THE AIRBORNE DROP AT UTAH BEACH

Prior to the beach assaults, two airborne divisions, the 82nd (All American) and the 101st (Screaming Eagles), were to be dropped at the foot of the Cotentin peninsula in the area of the Douve/Merderet River and around the town of St Mere-Eglise. These paratroopers were the first to go into action in the early morning hours of June 6th at the western most invasion site inland from Utah Beach. The parachustist had his weight nearly doubled due to the large amount of equipment carried. Besides his jump suit he had his helmet, gloves, main/reserve parachutes, Mae West, rifle, .45 automatic pistol, 3 knives, a machete, one cartridge belt, two bandoliers, 2 cans of machine gun ammo, 66 rounds of .45 ammo, one Hawkins mine, 4 blocks of TNT, 3 first-aid kits, 2 morphine needles, a gas mask, a canteen of water, 3 days' supply of K rations, 2 days' supply of D rations, 6 fragmentation grenades, 1 Gammon grenade, 1 orange and red smoke grenade, an orange panel, a blanket, a raincoat, a change of socks/underwear, and 2 cartons of cigarettes. Parachute troops had to be somewhat self sufficient for a period of time until regular ground forces could link up and provide the heavier artillery and tank support. Therefore, the TNT, Hawkins mine, and Gammon Grenade were meant to help counter enemy armored attacks. The Hawkins mine could blow a track off a tank; the Gammon grenade was plastic explosive stuffed into a stockinette bag and would stick to the outside of a tank which upon exploding would blow a hole in the tank killing the occupants. In addition each rifle squad carried a bazooka which obviously had a greater range than a grenade throw. Parachute units also carried 60mm mortars. Gliders would carry the heavier artillery like the 75mm pack howitzers and 81mm mortars plus 57mm anti-tank guns. The initial objective of the Americans was to secure bridges over the Merderet River (the river ran roughly parallel to the Utah Beach coastline and was 6-7 miles inland). The valley of the Merderet had been flooded by the Germans as a defensive measure and would present a serious obstacle dividing the airborne units from the bridge sites on the Merderet. Another critical objective was the town St. Mere Eglise, through which the only first class road, Route 13, from Cherbourg to Bayeux and would be utilized by the Germans to bring in their reinforcements. Other objectives were the four exits from Utah Beach (Pouppeville, Hebert, Audouville-la-Hubert, and St Martin-de-Varreville), and a series of locks across the Douve River which would connect Omaha Beach with its neighbor. The Douve River intersected with the Merderet about four miles southwest of St Mere Eglise and ran southeasterly towards Carentan and then northeast towards the coast at the southern end of Utah Beach.
The airdrop got off on schedule but cloud cover made navigation difficult so that of the 13,000 men in the two divisions, only 1100 men of the 101st were concentrated at any one time in one location and the 82nd had some 4000 men unaccounted for, so widely dispersed was the drop for both airborne divisions. But the total effect of the landings was a success. Even though confusion reigned among the American forces, the wide dispersal caused much delay in German reaction and counterattacks.
News of the landings spread fast and by 0215 Seventh Army put the LXXXIV on the highest state of alert. The German High Command had prepared for this scenario. Rommel, with Hitler's backing, was sure that any activity in the Normandy area would be a diversion to pull troops away from the Calais area where the anticipated invasion would take place. Therefore, only a few officers thought this was the preliminary stage of the invasion of the Normandy coast. This was critical to the invasion's success. Rommel was away to celebrate his wife's birthday; commanding officers were away on war games; Hitler had given orders not to be awaken.The apparent bad weather and high tides were other factors convincing the high command that an invasion was not imminent. Compounding these factors was communications were disrupted by a combination of sabotage, air and naval bombardment. Consequently, LXXXIV Corps headquartered in St. Lo, was too far away to exercise effective control and co-ordinate actions of the three divisions in the drop area. Even a more critical factor to the success of the invasion would be the absence of the panzer divisions which were located away from the coast and would get into battle very slowly and piecemeal because of allied air superiority. (As multiple reports of paratrooper landings came into 7th Army Headquarters, General Dollman issued orders for the airborne forces to be surrounded and destroyed. The 709th Infantry Division was deployed on the east coast of the Cotentin peninsula with the 243rd Infantry Division on the west coast. These divisions had been deployed there for quite some time and were 'static' or ground holding units due to their inherent lack of transport and the low physical fitness of the troops. The 91st Division, on the other hand, was a recent arrival to the area. Its troops were young and even had received airborne training. These three divisions contained only 24 battalions of troops against 18 battalions of just American paratroop forces which did not include the American amphibious forces. The 100th Panzer Replacement Battalion was equipped with old French tanks and miscellaneous assault guns. The 6th Parachute Regiment had 3 battalions of young highly trained soldiers. The 709th Division with the 1058th regiment of the 91st Division, which was in reserve, was to clear the area east of the Merderet River. This was the area south of the village of St. Mere Eglise and where the 82nd Airborne had landed. The remaining regiment 1057th/91st with the 100th Panzer Replacement Battalion was to wipe out the airborne in the inundated area just beyond the beaches. The elite 6th Parachute Regiment was to attack American units between St. Mere Eglise and Carentan which was held mostly by the 101st Airborne. The 7th Army Sturm Battalion was to move from Cherbourg to St. Mere Eglise.
The U.S. 101st Airborne, commanded by Major General Maxwell Taylor, had the task to capture the western edge of the flooded area behind the beach between St. Martin-de-Varreville and Pouppeville. They were to destroy two bridges on the main Carentan highway and a railway bridge and finally to establish a bridgehead over the Douve River northeast of Carentan. The 502nd regiment (two Battalions) with the 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion were to drop near St. Martin and destroy the coastal battery there, secure two northern beach exits and establish a defensive line uniting the division's north flank with the 82nd Airborne Division to the west. The 506th Infantry, less the 3rd battalion, would take the two southern exits. The expected artillery support did not materialize as only one howitzer was recovered during the drop. The 3rd Battalion of the 506th Infantry was to drop south of Vierville, capture two bridges on the Douve and establish a brigehead. The 502nd Parachute infantry did not obtain their first objective until noon and by that time invasion troops were already passing through the exits. The 3rd Battalion lost three quarters of their men through loss of three planes shot down. They reached Pouppeville and faced the numerically superior 1058th Regiment (91st Division) but forced them to retreat into the advancing beach forces namely the 8th Infantry. The 101st Airborne in a few hours secured the western edge of the inundated area west of Utah Beach.
The 82nd Airborne Division commanded by Major General Matthew Ridgeway, was responsible for the right flank of Utah. It suffered more seriously from scattered drops than the 101st and also from more determined resistance. Only one of the missions assigned the 82nd was carried out and that was the capture of St. Mere Eglise.
The original plans were to drop astride the Merderet River, clear the western portion of the beachhead area between the sea and the Merderet and from the Douve River north to St. Mere Eglise and establish a beachhead on the west bank of the Merderet. The 505th was to capture St. Mere Eglise and to unite with the 101st. The 507th and 508th regiments were to complete the other assignments but were too widely dispersed to concentrate a formidable attacking force. The hedgerows proved to be both and an advantage and disadvantage to both sides as to be discovered weeks after D-Day. The key success was the capture of St.Mere Eglise. At dawn reinforcements came in by glider. Both Airborne Divisions contributed greatly to the success of the landing on Utah Beach even though many assigned objectives were not reached.

