TOUR #7 Bradley’s Tour – Two Days Tour

Here we will see many WN’s - (wiederstandnest- meaning German weapons strong point emplacements) from Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to Vierville. We will visit some of these strong points, which were the better-defended German Positions along Omaha. We will stop at WN 62 and WN 65 in Fox Green and Easy Red sectors of the American landing, and WN 73 in Dog Green at Vierville. This beach assault was a difficult assignment, given to US V Corps (General Gerow) whose Force O was made up of the 1st Infantry Division, 29th Infantry Division, the Rangers and several attached Units.

This Cemetery, extends over 172.5 acres, and is one of fourteen permanent American World War II cemeteries constructed on foreign soil. It contains the remains of 9387 servicemen and women killed for our freedom. The American Cemetery of Colleville conveys an unforgettable feeling of honor, peace and serenity.

Located on a cliff 8 miles west of the Cemetery, this monument was created by France to honour elements of the 2nd Rangers Battalion under the command of LTC James E. RUDDER which scaled the 100-foot cliff. Admiral Hall’s Intelligence officer remarked: "It can’t be done. Three old women with brooms could stop the Rangers scaling that cliff!". RUDDER replied to

Lunch is not included in our fee.

Sainte Mere Eglise is one of the most memorable places depicted in the famous movie: The Longest Day. This tour will show you the famous church tower upon which the American paratrooper John Steele landed and became entangled as he parachuted into Normandy on June 6th. An actual mannequin of Steele has been hung with parachute on the church tower to commemorate his courageous jump. Although Sainte-Mere-Eglise was the area where the 82nd Airborne were 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 with some men landing in the center of the Village. "Dog", "Easy" and "Fox" Companies belonging to 2nd Battalion 506th PIR were also to jump at around 1:00 a.m. on DZ "C", near Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. Instead, due to all of these missed drops, Sainte-Mere-Eglise was officially the first town liberated at 4:30 AM on the day of the Invasion.

Here you will see a clear view of the inland areas that were flooded by the Germans and the marshes of Merderet. This is the place where many of the 82nd Airborne were located under orders of General Gavin to resist the counter attacking Germans and guard two strategic bridges for the defence of the town of Sainte Mere Eglise.

Charles Neilans DeGlopper (November 30, 1921 - June 9, 1944) was a United States Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor , the highest award of the U.S. military, for his heroic actions and sacrifice of life during the World War II Battle of Normandy. A Grand Island, New York native, DeGlopper was the only soldier from the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment to be awarded the Medal of Honor. He was also the only World War II soldier from the 82nd Airborne Division of the United States Army to receive the award for action during the Battle of Normandy campaign.

This is the place where the successful landing of the American Ivy Division (the 4th Infantry Division) occurred under orders of General Barton and General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. with others in the first attack wave at Utah Beach. Utah Beach was the furthest west of the five beaches designated for the D-Day landings in June 1944. Located at the base of the Cotentin Peninsula, it was added by General Dwight Eisenhower to the original D-Day plan to ensure the early capture of the vital port of Cherbourg, at the north of the peninsula. Eisenhower realized that the Allied advance throughout Western Europe would require vast amounts of equipment and that the only major port that could handle this in the initial stages of the war was at Cherbourg.

Today, St. Marie du Mont appears to be a typical Norman village. Here, Marshall Erwin Rommel, who was in charge of the Atlantic defenses, inspected them several times between January and May 1944. While evaluating and inspecting the German defenses, Rommel stayed in a 17th century manor situated at the Western entrance of the village. The gothic bell tower was a key reference point for the 101st Airborne General Maxwell Taylor who landed in the early hours of the Invasion spent the night regrouping misdropped soldiers.

Captain George Lage, surgeon of the second company of the 502nd Parachute Regiment, arrived here at Holdy with 30 other paratroopers on the first day of fighting. Not unlike some of the other men, the Captain had sustained an injury to one of his ankles. Here, slightly on outskirts of a designated drop zone, he quickly mobilized what men he could, and transformed a small farm house here, belonging to Monsieur Auguste Lay, into a critical aid station for the wounded. As you can imagine, the farmhouse was quickly filled with wounded men in need of the Captain’s help, and the life saving measures of those that attempted to assist him. Unbelievably though, while there attending to the wounded here, the Captain and others discovered that the aid station was located literally on top of a nearby German battery, disguised in total cammoflage along a nearby road, and manned by as many as 60 German soldiers, and four 105mm cannons, who were unaware of their presence while busy firing countermeasures to the attack! COME WITH US while we walk you through this site to relive-rediscover the courageous actions of the Captain and his small group of American Paratroopers, who singlehandedly stole this position

