No Ingouf Around

Against heavy machine-gun, mortar and artillery fire, the bloody remnants of Lt. Col. Robert Cole's 3/502 PIR ( 101st Airborne) charged across open ground and established themselves around an abandoned farmhouse near the Madeleine Canal. Reinforced by elements of Lt. …

1944-06-10

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Against heavy machine-gun, mortar and artillery fire, the bloody remnants of Lt. Col. Robert Cole's 3/502 PIR ( 101st Airborne) charged across open ground and established themselves around an abandoned farmhouse near the Madeleine Canal. Reinforced by elements of Lt. Col. Patrick Cassidy's 2/502 PIR during a lull in the fighting, they braced themselves for a counterattack by the German óth Fallschirmjaeger Regiment. American mortar ammo was gone, the radio link to divisional artillery support jammed. As the paratroopers caught their breath, the rising clatter of machine-gun and small arms fire from down among the hedgerows heralded the German attack.

M. Ingouf's Farm, North of Carentan, France

The Battle of Carentan was an engagement in World War II between airborne forces of the United States Army and the German Wehrmacht during the Battle of Normandy. The battle took place between 6 and 13 June 1944, on the approaches to and within the town of Carentan, France. The objective of the attacking American forces was consolidation of the U.S. beachheads (Utah Beach and Omaha Beach) and establishment of a continuous defensive line against expected German counterattacks. The defending German force attempted to hold the town long enough to allow reinforcements en route from the south to arrive, prevent or delay the merging of the lodgments, and keep the U.S. First Army from launching an attack towards Lessay-Périers that would cut off the Cotentin Peninsula. Carentan was defended by two battalions of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6 (6th Parachute Regiment) of the 2nd Fallschirmjäger-Division and two Ost battalions. The 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, ordered to reinforce Carentan, was delayed by transport shortages and attacks by Allied aircraft. The attacking 10ist Airborne Division, landed by parachute on 6 June as part of the American airborne landings in Normandy, was ordered to seize Carentan. In the ensuing battle, the 10ist forced passage across the causeway into Carentan on 10 and 11 June. A lack of ammunition forced the German forces to withdraw on 12 June. The 17th SS PzG Division counter-attacked the 10ist Airborne on 13 June. Initially successful, its attack was thrown back by Combat Command A (CCA) of the U.S. 2nd Armored Division.

Wikipedia: Battle of Carentan

German

Americans