D-DAY TOURS Full Day Tour E-2 US Paratroopers
TOUR E-2: FOCUS ON US PARATROOPERS.
On this tour, you will discover how 16500 soldiers of the American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were dropped into Normandy in the dead of night to help to insure the success of the seaborne assault on Utah Beach. You will visit the places where the main actions undertaken by these men unfolded in the pre-dawn hours of D-Day. Most notably, you will be driven along the route taken by Lt. Richard Winters as he led Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment as shown in episodes 2 and 3 of the television series of “Band of Brothers”.
Retour aux D-Day ToursLA FIERE BRIDGE
This quiet countryside a couple of miles from Sainte-Mere-Eglise saw some of the hardest fighting undertaken by the 82nd Airborne Division in Operation Overlord. The capture of the bridge at La Fiere was considered essential to allow allied troops to cross the Merderet River and to exploit to the interior of the Cherbourg Peninsula. The Germans however understood the importance of this position and counterattacked strongly over three days to try and recapture the bridge. It was not until June the 8th that relief arrived from the beach to reinforce the beleaguered paratroopers. Numerous monuments can be found at this historic site honouring the men who fought here, the most famous of these monuments being the statue of “Iron Mike”.
FOUCARVILLE – BEUZEVILLE AU-PLAIN :
The paratroopers of the 502nd Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division were supposed to capture the German gun battery of Saint-Martin-de-Varreville and the northern beach exits from Utah. However, the paratroopers were dropped a long way from their landing zone and although these objectives were taken, it proved a long and arduous task. It was also here at Beuzeville-au-Plain that the C-47 transport plane carrying the Easy Company commander, Lieutenant Meehan, crashed killing all on board. It was following this disaster that Lieutenant Richard Winters took over control of Easy Company in the television series “Band of Brothers”.
RAVENOVILLE AND THE MARMION’S FARM
As one of the objectives of the 101st Airborne Division, this village was situated at the western end of Exit 4 coming from Utah Beach. This would give the Americans a strong North facing defensive position to cover the beach landings taking place that day from any German counterattack to come from Cherbourg. It was in the Marmion’s farm that the famous picture of American paratroopers holding a captured Nazi flag was taken.
BRECOURT MANOR :
Despite intensive Allied reconnaissance prior to D-Day, the American paratroopers were unaware that the Germans had four artillery pieces situated only two miles inland from Utah beach, covering the main road leading to Sainte-Marie-du-Mont and on to Carentan. As a result, this gun battery was in a perfect position to seriously hinder the American landings on the beach and any further advance inland. Following the discovery of this dangerous position, “Easy Company” of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment was sent to destroy these guns. Thanks to the excellent command and leadership of their new commander Dick Winters, the position was neutralized. This feat of arms, carried out by around 15 men is still demonstrated today at the American Military Academy of West Point as a text-book example of an attack on fixed position. It is also shown in the Television series “Band of Brothers”.
SAINTE MARIE DU MONT :
Because of its geographic location, Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, with its distinctive 13th century church, was at the center of action for the 101st Airborne Division. Situated on one the beach exits coming inland off Utah, this town was on the main advance route to Carentan, the key objective of the 101st. Because of the very scattered night drop, Sainte-Marie-du-Mont was not finally secured until the afternoon of D-Day.
HIESVILLE :
This little village found in the middle of the American 101st Airborne Division drop zone was captured very rapidly after the initial paratrooper landings. A short time later, before dawn, the first air-lift of 46 gliders landed just South East of the village. Most of these gliders landed reasonably successfully in the area but the highest ranking officer killed on D-Day, Brigadier General Pratt, assistant Commander of the 101st, died when his glider crashed through a hedgerow on landing.
ANGOVILLE AU PLAIN
This small village watched as the American paratroopers were dropped only a quarter of a mile to their east on the morning of June 6th 1944. Although, this drop was the most successful of all the American paratrooper drops on June the 6th, it was also the area best defended by the Germans. Approximately 150 men of the 101st Airborne Division secured the town by day break but the village changed hands twice in the next two days of furious fighting around the area. During these two days of uncertain outcome, two American medics, Robert E. Wright and Kenneth J. Moore, stayed in the church administering medical help to Americans, Germans and local French civilians wounded in the fighting. The Germans respected the Red Cross on the church even allowing German medical officers to assist the American medics in their work on the wounded. These two American medics are today commemorated in Memorials found in the village and in the church.
SAINT-COME-DU-MONT AND THE DEAD MAN’S CORNER MUSEUM :
Saint-Come-du-Mont is overlooking Carentan from the North and as such was a key strategic observation and start point for the attack into Carentan. The paratroopers of the 101st finally launched their attack into Saint-Come-du-Mont on June the 8th but were strongly opposed by the German paratroopers under « Oberstleutnant » Von Den Heydte. This German resistance gave rise to the name “Dead Man’s Corner” as a result of the first tank that approached this road junction. It was hit and knocked out, the Commander and his crew dying in this attack. The tank remained in the middle of the road with the Commander’s body visible in the turret for several days. The “Dead Man’s Corner” museum today holds a large collection of military equipment as well as photographs, witness statements and details of the attack launched into Carentan on June the 11th, 1944.
CARENTAN :
Aware of the importance of this town to the Allies, the German defenders had been ordered to hold the town « to the last man ». It withstood four days of attack by the paratroopers as it was easy for the Germans to defend owing to the large flooded areas surrounding the only road down which the Americans could attack. Despite being the main objective of the 101st Airborne Division, Carentan was not finally secured until June the 12th.
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