The Division Hospital was establish at Château de Colombières, a large country house at Hiseville, a few yards north of General Taylor’s Division Command Post. The owners of the Château moved their personal belongings out and reserved one room for themselves. This was the first Allied Hospital to be in Operation in Normandy. It was under the command of Major Albert J. Crandall, Capt. C.O. Van Gorder, Capt. J.S. Rodda, and Capt. Saul Divorkin, anesthesiologist. This surgical team was the first air

This is the location of the Le Cauday’s farmhouse, which was the first Headquarters of General Maxwell Taylor, Commander of the 101st Airborne. General Taylor kept his Headquarters at this location for 8 days following June 6th, 1944.

General Pratt, 101st Airborne Division, was initially supposed to land and arrive on Utah Beach during the afternoon of D-Day. Prior to General Pratt's jump, however, General Maxwell D. Taylor persuaded Pratt to join the first wave of gliders to land in Normandy, instead. Pratt would have preferred to jump with his men but he had not completed the necessary training to qualify him to make a parachute jump at the time. Unknown to Pratt, his glider had been seriously overloaded and it crashed in a field. A plaque commemorates the crash. He was the first United States

A very moving place! Our tour here will first allow you to enter a 12th/13th Century church where two medics of the 506th, Bob Wright and Kenneth Moore took care of 80 German and American 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 glass window in this famous church in commemoration of their life saving efforts. You will enter into the courtyard of the farm where the colonel Sink, Commander of the 506th PIR, established his second CP. The "Easy Company" stayed here from June 7 to the attack of Carentan.

At this location, we will show you the very places where Lt. Richard "Dick" Winters linked up with other scattered paratroopers from Easy Company (including Bill Guarnere, and Pvt. Lipton). Winters and his men traveled on the road from Sainte-Mère-Eglise to La Fière Bridge. Thereafter, they joined another mixed group commanded by Col. Cole, consisting of approximately 150 men from the 502nd, 507th, 508th PIR — a real hodgepodge. It was here that they killed their first Germans in an ambush. The Germans, primarily organized in a horse-drawn supply unit, were unaware of Winter's presence while delivering breakfast at the T-junction of D423 and D115 to other German troops.

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. 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 not only enable you to see the monument erected in memory of Lt. Meehan, but also the field where the crash actually occurred. The C-47 carrying Meehan was hit with Anti-Aircraft fire, and caught fire near the rear of the plane. As the fire traveled forward to the cockpit, the paratroopers aboard were unable to jump because the plane's altitude was too low for the parachutes to open. All were lost in the crash that ultimately took Meehan's life as well as his men. Meehan's last correspondence to his wife was handed off by Meehan to ground crew members as he boarded the fated plane, moments before it took off on it's historic course for the Invasion of Normandy. It read: Dearest Anne: "In a few hours I'm going to take the best company of men in the world into France. We'll give the bastards hell. Strangely, I'm not particularly scared. But in my heart is a terrific longing to hold you in my arms. I love you Sweetheart - forever. Your Tom"

The very first newsreel of the airborne invasion in Normandy shown in movie theatres in the United States was filmed at this particular farmhouse. 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. OVERLORDTOUR has obtained a very special permission to enter this farm.

The 1st Battalion of the 502nd was assigned the task of capturing “WXYZ” at Mésières. This was a barracks complex of buildings that housed the personnel of the German coastal artillery battery at Saint-Martin-de-Varreville. With only a limited number of men to send on the WXYZ mission, Lt Colonel Cassidy chose Staff Sergeant Harrison Summers to lead a patrol made up almost entirely of misdropped troopers from other units. You will actually walk the path of these liberators at this site.

On D-Day, June 6th, 1944, Easy Company of the 506th fought one of its most important battles of the first day of the Invasion at this location. In a field between Le Grand Chemin and Brecourt Manor, the Germans had taken up an artillery position, aimed at firing on the Beaches where American troops were landing in water craft. In a heavily fortified trench system bordering Brecourt Manor, the Germans had spaced four 105 mm cannons, and were firing a hellstorm of shells on the incoming beach landing craft on Utah Beach. 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 Distinguished Service Medal 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 intuitively organized and led the attack on this German battery with very little planning or briefing. Their courageous actions here, in taking all four cannons out saved countless lives on Utah Beach. OVERLORDTOUR has obtained a very special permission to enter this farm.

