D-Day + 14

Following D-Day, American forces became locked in a war of attrition with the desperate Germans, who, after being dazed by the initial Allied invasion, were becoming more organized every day.

Bocage is extraordinarily thick, and difficult to penetrate.

Bocage patchwork from the air. Notice how
lanes between rows are not visible.

Apart from the ferocious opposition, GIs were being bogged down in the Normandy hedgerow country, which is known locally as ‘The Bocage’. These high medieval hedges, bordering sunken lanes, were a defender’s delight and a death trap for the attacking forces.

Sunken lane between hedge row

Within the bocage, Germans were able to conceal their deadly MG42 machine gun nests in positions of interlocking fire, which covered the patchwork of the meadows between the hedgerows.

Germans with hidden 88

Allied Armor struggled to penetrate these fortifications and fell prey to attack from panzerfausts and the deadly 88mm German artillery pieces.

Dead livestock and the bodies of fallen soldiers from both sides, littered the fields and conditions became miserable.

All Allied hopes of a swift cross country dash were evaporating as the Germans made the liberators pay for every inch of ground.

Ellwood discusses the notorious German 88mm artillery piece

 

Between the 18^th and the 21^st of June, a massive storm raged in the English Channel. The storm destroyed the Mulberry harbors off Omaha Beach, which had been hastily assembled and not anchored correctly to the sea bed. These artificial harbors had enabled a steady but limited supply of ammunition and equipment to reach the hapless young GIs.

Mulberry harbor destruction.

The rapid capture of a deep water port took on an added importance!
Click here for additional posts on the Battle of Normandy.

Support from an Old Warrior

Screaming Eagle, Jim "Pee Wee" Martin, landed in France on D-Day, and then fought through Holland to the Battle of the Bulge. In The Americans in the Bulge, Jim describes, in chilling detail, the ordeals soldiers faced during that winter campaign. He says, "I thought I would never be warm again."

Safely home now in Dayton, Ohio, Jim enjoys watching documentaries on public television. He and his wife have supported their local station for thirty years, and he encourages us to do the same.

Clifford Maughan

Just after 1:30 am on D-Day - June 6th, 1944, Private First Class Clifford Maughan stepped out of a flying aircraft and landed in what is now Ellwood von Seibold's back garden. Of course, at that time the house was occupied by a German, who took Maughan captive. During his D-Day Battle tours, Ellwood tells participants the story of Clifford's capture and the surprising aftermath.

For years, Ellwood looked for a relative of Maughan. He finally found his sister, but was never able to locate his son. Then, last month, Donald Maughan contacted Ellwood. He was coming to Normandy, and had arranged a tour through Rick Steves. As luck would have it, the tour was with Ellwood. The two arranged to keep Donald's father's identity secret from the rest of the tour group, until they reached Ellwood's home.

Standing in the back garden, Ellwood began the tale of Clifford Maughan. He told how he landed that D-Day night and was captured. He talked about what happened afterward - a story not even Donald had heard.


Then, he told the group how he had been looking for Clifford's son, without success, until he received that fated phone call a few weeks before . . . .

Donald Maughan with Ellwood, by the plaque honoring his father

You can just imagine the applause and the emotion when everyone realized  that Clifford Maughan's son was standing in the very garden where his father stood, on D-Day, 67 years before. Ellwood described the day as, "simply amazing."

They made their way to the C-47 Cafe, where Donald signed the C-47 tail piece for his father, joining the many other veterans who have placed their signatures there.

 

Ellwood is the tour guide for the American Road to Victory film series. He resides in Ste. Marie Eglise.

Memorialized in Glass

Interior, from Alter area, of Angoville au Plain church

 We went to visit Angoville au Plain church the other day. This church served as a field hospital during the Battle of Normandy. In fact, you can still see blood stains on the pews. 

blood stained pew

 The church was in a hot spot, an area that changed hands three times. It survived the conflict because two American medics (Robert E Wright and Kenneth J Moore of the 101st Airborne) treated both German and Allied soldiers here.  When the Germans realized the medics were treating their men, they refrained from bombing the church. One shell entered the ceiling, but, for the most part, the church was "off limits."

mortar hole, ceiling

Exterior view of window

Mark "Sparky" Patterson

While we were there, we ran into Mark "Sparky" Patterson, a battlefield tour guide from Arizona, who commissioned a stained glass window (left) honoring WWII paratroopers and the medics. Mark has a detailed description of the project here. 



He is working on a new project honoring the 82nd Airborne, for the church at Cauquigny, near La Fiere bridge, and we are excited to see it become a reality. Anyone wishing to donate to this stained glass memorial project, please contact Mark at pathfinder.tours at yahoo dot com. 

new project design

It's quite interesting to see recent history memorialized in stained glass. Another window that combines religious symbols with military stories is in Ste. Marie Eglise, and shows paratroopers landing around the church (below). We'd love to hear about more windows or other creative, lasting tributes that we can feature on future blog posts.

D-Day +7 Bloody Gulch

After D-Day, the Germans were starting to re-group. They rushed elite divisions into the battle. In the 101st Airborne sector around Carentan, the  6th Regiment von der Hedte, who had forced the American paratroopers to fight for every inch of ground, were reinforced by the 17th SS.

Troopers of The 101st Airborne liberate Carentan

In the night of the 12^th and the early hours of the 13^th of June, 1944, this combined force tried to re-take Carentan, which was strategically important to both sides. The U.S forces needed the town as a link up point between forces  which had landed on Utah and Omaha beaches, and the Germans desperately needed to drive a wedge between the landing beaches. They attacked at the battle of ‘Bloody Gulch’, one mile southwest of Carentan. The troopers of the 101st Abn came under a sustained and vicious attack by an enemy force with mobile assault guns. At a critical point in the battle, just as the German force showed signs of breaking through the American lines, sixty tanks from the 2nd Armored Division supported by infantry of 29th Inf. Div, arrived on the scene and beat off the German attack. The battle was decisive, and from that moment on U.S forces had secured a lodgement area from which they could launch future operations.

This action was immortalized in the HBO series Band of Brothers.

Germans attack towards Carentan, June 13th 1944

A Historian's View

A great boost from the eminent author and historian, John C. Mcmanus.

''The Americans in the Bulge' is an entertaining, accurate, absorbing look at the American experience in that monumental struggle.  The film brings the past to life, conveying the look and feel of the battle.  Whether you are a novice or an expert on World War II, there is something for you to see in this fine movie.  I wish that all filmmakers would present history this way!"  

John C. McManus, Ph.D., author of "Alamo in the Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers who made the Defense of Bastogne Possible," and "Grunts: Inside the American Infantry Combat Experience, World War II through Iraq."

 

"Congrats again on a fine film.  I especially like the wintry mood of the whole thing."