The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (122 page)

Eleven miles offshore
: “War Diary of Force ‘U,’” June 5–6, 1944, SEM, NHHC, box 82, folder 46; Chandler and Collins, eds.,
The D-Day Encyclopedia
, 373 (
delay seven assault waves
).

At age fifty, Admiral Moon
: Alter and Crouch, eds., “
My Dear Moon
,” no pagination; John A. Moreno, “The Death of Admiral Moon,” n.d., a.p., 225
+
.

In his spare office aboard
Bayfield: “Conference on the Operations of the VII Corps,” May 16, 1946, SLAM, MHI, box 2; Collins,
Lightning Joe
, 200–201 (“
I had to put my foot down
”);
CCA
, 329. Historian Joseph Balkoski believes 4th ID casualties for June 6 were “certainly over 300.” Balkoski,
Utah Beach
, 322.

“
It is our good fortune
”: “War Diary of Force ‘U,’” June 5–6, 1944, SEM, NHHC, box 82, folder 46.

Hell’s Beach

Fifteen miles southeast of Utah
:
IFG
, 110–11 (
Spanish galleon
); ALH, 21; “Beach 46—Omaha, Tidal Curves,” n.d., CARL, N-7374E; “Operation Report Neptune,” Provisional Engineer Special Brigade Group, Sept. 1944, NARA RG 407, ML #951, box 24198, 57;
CCA
, 18; 1st ID, HI; “Operation Report Neptune,” Provisional Engineer Special Brigade Group, Sept. 1944, NARA RG 407, ML #951, box 24198, 60 (
two knots to three
).

That Norman tide
:
IFG
, 138; “The Invasion of Normandy,” USNAd, vol. 5, 566; Balkoski,
Omaha Beach
, 41 (
twenty feet deep
), 22; Royce L. Thompson, “American Strength in D-Day Landings,” n.d., CMH, 2-3.7 AE.P-5; “Strategy of the Campaign in Western Europe, 1944–1945,” n.d., USFET, General Board study no. 1, 25 (
without stranding the boats
); Drez, ed.,
Voices of D-Day
, 53 (
only half an hour
).

OVERLORD
’s plan called for nine infantry companies
:
Omaha Beachhead
, AFIA, 42; Buffetaut,
D-Day Ships
, 101. The nine included a Ranger company.

To minimize the risk of German shore fire
: Yung,
Gators of Neptune
, 216; Wilmot,
The Struggle for Europe
, 264;
IFG
, 124. Fourteen hundred tons of naval shells fell at Omaha, one-third the bombardment weight at much weaker Kwajalein Island. “Amphibious Operations: Invasion of Northern France,” CINC, U.S. Fleet, Oct. 1944, NARA RG 407, ML #252, 2–27.

The German defenses were fearsome
: “Comparison of British and American Areas in Normandy in Terms of Fire Support and Its Effects,” Army Operational Group Report no. 292, Aug. 14, 1945, UK NA, WO 291/270; McManus,
The Americans at D-Day
, 305 (“
murder holes
”); OH, J. D. Small, June 23, 1944, NARA RG 38, E 11, U.S. Navy WWII Oral Histories, 9 (“
like huckleberries
”); Drez, ed.
Voices of D-Day
, 283 (“
New England town hall”
); “The Invasion of Normandy,” USNAd, vol. 5, 512;
IFG
, 114–15 (
aerial photos
).

Also undetected and unexpected
: Hinsley et al.,
British Intelligence in the Second World War
, vol. 3, part 2, 842–43; Benjamin A. Dickson, “G-2 Journal: Algiers to the Elbe,” MHI, 119 (
radio blackout
); Fritz Ziegelmann, “The 352nd Infantry Division,” FMS, #B-432, in Isby, ed.,
Fighting the Invasion
, 122–24 (
requisitioned milk
), 194–95, 202; Bennett,
Ultra in the West
, 45; Balkoski,
Omaha Beach
, 48–49; Beevor,
D-Day
, 93; Zetterling,
Normandy 1944
, 277–79; Holt,
The Deceivers
, 578; Foot,
SOE in France
, 386–87 (
British tricksters
).

If the Omaha defenses had been thinned
: Murray, “Needless D-Day Slaughter,”
MHQ
(spring 2003): 26
+
; Hinsley et al.,
British Intelligence in the Second World War
, vol. 3, part 2, 842–43; Balkoski,
Beyond the Beachhead
, 67, 78; Clay,
Blood and Sacrifice
, 201 (
odds of three to five
).

For those who outlived the day
: “Greek lyric,” epigram, Ridgway,
Soldier
(
this high thing
).

“
utterly inhuman noises
”: memo, Cleave A. Jones, July 4, 1944, NARA RG 498, UD 603, ETO HD, box 1, SLAM 201 file; Baumgartner et al.,
The 16th Infantry
,
1798–1946
, 84 (
gas capes
); OH, J. D. Small, June 23, 1944, NARA RG 38, E 11, U.S. Navy WWII Oral Histories, 9 (“
It’s yours
”).

