3
THE US 4TH INFANTRY DIVISION under the command of Major General Raymond O. Barton was to land on the eastern side of the Cotentin peninsula. The beach area was codenamed Utah, and subdivided into Uncle and Victor sections. It was situated immediately in front of Les Dunes De Varreville, between beach Exits Three and Four.
The landings had been planned to the very last detail. DD (duplex drive) Sherman tanks, fitted with propellers and designed to float in water (see Chapter 5) would land at exactly 0630 after swimming in from five kilometers. The tanks would be at the low tide water’s edge when the naval bombardment ceased, and the specially-equipped landing craft, fitted with hundreds of rockets, had fired. Close behind the DD tanks would come the first wave assault troops, the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Infantry Regiment (Inf. Reg.). These would be brought in by Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP), also known as “Higgins” boats, after the craft designer. There would be twenty of these craft in the first wave, each carrying approximately thirty fully-equipped men. Five minutes later the second wave carrying the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry, combat engineers and demolition teams would land, closely followed by more Landing Craft Tanks (LCTs) bringing in tank dozers and fighting tanks.
That was the plan – but it didn’t work out quite so smoothly. The most crucial disaster of the landing happened when three out of the four Control Guide boats hit mines and sank. This caused the LCTs to mill around aimlessly. Without a guide they could not go in. One of the LCTs hit another mine and immediately sank, taking its precious cargo of four tanks with it. The last surviving Control boat, realizing what had gone wrong, rounded up the LCTs and started to lead them in. To make up for precious time lost, the Guide boat took the LCTs nearer to the beach to launch their DD tanks. In fact, two kilometers nearer. The strong current and the confusion of smoke and explosions led the Control boat to slide south of its intended launching zone. Three kilometers from the beach, the ramps of the LCTs went down and out trundled the DD tanks to begin their slow approach to the shore. Most of the men in the landing craft were so seasick they hardly cared what happened to them. Anything was better than being tossed about in the flat-bottomed Higgins boats.
EYEWITNESS
That guy Higgins ain’t got nothing to be proud of about inventing this goddamned boat.
Unidentified GI, 4th Infantry Division
On the way in, the landing craft passed bodies floating in the water. Some were shouting for help, others were dead. Those who dared to raise their heads above the sides of their landing craft witnessed the horrors for themselves. A few did. One was overheard passing comment:
EYEWITNESS
Them lucky bastards – they ain’t seasick no more.
Unidentified GI, 4th Infantry Division
Because of the time delay, the first wave infantry was now hot on the heels of the tanks, so much so that they overtook the tanks and actually landed ahead of them. Five hundred yards from the beach a couple of designated landing craft sent up smoke signals, a sign for the navy to stop the shelling. The moment of truth was upon the men packed into the landing craft. Easy Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Inf. Regt. stormed ashore and became the first Allied company of the entire invasion force to hit the beaches of Normandy.
Prior to the landings, medium bombers of the 9th Air Force had saturated the area with bombs. The navy had added its own fair share of high explosive from the likes of the battleship USS Nevada. Also thousands of rockets had been blasted into the area by the Landing Craft Tank Rockets (LCTRs). It was little wonder that not much opposition awaited the American landing. Most Germans on that particular stretch of beach had either fled, were too shaken to do anything, or were already dead.
The landing craft could not give the men of the 2nd Battalion a dry landing. A sand bar about 100 yards out stopped the LCVPs from getting any closer to shore. They had no choice but to let down their ramps and off-load the troops. Waist deep in water, the soldiers waded to the beach, glad to reach dry land again after their ordeal.
The tide was a long way out. Confronting the soldiers once they got to dry sand was about 500 meters of gently sloping beach, strewn with obstacles. Beyond that lay a belt, approximately 100 meters wide, of low sand dunes. Intermittent rifle fire from the few Germans who remained was all the soldiers of the 8th Inf. Regt. had to contend with during the initial landing.
Troops from the 4th Infantry Division coming ashore at Utah Beach.
