TOUR #7B Beyond The Beachead 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 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 material is available to visitors retracing the mission and footsteps of the many paratroopers who landed in Norman

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.

Baptism of fire for the 29th Division… The men are aboard the barges without knowing what waits for them on the beach. This company will be almost the only Company in the first assault to land in its intended area. The others drift to the East because of sea currents. The misfortune was that Dog Green Sector was one of the best defended German fortification points!

This was the first stop the battalion had had in twenty hours of marching and fighting. Many of the men threw themselves on the ground in exhaustion and fell asleep, some even without removing their equipment, many without digging in... At this same time a column of German foot troops, self propelled guns and trucks were moving through the darkness towards the crossroads in the direction of the 2nd Battalion...

The Elle River may be considered as marking the beginning of a new phase of the Normandy Campaign, for south of this river the tempo of the advance slowed down in front of an enemy who fought back gamely. This place marks the Battle of Saint-Jean de Savigny and St. Clair sur Elle and here we will explain the problems encountered by the GIs during the progression through the Norman Bocage. The Battle of the hedgerows really starts from 11th June for all the American units. The Germans are reinforced behind the hedgerows typical to the area in a landscape still unknown for the Americans. After reaching the small village of Couvains, it will be a long static period for the Blue and Grey that will last until the morning of the 11th July.

A monument built at the initiative of Alain on his property with the help of the people from Saint-Jean de Savigny.

Stop for Lunch at Le Mesnil Rouxelin

This Wood marks a remarkable place on the front line that remained static from 15th June to 11th July, the date of the great offensive on St. Lô. It is in a field bordering the road near this wood that Sergeant Frank J. Wawrinovic was wounded on 18th June. His cries for help were heard by two medics and a medical officer, who were mowed down by a German machine gun. Franck explained to Alain that throughout his life he felt responsible; thinking that in some way the death of these men was his fault. The exclusivity of this story will be detailed with the help of maps drawn up by Franck recounting how he survived. Come and experience a moving story which also recounts the story of Dr. Carter, killed here in Battle. Dr. Carter’s son came in 1997 to walk in his father’s footstep. We leave the front line to follow the advancement to St. Lo in the footsteps of the 116th and 175th Regiments of the 29th Division, Couvains, Martinville Ridge and stop at La Madeleine Chapel.

We will talk about the epic story of Colonel Sidney Bingham and the tragic end of Major Howie. Entering the Chapel is not guaranteed every day and we ask for your understanding if it is closed! On July 13, 1944, Major Howie was assigned to command the 3d Battalion. On July 16, the 3rd Battalion used hand grenades and bayonets to break through the German lines and join the 2nd Battalion (Colonel Sidney Bingham), which was isolated and nearly out of food and ammunition. Howie left the 2nd Battalion to defend the position, reporting that they were "too cut up", and planned to use the 3rd Battalion alone to capture Saint-Lô. On the morning of July 17, Howie phoned Major General Charles Gerhardt, said "See you in St. Lo", and issued orders for the attack. Shortly afterward, he was killed by shrapnel during a mortar attack. He died in Captain Putney’s arms near the Chapel. The next day, the 3rd Battalion entered Saint-Lô, with Howie's body on the hood of the lead jeep, at Gerhard's request, so that Howie would be the first American to enter the town.

ST-LO, capital of the department of Manche, can be used as one symbol of the First U. S. Army's victory in a most difficult and bloody phase of the Campaign of Normandy: the "Battle of the Hedgerows," during the first three weeks of July I944. Other names figure in this battle. La Haye-du-Puits, Periers, Hill 192, like St-Lo, will be remembered by First Army soldiers from a background of stubborn struggle for gains too often measured in terms of a few hundred yards, or of two or three fields, conquered against a bitterly resisting enemy. A visit to several places in the rebuilt city will make you appreciate the magnitude of the almost total destruction of the city. A very comprehensive collection of pictures will transport you back in time.