They remembered the red splash
: Cawthon,
Other Clay
, 51–53; Lebda,
Million Miles to Go
, 81–82 (“
wind-driven hail
”); Alan Anderson, ts, n.d., 467th AA Bn, NWWIIM (“
corn cobs
”); diary, Jack Shea, ts, Nov. 1, 1944, NARA RG 407, CI, 29th ID, box 24034, 17 (
size of shovel blades
); Howarth,
Dawn of D-Day
, 134 (“
wicked living things
”); Scannell,
Argument of Kings
, 152 (“
insectile whine
”); Gaskill, “Bloody Beach,”
American Magazine
(Sept. 1944): 26
+
(
frightened animals
); AAR, 146th Engineer Combat Bn, June 30, 1944, CEOH, X-37A (
spoons
); Whitehead, “
Beachhead Don
,” xxii (
barked knuckles
); W. Garwood Bacon, ts, n.d., 7th Naval Beach Bn, NWWIIM (
eardrums
).

“
walking in the face
”: Pogue,
Pogue’s War
, 67; Gaskill, “Bloody Beach,”
American Magazine
(Sept. 1944): 26
+
; Howarth,
Dawn of D-Day
, 155 (“
dying scream
”).

Army and Navy engineers
: OH, John T. O’Neill, 299th Engineer Combat Bn, June 9, 1944, NARA 407, E 427, ML #2210; Beck, 308, 320; “Combat Engineering,” CE, ETOUSA, Dec. 1945, report no. 10, NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file #547, 10–16 (
all drifted left
);
Omaha Beachhead
, 42–43; AAR, 299th Engineer Combat Bn, July 1944, NARA 407, E 427, ML #2210 (
Team 14’s landing craft
); McManus,
The Americans at D-Day
, 340 (“
V for victory
”); Fowle, ed.,
Builders and Fighters
, 438 (
Seven died in Team 11
); AAR, 146th Engineer Combat Bn, June 30, 1944, CEOH, X-37A (“
like fence posts
”).

Demolitionists shinnied up pilings
: Field Order No. 35, 1st ID, Apr. 16, 1944, NARA RG 407, E 427, 301-3.9; Fowle, ed.,
Builders and Fighters
, 438 (
the fuse man’s fingers
); Howarth,
Dawn of D-Day
, 134 (“
cluster of bees
”); Fane and Moore,
The Naked Warriors
, 56–58 (
engineers screamed
); Yung,
Gators of Neptune
, 187; Balkoski,
Omaha Beach
, 143 (
only six of sixteen gaps
); OH, W. M. Hoge, CO, Provisional Brigade Group, July 3, 1944, NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file #493C;
CCA
, 317;
IFG
, 138n.

The fiascos multiplied
: Keegan,
Six Armies in Normandy
, 135 (“
like toads
”); Lewis, “Landing Craft,” lecture, Sept. 18, 1944, NARA RG 334, E 315, ANSCOL, box 199, 18; Drez, ed.,
Voices of D-Day
, 234 (
nine inches of freeboard
); OH, Robert K. Skagg, 741st Tank Bn, June 18, 1944, NARA RG 407, AFIA, 2-3.7 BG (
of thirty-two Shermans
); Howarth,
Dawn of D-Day
, 147 (“
a certain gallantry
”).

Artillerymen also struggled
: Marshall, “The Mobility of One Man,”
IJ
(Oct. 1949): 6
+
(
eighteen sandbags
); “111th FA Bn on D Day,” n.d., NARA RG 407, AFIA, 2-3.7 BG (“
unseaworthy
”); Balkoski,
Omaha Beach
, 239 (“
I can still hear
”).

Two infantry regiments washed
: Balkoski,
Omaha Beach
, 28–29, 161 (“
lose heart
”); OH, 116th Inf, Co A, n.d., NARA RG 407, AFIA, 2-3.7 BG; Marshall,
Battle at Best
, 54–55 (“
inert and leaderless
”); Kershaw,
The Bedford Boys
, 144–51 (“
didn’t get to kill
”); Drez, ed.,
Voices of D-Day
, 213 (“
like hay
”).

“
a venetian blind being lifted
”: Baumgarten,
Eyewitness on Omaha Beach
, 17; Balkoski,
Beyond the Beachhead
, 125 (LCA-1015); S. L. A. Marshall, “First Wave at Omaha Beach,”
Atlantic
, Nov. 1960,
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1960/11/fir
*
; Drez, ed.,
Voices of D-Day
, 209 (“
he sat down
”); Ryan,
The Longest Day
, 176 (
safety pins
); Richler, ed.,
Writers on World War II
, 508 (“
I run on
”); Cawthon,
Other Clay
, 57 (“
a debacle
”).

