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8.30 am |
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Carentan and the four bridges of Carentan During the Normandy
Invasion, Carentan lay between Omaha and Utah assault beaches,
and was the location of violent fighting before American
troops linked up there on June 13. Here, Lt. Winters received
his first wound – a gunshot wound to his ankle.
After fighting in this town on June 12, “Easy Company” took position on the western flank of the town. The tour also focuses on the Carentan causeway, looking south towards Carentan. This was the scene of the 502nd PIR’s fighting on 10-11 June. The network of canals and drainage ditches along the lower Douve River is clearly visible here, and with the surrounding fields flooded, the attack was canalized down the narrow causeway road leading to Carentan. |
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Bloody Gulch After securing Carentan,
Easy Company took up position on the western side of the
town. Two other companies of the second Battalion were positioned
on the left when German Paratroopers and elements of the
17th SS launched a counter-attack on the Americans.
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OVERLORDTOUR has obtained a very special permission to enter this farm. |
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Angoville au Plain
A very moving place! Our tour here will first allow you to enter a 12th/13th Century church where 2 medics of the 501st, Bob Wright and Kenneth Moore took care of 80 Germans and Americans wounded for over 72 consecutive hours following the initial hours of the jump into Normandy. Wright and Moore were honored by the residents of this small village by a Memorial, which you will see, and a recently installed stained glasses windows in this famous church in commemoration of their life-saving efforts. You will enter the courtyard of the farm where Colonel Sink, Commander of the 506th PIR, established his second CP. “Easy Company” stayed here from June 7 until to the attack of Carentan. |
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Drop Zone D Our tour progresses next to the DZ “D”.
This was the area where Colonel Johnson, 501st PIR, landed.
From here, he launched the attack onto La Barquette lock
Gate.
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Culloville Colonel Sink, Commander of the 506th PIR
established his first command post at the site of this farm.
Lt. Winters and other members of his mixed unit, who took
out the German batteries at Brecourt Manor, rested in this
farm for one night. At 4:30 am, Colonel Sink assembled 600
men and pushed onto Vierville, before setting up his second
command post at a farmhouse at Angoville-au-Plain. The tour
will take you to this second command post located at this
farm.
This farm is privately owned, and due to our relationship with the owners, you will be able to enter and personally see this historic spot. |
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A very short halt to the General Taylor
C.P. and to the spot where |
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Sainte Mere Eglise Although Sainte-Mere-Eglise
was the area where the 82nd Airborne was schedule to jump
and land, the first paratroopers who landed here were instead,
members of the 101st Airborne Division. Several groups of
the 101st Division, landed here, miles away from their Drop
Zone, and instead, mistakenly landed on top of this village. “Easy
Company”, for the most part was also misdropped southeast
of the town.
“Dog”, “Easy” and “Fox” Companies belonging to 2nd Battalion 506th PIR were also to jump around 1:00 a.m. on DZ “C”, near Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Sainte-Mere-Eglise was officially the first town liberated at 4:30 a.m. on D-Day by the 82nd Airborne Division. |
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Sainte Mere Eglise Museum Here you will see an actual CG 4 Waco glider, a C-47 transport plane, and a number of historical military artifacts which have been professionally displayed to commemorate and honor the D-day invasion. A film comprised of archive materials is available to visitors retracing the missions and footsteps of the many paratroopers who landed in Normandy. This museum is one to see in any D-Day tour! |
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Crash of the C47 # 66 at Beuzeville au Plain | |||
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On June 5,
1st Lieutenant Thomas Meehan III boarded a C-47 to parachute
into Normandy. Prior to the jump however, he had just been
appointed “E” Company
Commander, replacing Captain Sobel.
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OVERLORDTOUR has obtained a very special permission to enter this farm. |
Meehan was in plane 66, along with the Company’s staff comprised of 16 paratroopers. His plane crashed in a field at Beuzeville –Au-Plain. A tour of the site of this crash will enable you to see the monument erected in memory of Lt. Meehan, but also the field where the crash actually occurred. | |||
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Marmion’s farm The very first newsreel
of the airborne invasion in Normandy shown in movie theatres
in the United States was filmed at this particular farmhouse.
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Due to special
permission given by the owner to our tour company, you will
have the privilege of actually entering this farm, and being
in the exact locations of many of the best known American
press photographs taken during WWII at this site. Some of
the photos show Stopka’s task force displaying the
first Nazi flag captured by the 101st Airborne Division.
Many famous photographs in D-Day and WWII books were taken
at this site.
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Utah Beach It is impossible to visit the VII corps sector without a brief stop on the beach. |
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Dead Man's Corner Museum The Dead Man's Corner Museum is located in that house at the intersection, on this highly historical ground near St. Come-du-Mont. The house at Dead Man's Corner has been recently purchased by the Carentan Historical Center and is currently being developed as the Dead Man's Corner Museum. As the initial site in the Carentan Historical Center system, this historic building houses an impressive collection of authentic WWII German and American airborne artifacts directly related to the location. Sainte-Marie-Du-Mont After the attack
on the German batteries at Brecourt Manor, Lt. Winters crossed
this town on the way to Calloville, where he spent his first
night after the Invasion. Sainte-Marie- du-Mont was secured
by the 101st airborne which linked up with the 4th Inf. on
June 6th.
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Brecourt Manor On D-Day, June 6th, 1944, Easy Company of the 506th fought one of its most important battles at this location. In a field between Le Grand Chemin and Brecourt Manor, a ditch line (hedgerow) with trees bordered the property. Spaced at intervals along that ditch, were 4, 105 MM, German cannons. |
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The guns were zeroed in on U.S. forces
landing on Utah Beach, near Exit 2. Lt. Dick Winters of Easy
Company led a small group of Easy Company men to this site,
and systematically took out all four guns at this site, and
was awarded the D.S.C. for this attack. Several others of
his men were also awarded medals for their actions as well.
It is said that the strategic tactics employed by Lt. Winters
at this particular field are now taught at the American West
Point Academy.
Come and discover the field where Lieutenant Winters and a group of paratroopers instinctively led the attack at this battery without elaborating a plan or any briefing, saving countless American lives on Utah beach. |
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At this point
in the tour, we want to mention that time permitting, we
can make some small changes in our tour at this, and other
points. Due to the size of some groups, and the fact that
some groups may want to stay in certain locations longer
than others, we can adjust to or cancel 1 or 2 places to
visit. We also can add some other spots such as the Château de la Colombière,
(used as a field hospital from the 6th of June) General Taylor’s
Headquarter etc…
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