The men rushed forward into the dunes and took cover behind the four-foot concrete sea wall. Their officers, conferring with one another, soon realized this was not the area of the landing beach they had been briefed about. The sand models back in England bore no resemblance to what they were now seeing. Looking behind them toward the sea, they noted that the second wave was already landing, but slightly to the right of where they themselves had just come in. Tanks on the beach were immediately engaging the enemy strongpoints that had remained functional.
US Cemetery, Omaha Beach.
The German fortified position at this spot was called W-5. Oberleutnant Jahnke was the officer in charge. He, and what men remained, started to pour fire down onto the shore line. One of the armaments under Jahnke’s command was an old French Renault tank dug into the dunes. This started firing but was soon put out of action by a well-aimed 75mm shell from one of the Sherman tanks coming up the beach. Jahnke had been amazed to see the tanks swimming toward him. He decided to combat this threat with his own secret weapon – small, remote-control tanks packed with explosives. These weapons, called “Goliaths, ” could be guided toward the American tanks and detonated when close by. Unfortunately for Jahnke, the heavy bombardment had upset the delicate mechanisms of the Goliaths and they would not work.
American soldiers started piling up on the beach as the engineers and demolition teams continued with the dangerous task of blowing up and clearing the beach obstacles. This job was particularly difficult because the soldiers landing on the beach were using the beach defenses as cover from the German fire. An exit had to be found to relieve the congestion.
Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. , eldest son of former President Teddy Roosevelt (and a cousin of Franklin D. Roosevelt), was in the first wave. He was not a healthy man, having already had a heart attack and suffering from arthritis. Despite his failing health he had pleaded with General Barton to let him go in with his troops as it would “steady the boys” as he put it. Reluctantly Barton agreed, and so Roosevelt was seen strutting up and down the beach with his cane encouraging his men as they exited their landing craft. He hated helmets, so he only wore a knitted cap, seemingly oblivious to the danger all around him.
Roosevelt had already been up to the sand dunes and conferred with his officers there, agreeing that they had landed about one mile south of their designated landing area. He also realized that strongpoint W-5 was holding up the advancing troops and must be eliminated in order to open an exit. At this time a German battery to the north in the region of Les-Dunes-de-Varreville began to zero in on the beach area. High explosive shells from German 88s rained down on Utah Beach, blowing huge craters in the sand. Men went to ground or hid behind the stationary tanks. One unit of GIs, with tanks in support, charged toward W-5 and, after a brief fight, overwhelmed it. The exit leading to Sainte Marie-du-Mont was open. Oberleutnant Jahnke was pulled out of the sand by a GI and sent to a temporary prisoner holding area on the beach. While there, Jahnke was wounded by one of the German shells landing on the beach. Meanwhile, the engineers blew holes in the sea wall and the bottleneck was broken. Vehicles and men began to roll inland.
Roosevelt and his staff now faced a different dilemma. Should they move the entire landing force north to meet with the original plan, or should they drive directly inland using Exits One and Two immediately in front of them. Roosevelt made the decision to go inland right where he was and with the immortal words, “We’ll start the war from right here,” he got things moving. It was a wise move and a lucky error. As it happened, the Germans had a much stronger fortification at the site of the original beach area. By chance, Roosevelt’s part of the 4th Infantry Division had landed in a relatively quiet sector. Reports from units coming ashore at the planned landing ground confirmed that the opposition there was strong.
GIs of the 4th Infantry Division greet civilians as they pass through Sainte Marie-du-Mont.
Tanks from the 70th Tank Battalion were now nosing up and down the beach looking for an exit through the sea wall. They found one the engineers had blown open, and moved out onto the coast road immediately paralleling the dunes. One group of tanks went south and came to Exit One, which led to Pouppeville. Three tanks were disabled by mines, but now they were joined by infantry from the 2nd Battalion of the 8th Inf. Regt., and carefully nosed forward across the causeway. The tanks, and the infantry supporting them, were taking light mortar fire and there was still the hazard of mines but they finally made the western side of the flooded area, just on the outskirts of Pouppeville.
