![]() ![]() After destroying the first gun position, Winters and the rest of his team used the trenches as covered approaches to attack the remaining guns in turn. While the trenches connecting the artillery positions provided the Germans with an easy way to supply and reinforce the guns, they also proved to be their biggest weakness. Guarnere) to one flank to destroy a machine gun position with grenades and provide covering fire. Upon arrival at the battery location, Winters made his plan he positioned a pair of M1919 machine guns for covering fire and sent several soldiers (2d Lt. Oberstleutnant Friedrich von der Heydte of the German 6th Parachute Regiment, who was observing the landings at Utah Beach, learned that they had been abandoned, and traveled to Carentan, where he ordered his 1st Battalion to occupy and hold Sainte-Marie-du-Mont and Brécourt, and find men to work on the artillery battery. ![]() The crew originally assigned to the four 105mm guns had apparently deserted during the night of the airborne landings. paratroopers were opposed by about 60 German soldiers. Whichever unit defended the battery, the U.S. The 795th Georgian Battalion, attached to the 709th ID, was to the northwest at Turqueville but is less likely to have been present because of terrain difficulties. Elements of 1058th Grenadier Regiment ( 91st Luftlandedivision) were defending throughout the vicinity, and the artillery was part of this division also. The 1st Company 919th Grenadier Regiment ( 709th Infantry Division) was posted at Sainte Marie-du-Mont and was responsible for the area. The 1st battalion of the 6th had been ordered to Sainte Marie-du-Mont from Carentan during the afternoon but arrived after dark. Winters believed that the unit was part of the 6th Fallschirmjägerregiment ("6th Parachute Regiment") with emplaced MG42 machine guns. 6 Battery of (Gebirgs-) Artillerie-Regiment 191, consisting of four 105 mm howitzers connected by trenches and defended by a company of soldiers. Winters' team attacked and discovered No. He knew the general location of the gun emplacements south of Le Grand Chemin, but had no information about the other side of the hedgerow. ![]() Winters undertook a reconnaissance at about 8:30 a.m., after which he collected a team of 12 men from his own and other companies. Earlier in the morning, several other units had stumbled onto the position and been repulsed. It was located at Brécourt Manor, 5 kilometres (3 mi) southwest of Utah Beach and north of the village of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont. The battery, initially reported to have been 10.5 cm leFH 18 howitzers, was firing onto causeway exit #2 leading off Utah Beach, disrupting landing forces of the U.S. Take care of it," and no briefing, Winters found himself given the task of destroying a German artillery battery. With minimal instructions of "There's fire along that hedgerow there. After linking up with his parent unit at the hamlet of Le Grand Chemin on the morning of 6 June 1944, Winters was ordered away from his company. Objective Ĭommand of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division had temporarily fallen to its executive officer, First Lieutenant Richard Winters. parachute assault of the Normandy Invasion of World War II is often cited as a classic example of small-unit tactics and leadership in overcoming a larger enemy force. The Brécourt Manor Assault (6 June 1944) during the U.S. ![]()
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