50 Pence - Charles III D-Day Horsa Gliders, Silver Proof gilded

The Horsa glider was a plywood construction towed into battle and released over enemy territory — a one-way trip for the aircraft in almost every case. On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Horsas carried troops of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry to Pegasus Bridge in a night assault that succeeded in capturing the crossing intact, a feat completed before the seaborne landings had even begun. The gliders that survived the landing were stripped for parts or left to rot in Norman fields.

Isle of Man commemorative 50 pence pieces of this type are struck by Pobjoy Mint under license from the Treasury.