They approached cautiously as no one from the 4th Division had any idea whether or not the paratroopers dropped in the early hours of the morning had succeeded in taking the village. Suddenly an orange flare shot up, and a group of US paratroopers stepped out into the open. It was 1110 hours and the 101st Airborne Division had met the 4th Infantry Division; the first major link up between the airborne and seaborne Allied troops on D-Day. Exit One was now officially opened. The units pushed on together, to take Sainte Marie-du-Mont. Meanwhile the men stumbling forward through the dunes were encountering anti–personnel mines, deadly devices that once stepped on shot up about waist-high and exploded, showering lethal ball bearings all around.
EYEWITNESS
Under the Command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.
Press Release, 0933 hours, June 6th 1944
By 1030, the 12th Inf. Regt. had followed in behind the 8th Inf. Regt. but the traffic from Exit Two had now ground to a standstill, absolutely jam-packed with vehicles. Occasionally German shellfire knocked out one of the trucks, causing it to block the causeway. The bulldozers were kept busy, pushing any disabled vehicles into the flooded land in order to keep the exit open.
In the meantime, the 1st Battalion, 8th Inf. Regt., was trying to clear Exit Three. Getting impatient with the delay, the 12th Inf. Regt. decided it couldn’t wait any longer and struck out across the flooded land in a northwesterly direction.
Shortly after midday the 22nd Inf. Regt. moved off Utah Beach to try to secure Exit Four – the final unsecured route inland. The 3rd Battalion of the 22nd moved north along the coast road, mopping up the coast fortifications as it went, and securing a flank for the whole division at the coastal village of Les Cruttes. The other two battalions of the 22nd, meanwhile, waded northwest through the floods, sometimes in water up to their chests. They reached dry land just short of St. Germain-de-Varreville, and by late afternoon had linked up with elements of the 82nd Airborne Division.
By midday vehicles and men were pouring ashore almost unmolested at Utah, save for a few sporadic explosions from German 88s. The real invasion was, in fact, going better than the training exercises in England. Casualties had been surprisingly light, mainly due to the error in landing and the heavy and highly accurate pre-invasion bombardment. Only 197 men had been killed or wounded on Utah. Sixty more were missing, believed drowned, probably when the LCT blew up and sank. The 4th Infantry Division had sustained more casualties at the rehearsals for the invasion on Slapton Sands, in England, back in May.
A little out to sea from Utah Beach are the islands of St Marcouf. A detachment of cavalry landed here anticipating that it would be heavily fortified. The area had to be made safe before any actual landings took place. By 0530 the cavalry had secured the island. It was totally deserted, but by the end of the day twenty men had been killed or wounded by mines that the Germans had planted there.
By mid–afternoon Utah Beach had been transformed into a hive of industry. Vehicles of every shape and form were streaming ashore and heading inland. Landing craft were disgorging their precious cargoes of soldiers, rations, and petrol, and all the things needed to keep the momentum going. The engineers and Seabees (Combat Engineers from the US Navy) had cleared the majority of obstacles and all routes off the beach were now well and truly open. At the same time the wounded and the prisoners of war were being taken back to the waiting ships for transportation to England. By the end of the first day’s fighting, the 4th Infantry Division had linked up with 82nd and 101st Airborne Division and secured the beachhead. The division was ready to take on its next objectives on the morning of June 7th.
By mid–morning the next day, the Americans had carved out an area behind the beach almost three miles in depth. The two airborne divisions occupied an area some twenty-five miles square but, within this area, isolated pockets of Germans were still resisting strongly.
Soldiers of the 8th Infantry Regiment making their way through the flooded area behind Utah Beach.
Four battalions of tanks had been sent to St Mère Église to reinforce the hard-pressed elements of the 82nd Airborne Division there. The Germans would lose vast numbers of men during the fighting around the town. The 82nd Airborne Division, west of the River Merderet, was having a tough time of it. The Germans were continually counter-attacking, but time and again the paratroopers held their ground and forced them back. Casualties were high on both sides, and because of their isolated positions it was impossible for the wounded Americans to be evacuated.
