So Near and Yet so Far

German doctrine emphasized immediate counterattacks when the enemy was relatively weak and had not yet consolidated the positions they had just seized. During the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the American airborne forces had the mission to prevent or delay such …

1944-06-06

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German doctrine emphasized immediate counterattacks when the enemy was relatively weak and had not yet consolidated the positions they had just seized. During the D-Day invasion of Normandy, the American airborne forces had the mission to prevent or delay such German counterattacks against the Allied beachheads when those landing areas were most vulnerable. Here men of the U.S. 101st Airborne Division “Screaming Eagles” must capture a position held by German troops near a key bridge over the Merderet River. To the American paratroopers, their objective near La Fiere seemed tantalizingly close, but the scattering of their force and the tough German defense will make that goal far from easy.

La Fiere, France

Mission Albany was a parachute combat assault at night by the U.S. 10ist Airborne Division on June 6, 1944, part of the American airborne landings in Normandy during World War II. It was the opening step of Operation Neptune, the assault portion of the Allied invasion of Normandy, Operation Overlord. 6,928 paratroopers made their jumps from 443 C-47 Skytrain troop carrier planes into an intended objective area of roughly 15 square miles (39 km2) located in the southeast corner of the Cotentin Peninsula of France five hours ahead of the D-Day landings. The landings were badly scattered by bad weather and German ground fire over an area twice as large, with some troops dropped as far as 20 miles (32 km) away. The division took most of its objectives on D-Day, but required four days to consolidate its scattered units and complete its mission of securing the left flank and rear of the U.S. VII Corps, reinforced by 2,300 glider infantry troops who landed by sea.

Wikipedia: Mission Albany

German

American