The commanding officer and sixty-five men who were to establish the Main Dressing Station (MDS) travelled in the same aircraft as brigade headquarters, while Nos 1, 2 and 3 Sections were attached to the 1st Canadian, 8th and 9th parachute battalions. Arriving in Normandy from around 01:00, many of the unit landed too far to the east in the flooded marshes beside the River Dives. One of those men was the commanding officer who then spent three weeks trying to rejoin the unit from behind German lines before being captured. The members of the 224th who landed on the correct drop zone proceeded to set up their Main Dressing Station in a farm at Le Mesnil. By noon, around two-thirds of the 22nd were still missing, but the MDS had managed to treat fifty-five wounded and conduct ten surgical operations. The following day, the Germans counter-attacked and the MDS was surrounded on three sides with the nearest German forces only away, but they kept on operating. Over the next few days, the front line was very fluid and it was not unknown for the unit's ambulances returning to the MDS from battalion aid posts to drive through German patrols and positions. Being co-located with brigade headquarters, the MDS could not be given the protection of the Red Cross and was subjected to small arms and artillery fire. It was also twice attacked by Royal Air Force rocket firing Typhoons. On 18 June during a German artillery attack, all the unit's transport, apart from one ambulance jeep and two captured trucks, were destroyed. After the last attack, Brigade headquarters issued orders for the MDS to move further to the rear at Ecarde. Between 6 and 19 June, the MDS had treated 800 wounded and carried out 112 surgical operations. The 224th remained at Ecarde until the first week in August. During their time there, they established a divisional clinic and assisted with the casualties from the British attempts to capture Caen. On 7 August, they moved closer to the front at Riverbella when the 6th Airborne Division was ordered to cross the River Dives and advance north along the French coast. The 224th and the division's two other field ambulances leap-frogged each other to keep up with the leading troops and have at least one MDS open for casualties. By the end of the month, the division had reached the River