The Lost Ranger: A Soldier's Story by Mehlo Noel

Author:Mehlo, Noel [Mehlo, Noel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-08-24T21:00:00+00:00

Figure 218: Operation OVERLORD BIGOT Map of Omaha Beach, West (NARA)

Figure 219: Operation OVERLORD BIGOT Map reverse side, of Omaha Beach, West (NARA) Figure 220: Operation OVERLORD BIGOT Map of Pointe du Hoc (NARA) The Germans followed the planes nightly, however D-5 was only bombed that one time. In our meeting, JR told me the Germans eventually figured out to follow the trailing plane, and then would come bomb the airfield. The Rangers area got bombed as a result. He told me that most of the Rangers took to digging foxholes. He did not want to dig a foxhole. Captain Whittington came to him and said “you had better dig a foxhole.” JR responded to him “Well sir, we have simulated just about everything else, I’ve simulated my foxhole over there.” He told me the captain told him that “when the bombs started falling, that if he did not have a fox hole, that would be it”. Pretty soon the bombs started falling and JR changed his mind and got blisters on his hands digging a foxhole. On May 31, German bombers flew over D5. The Rangers heard the planes, but paid them no mind as they figured they were Allied planes. It wasn’t until the defensive network lit up the night sky with antiaircraft fire and flares, searchlights and the sirens went off that the men scrambled for foxholes. Bombs began to fall in the D5 area, shaking the ground with the heavy explosions, and the concussive blasts deafened some of the men. The bombing lasted ½ hour. None of the Rangers had been seriously injured. The bombs had fallen in the motor pool area directly across the road from the men. Two MPs patrolling the motor pool had been killed. Some of the Rangers vehicles and equipment had been damaged or destroyed. One of the two known bombs that fell in the motor pool was a dud, and the closest one to fall to the men in the unit was 100 yards away.

The next morning, the Rangers moved to another section of the Staging area to not present an easy target to the Germans should they return. One member of the 2nd Rangers was wounded while conducting a police call when something he threw away in a burn barrel resulted in an explosion. This Ranger had become a BIGOT, and he had to await full and proper medical care beyond the care provided by the medics and BN surgeon until after the invasion.3 The units were broken down into boatloads to await the final move down to the ships.10 Only the weather was in doubt at this point, as the English Channel was stormy. Loading of Force U, Force O, and Force B began on 30 May, 31 May, and 1 June, respectively, and all troops were aboard by 3 June. Force U craft were loaded mostly at Plymouth, Dartmouth, Tor Bay, Torquay, Poole, Salcombe, Brixham, and Yarmouth. They were divided into twelve convoys for the cross-Channel movement depending on their missions, assembly points, and speed.

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