“
the greater portion of the dead
”: Baumgartner et al.,
The 16th Infantry, 1798–1946
, 107; Pogue,
Pogue’s War
, 87 (
rank insignia
); William Haynes, Co. E, 16th Inf, HI, box 24242 (“
big and little stuff
”); Lebda,
Million Miles to Go
, 81–82 (“
twenty thousand bullets
”); Capa,
Slightly Out of Focus
, 139–40 (“Es una cosa”).

The four-hundred-ton
LCI 85: AR,
LCI (L) 85
, June 24, 1944, NARA RG 38, CNO, 370/45/3/1, box 1102; AAR, Company A, 1st Medical Bn, n.d., NARA 407, AFIA, 2-3.7 BG; Clay,
Blood and Sacrifice
, 195–96 (
White bandages
); Kenneth C. Davey, “Navy Medicine on Bloody Omaha,” in “Sixth Naval Battalion 1998 Reunion,” MRC FDM (“
we could hear
”).

By 8:30
A.M.
the Omaha assault
: McManus,
The Americans at D-Day
, 327; Cowdrey,
Fighting for Life
, 248 (“
Face downwards
”).

Two large boats burned furiously
: AR,
LCI 91
, June 10, 1944, MMD; Robert E. Walker, “With the Stonewallers,” n.d., MMD (
soles of his boots
); AR,
LCI(L) 92
, Sept. 2, 1944, NARA RG 38, CNO, 370/45/3/1, box 549 (
champagne corks
); “Actions Group, CT 116,” n.d., John P. McKnight papers, HIA, box 1; Seth Shepard, “The Story of the
LCI(L) 92
,” June 25, 1944, MMD, 9–12; Drez, ed.,
Voices of D-Day
, 223 (“
Terror seized me
” and “
shipwreck
”).

Only where escarpment
: 2nd Ranger Bn, AAR, July 22, 1944, and “A Narrative History of the Second Ranger Infantry Battalion,” n.d., both in Robert W. Black collection, MHI, box 3; CI, 2nd and 5th Ranger Bn, n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427-A, folder 337;
IFG
, 126–29; Ryan,
The Longest Day
, 182–84.

“
ripped-open dirt
”: Heinz, “I Took My Son to Omaha Beach,”
Collier’s
(June 11, 1954): 21
+
; “Amphibious Operations: Invasion of Northern France,” CINC, U.S. Fleet, Oct. 1944, NARA RG 407, ML #252, 2–11 (Texas
’s
14-inch barrels
).

Rangers hauled themselves over the lip
: Interview, Leonard G. Lommell with author, May 2008; OH, Leonard G. Lommell, 2nd Ranger Bn, Mar. 16, 1993, NWWIIM; Kingseed,
Old Glory Stories
, 198–99; author visit, May 2009.

Back on Hell’s Beach
: Knickerbocker et al.,
Danger Forward
, 212–13 (“
They’ll come swarming
”); FCP, “The 25th Anniversary of D-Day,”
Congressional Record
, June 25, 1969, E5246
+
(“
couldn’t look back
”); Kingseed,
From Omaha Beach to Dawson’s Ridge
, 145–49, 163 (“
The limitations of life
”).

From the gray deck of the command ship
: Pyle,
Brave Men
, 246; CBH, June 3 and 6, 1944 (
First Army war room
); Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 252–53; Hastings,
OVERLORD
, 92; memoir, William Puntenney, 29th ID, n.d., MMD, 40–41 (“
bunch of hogs
”).

At a plotting table in the center
: Hanson W. Baldwin, “Getting the D-Day News Out,” in Mason, ed.,
The Atlantic War Remembered
, 394; ONB, OH, 1975, Charles Hanson, MHI, VII, 22 (“
get ground quickly
”); Astor,
June 6, 1944
, 212–13 (
expected the two assault regiments
); Bradley and Blair,
A General’s Life
, 243–44 (
Photographers were forbidden
).

“
Lincolnesque
”: “Doughboy’s General,”
Time
(May 1, 1944): 23
+
; Pyle,
Brave Men
, 210–11 (“
he spoke so gently
”); Liebling, “Five-Star Schoolmaster,”
New Yorker
(March 10, 1951): 40
+
.

Few could resist the biography
: OH, ONB, Oct. 14, 1946, FCP (
sodbuster twang
); Liebling, “Five-Star Schoolmaster,”
New Yorker
(March 10, 1951): 40
+
; “Doughboy’s General,”
Time
(May 1, 1944): 23
+
; CBH, June 3, 1944 (
two flasks of brandy
); Wertenbaker,
Invasion!
, 77 (“
If there’s a bird
”), 85–93; ONB, OH, 1975, Charles Hanson, MHI, II, 11, 24–26, 52–53 (“
guidance from God
”);
DOB
, 96, 114–15;
AAAD
, 485–86.