Stars and Stripes

Here is a chronology of the Normandy invasion of June, 1944, from D Minus 1 (June 5) through D Plus 21 (June 27). It originally appeared in Stripes on the fifth anniversary of the invasion, in 1949.

Click to jump ahead to D plus:
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D MINUS 1

5 JUNE, 1944 — During the afternoon, the biggest fleet of ships ever assembled to carry an invasion sets sail from southern British ports. Escorted by fighter planes at high and low levels, and by naval task forces, the convoys move across the heavily mined English Channel toward Normandy.

At 2215 hours an air armada, composed of C47s carrying the 101st and 82d AB Divs, takes off from British bases, heading for the Cotentin Peninsula.

D-DAY

6 JUNE, H MINUS 5 HOURS — C47 flights, carrying the 101st and 82d Airborne Divs, have become badly scattered over the Cotentin Peninsula. Approaching from the west, they hit cloud formations over the coast and spread out. After reaching the Merderet River, medium to heavy flak forces further disorganization of the elements. Pathfinder planes, with the mission of locating drop zones astride the Merderet, are unable to do so because of low clouds.

The 101st Airborne Div, dropping 6,600 men, has a bad drop. In DZ "A," east of Ste.-Mere-Eglise, not one planeload is landed in the drop zone proper. Better results are achieved at DZ "C," and particularly at DZ "D," just north of Carentan. However, 60 per cent of the 101st Division's equipment is lost through falling in swamp country or under enemy fire.

Results of the 82d Airborne drop are worse. Assigned the mission of securing the banks of the Merderet, many planeloads are dropped far to the east, with 11 planeloads unloading as much as 25 miles due south of the assigned area.

Heaviest concentration of paratroop landings is around Ste.-Mere-Eglise, controlling the chief exits from Utah Beach.

H MINUS 3 — Having left the invasion ports of southern England during the afternoon of 5 June, Force "O" is proceeding at 0330 across the English Channel toward Omaha Beach, under an aerial cover of planes from the RAF and the U.S. 9th Air Force. Visibility at sea is 10 miles, with a low overcast and a 10-to-18-knot wind from the northwest. No enemy aircraft seen. H-Hour is 0630.

H MINUS 2 — Detachments of the 4th and 24 Cav Sqdns land on the Iles St. Marcouff, off Utah Beach, suspected as an enemy observation post or casemate for mine field control. No enemy encountered. By 0530, the islands are occupied.

H MINUS 50 (0540) — Landing craft are launched 6,000 yards from Omaha Beach. Heavy seas, with waves of from three to six foot in height, cause boat sections to scatter. Seasickness, cramped quarters and flooded boats take a heavy toll among troops of the initial assault wave. A strong tide from the west carries boats far east of their assigned courses.

H MINUS 40 (0550) — Naval bombardment of enemy shore installations begins on both Utah and Omaha beaches.

H MINUS 35 (0555) — 329 B24s of the 8th AF begin bombing attacks against shore installations on Omaha Beach. Low overcast prevents visual sighting by bombardiers. Forced to resort to radar-guided bombing, the element leaders decide to delay bomb release up to 30 seconds to avoid hitting assault craft nearing the beach. Most bombs fall in the area directly behind the beach and serve mainly to drive the defending enemy under cover. Beach defenses themselves are untouched by the bombing, which ends at 0614, 16 minutes before H-Hour.

H MINUS 32 — 276 9th AF Marauders attack Utah Beach defenses with 4,404 250-lb. bombs.

H MINUS 30 — Utah Red Beach secondary control vessel out of action due to mechanical difficulty. Red Beach primary control vessel is sunk, probably by a mine, 7,000 yards off the beach. Green Beach primary control craft is delayed, due to sinkings in its column.

OMAHA 

H-HOUR — The initial assault wave lands. Most boats are beached well to the east of assigned landing areas, due to a strong current drift as well as smoke and haze making landmarks difficult to pick out. Ten boats have been swamped on the way in. In the first wave are 96 tanks, an Army-Navy Special Engineer Task Force, and eight companies of assault infantry, totaling 1,450 men.

The assault has been planned for low tide, so that three lines of German beach obstacles on the tidal flat will be visible. Many boats are grounded on sandbars 50 to 100 yards from the edge of the tidal flat and debarking men find themselves in deep runnels of four to six feet of water. Much equipment — particularly demolition material designed to aid the engineers in clearing vehicle paths across the beach — is lost in the water. Heavy fire from enemy mortars, small arms and artillery, catches the troops as they leave the ramps of the assault craft. After swimming or wading to shore, the troops still have 200 yards of open sand to cross before reaching cover under the beach bluffs. Heaviest losses, both in men and material, are suffered just after touchdown.

