formation, the 6th Airlanding Brigade, almost equalled that of the two parachute brigades. The constant shortage of transport aircraft meant that the airlanding brigade could not be transported to Normandy at the same time as the rest of the division. Each of the brigade's three infantry battalions consisted of 806 men in four rifle companies, made up of four platoons along with a support company consisting of two Anti-tank platoons both armed with four 6 pounder guns, two mortar platoons each with six 3 inch mortars, and two Vickers machine gun platoons. There was no fixed plan for troops arriving as part of Operation Mallard – all would depend on how well the preceding units of the 6th Airborne Division and those landing at Sword had done during the day. But if all had gone to plan they were to cross both waterways and expand the divisions position to the south. Gliders Planes returning from the first missions were refuelled and repaired where required and made ready to tow the gliders that evening. The airlift included 226 Airspeed Horsa gliders, each piloted by two men from the Glider Pilot Regiment. With a wingspan of and a length of , the Horsa had a maximum load capacity of as well as space for two pilots, a maximum of twenty-eight troops or two jeeps, one jeep and an artillery gun or one jeep with a trailer. The division's heavier equipment was carried in thirty General Aircraft Hamilcar gliders. Twenty of these would carry Tetrarch light tanks and their crews belonging to 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment, four more carried three Rota trailers carrying fuel supplies without crews, another three transported, Universal Carriers with their crews. The last three carried two Universal Carriers converted to accommodate a 3-inch mortar, one Universal Carrier equipped with a slave battery, sixteen motorcycles and a jeep. German forces The coastal area was guarded by the 716th Infantry Division. comprising eight infantry battalions deployed to defend of the Atlantic wall. Poorly equipped with a mixture of foreign weapons, the unit was manned by conscripts from Poland, Russia and France under a German officer and senior Non commissioned officers. A second division, the 21st Panzer Division, moved into the area in May 1944 with its battalions positioned at Vimont just east of Caen, and at Cairon to the west of the Caen canal bridge. The 21st Panzer Division was