CHAPTER II
Invasion
For months the world had awaited the news that was to flash to every corner of the
civilized world on the morning of 6 June 1944. The aerial assault of Europe had begun in 1942,
and an ever increasing avalanche of high explosive and incendiary bombs was dropping on
German factories, railroad centers, and key cities. The "rocket coast" of France, from which
flying bombs were planned to be launched against London, was pounded daily by a constant
shuttle of bombers from England. Fighter planes swept across France, attacking enemy planes
and transportation on the ground and literally driving enemy fighters from the sky. Then, during
the darkness of the early morning of June 6th, a new aerial blow was struck.
Beginning at 0130 hours, over 800 transport planes dropped the parachute elements of the
82d and 101st Airborne Divisions on the Cotentin Peninsula, just north of Carentan and inland
from the beach where in a few hours troops of Assault Force "U" would land. The invasion had
begun!
Meanwhile, the vast armada carrying the seaborne elements was assembling some eight
miles off shore, undetected by the enemy. The numerous rehearsals of unloading the troops from
transports to landing craft now proved their value, and the task was accomplished in the darkness
without accident. With a hum of motors, the craft bearing the leading waves of assault troops
circled, then churned off to the west, leaving white wakes on the dark sea. Wave upon wave
followed, amphibious tanks, LCVP’s, LCM’s, LCT’s, LST’s, each bearing a chosen group of
men and equipment specially selected for a specific task. The guns of naval ships flashed and
roared, big guns of such vessels as the battleships USS Nevada and Arkansas and the heavy
cruisers USS Tuscaloosa and Quincy, smaller rifles of the numerous destroyers, all carrying out a
carefully scheduled plan of fires. Rockets fired from specially fitted landing craft screamed onto
the beach. The earth, the sky, and sea seemed to tremble with the roar of tons of explosives,
each projectile directed at some target which might he a threat to the success of the landing. And
out of all this din and tremendous mass of activity, the situation studied and planned for so long
began to take shape.
The Iles St. Marcouf are two small islands lying about four miles east of the Cotentin
Peninsula. Their importance to the assault lay in their position, since all the landing craft headed
for Utah Beach must pass just south of them. If the enemy defenses included guns on St.
Marcouf, they must be silenced quickly, so at 0430 hours on June 6th a specially trained assault
unit of the 4th Cavalry Group landed there. Once ashore, the troops found both islands
undefended except by mines and a few booby traps, and both Army and Navy staff officers
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