Eight of 16 assault teams of engineers reach shore at 0640. Only five of the teams hit the beach at appointed sectors, three of them without protective fire, due to scattering of boats. Material losses are heavy. Of 16 bulldozers launched from the assault task force, only six make the beach and three of these are disabled immediately. Premature explosions of demolition charges take a heavy toll among the engineers. One bulldozer is prevented from maneuvering to a beach road when infantrymen take shelter behind it. The Special Engineer Task Force, under Brig Gen William M. Hoge, suffers 41 per cent clear casualties, most of them between 0630 and 0700.

The CO of the 743d Tank Bn is killed in an LCT before hitting the beach. Forty of the battalion's 48 tanks reach shore. Heavier casualties are suffered by the 741st Tnk Bn, which is assigned to cover the 16th RCT on beaches Fox Red to Easy Red. Of 32 DD tanks launched from the convoy, only five make shore, and five of the battalion's 16 standard tanks are lost.

Dog Green Beach is under heavy fire from the enemy strongpoint at Vierville draw. Assigned to this beach are A Co of the 116th RCT and C Co of the 2d Ranger Bn. A Co has lost one of its six LCAs on the way in. At 0636, the remaining five boats are fast aground 30 yards out from the end of the tidal flat and under heavy fire. By 0645, A Co is out of action, with all its officers and two-thirds of its sergeants listed as casualties.

The Ranger company suffers even worse. Of 64 men, 35 are casualties by 0645.

F Co of the 116th RCT is disorganized and has suffered heavy losses while G Co is scattered and has landed east of Dog Red, instead of on Dog White, leaving a 1,000-yard gap of unmanned beach.

Easy Red Beach, the longest Omaha sector (1,850 yards), is manned by only 100 men of the 16th RCT, plus three DD tanks. Other sections scheduled for Easy Red have lost their way en route to the beach and do not land until 0800, one and a half hours late.

0700 — The second assault wave hits the beach, meeting much the same conditions as the first wave. Easy Red Beach is strengthened by the new landing, but the 116th RCT area is still under heavy fire and pinned down.

0710 — Led by Lt Col James E. Rudder, commander of Provisional Ranger Force, 200 men of 2d Ranger Bn land at the base of Pointe-du-Hoe, with the mission of neutralizing a battery of six 155-MM howitzers which control the entire beach. The 25-yard landing area is surmounted by a sheer cliff 85 to 100 feet high.

The battery emplacements at the clifftop are found to be empty, and the entire area destroyed by naval and aerial bombardment. By late afternoon, however, the Ranger force has suffered heavy casualties and is pinned down in a small area at the top of the Pointe-du-Hoe cliff, completely surrounded by strong enemy resistance.

0730 — Elements of the assault force are completely immobilized behind the sea wall and shingle embankments. Units are scattered, disorganized and leaderless.

The loss of demolition charges has made it impossible for the engineers to clear a path through the shingle for vehicles. Men are huddled four deep under cover of the bluffs, while beyond the shingle, tanks are attempting to furnish some sort of cover fire, but are unable to maneuver beyond the sand The naval bombardment has been halted, for fear of hitting troops already on the beach.

0800 — Mixed units start to make the first penetrations of the bluff. Enemy strongpoints are still in action at the natural beach exits along the draws, and early penetrations are made up the slopes rather than through the draws. In many cases, attacking groups come on enemy rifle pits and machine gun installations which have been sited to give lateral fire along the beach rather than immediately in front.

Conditions on the beach are still confused. New waves of landing craft continue to unload men and vehicles, which jam up on the sand, unable to cross the shingle, made up of stones averaging three inches in diameter.

1200 — The 116th RCT and 5th Ranger Bn, bypassing enemy strongpoints covering the beach exits, have taken Vierville from a penetration just west of Les Moulins, and are approaching St. Laurent from the beach. To the east, the 16th RCT has pushed 1,800 yards inland toward Colleville, while other elements have overcome a strongpoint overlooking Fox Green and are moving toward Le Grand Hameau.

1300 — Naval gunfire silences the strong point guarding the Vierville draw, but the draw itself, as well as other beach exits to the east, are still defended. Main penetrations are still over the bluffs between enemy positions. Exit roads are heavily defended by systems of deep communications trenches and tunnels, with the Germans emerging from dugouts after naval bombardment to hold off any direct attacks. Artillery from inland positions is still hitting the beach flat and landing craft bringing in material and personnel.

All enemy resistance at E-1 draw — guarding the exit road from Easy Red Beach — is ended, and bulldozers have cut a road through the shingle toward St. Laurent, under sniper fire.

1500 — Movement toward St. Laurent is held up by strong enemy resistance at the village. Vehicles are lined up, bumper to bumper, along the road from Easy Red, which has become the principal unloading point. Engineers cut a new road south and the traffic is shunted into adjoining fields.

2400 — Stubborn enemy resistance has held the day's advance to a strip 11 miles deep in the Colleville area and much less than that west of St. Laurent. Most of the elements of five regiments of infantry are ashore, but artillery, vehicle and supply landings are far behind schedule. Instead of a planned 2,400 tons of material, little more than 100 tons has been put ashore.

