the allies decided to land airborne troops on the eastern flank of the landings between the rivers Orne and Dives the bridges over the Orne river and Orne canal north of Caen would be the only means to resupply and reinforce the alrborne troops.