The 4th Division moved north to try to capture the coastal batteries at Azeville and Sainte Marcouf (Crisbcq). These batteries still posed a threat to the men and materials flooding across the open beaches of Utah. They were formidable obstacles with solid concrete bunkers, and weapon emplacements protected by well dug-in German infantry. It was therefore decided to bypass the batteries for a while. To the 101st Airborne Division firmly held on to the lock gates at La Barquette and to the bridges at Le Port, near Carentan, despite attacks by the young German paratroopers of von der Heydte’s 6th Parachute Regiment.
Right: A follow-up wave of apprehensive GIs head for the beach.
Below: A motorized column heads away from the beach up one of the now-clear draws.
On June 8th, the town of Sainte Come-du-Mont fell. This was the next village inland from Utah Beach, so it provided a jumping-off point for the attack on Carentan itself. All that separated the paratroopers from their prize were five bridges. Unfortunately, each side of the main road was flooded so the exposed road was the only route into the town. On 10th, the 3rd Battalion, 502nd PIR, supported by artillery, attacked the Douve River bridges. It met stiff resistance on the outskirts of Carentan and suffered heavy casualties. The 1st Battalion passed through and pressed home the attack, also suffering heavy casualties. Finally, after two days of heavy fighting, the 502nd was withdrawn and the 506th PIR took their place. At the same time, men of the 327th Glider Regiment had already bypassed the town and were linking up with the troops who had come ashore at Omaha. These “Glider Riders” turned and attacked Carentan simultaneously from the east. Carentan fell after much bitter fighting late on June 12th with only isolated pockets of resistance to mop up. More importantly, after nearly a week of bloody fighting, the two beach heads at Utah and Omaha had finally been joined together.
The Germans did try a counter-attack using the 17th SS Panzer Grenadiers Division, but this attack was soon stopped by American P-47 “Thunderbolt” fighter planes and artillery bombardments. The Panzer Grenadiers suffered so much that they really didn’t ever get back into the fight. Meanwhile the American paratroopers were fighting their opposite numbers, the German paratroopers, around the railway station in Carentan. By June 14th, Carentan was safely in American hands. The 101st Airborne Division were then given the task of protecting the southern flank of VII Corps and sealing off the base of the Cotentin peninsula, while the rest of the Corps moved on toward Cherbourg.
The Allies desperately needed a port of substantial size. General Montgomery had already made it clear that the two main objectives after landing would be Cherbourg and Caen, in order to secure ports.
The US 9th Infantry Division, which had landed on Utah on the 10th, was given the task of clearing the last strongpoint on the eastern coast, Quinéville. The village finally fell to the 9th Infantry Division on June 15th after intense fighting. By June 18th, the 4th Infantry Division had pushed the Germans back to a line north of Montebourg. Utah Beach was officially secure.
Meanwhile, the US 90th Infantry Division had been trying to push westward in the area of the Merderet river to aid the 82nd Airborne Division. The 90th had come up against tough opposition in its baptism of fire and had not made any substantial gains. Its commander was relieved by Bradley because of the division’s lack of toughness and aggressiveness.
The terrain was a nightmare for the attacking forces. The Norman Bocage country consisted of small fields surrounded by four- to five-foot earth banks, which were topped in turn by high and impenetrable hedges. In some places there was a double row of hedges separated by a drainage ditch. All these made ideal defensive positions. Despite this, the American advance cut off the peninsula by June 19th. Three American infantry divisions now turned north to march on Cherbourg while the 90th Division occupied the area from Barneville in the west, to Utah Beach in the east, safeguarding the southern flank of the units heading north.
Exit roads from Utah Beach.
The 4th Infantry Division occupied Montebourg after it was bombed on the 19th while, to the west, the 9th Infantry Division captured Bricquebec. By the time the 4th Infantry Division reached Valognes on the 20th, the town was virtually unoccupied, confirming the fact that the remaining German forces on the peninsula were retreating northward and forming a strong defensive line around Cherbourg.