The beaches are clogged with debris, unloaded supplies and vehicles waiting for movement to inland points. German snipers are still very active in the beach area and few paths have yet been cleared through the minefields just south of the beach.

By midnight, the main German resistance at St. Laurent has been cleaned up. Le Grand Hameau has been taken, and deep penetrations have been made between St. Laurent and Colleville, still being defended by strong enemy elements. To the west, the 116th RCT and the 2d and 5th Ranger Boo are holding positions southwest of Vierville, with A Co of the 5th Rangers pushing west past the Germans bolding up the main body.

Casualties of the V Corps have been extremely heavy, particularly in the first hours, totaling nearly 3,000 killed, wounded and missing. The 16th and 116th RCT's have each lost around 1,000 men. Material losses have been considerable, including 26 artillery pieces, over 50 tanks, 50 landing craft and 10 larger vessels, together with an uncounted number of trucks and other vehicles.

Enemy air activity has been negligible. At nightfall, 22 enemy planes make an attack on shipping off the beach, with no result. Earlier, three Focke-Wulf 190s were chased from the beach area by components of the 8th and 9th AFs and the RAF.

UTAH

H-HOUR — First assault wave of 600 men hits the beach. An error in pinpointing puts them ashore 2,000 yards south of designated points. This error is attributed in large part to the presence of only one control vessel, Green Beach secondary, to handle all incoming boat traffic. Fortunately, no opposition is encountered on the beach, and only light artillery fire at sea.

Brig Gen Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., assistant commander of the 4th Inf Div, personally reconnoiters past the beach and finds the exits to causeways leading across swamp area back of Utah. He returns to the beach and coordinates the attack.

The error in landing is doubly fortunate. Not only is there less opposition at the actual landing site than there is at the planned sites, but the southern end of the beach has fewer obstacles. Existing obstacles are cleared by demolition teams, the entire operation beg completed by 0730.

0800 — One and a half hours after H-Hour, four battalions have been landed on the beach, and are proceeding to attack enemy fortifications covering the causeways over which the beach exit must be made.

0930 — The 3d Bn, 505th Prcht Inf, 82d Airborne Div, completes the capture of Ste-Mere-Eglise, first town in France to fall to Allied troops.

1230 — A group of the 506th Prcht Rgt overcomes German resistance at Pouppeville, guarding the southernmost causeway from Utah Beach, and makes contact with the 2d Bn, 8th Inf Rgt, pushing in from the beach.

2400 — The positions inland from Utah Beach are good, the beach itself having been almost completely secured. Large German pockets are bolding out in the Carquebut area, astride the Carentan-Cherbourg railroad, and in the Fourville-Turqueville area, astride the highway south of Ste.-Mere-Eglise. On the beach, exits 1, 2 and 3 have been secured, although exit 2 is useless, with a demolished culvert in its center holding up traffic. Successful glider landings have succeeded in strengthening forces around Les Forges on the highway south of Ste-Mere-Eglise, although the glider troops have suffered many casualties in landing among the hedgerows of the Normandy terrain.

Contact between the 82d Airborne Div and VII Corps Hq bas not yet been established. Scattered units of the 82d and 101st are still out of contact with their own divisional headquarters, and the situation in advance of the seaborne forces perimeter is still confused.

D PLUS 1

OMAHA

7 JUNE — With the landing of the 29th Div as Force "B" during the afternoon of D-Day, areas south of the beachhead are divided roughly into two parts. Maj Gen Clarence R. Huebner's 1st Div takes on the task of clearing out the sector east from Trevieres to the British 2d Army area, while the 29th Div, under Maj Gen Charles H. Gerhardt, attacks in the west half of the invasion area, from Trevieres to the Vire River.

All during the night, small isolated enemy groups have been trying to escape from the beach areas. The mopping up of Colleville is accomplished by the 16th RCT early in the morning. Strong enemy resistance holds up the advance south of St. Laurent toward Trevieres, but elements of the 18th RCT succeed in crossing the Bayeaux road and taking up positions in Mandeville, just east of Trevieres, by 2400.

Another group crosses the highway at Mosles, while elements of the 26th and 16th RCTs advance eastward along the bluffs toward Port-en-Bessin.

Enemy resistance appears badly disorganized, with the exception of the area north of Trevieres.

Main drives of the 29th Div during the day are westward from St. Laurent, chiefly by elements of the 2d and 5th Ranger Bns and the 116th RCT toward Pointe-du-Hoe, where strong enemy forces have kept the 2d Rangers pinned down atop the cliffs weakened by heavy casualties, without food, and short of ammunition. Strong enemy pockets are cleaned out of St. Laurent and at Vacqueville.

UTAH

Most of the day's actions are aimed at destroying scattered enemy groups in the beachhead perimeter. No front line had been established by 2400 of D-Day, and it is necessary to set up communications and supply lines between the seaborne forces and the scattered units of the airborne assault.

Communication between the 82d AB Div — under Maj Gen Matthew B. Ridgway — and higher headquarters, is established.

