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CHAPTER TWO - NORMANDY -- WE CALLED IT HELL ON EARTH
Utah beach was a melee of twisted boats, barbed wire and gaping shell holes when the Third
Battalion waded waist deep from LST's to reach France on June 8, 1944.
Off shore the choppy channel waters tossed against hundreds of boats, big and small, extending
as far as the eye could see. Long range enemy guns were still intermittently shelling the beaches, while
two Allied battleships sent salvos crashing inland from their sixteen inch guns.
Overhead American planes constantly patrolled the area, protecting the troops and ships. A lone
P51 came in very low, engulfed with flames and soon crashed in the sea.
On shore a grader was already scooping out a road between two shattered pillboxes. Some
weary paratroopers from the 101st A/B Division were sitting near the beach and one of them gave us
some excellent advice. He remarked, after looking at our still waterproofed weapons, "Better get that
waterproofing off. You'll probably be wanting to use them soon."
Moving along the sandy road that was to take us to our assembly area we observed the usual
litter of war. Empty ammo cases, discarded packs, life belts, helmets and pieces of clothing lay
abandoned along the ditches and roads. Hastily scratched foxholes, German bodies and slaughtered
cattle dotted the landscape. Two knocked out Sherman tanks sat a quarter of a mile in from the beach.
Reaching the main road at ST. MARTIN DE VARREVILLE, we turned south and passed a
considerable number of glider planes scattered about in the fields on both sides of the road. After
walking about three miles we turned off the main road at AUDOUVILLE LA HUBERT and saw our
first German soldier. He was wounded and riding the back end of a 4th Division litter jeep. Everyone
stared at him as if he were a freak at a circus side show.
Just short of our assembly area, Pvt. Springer, a Battalion runner from Company K, was shot by
a US paratrooper who mistook him for a German because of the green fatigues he was wearing. He thus
became our first battle casualty.
Incidents which marked our first night in France were numerous. When the Battalion went into
an assembly area in some fields along the road east of ECOQUENEAUVILLE Company L runners had
to first root three enemy soldiers out of a bush near the spot they picked as a CP. One of the prisoners, a
Russian forced into the German Army, exclaimed, "Thank Heavens you have finally arrived. We have
been waiting many months for you."
During that first night the general nervousness felt by everyone was exemplified by the soldier
who emptied two rifle clips at a horse in the nearby field. Any shadow that moved was greeted by a hail
of lead and questions deferred until morning. Enemy planes attacking artillery positions and the beach
area to our rear kept the sky aglow with the orange-red color of bursting bombs. Red streaks of anti-
aircraft fire kept criss-crossing overhead as searchlights probed the sky searching for the enemy raiders.
The Battalion remained here all the next day re-disposing equipment and getting ready for
whatever might be coming. That night the troops moved out, passing through the southern edge of STE
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