The German commander of that area, General von Schlieben, had about 40,000 troops at his disposal. The nearer the GIs got to Cherbourg, the fiercer the resistance. The terrain also changed, from the close knit fields of the Bocage to a more open countryside with a scattering of woodlands. The GIs met their first stubborn resistance on June 21st when they came up against well-emplaced troops sheltered in concrete bunkers. The fortifications were arranged in a semi-circle outside Cherbourg, stretching from Cap Lévi around to Branville.
A sniper behind every hedgerow – troops in the Bocage.
The German’s last major defense south of Cherbourg was Fort du Roule, which had been sufficiently armed and supplied to enable the defending force to hold out indefinitely. The French had fortified it before the German occupation and it had been improved by the Todt engineering organization who modernized and strengthened it.
General Wyche of the 79th Infantry with men of his division atop Fort du Roule.
Before the 314th Inf. Regt., 79th Division, began its advance on this position, the Air Force attacked it with dive bombers. The 2nd Battalion captured the strongpoint, and in doing so Fox Company captured a motor pool containing large amounts of German material. Fox Company and Easy Company then stormed the fort itself and their action was such that the corps commander recommended that they be awarded unit citations. After a furious fight, the first white flag appeared at 1145 hours. The fighting was not over, however. One section had surrendered, but there were others who were willing to prolong the fight. Easy Company attempted to take some positions lower down within the fort, but was unable to do so, owing to fire from above and from the exposed left flank.
During this action Corporal John D. Kelly, of Easy Company of the 314th Inf. Regt., won the 79th Division’s first Medal of Honor. His platoon was inching up the fortress face when it was pinned down by enemy machine gun fire from a deeply entrenched strongpoint on the slope below the peak. The area was almost bare of natural cover. In a few moments casualties skyrocketed. The Medal of Honor citation takes up the story:
Citation of Medal of Honor
Corporal John D. Kelly
Company “E,”
314th Infantry Regiment
Kelly volunteered to try to knock out the strongpoint. Arming himself with a pole charge about 10 feet long, with 15 pounds of TNT affixed, he climbed the slope under a withering blast of machine-gun fire and placed the charge at the strongpoint’s base. The subsequent blast was ineffective, and again, alone and unhesitatingly, he braved the slope to repeat the operation. This second blast blew off the ends of the enemy guns. Corporal Kelly then climbed the slope a third time to place a pole charge at the strongpoint’s rear entrance. When this had been blown open he hurled hand grenades inside the position, forcing survivors of the enemy gun crews to come out and surrender.
The US 79th Infantry Division in the Avenue du Paris, Cherbourg.
The US Navy stood off Cherbourg to keep the Germans from reinforcing their positions from the sea and were on call for any bombardment that the infantry might need – and the army was likely to need all the help it could get. Such was the ferocity of the fighting and the determination of the defenders that during one attack on the port, thirty-six Sherman tanks were knocked out in one go. On the night of June 21st, General Collins of VII Corps sent Schlieben an ultimatum saying it was useless to carry on as he was entirely surrounded. General Collins received no reply.
The air force launched a bombing raid on the main line of resistance that severely disrupted German organization and reduced their morale considerably. For the next two days, the 4th Infantry Division started mopping up the bunkers near the northern coast at Maupertus–sur–Mer; the 79th Infantry Division in the center was being held up at Hardinvast; the 9th Infantry on the left was mired down and not making any progress. Clearly, the capture of Cherbourg was going to be a long slow job.
By June 26th the lower levels of Fort du Roule had been neutralized. General Schlieben and his staff finally surrendered to the 9th Infantry Division, but not before the garrison commander made an unusual request to the Americans in order to keep his honor and dignity:
EYEWITNESS
I would be dishonored if I surrender. I could not resist an armored attack, for I have no more anti-tank guns, but I can resist against your infantry.
Generaloberst Schlieben, commander, Fort du Roule
The American officer moved ONE tank forward . . . and the Germans surrendered. Honor kept!