Units of the 8th Inf, which had pushed in from the beach to take Les Forges on D-Day, move north against the enemy pocket between Les Forges and Ste.-Mere-Eglise. Contact is established with 82d Div at the latter town, and an enemy tank attack from the north is beaten off by 4th Div tanks coming up into Ste-Mere-Eglise just in time.

Elements of the 325th Gli Inf, meanwhile, push west toward the Merderet, contacting elements of the 82d AB Div at Chef-du-Pont and along the road leading west out of Ste- Mere-Eglise. Farther west along this road, fighting at the La Fier bridge across the Merderet is inconclusive, and units of the 82d AB Div are still isolated to the west of the river.

On the east, the 12th and 22d Inf Rgts of the 4th Div continue to eliminate enemy pockets lying northwest of the beach causeways, establishing a line running roughly from Neuville-au-Plaine, on the Cherbourg highway north of Ste-Mere-Eglise, to a point south of strong enemy positions at Crisbecq.

Chief action of the 101st AB Div, under Maj Gen Maxwell D. Taylor, is a consolidation of forces toward St. Comedu-Mont and the bridges spanning the Douve River just north of Carentan. Farther east, a small group holds the canal lock at La Parquette, on the Douve.

By 2400, the beachhead is roughly 12,000 yards deep. Landing of men and materiel on the beach itself is slow, due to continued artillery fire from enemy strongpoints at the northern end of the beach.

D PLUS 2

OMAHA

8 JUNE — Formigny, enemy resistance point north of Trevieres, is taken by 1300, with the arrival of reinforcements from the beach. A force of the 26th RCT drives southeast along the Bayeux highway through Tour-en-Bessin to Ste. Anne. An advance from Mosles drives over a mile before being stopped in high ground to the south. By 2400 enemy forces in a large area astride the Port-en-Bessin-Bayeux road, have started an organized retreat to the south, along the Drome River.

The 29th Div attacks along two main axes, one thrust aiming at the Grandcamp area, where enemy artillery is still bombarding the beaches. Aided by gunfire from a British cruiser, division forces capture the town by nightfall. Anther group breaks through to the 2d Ranger Bill on Point-du-Hoe at 1200, while the second axis of the 29th aims for Isigny, on the junction of the Vire and Aure rivers.

UTAH

In anticipation of the enemy driving a wedge between Omaha and Utah beachheads, the immediate capture of Carentan, to effect a consolidation between the two Allied attacks, is ordered. This task falls to the 101st AB Div, which opens its drive by an attack on St. Come-du-Mont, controlling the entrance to the Carentan causeway across the floodlands of the Douve. After recurring enemy counterthrusts, the attack succeeds in investing the town by nightfall, although it remains under continuous fire from enemy 88-MM guns in Carentan.

To the north, the 8th, 12th and 22d Inf divide the area between the beach and the Merderet into three sectors, for a joint attack on the line from Montebourg station-on the railroad just east of the river — through Montebourg — on the highway — to Quineville, on the beach. This line is the first natural enemy defense sector against any movement toward Cherbourg.

The attacks succeed in establishing a line, by 2400, from the railroad through Magneville, to Azeville, where a strong enemy pocket holds up further advance.

Elements of the 82d AB Div secure the bridge at La Fiere, marking the first actual foothold west of the Merderet.

D PLUS 3

OMAHA

9 JUNE — By 0800, Isigny, largest town yet taken in France, is captured by the 175th Inf Rgt with attached tank units. The 2d Inf Div — under Maj Gen Walter M. Robertson — having landed on D plus 1 and D plus 2, the invasion area is now divided into three zones, with the 1st Div on the left, the 2d in the center and the 29th on the right.

Starting from Tour-en-Bessin, two columns of the 1st Div cross the railway west of Bayeux at two points. Another double thrust, from Mosles, is stopped short of the railroad.

Units of the 2d Div mount the assault against Trevieres, one column cutting the road leading out of the town to the southeast, and the other approaching from the north and west.

In the 29th Div zone, the 175th Inf pushes south from Isigny, while K Co sets up a roadblock at the bridge crossing the Vice west of the town.

To the east, the British 30th Div has taken Bayeux.

UTAH 

101st AB Div forces spend the day preparing for the attack on the Carentan causeway across the Douve River. Jump-off is scheduled for 2400 hours.

Meanwhile, the advance against the Quineville-Montebourg line continues. The right flank is thrown back from the fortifications at Crisbecq, and the decision is made to by-pass the forts in an effort to get at Quineville, thereby outflanking the German strongpoints. Few gains are made on the left flank, between the highway and the railroad, but the 12th Inf, attacking east of the road, drives a deep salient northwards to within 1,500 yards of Montebourg, and one battalion even penetrates northeast of the city.

The 90th Div, under Brig Gen Jay W. Mackelvie, takes over the Merderet River area attack from the 82d AB. Orders of Gen Bradley are that the Cotentin peninsula must be cut before the attack on Cherbourg can, proceed. Moving up into position, the 90th Div crosses the La Fiere bridge and prepares to cross at Chef-du-Pont.