After the attack on the German batteries at Brecourt Manor, Lt. Winters crossed this town on the way to Culloville, 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. Come discover why the church tower at this location was hit and partially destroyed by the German guns as elements of the 101st under the command of Captain Patch conducted operations at this location.

This action started from Culoville where Colonel Sink established his 1st Command Post on June 6th. "There’s a jeep and driver parked over there doing nothing. Let’s go out and see if we can’t locate Bob Wolverton. We’ve got to find out if those bridges have been taken. If they haven’t we’ll have to get some people to do the job". Colonel Sink to Major H.W. “Hank” Hannah his S3 officer. Following his way...

Lunch is not included in our fee.

The Château de Bel Enault lies just west of the hamlet of Addeville and was built a century before WWII by a wealthy French botanist. On D-Day, the stately château was being used as a German command post. Col. Howard Johnson of the 501st PIR parachuted into the field just across the road from the front entrance and was fired on by a German soldier...

Major R. J. Allen assembled forces at Addeville, less than a mile northwest of the La Barquette locks. A defense line and an aid station were set up at this location. Colonel Johnson ordered Allen to abandon the defense of this village and to bring his troops down to nearby canal locks as reinforcements. Due to these orders, it became necessary for Major Carrel, regimental surgeon for the 501st, and the walking wounded, to move also. A local cleric, Father Sampson, helped to attend severely wounded soldiers at this location as well.

Taking a circular position around the crossroad located east side from La Barquette, Colonel Johnson and his group made a brilliant strategic move at this location, and captured/killed more than 350 German paratroopers from 1st Battalion, 6th German Parachute Regiment as prisoners. One hundred fifty of these paratroopers were either killed or wounded.

The Dead Man's Corner Museum is located in a house at the intersection of two roads at this location, 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.

The location of the Purple Heart Lane is North of the strategic Objective Carentan run the RN 13. At the time of the Invasion, the solid elevated embankment of the road offered little in the way of cover or concealment as it moved over four rivers en route to Carentan. Hitler had ordered the 6th Para Regiment to defend Carentan to the last man. German commander Colonel Von Der Heidte had decided to make a stand above the town just below bridge number 4.

German control of back flooding the lowlands behind Utah Beach and the Douve and Merderet River valleys was accomplished by opening and closing the lock gates at the appropriate times over a two year period. Colonel "Skeets" Johnson, commander of the 501st Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, attacked the Germans here from the north early D-day morning with 150 men. The Germans withdrew south, several hundred feet to prepared positions. US Navy counter fire against two German 88s in Carentan silenced the German guns there. On D-day +1, German paratroopers of the 1st Battalion, 6th Parachute Regiment counter-attacked from the top right towards the T-junction. (Hell’s Corner ) Although out-manned the Americans bluffed the Germans into surrendering. In error, German artillery killed many of their own comrades as the German POWs were being marched into captivity. Today, the Liberte' Expressway across these lowlands near Carentan passes very close to the lock.

In the first days of June 1944, Carentan was a key position between the two American landing beaches of Utah and Omaha Passing the Bridge known as number 4, we will follow the steps of the 2nd Battalion 506th turning around the city by Hill 30 and progressing by a road running down to the centre town. We will take you into the city, comparing your physical location to historic photos taken at the same locations during the Invasion. You will also visit the famous site known as “Bloody Gulch” where members of “Easy Company held their position along the rail road during a counter attack made by elements of German falshirmjager reinforced with the 17th SS Gotz von Berlichingen.

Here, the plan at the time of the Invasion was for 3rd Battalion 506th PIR, supported by two platoons of C Company 326th AEB, to parachute into Normandy, landing at Drop Zone "D" which was to the south of VIERVILLE and east of ANGOVILLE-AU-PLAIN. From this DZ, the American paratrooper forces were to strike southward as soon as possible and seize the two bridges near LE PORT at the mouth of the RIVER DOUVE. The bridges were to be expanded into a bridgehead as soon as possible. By seizing the high ground in the direction of BREVANDS, the 3/505th began a strategic movement toward the American forces that would be moving northward from OMAHA BEACH.