Destination Normandy: Three American Regiments on D-Day
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Destination Normandy: Three American Regiments on D-Day G.H. Bennett PRAEGER SECURITY INTERNATIONAL DESTINATION NORMANDY Three American Regiments on D-Day G.H. BENNETT Studies in Military History and International Affairs Jeremy Black, Series Editor PRAEGER SECURITY INTERNATIONAL Westport, Connecticut • London Praeger Security International Advisory Board Board Cochairs Loch K. Johnson, Regents Professor of Public and International Affairs, School of Public and International Affairs, University of Georgia (U.S.A.) Paul Wilkinson, Professor of International Relations and Chairman of the Advisory Board, Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence, University of St. Andrews (U.K.) Members Eliot A. Cohen, Robert E. Osgood Professor of Strategic Studies and Director, Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University (U.S.A.) Anthony H. Cordesman, Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, Center for Strategic and International Studies (U.S.A.) The´re`se Delpech, Director of Strategic Affairs, Atomic Energy Commission, and Senior Research Fellow, CERI (Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques), Paris (France) Sir Michael Howard, former Professor of History of War, Oxford University, and Professor of Military and Naval History, Yale University (U.K.) Lieutenant General Claudia J. Kennedy, USA (Ret.), former Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Headquarters, Department of the Army (U.S.A.) Paul M. Kennedy, J. Richardson Dilworth Professor of History and Director, International Security Studies, Yale University (U.S.A.) Robert J. O’Neill, former Chichele Professor of the History of War, All Souls Col- lege, Oxford University (Australia) Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland (U.S.A.) Jusuf Wanandi, co-founder and member, Board of Trustees, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (Indonesia) Fareed Zakaria, Editor, Newsweek International (U.S.A.) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bennett, G.H. (George Henry), 1967- Destination Normandy : three American regiments on D-Day / G.H. Bennett. p. cm. — (Studies in military history and international affairs, ISSN 1537–4432) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–275–99094–X (alk. paper) 1. World War, 1939–1945—Campaigns—France—Normandy. 2. United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 116th. 3. United States. Army. Parachute Infantry Regiment, 507th. 4. United States. Army. Infantry Regiment, 22nd. I. Title. D756.5.N6B43 2007 940.54’21421092273—dc22 2006025916 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2007 by G.H. Bennett All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2006025916 ISBN: 0–275–99094–X ISSN: 1537–4432 First published in 2007 Praeger Security International, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.praeger.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 Every reasonable effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright materials in this book, but in some instances this has proven impossible. The author and publisher will be glad to receive information leading to more complete acknowledgments in subsequent printings of the book and in the meantime extend their apologies for any omissions. Dedicated to: The fallen And to: Those men and women on both sides of the Atlantic who continue to remember them Contents List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii 1. Operation Bolero and the Clash of Cultures 1 2. Three Regiments and the Mind of the GI 7 3. Early Training and the Buildup to June 6, 1944 17 4. Free Time, Crime, and the GI 28 5. Segregation and Race 42 6. Amphibious Training 49 7. The Waiting Enemy 61 8. Preinvasion Movements 68 9. Launching the Invasion 80 10. The Battle for the Marshes 99 11. The Drive Inland and the Crossing of the Merderet 109 12. Cut-off Elements of the 507th 117 13. Aftermath and Conclusions 129 viii CONTENTS Appendix 1: 116th Infantry Regiment Losses in Action, June 6–7, 1944 141 Appendix 2: 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment Losses in Action, 155 June 6–July 14, 1944 Appendix 3: 116th Infantry Regiment Decorations for Bravery—Omaha Beach 183 Appendix 4: Casualties Recorded on the Graignes Memorial 195 Notes 197 Sources 209 Index 217 List of Illustrations Men of 29th Rangers washing on Dartmoor 11 29th Rangers making coffee on Dartmoor, July 1943 12 116th Infantry Regiment Assault Training, Dartmoor, 1943 18 Open-air haircut for soldier of the 116th Infantry Regiment 19 Assault Training at Ivybridge 21 Tank landing, Assault Training Center, Woolacombe 51 Men of 116th Infantry Regiment practicing disembarkation from ship, 52 Assault Training Center, Woolacombe Men of 116th Infantry Regiment practicing disembarkation from 53 landing craft, Assault Training Center, Woolacombe Men of 116th Infantry Regiment practicing disembarkation from 54 