D PLUS 4

OMAHA

10 JUNE — Elements of K Co, 175th Inf, cross the Vire against heavy opposition and patrols make first contact with the glider patrols of the 101st AB Div, in the VII Corps area.

The 2d Div attack occupies Cerisy Forest, a major objective on high ground which dominates the entire invasion area. Strong opposition holds up the 1st Div advance along the road leading southwest from Bayeux through the forest.

The V Corps front now extends roughly about 12 miles south of the beachheads.

UTAH

Surrounded on either side by flooded fields, the 101st AB Div is forced to direct the axis of its attack along the causeway to Carentan, and meets very strong opposition. Although the Douve proper is crossed, the assault is topped at a blocked bridge crossing the Madeleine River to the south.

Meanwhile, the 101st Div leftwing attack on Carentan, with the mission of cutting the road to Isigny and establishing contact with the Omaha beachhead forces, proceeds smoothly.

Elements of the 327th Gli Inf cut around in a wide arc, cross the Isigny-Carentan road and are in position about one-half mile from the city by nightfall, while Co A, of the 1st Bn, 401st Gli Inf, makes contact with the 175th Rgt elements at Auville, west of Isigny.

The Quineville line attack succeeds in capturing Montebourg Station, but a strong enemy line numbering more than two divisions is thrown westward from the city to the railroad. In the center, 12th Inf elements continue to penetrate beyond Montebourg, but are thrown back along the road to Quineville, while the 22d Inf on the right, is held south of Ozeville and enemy strongpoints at Fontenay-sur-Mer.

D PLUS 5

11 JUNE — The 1st Div continues its advance southward from the previous day's position toward Caumont.

UTAH

The 101st Div assault takes the bridge over the Madeleine, but very heavy counterattacks — cantered around a farm house and cabbage patch just south of the bridge — stop the assault. The left wing of the Carentan attack takes up stronger positions to the east of town, along the Isigny road, and to the northeast, along both banks of a canal leading into the city.

The northern attack is held almost to the previous day's positions by strong resistance. In the center, the 12th Inf is thrown back from the Montebourg-Quineville road to a point due east of Montebourg. Major gain on the right flank is the surrender of the Crisbecq fortifications, which have been holding up the northward advance along the beach and endangering the entire right flank of the northward drive.

The 90th Div on the west bank of the Merderet moves against strong opposition and captures Amfreville. Pont l'Abbe, key point in the area, is encircled.

D PLUS 6

OMAHA

12 JUNE — V Corps orders two main immediate objectives: A firm linkup with Utah Beach forces for an attack against Carentan, and a drive on Caumont.

Caumont, in the 1st Div sector, and the Littcau area, in the 2d Div zone, are both key high ground objectives, dominating roads from the east to 5t. Lo. The British II Corps, too, is to coordinate its attack, in an attempt to cut the Caen-St. Lo road, east of Caumont and at Villers Bocage.

Strong opposition in the 29th Div area leads to serious reverses on the right flank. The 115th Inf Rgt, after crossing the Elle River near St: Jean-de-Savigny, is forced back across the stream almost to its jump-off point.

Elements of the 2d Div do better, reaching the St. Lo road at one point, as does the 18th RCT of the 1st Div. The 26th RCT advances to the edge of Caumont. In the British sector, the 7th British Armd Div, in two main thrusts, makes a sweeping advance toward Caumont and Villers Bocage. At the same time, the 50th British Armd Div makes a drive to envelop the German Panzer Lehr Div at Tilly-sur-Seulles.

UTAH

Carentan falls to units of the 101st AB Div. Driving in a three-pronged attack along the canal from the northeast, along the Isigny road from the east, and the Madeleine River to the northwest, the three columns converge on the city and set up lines to the southwest. Other units of the 101st fight down toward Montmartin, in an effort to strengthen the tie between the two beachheads, and to protect the Isigny road.

With the landing of the 9th Inf Div on 11 June, new reinforcements are available for the Quineville-Montebourg drive. The 39th Inf moves out across the causeways to attack enemy strongpoints on the beach north of Utah, and to assault Quineville from the beach side. This relief on the right enables the drive to go forward and the 12th Inf, east of the Cherbourg highway, advances across the Montebourg-Quineville road. Fontenay-sur-Mer and Ozeville fall to the 22d Inf. Only on the left is the drive of the 8th Inf held up by exceptionally strong resistance. A thrust by a small task force succeeds in reaching the outskirts of Montebourg, but is driven back. After artillery bombardment and an attack by AAF P47s, Pont I'Abbe is taken by 90th Div elements, west of the Merderet.

D PLUS 7

OMAHA

13 JUNE — Driving south from the railroad, 29th Div elements succeed in crossing the Elle in force, aided by attacking groups of the 2d Div on their left flank. The capture of Caumont winds up the assignment of the 1st Div, and the V Corps has attained a tenable line which completely severs St. Lo from the east.

