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{{Short description|British army officer (1922–1993)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{no footnotes|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox military person
| name = Sandy Smith
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Richard Arthur Amyas Smith
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|3|4|df=yes}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1993|4|27|1922|3|4|df=yes}}
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| birth_place = Karachi, India
| death_place = Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
| placeofburial_coordinates =
| nickname = Sandy
| allegiance = United Kingdom
| branch = [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]]
| serviceyears = 1943-1946
| rank = Major
| servicenumber = 228638
| unit =
| commands =
| battles = [[Second World War]]
| battles_label =
| awards = [[Military Cross]]
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
[[Major]] '''Richard Arthur Amyas Smith''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MC}} (4 March 1922 - 27 April 1993) was a [[British Army]] officer who served during the [[Second World War]]. He was awarded a [[Military Cross]] for gallantry and leadership whilst serving as a [[platoon]] commander in the gliderborne 2nd [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry]] (the 52nd) coup de main operation; tasked to capture [[Pegasus Bridge]] and [[Horsa Bridge]] during the opening minutes of [[D-Day]], 6 June 1944. The capture of both bridges was considered to be critical to securing the left flank of the [[Normandy landings]] area.

==Early life==
Smith was born in [[Karachi]], India. He was educated at [[Tonbridge School]] and St John's College, [[Cambridge University]] where he took a degree in History. He represented the Public Schools at [[Lord's Cricket Ground]] before the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] and had the highest scoring rate of any Public School batsman. He later represented Cambridge University at Rugby. Smith was commissioned into the [[Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry ]] in March 1943. He was posted to the 2nd Ox and Bucks (the 52nd) and placed in command of No 14 platoon B Company. The 2nd Ox and Bucks formed part of [[6th Airlanding Brigade]], [[6th Airborne Division]].

==Pegasus Bridge==
Smith and his platoon were attached to [[Major John Howard]]'s D Company 2nd Ox and Bucks who were to lead the gliderborne coup de main operation on D-Day to capture Benouville bridge over the Caen canal, now known as [[Pegasus Bridge]] and Ranville bridge over the River Orne, now known as [[Horsa Bridge]]. Smith's platoon was one of three platoons tasked to capture Pegasus Bridge before the main assault on the [[Normandy]] beaches began.

On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Smith's platoon was in the 3rd Glider to land at Pegasus Bridge, landing at 00.18hrs. He received a knee injury on landing however he and his No 3 platoon crossed the bridge and established defensive positions to reinforce Lieutenant [[Den Brotheridge]]'s No 1 Platoon. He was wounded in the wrist by a grenade and after Brotheridge had been killed he also took over command of No 1 platoon on the Western side of the bridge. After the bridge had been secured he agreed to be moved to a First Aid post in [[Ranville]]. He was awarded a Military Cross for his gallantry and leadership whilst injured. The operation to capture both bridges was portrayed in the 1962 film [[The Longest Day (film)|The Longest Day]].

==North-West Europe 1944-45==
He served with 2nd Ox and Bucks in the [[Ardennes]] and the Netherlands from December 1944 to February 1945. He took part in [[Operation Varsity]]: the air assault landing over the River Rhine on 24 March 1945 and in the advance across Germany to the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]] port of [[Wismar]]. Smith commanded the 2nd Ox and Bucks guard of honour for the meeting between [[Field Marshal Montgomery]] and [[Marshal Rokossovsky]] at [[Wismar]] on 7 May 1945.

==Post-war==
Following the Second World War he served in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] before being demobilised from the Army in 1946. Smith pursued a business career and became a director of both Shell and BP in India. He lived in [[Chedworth, Gloucestershire]].

==References==
*Obituary The Times 8 May 1993.

===Bibliography===
*''Pegasus Bridge'', [[Stephen Ambrose]] (1984)
*''The Pegasus and Orne Bridges'', Neil Barber (2009)
*''The Pegasus Diaries'', John Howard and Penny Bates (2006)
*''The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (The 43rd/52nd Regiment of Foot)'', Philip Booth (1971)
*''[[The Longest Day (book)|The Longest Day]]'', [[Cornelius Ryan]] (1959)
*''One Night in June'', Kevin Shannon and Stephen Wright (1994)
*''Gliderborne: The story of the 2nd Battalion, The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry (The 52nd) in World War II'' (2007)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Sandy}}
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry officers]]
[[Category:1922 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:People educated at Tonbridge School]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Military Cross]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Karachi]]
[[Category:British Army officers]]
[[Category:Military personnel of British India]]

Sandy Smith (British Army officer) - Revision history

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