landing craft, Assault Training Center, Woolacombe Men of 116th Infantry relaxing on the beach, Assault Training Center, 55 Woolacombe 116th Infantry Regiment bazooka training, Assault Training Center, 56 Woolacombe Antiaircraft gun guarding Plymouth Sound 71 Iron Mike Statue at La Fiere, Normandy 77 Marshes of the Merderet River. Graignes old church and memorial are on 83 the hilltop to the left of the picture General Gavin’s preserved foxhole at La Fiere, Normandy 100 German gun position at Azeville showing combat damage 112 Utah Beach today 132 Graignes old church 137 Acknowledgments With thanks to: In Britain: Professor Jeremy Black of Exeter University; my colleagues at the University of Plymouth, Jill Keenan, Clare Hamling, Nikki Girvin, and Sandra MacDonald; the Cultural Office, U.S. Embassy, London; National Archives UK; Plymouth City Library; Nottinghamshire Record Office; West Country Studies Library; Ian Rayment and the staff at the University of Plymouth Library; Sidmouth Town Library; Exmouth Town Library; the BBC People’s War Web site teams in Devon and Cornwall; the Devon Record Office; the Leicestershire Record Office; Jim and Margot Stanger of the 29th Infantry Division Association; and Steve Mutton. In the United States: The National Archives; the staff at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library; Stanley Kowalski; the Virginia, Maryland, Fairfield, and Stamford historical societies — in particular Dennis Barrow, Librarian, Fairfield Historical Society; Renee Kilsh (Army Art Curator) and the staff of the U.S. Army Center of Military History, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and Dick Brodeur. In France: The staff at the diocesan archives at Coutances; the staff at the depart- mental archives at St. Lo; the mayor of Graignes, Monsieur D. Small; and Sebastian of Hotel 6 Juin. Introduction Weareatthecrisisofthewar.Wemustopenoursecondfrontonthecontinentof Europe this month, & my feeling is that we shall do it within the next few days. There is a general feeling of uneasiness & an intense longing for the end of the war—though no one wishes to throw up the sponge & make a patched up peace with Hitler. Most people think that owing to dilatoryness [sic] or disclination [sic] to make the plunge, we missed our chances last year. The campaign in Italy has been a bitter disappointment. ...The Anzio business seems to have been grossly mismanaged. Little is said openly abouttheprospectsofourinvasionattempt—butIthinkthatmostpeoplehavetheir fears. We have not been lucky in our landings hitherto—& these will be the biggest of all. Unless we have found some new leaders...we shall not make a success of our land- ings—& so far after 5 years of war we have found very few geniuses among our generals. Most of the men who will take part in the fighting will be new to battle—& despite rig- orous training, men may fail in the real thing. The only preparation for war—is war—& our men for the greater part have not had the preparation the Germans have. I forsee a lot of fighting close to the places of landing with our men—difficult to re-inforce— hemmed in by superior numbers—unable to move forward. The likelihood of our being able to push the Germans out of occupied Europe is a very remote one—the pos- sibility of our fighting our way through Germany to Berlin—well beyond the realms of possibility.1 These dark diary thoughts voiced on the eve of the invasion of Europe belonged not to a soldier or politician but to Sydney Race, an inspector of schools in Nottingham, England. In 1944 it was apparent to the generals, the politicians, and the ordinary people in Britain, the United States, and Europe that Allied progress in the war had been painfully slow. Germany still controlled the continent, even though the xiv INTRODUCTION Russians were making steady progress in the East. Preparations for a second front in Western Europe had been underway since 1942, but by mid-1944 many civilians wondered, despite the preparations, whether the invasion would ever be launched. The extent to which the generals, and the large numbers of untried British, Cana- dian, and American troops, relished the prospect of storming the beaches of occupied Europe was open to question in the minds of Sydney Race and other observers. Many wondered at the outcome of the invasion, which seemed to offer a myriad of possibilities, from disaster possibly leading to a negotiated peace, to partial success leading to attritional fighting inland from the invasion beaches. Few would have pre- dicted that the greatest gamble of the war would result in the defeat of the enemy in a little under a year. This final climactic campaign in Europe would involve thousands of American soldiers, a significant proportion of whom would be killed or wounded in action. From different states, enlisting in different cities, training at camps spread across the United States, they would have nothing in common other than death in the same battle and burial alongside one another.