Assault on Carentan

Carentan 13th June 1944: On the afternoon of June 12th, the 101st Airborne pushed southwest of Carentan to establish an in-depth defense and link up with the 82nd Airborne on its right. The paratroopers ran into the new German line …

1944-06-13

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Carentan 13th June 1944: On the afternoon of June 12th, the 101st Airborne pushed southwest of Carentan to establish an in-depth defense and link up with the 82nd Airborne on its right. The paratroopers ran into the new German line of resistance and soon bogged down not far from their jumping off point, Hill 30. At 06:30 on the morning of June 13th, the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division attacked from the southwest driving the paratroopers of the 506th and 501st back to within 500 yards of Carentan. The 502nd quickly moved south and reinforced their beleaguered brothers. Fortunately, after having received reports of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadiers Division arriving in the area, General Omar Bradley had ordered elements of the 2nd Armored Division to prepare for action to the south. Elements of the 2nd Armored came riding to the rescue of the paratroopers, and the combined force pushed the Germans back and secured Carentan by that afternoon.

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

American