The British attack on Villers-Bocage, however, is, pushed back when the German 2d Panzer Div arrives at the village just as the first British tanks enter it from the north. Although the enemy attack is held off, the British are forced to retreat in order to safeguard the attack on Tilly-sur-Seulles.

Across the Vire, to the west, a small task force of the 175th Inf, crossing the river south of the Isigny-Carentan road to safeguard the flanks of the attack on Carentan, is cut off a. Montmartin. Brig Gen Norman D. Cota, assistant CG of 29th Div, is in command of the group.

At 0125 hours, 1st Army instructs V Corps to discontinue major offensive action and hold its present positions, with patrol activity in strength. The XIX Corps is to become operational at 1200 hours, D plus 8. Consisting of the 30th and 29th Divs, its mission will be to enlarge and secure the Isigny-Carentan corridor.

Since D-Day, 5,846 casualties have been inflicted on the V Corps front, including 1,225 dead; more than half of these casualties were suffered on D-Day. About 2,500 enemy prisoners have been taken.

The Omaha Beach operation is over.

UTAH

A determined German counterattack from the south succeeds in driving back 101st AB elements to within 500 yards of Carentan. The counterdrive is halted, however, by the arrival of elements of the 2d Armd Div, driving in hard from Isigny. Carentan is held against the strongest enemy counter action to date, in the invasion area.

Elements of the 22d Inf, coming up from the southwest, approach the Quineville road. Elsewhere along the not sector VII Corps forces are held to small advances.

In the area around Montebourg, activity is confined to patrol action. Elements of the 12th Inf remain in advanced positions across the Montebourg-Quineville road.

The 90th Div elements around Amfreville and Pont l'Abbe have barely reached the intermediate objectives set for them on D plus 3. Gen MacKelvie is relieved of his command and replaced by Maj Gen Eugene M. Landrum. The 90th Div is ordered relieved of the Merderet sector, to be replaced by the 9th Div, under Maj Gen Manton S. Eddy, and by reorganized units of the 82d AB Div.

D PLUS 8

14 JUNE — With the capture of Carentan and the ending of the Omaha Beach phase of the invasion, two main objectives remain to the Utah Beach forces. These are the cutting off of the Cotentin peninsula by a drive to its west coast, and the capture of the port of Cherbourg, to be used as a supply port for further strengthening and build-up of Allied forces in France.

The first of these objectives is assigned to the 82d and 9th Divs. The 90th Div, after being relieved at Pont l'Abbe, is ordered to withdraw behind the advance of the other two divisions and set up and maintain a line west from Le Ham — flank of the 4th Div northward drive — so as to cover the left flank of the Cherbourg assault and the right flank of the drive to the west coast.

First phase of this operation is a coordinated attack by the 82d along the Pont l'Abbe-St. Sauveur le Vicomte highway, and the 9th Div, on its right, toward Ste. Colombe.

The 358th Inf, 90th Div, secures a road junction just west of Pont l'Abbe, while 82d Div groups push on to form a line based on Bonneville and extending south to the Douve floodlands.

Unable to disengage and reform for their new assignment, units of the 90th Div remain in the battle. While part of the 9th Div pushes on past Renouf, the 359th and 357th Inf Regis of the 90th attack in the northern half of the 9th Div zone, being stopped west of Amfreville anti just south 04 Gourbesville by 2400.

In the 4th Div drive, the 39th and 22d Inf Rgts take Quineville Ridge and the town of Quineville, and secure the road to Montebourg, which remains in enemy hands.

D PLUS 9

15 JUNE — The drive to cut the Cotentin peninsula continues, with the 82d Div pushing on along the St. Sauveur Ie Vicomte — Pont l'Abbe road. The 358th Inf disengages and moves out behind the front toward its new position south of le Ham.

Other elements of the 90th Div remain in the attack, in conjunction with the 9th, taking Gourbesville and approaching the key road junction at Orglandes.

Little action is reported on the Montebourg-Quineville front, units there gathering strength for the renewed drive on Cherbourg. Montebourg is under artillery attack.

D PLUS 10

16 JUNE — Gen Collins orders a concentrated attack all along the line from Gourbesville to the Douve.

The right flank assault is slow in starting and the actual attack of combined 90th and 9th Div units doesn't get underway until 1715 hours. This is more than offset, however, by the concerted drive of the 82d Div and attached 90th Div units, on the left, which carries to the east bank of the Douve, overlooking St. Sauveur le Vicomte, by noon.

During the afternoon, Gen Ridgway asks and receives VII Corps permission to establish a bridgehead into the town, which the enemy is observed evacuating. By dark, the town has been taken and a perimeter defense 2,000 to 5,000 yards in depth has been established around it.

This effects a change in orders for the 9th Div which is now given the objective of pushing to the Douve immediately. Units of the 60th Inf take Ste. Colombe and make the crossing, pushing on almost into Nehou.

