|
|
Destination NormandyBy Ian Gardner and Roger Day | World War II | 5 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post  First Lt. Alex Bobuck checks equipment during a dry run at Exeter Airfield prior to D-Day (National Archives). For more photos of the 101st Airborne Division before and after their jump into Normandy, click here. On May 27, 1944, the paratroopers of 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne waited at the railway station in Hungerford, England, for the trains that would take them to their D-Day marshaling area. The weather was unusually hot for May, and the men sweated as they waited in their steel helmets and jumpsuits. Subscribe Today
“Everyone was trying to figure out exactly where we were going,” remembers Amos “Buck” Taylor, a sergeant in the 506th at the time. “We knew it was probably going to be Normandy, but exactly where nobody knew.” Though the location of the invasion had not yet been revealed, the men had some idea of what Gen. Bill Lee, former commander of the 101st, had called “the responsibility ahead of us.” The past nine months had been a blur of grueling training exercises that had tested the mettle even of these men, elite volunteers trained to jump directly into the turbulence of combat. Their training had culminated in Exercise Tiger, a full-scale rehearsal of D-Day that had involved all units of the 101st Airborne. In a few short hours, at Exeter Airfield, the men of 3rd Battalion would discover their objective: to lead the way on D-Day by seizing and defending two bridges spanning the Canal de Carentan—vital links between the German bases in and around Carentan, a small port city just south of the Cotentin Peninsula, and the American invasion beaches. On the following pages, the men of the 506th recall the days leading up to the perilous night drop that launched the largest military invasion in history. Staff Sgt. Ed Shames, Company HQ: “There were about 30 people [at the initial briefing on May 27]…. The tent fell silent as the SHAEF officer stood up in front of a flip chart mounted on a stand. The guy did the big showbiz thing, like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. He flipped open the cover of the chart to reveal a large heading that read, ‘operation overlord—the invasion of normandy june 4.’ [Third Battalion’s commanding officer, Lt. Col. Robert] Wolverton jumped out of his seat and said, ‘I had a hunch it was going to be there, boys, I knew it, I knew it!’” Sgt. Ralph Bennett, H Company: “It seemed to be raining a lot. Each day we attended lectures, had close order drill and unarmed combat, cleaned weapons and sharpened knives. We worked from 6 a.m. to about 5 p.m. A lot of the guys would spend their evenings watching movies…. What I remember most were the briefings. The sand table tent was full of maps and aerial photographs and we attended at least two platoon-strength lectures there. Each would last about half an hour, then we would move on to the next thing.” Shames: “Wolverton had the same concerns and questions that everyone else was voicing during the week running up to the invasion…. He told me to stay in the tent and make sure everyone got the assistance they needed. [Sgt. Frank] Padisak had returned alone to our tent at least six times more than anyone else, only to go over the same information time and time again, all in infinite detail. [Sgt.] Joe Gorenc smiled at me as he said, ‘What’s wrong with this guy, is he stupid or something?’ I said, ‘Can’t you see what’s driving this man?’” Pages: 1 2 3 4 5Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: Historical Conflicts, People, World War II
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||
What is HistoryNet?The HistoryNet.com is brought to you by the Weider History Group, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. If you are interested in a specific history subject, try searching our archives, you are bound to find something to pique your interest. |
From Our Magazines
|
Weider History Group |
Weider History Network: HistoryNet | Armchair General | Great History | Achtung Panzer! Terms of Use | Copyright © 2009 Weider History Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. |
||
Loading ...
5 Comments to “Destination Normandy”
I served with the 87th INF. DIV. 3rd ARMY in 3 Campaigns. I was an .81mm mortarman…After the war I studied Dentistry at Georgetown Univ. Wash. DC Our whole Class was made up of WW-2 Veterans of all Serivces., Among us was “Fritz” Nyland who had 2 brothers killed at Normandy and one a prisoner of war in Japan. Fritz was the character which later was portrayed as PRIVATE RYAN in the movie of that name. He actually was found after his plane was blown off course to the Caranthan Penninsula and brought home to North Tonawanda, NY near Buffalo. He had 2 daughters and died around 1982. I am not related to Gen. “Nuts” McAuliffe but served as the Post Dental Officer at Ft. McNair, Wash. DC where the General and his wife lived with his son and daughter. they were my Dental Patients on the POst. They are all buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
By John E. McAuliffe on May 22, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Great read and comment. God bless all of you who served in the war. I had two brothers who were in the Army Air Force. Neither saw action but I am just as proud of them. They are both gone now and one is burried in the National cemetery at Fort Sam Huston.
It’s too bad we have a situation like we have now. I pray for our troups and the good old USA.
Chuck Dishno
Dillon, Montana
By Chuck on May 31, 2009 at 6:02 pm
this is another excellent article. thank you HistoryNet and a very special thank you to all those brave men who participated in Operation Overlord. You all are truly one of a kind.
By Juan M Rodriguez on Jun 7, 2009 at 4:05 pm
Not to belittle the efforts of those men of the 101st Abn, but IU do get tired of the notion they single handedly saved the day at Normandy. For many of thses brave men, this was thier fisrt combat jump.
Let us not forget that Normandy was the second and third jump behind enemy lines for men of the 82nd Abn. In fact, begrudginly, men of the 82nd were pulled from their ranks to help form and train the men of the 101st.
Both divisions served with honor and distinction but it was the 82nd “All American” that led the way and set the standard for airborne operations.
By Alex on Jun 20, 2009 at 1:19 am
To Comment on Alex’s Comment above:
Neither did the 101st “Save the day” at Bastogne…They were surrounded: and as Gen. Patton observed: “The 101st Div did well, but got too much credit”..and as Gen. MIddleton of the V111 Corps observed of the so -called Besiege of Bastogne: The most fighting occured after the so called besiege: which includedd the 87th Div; 17th Airborne Div and the 11th ARMD DIV holding off the Germans 8 miles west of Bastogne…and other units which gave relief to the 101st as they were surrounded. The 4th ARMD DIV coming from Orlons to open the Goose Egg.
By John E. McAuliffe on Aug 22, 2009 at 8:27 am