Several other areas still resisted but were eventually overcome until Cherbourg itself was finally captured on June 27th, 1944. Fighting stopped once and for all on July 1st and the northern Cotentin peninsula was in Allied hands. There to witness the liberation of the battered city was war correspondent McCardell:
EYEWITNESS
Rain was falling on our faces when we awakened. It was a cold, gray, misty dawn, the column was forming up in the mud for the final advance into Cherbourg. We moved forward into a deserted quarter of the city, evidently a section in which working people had lived. Concussion had shattered every window, every bit of glass. The telephone and electric light wires were broken tangles. But most of the buildings did not appear to have been damaged seriously by either the bombings or shellfire. The Germans had bricked up many windows and doors, leaving only narrow embrasures from which machine guns would sweep the street.
McCardell, war correspondent.
The cost of capturing Cherbourg had been high, with VII Corps suffering 22,119 casualties. On the German side, 39,000 were taken prisoner and another 14,000 Germans were casualties. The Allies now had a firm grip in France; the Germans could have no hope of driving them back into the sea.
Unfortunately, the port the Allies had fought so hard to obtain was not immediately available. The Germans had had time to demolish the port area of Cherbourg and were convinced that it would take a very long time for the Allies to get it back into working order. In fact it took the Americans less than a month to repair the damage, and the first ships sailed in on July 16th. A few weeks later a huge drum was towed into the port. Coiled around the drum were the final stages of “PLUTO” (Pipe Line under the Ocean). There were four lines in all. When hooked up ashore, these lines would pump over 250,000 gallons of gasoline a day from the Isle of Wight to Cherbourg. It was in full operational use by August 12th and was also used to pump oil and water.
The next objective of the American army was to break out of the Cherbourg peninsula and head south. By the beginning of July, the GIs were ready to attack La Haye-du-Puits, Sainteny, and finally St Lô.
The countryside in this area was thick Bocage again; the roads were narrow sunken lanes. Once again, the terrain favored the defenders. Each hedgerow and ditch was a mini-fortress where a sniper might lie in wait, or a Panzer Faust [German anti-tank weapon, similar to the bazooka] might be waiting to knock out a vulnerable Sherman. Reaching the middle of a field was the point of no return!
La Haye-du-Puits was an important road junction surrounded by steep wooded heights. On July 3rd General Bradley threw all four divisions of the newly formed VIII Corps (the 90th and 79th Infantry Divisions and the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions) against this well-defended area. Capturing it would open an unimpeded passageway to the south. The Germans knew this only too well. They held on stubbornly and took terrible casualties; it was not until July 9th that the Americans finally subdued the town. A testament to the ferocity of the fighting for La Haye-du-Puits was later documented in the Official History.
It was in the La Haye-du-Puits that Lieutenant Arch B. Hoge, Jr., of Tennessee, raised the same small Confederate flag that had been raised by his uncle over a village in France in World War One, and which had been raised by his grandfather over a town in the United States during the Civil War.
EYEWITNESS
At 0645, Company “K” was ordered to move out around the right flank of the Third Battalion and make a reconnaissance in force into La Haye du Puits. Despite stiff resistance it gained control of the railroad station on the northern outskirts of the town, but the Germans blasted away with everything they had and the company had to pull out. Then Division Artillery unveiled what GI witnesses hailed as “the prettiest damned precision artillery in this man’s war.” Lieutenant Colonel James B. “Kannonball” Kraft’s 312th Field Artillery Battalion “paced” Lieutenant Colonel Olin E. “Tiger”; Teague’s First Battalion of the 314th Regiment to the very rim of the city’s defense. A German artillery observation post in the city’s cathedral lingered too long. A burst of artillery fire scored a direct hit on the church steeple and when the infantry entered the town hours later they found the German artillery observers sprawled in the public square.
Official History, US 79th Infantry Division
The capture of La Haye-du-Puits gave the weary attackers a momentary respite. Casualties on both sides were severe. The 79th Division had taken 2,930 casualties in eleven days of fighting. La Haye-du-Puits also proved to be the last action for the battle-weary airborne divisions who had borne the brunt of so much of the fighting in the Normandy Campaign. They were sent back to England on July 13th and 14th.
