From Omaha Beach to Dawson's Ridge by Cole Kingseed

Author:Cole Kingseed [Kingseed, Cole C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781612515236
Publisher: Naval Institute Press

6

Normandy

God is my witness that the men of my company lived, fought and died in true glory.

For the Big Red One, movement to the marshaling areas in the vicinity of Long Bredy, Dorset, began on May 7 and was completed four days later. Once in the encampments, the troops were “sealed” in their camps, pending deployment to the points of embarkation. On June 1, embarkation began at Weymouth Harbor, and by the third, all of the assault troops had boarded their craft.

The 16th Regiment’s 1st Battalion climbed aboard the USS Samuel Chase; the 2nd Battalion, containing Dawson’s company, went aboard the USS Henrico; and the 3rd Battalion sailed on the HMS Empire Anvil. The next days brought nervous anticipation, awaiting the decision of the supreme commander to launch the invasion of France. In the opening hours of June 5, General Dwight Eisenhower confirmed that D-Day would be Tuesday, June 6. By that time, the largest armada in history was already at sea.

The general plan of the First Division called for attacking with two reinforced RCTs abreast—the Big Red One’s organic 16th Infantry Regiment on the left, and the attached 116th Infantry Regiment from the 29th Infantry Division on the right. Dawson’s 16th RCT was to land on Omaha Beach in areas designated as Fox Green and Easy Red at H-Hour, with the 2nd and 3rd Battalions abreast. The 1st Battalion was in reserve.

The objective of Dawson’s 2nd Battalion was to reduce the beach defenses in its zone, capture Colleville-sur-Mer, seize and hold assigned objectives, dig in and establish defensive positions to repel anticipated enemy counterattacks, and cover the landing of the remainder of the 1st Division. Providing naval gun support to the Big Red One were the battleships Arkansas, Texas, and Nevada, plus three cruisers, the Bellona, Black Prince, and Glasgow. In addition, there were ten destroyers and a large number of smaller vessels, including nine rocket-launching craft. The 9th U.S. Air Force provided tactical air support.1

As the vast armada moved toward the Normandy coast, news correspondent Ernie Pyle took copious notes for a column that he was preparing to write as soon as he went ashore. Pyle noted that those aboard the ships had secretly dreaded the voyage, for they expected attacks from U-boats, E-boats, and—at nighttime—from aircraft. But nothing happened because minesweepers had swept wide channels between England and France.

Escorting the fleet was the largest contingent of ships than “any human had ever seen before at one glance.” There were “battleships and all other kinds of warships clear down to patrol boats. There were great fleets of Liberty ships. There were fleets of luxury liners turned into troop transports, and fleets of big landing craft and tank carriers and tankers. And in and out through it all were nondescript ships—converted yachts, riverboats, tugs, and barges.”

The best way Pyle could describe the vast armada and the frantic urgency of the traffic was to suggest, “You visualize New York Harbor on its busiest day of the year and then just

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