UTAH BEACH

General Omar Bradley was in charge of the U.S. Army consisting of two assault forces, V and VII Corps. V Corps was given Omaha Beach and the responsibility for the landing on Utah was given to the VII Corps under the command of "Lighning Joe" Collins.
The final plan for Operation Overlord placed the major allied effort at Utah Beach. Montgomery's plan was to have the Americans seal off the Cotentin peninsula and then take the port of Cherbourg.
The initial objectives for the 4th U.S. Division were to take the road that ran parallel to the coast to Cherbourg, link up with Omaha and with the airborne divisions. The force was to drive across the peninsula and seize the town of Carteret establishing a defensive line facing south across the peninsula and to capture the port of Cherbourg having cut off the remaining German troops in the northern part of the peninsula.
Directly in front of the landing site was the 709th German Infantry Division at battalion strength, a second rate unit that was at the same time over stretched in this area. However, directly behind this unit was the elite 6th Parachute Regiment along with the 91st Division which were to be engaged by the airborne divisions. If the airborne troops captured their assigned objectives and prevented German reinforcements from reaching the beach, the 4th Division would have little difficulty getting ashore.
The Americans faced a two mile stretch of land, consisting of marshes or inundated land, extending eight miles up the east coast of the peninsula. There were few routes off the beach and the airborne forces were to control these exits to allow the 4th Division to get inland. The first day objectives were not obtained mainly because of slow progress. Extensive obstacles covered the tidal flats out over one hundred yards from the beach. German strongpoints consisting of hundred man units and artillery capable of firing on the naval fleet of the 7th Army and LXXXIV Corps, were taken quickly by assault forces. The Americans had little trouble getting ashore even though the assault forces landed a mile south of the designated invasion site. Even though the intense air and naval bombardment did not destroy the gun emplacements, they had the effect of depleting the morale of the defending units to a point that many did not get back to their assigned positions to fire at the landing troops. Once ashore the attackers using flame throwers and machine-gun fore overcame the enemy defenses after several hours of fighting. The Utah Beach defenders released one of Hitler's secret weapons as the Americans streamed ashore. Miniature tanks packed with high explosives crawled out of the sand dunes. they were controlled by lengthy wires and were intended to tackle tanks and landing craft. These 'Goliaths' or mobile mines provided ineffective just as they had on the Russian fornt.
Approximately two dozen resistance nests were scattered along Utah Beach with others, including artillery batteries, farther inland. The airborne troops did their jobs well and the 4th Division had little trouble getting ashore. The first waves of the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 8th Infantry came in through shallow water. Twenty eight Duplex Drive Sherman tanks equipped with snorkels were late arriving when their LCT struck a mine. The 1st Battalion crossed toward Audouville-la-Hubert, while the 2nd turned south to the Pouppeville road. The first infantry wave was followed by engineer and naval demolition parties to clear underwater obstacles which was completed in an hour. While engineers worked on the beach the 3rd Battalion/8th Infantry with tanks of the 70th Tank Battalion and 3rd Battalion/22nd Infantry were landing and moving out. The 12th Infantry landed with only sporadic artillery fire. The first day objectives were not met as they were probably too ambitious. Outside the Utah Beach lodgement were pockets of airborne troops holding on to their objectives as evening of the first day approached.