D PLUS 11

17 JUNE — The attack across the Cotentin, from the Douve bridgeheads at Ste. Colombe and St. Sauveur le Vicomte, falls to the 60th and 47th Inf Rgts, 9th Div. They make spectacular progress across the peninsula, units of the 60th taking Hills

145 and 133 in the high ground west of St. Pierre d'Artheglise by nightfall.

The 47th Inf penetrates beyond Huanville, cutting the north-south coast road and dominating high ground above St. Lo d'Ourville by 2200 hours.

D PLUS 12

18 JUNE — In a fast sweep through St. Maurice, the 3d Bn, 60th Inf pushes past the road junction at Villot and takes up positions on the road leaning south from Barneville by 0500. Five hours later, an enemy counterattack, coming up the road from the south, is beaten off. A strong German motorized column, moving down the road from Briquebec, is completely scattered by artillery atop Hills 145 and 133.

The junction of the St. Sauveur and Barneville roads, just east of St. Lo d'Ourville, is secured by units of the 47th Inf, while the left flank is covered by other 47th elements at Neuville-en-Beaumont. By nightfall, the VII Corps has established two complete fronts. The northern line runs from Barneville on the coast; north of la Valdecie, to le Ham; south of Montebourg and east to Quineville. The left flank of this line is held by the 9th Div, the center by the 90th and the right — east of the Montebourg-Ste.-Mere-Eglise road, by the 4th Div. In the center of the area, the newly landed 79th Inf Div, commanded by Maj Gen Ira T. Wyche, is in reserve as a possible replacement for the 90th.

The southern Cotentin front runs from Portbail and St. Lo d'Ourville to the Douve south of St. Sauveur le Vicomte thence along the river and south to Baupte, on the boundary of the newly created VIII Corps. This line is held by the 357th Rgt of the 9th Div between the coast and St. Sauveur and by the 82d AB Div from there to Baupte. The extension of the line is held from Baupte to the XIX Corps boundary south of Carentan by the 101st AB Div, now in the Vill Corps.

D PLUS 13

19 JUNE — Gen Bradley orders the drive on Cherbourg to be divided into three operational zones. On the left, the 9th Div will attack, with the high ground between St. Germain Ie Taillard and Rauville-le-Bigot as its immediate objective. The 79th Div will aim for the Bois de la Brique, northwest of Valognes, and the 4th Div, on the right, will attack in the sector east of the Valognes-Montebourg highway, with Tommerville as its first objective.

Linking the 9th and 79th Div will be the 4th Cav Gp, with a roving assignment in the Rocheville area.

Enemy resistance at Montebourg holds up the advance of the 4th Div. The town is taken by 1800 hours, and the advance moves forward, based on the highway, to a line south of Valognes and Huberville by 2400.

The attacks on the west meet with progressively lighter resistance. Jumping off at 0500, both the 79th and 9th Divs make spectacular advances. Elements of the 79th reach their primary objective, the Bois de la Brique, at 1400, but are held back by stiffening resistance from cutting the Cherbourg-Valognes highway. Valognes itself, in the 4th Div zone, remains in enemy hands at nightfall.

The 9th Div meets no enemy opposition during the forenoon, marching ten miles with relative ease, and occupying its initial objectives shortly after 1200. The 4th Ca, Gp, too, meets little resistance, and both units are authorized to continue the advance. By nightfall, elements of the 9th Div have reached Helleville and Couville, the latter only 6 miles from Cherbourg.

D PLUS 14

20 JUNE — The 4th Div has a similar experience to that of the 9th on 19 June. Valognes — all but destroyed by 9th AF bombing attacks — and the line to the east have been abandoned by enemy forces, ordered back within the German defense perimeter of Cherbourg.

As the day progresses, it becomes apparent that Lt Gen Karl W. von Schlieben, commander of enemy forces in the Cherbourg area, has ordered a general withdrawal into the perimeter, with the aim of organizing the defense of the port.

The 4th Div advance carries to a line running from le Thiel to the Bois de Roudou; the 79th Div is drawn up along a line from the Cherbourg-Valognes road westward to les Flagues, and the 9th Div is in position southwest of Boguenville.

The attack on Cherbourg has run into prepared defense points, and the unimpeded advance is at an end.

D PLUS 15

21 JUNE — The defense of Cherbourg is found to be ideally located and augmented by terrain characteristics. A band of woods and steep hills circle the port, and there are machine-gun emplacements, trenches and ditches.

On the right flank, the 4th Div is ordered to attack and capture Hill 178, between Bois de Roudou and Bois de Coudray. Hard fighting, including opposition from strong enemy artillery, delays the advance, but after a long struggle the main part of the hill, as well as Hill 158, controlling the Cherbourg-St. Pierre Eglise road, is taken.

Gen Collins broadcasts an ultimatum to Gen von Schlieben, pointing out the hopelessness of the enemy situation at Cherbourg and demanding the surrender of the port by 0900 on 22 June.