Next target for the advancing Americans was the town of Lessay. The town had earlier received German reinforcements in response to the Allies dropping dummy parachutists. The German had been deceived by the ruse and had rushed troops into the area as early as June 7th to combat what they thought was an invasion from the west. Now these troops of the German 84th Corps tried to stop the American offensive, but they were soon on the retreat. On July 27th the Americans entered a ruined town.
Meanwhile, the US VII Corps, which consisted of the 4th, 9th, and 83rd Infantry Divisions, was attacking further to the south. Their route would generally follow the Carentan-to-Périers highway. Either side of the road was thick with marshes and so would slow movement down.
An idea of the ferocity of the fighting by VII Corps is shown by the 83rd Infantry Division, which had been fought to a standstill just before the town of Sainteny. The 2nd SS Panzer (Das Reich) Division, hurriedly rushed from west of Caen, along with paratroopers from the 6th Parachute Regiment, completely stymied the American advance. The 83rd gained 200 meters and captured six prisoners, but lost 1,450 men in the process. The following day, hot on the heels of a tremendous barrage from VII Corps artillery, the division advanced another 1,500 meters but not withbout suffering more casualties.
Some medics, captured by the Das Reich Division, were sent back to the 83rd Infantry Division with a note saying that they were more needed by their own side, but that, if the fortunes of war changed, the Germans would be pleased to be offered their services.
The 4th Infantry Division came to the 83rd’s aid, but even this well-seasoned, tough division could make little progress and also suffered many casualties. Eventually, on July 15th, VII Corps was pulled out of what was called “The Isthmus” to go and give support to the newly formed XIX Corps north of St Lô. Their area of operation was handed over to Middleton’s VIII Corps.
CIRCUIT THREE
Circuit three: St Mère Église – Sainte Marcouf – Azeville – Cherbourg – Coutances – Cherbourg
FROM ST. MÈRE ÉGLISE DRIVE SOUTH on the N-13 to Les Forges, turn left on the D-70 to Sainte Marie-du-Mont. Pass through the small town still on the D-70 to arrive at La Madeleine. This is Utah Beach, the actual point where the US VII Corps landed on June 6th, 1944.
The German fortifications here made up the strongpoint W-5. The blockhouse on the left has been converted into a memorial crypt. On top of the bunker is a monument to the 1st US Engineer Brigade who landed here on June 6th. Also there is a memorial for the 90th Infantry Division. A German gun still faces out to sea. On the other side of the gap between the dunes is an excellent museum, which is housed in another part of the old W-5 fortifications. Outside the museum are positioned various artifacts of the landing, including a relatively new item, an LCVP, or Higgins Boat. There are also a few good examples of the type of beach obstacles Generalfeldmarschall Rommel had positioned along the Normandy beaches back in 1944. Sited near the museum is one of the markers of the “Liberty Way” at Kilometer 00.
The beach area is now as safe as the other beaches and gets packed with vacationers during the summer, though care should always be taken when exploring any of the sand dunes and hidden bunkers. The tide on Utah Beach goes out a long way, so expect a lengthy walk to reach the water’s edge at low tide. Standing on top of the dunes and looking inland one can see the area behind the beach that was flooded during the war. It is still quite marshy even today.
There is ample parking near the beach and museum and all the usual facilities are available. A good viewing point above Utah Beach is on top of the bunker above the crypt, to the north of the museum, near the 1st US Engineer Brigade Memorial. Here is laid out, in the form of direction arrows, all the points of interest, including the positions of warships taken up for the bombardment.
Drive north, away from Utah Beach, on the D-421. Along this stretch of coastline you will be able to see the remnants of Hitler’s Atlantic wall on both sides of the roadway. On your right, you will pass one of the monument signals raised by the Comité du Débarquement and a memorial to the French General Leclerc. Take a left turn at Grand Hameau des Dunes and head inland on the D-15. At Ravenoville take a right turn onto the D-14 and head north toward the gun batteries at Sainte Marcouf (Crisbecq) and Azeville. Both batteries are well signposted on this road.
