oh wow Operation Coup de Main (it's not actually Operation Dead Stick which was my original search string!) - ridiculous good luck; the bridges were held in part by ex-Sov/Polish/French troops under German leadership who probably didn't want to be there and when the German general called for tank support he couldn't as tanks couldn't be moved without Hitler's direct order (and nobody wanted to wake Hitler up for this).

When German tanks arrived a Gammon bomb took out the lead and blocked their column; and an attempt to bomb the bridge while the Brits were taking it fizzled. A close thing.

Like most things around Juno/Sword/Gold beaches, and the aftermath in Operations Goodwood and Cobra, nobody ever bothered telling me about this.