D PLUS 16

22 JUNE — At 0940, the Germans having ignored the ultimatum, Gen Collins orders an all-out attack on Cherbourg to begin at H-Hour, 1400.          Starting at 1240, Mustangs and Typhoons of the RAF, and fighter-bombers of the 9th AF start a bombing and strafing assault against strong points of the enemy perimeter. At 1400, the IX Bomber Command attacks 11 heavily defended areas. The air attack is largely ineffective in the immediate jump-off zone and the 4th Div units meet exceptionally strong opposition and are held to only minor gains on the right flank.

D PLUS 17

23 JUNE — Deeper penetrations are effected by continued heavy fighting on the 4th and 9th Div fronts. A large part of the 4th Div effort is devoted to mopping-up operations around Hill 158 and intermediate areas, where enemy units continue to attack from the rear after being by-passed.

The 9th Div advance is deep, penetrating beyond the strongest of the prepared enemy defenses, to the key sector around dominant Hill 178 and the Bois du Mont du Poe.

Elements of the 79th Div push forward to the la Mare a Canards region, but main efforts are concentrated at the strong enemy pocket centered around Hardinvast.

D PLUS 18

24 JUNE — The flank regiments of VII Corps — 22d Inf on the right and 60th on the left — are assigned the task of containing enemy forces in the northwest and northeast, while the major efforts of the attack are directed against Octeville and the enemy strongpoint at la Mare a Canards.

The 4th Div captures Tourlaville and Digosville, although enemy forces are still active to the rear, around Maupertus air field. La Glacerie is also taken after heavy fighting with air support from 9th AF P47s.

Chief 79th Div attack is concentrated on la Mare a Canards, which is overcome after an aerial attack. Division elements push on almost to the outskirts of Cherbourg and within sight of Fort du Roule, chief enemy fortification in the city. On the left flank, the 9th Div assault is held short of the Octeville objective, but gains elsewhere along the line are consolidated.

A strong enemy pocket continues to hold out in the Hardinvast area.

D PLUS 19

25 JUNE — At 0700, the adjutant of the German naval hospital in Cherbourg is brought through the lines of the 9th Div. He requests that the hospital be spared from shelling and that blood plasma be sent for wounded American PWs there. He is sent back with the plasma and a new demand for the unconditional surrender of Cherbourg.

At 0800 a squadron of P47s bombs Fort du Roule. Heavy fire from the fort holds off early assaults by the 314th Inf, 79th Div, but by nightfall the surrender of the top level of the fort is effected. The heavy guns in the lower level, however, are unassailable from the top.

First penetration of the city is made by elements of the 9th Div at Equerdreville and in the Hameau du Tot sector, while from the east the 12th Inf, 4th Div, enters Cherbourg proper. The fortifications at Pointe des Greves fall.

Far behind the closing American ring, the 315th Inf, 79th Div, forces its way into Hardinvast against the strong concentration of enemy troops which has been holding out in that area since 22 June.

D PLUS 20

26 JUNE — Elements of the 79th Div move through Cherbourg and reach the beach by 0800. Some street resistance is encountered, but the main impediment to the capture of the port is encountered when the seaward facing guns in the lower level of Fort du Roule begin to fire into the city against American forces.

It is impossible to get at the lower level from the top of the fort and the action is resolved into efforts to blast an entrance by lowering demolition charges through ventilating shafts and other apertures, and through the use of antitank guns firing at the fort's embrasures from the city.

The lower level of the fort surrenders in the early evening.

Meanwhile, the 47th and 39th Inf Rgts, 9th Div, fight their way through the western half of the city. Chief enemy fortress in this area is the arsenal, which resists all attacks.

A German PW reveals that Gen von Schlieben and his staff are in an underground shelter at St. Sauveur, just beyond Octeville. Enemy antiaircraft and 88-MM guns hold up the attack for some time, but by midafternoon, E and F Cos of the 39th Inf reach the shelter. A prisoner is sent down with a demand for surrender, which is refused.

Fire from two tank destroyers directed against the tunnel's entrances, soon ends all resistance, and Gen von Schlieben, Adm Walter Hennecke and their staffs surrender.

By 2400, all organized resistance in the port, with the exception of the naval arsenal, is at an end.

In the south, the 315th Inf Rgt mops up the last resistance in the Martinvast-Hardinvast area.

D PLUS 21

27 JUNE — At 1000, the naval arsenal, last organized resistance point in Cherbourg, surrenders. Except for mop-up operations by the 9th Div in the Cap de la Hague area, the Cotentin Peninsular is completely in Allied hands.

The capture of Cherbourg, a major port which can be used to channel new divisions and supplies into the coming phases of the campaign, marks the achievement of the first major objective of "Operation Neptune."

Casualties suffered by VII Corps since D-Day total 22,000 including 2,800 dead, 5,700 missing (including 4,500 in the airborne assaults of D-Day) and 13,500 wounded. Enemy prisoners total 39,000.

The Utah Beach operation is ended.