Green Devils at Vierville

The US paratroopers of the 501st PIR (101st Airborne Division) liberated Vierville on June 6. The next day, at 1000 hours, the Green Devils (German paratroopers of the 1st Battalion/6.Fallschirmjäger Regiment) counterattacked from Basse-Addeville and the marshes of Carentan. The …

1944-06-07

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The US paratroopers of the 501st PIR (101st Airborne Division) liberated Vierville on June 6. The next day, at 1000 hours, the Green Devils (German paratroopers of the 1st Battalion/6.Fallschirmjäger Regiment) counterattacked from Basse-Addeville and the marshes of Carentan. The US troops were well entrenched in the castle and houses of Vierville and offered a strong Resistance. The Green Devils suffered heavy losses in the pastures around the castle and eventually withdrew to the marshes but then, surrounded and outnumbered by the American paratroopers, they were forced to surrender.

Vierville, 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

American

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Countryside

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