The battery at Sainte Marcouf was called Crisbecq by the Americans because this village was nearest the battery’s position. It was the only heavy battery in the area and had weapons that could provide covering fire along the whole length of Utah Beach. Only two bunkers out of four were completely built but these still housed four 210mm guns and had additional anti-aircraft guns in place in and around the battery perimeter. The battery had a compliment of about 290 men. From April 1944 right up to the day of the invasion the area was regularly bombed. By June 7th a battalion from the 4th Infantry Division was attacking the area but suffered many casualties because of the stiff resistance of the German defenders. The following day the 4th resumed the attack with the aid of naval gunfire, but was still repelled. The Americans therefore ended up bypassing the battery and on June 12th when patrols filtered into the area they found the battery deserted and were able to occupy it without a fight.
The second battery at Azeville housed four 105mm guns in casements that were next to houses on the edge of the village. The 22nd Inf. Regt. of the 4th Infantry Division rushed the battery on June 7th, but were thrown back with heavy casualties. They attacked again the next day but met the same fate. On June 9th, an attack with flamethrowers chanced to ignite the battery’s ammunition store and the German commander, along with 169 of his men, no longer having anything to fight with, surrendered.
From Azeville drive northwest on the D-420 to Montebourg. Montebourg was virtually destroyed in twelve days of heavy fighting. The Germans finally burned the town before they retreated northward. It is now completely rebuilt. From Montebourg drive north on the N-13 to Valognes. This town was liberated on the night of June 20th/21st by the 79th Infantry Division, but only after it had been almost completely destroyed.
Continue north along the N-13 to Cherbourg. During the night of June 21st General Collins had his three divisions deployed around the outskirts of Cherbourg and sent the German commander an ultimatum. It went unanswered and so the systematic bombing of the fortification began at 0040 hours. During the night, the 9th Infantry Division, after much hard fighting, occupied the heights overlooking the town. Tourlaville to the east was captured by the 4th Division on June 24th. Finally the main fort of Le Roule was captured on June 25th. The fort now houses the Musée de la Liberation de Cherbourg.
From Cherbourg, a drive east to Fermanville, or west to Branville, would show evidence of the sort of fortifications the Allies had to contend with in the attack on Cherbourg. Otherwise, leave Cherbourg on the Octeville road D-3 and drive south, onto the D-904, toward Les Pieux. Over this village, on the night of June 5th/6th, flew the Dakota C-47 transport planes carrying the paratroopers on their way to the drop zones. Carry on south to Barneville. The first elements of the 60th Infantry Regiment entered the town at about 0500 on June 18th. The Germans counter-attacked in mid-morning but were driven back. By reaching this point the Americans had succeeded in cutting off the peninsula. On the outskirts of the town is a stone commemorating the feat. Carry on south from Barneville on the D-903 to the important crossroads town of La Haye-du-Puits. This was finally captured on July 8th after it had been virtually destroyed.
Now take the D-900 to Lessay. Here the Germans tried to repulse the American offensive, but failed and were driven back and forced to abandon the town. The ancient Abbey Church of Lessay, an early Roman building of great historical importance, was left in ruins. It has now been rebuilt.
Turn left at the main crossroads in Lessay onto the D-900 to Périers. This town, along with Lessay and St Lô, was one of the priority objectives of the Americans during those first few days of July 1944. All the approaches to these towns had been blocked by felled trees or mine fields as SS units and German paratroopers struggled to defend every possible piece of the ground. As a result, the Americans made little progress for nine days and sustained many casualties. It was little wonder they eventually gave up the idea of taking Périers. Midway between Périers and Carentan is the small town of Sainteny, considered to be the hardest hit community in the area. All of its cattle were killed during the fighting and the town itself was razed to the ground. American troops finally secured a small portion of the Périers – St Lô highway (D-900) and found Périers destroyed mostly by American artillery and bombing. In the center of Périers, turn south on the D-971 to Coutances approximately fifteen kilometers away. On July 27th the US 1st Infantry Division and 3rd Armored Division drove on Coutances from the direction of St Lô hoping to isolate the German 84th Corps. They were held off by two SS divisions for a time but the Germans were unable to stop two armored divisions attacking from the southward rampaging VIII Corps. Coutances was liberated in the afternoon of July 28th, 1944.