| Subject: |
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Re: June 6th |
| Name: |
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Jill |
| Date Posted: |
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Jun 6, 08 - 11:45 AM |
| IP Address: |
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208.252.188.164 |
| Email: |
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stearnes@heart.net |
| Message: |
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My Great Uncle was killed on June 14th. Here is a little story that my cousin sent out. He has been to the location and even found where my Great Uncle was killed.....
Today is June 6, 2008, 64 years ago on this day, Allied Forces invaded the coast of France, in the Normandy region of France.
Our Uncle Steve Sangalli, was in the first wave to arrive on the beach designated as "Utah Beach".
Steve was in Company L, 3rd Battalion of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division.
He told his brothers, when he was last in Pekin in September of 1943, that his group was a specialist group in demolitions and that they were being trained in the "use of amphibious warfare and invasion weapons", and that they would be selected "to establish a beach-head in France".
You will see in the history of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, that I have attached, that indeed the 3rd Battalion was split from the Regiment and sent to another location for training in England.
They remained separated from the rest of the Regiment during the assault. According to invasion "Order of Battle" descriptions I have found ... their mission was to clear the beach obstacles.
The following is very interesting and indicates an extremely active period between the initiation of the invasion and June 14th when Steve was killed. The next day, June 15th, the unit was given the opportunity to rest, bathe, and shave for the first time.
For those of you who visited the area, the names of the villages will be familiar. You will remember Azeville as the city where the troops spent the night of June 13th in the cemetery surrounding the church, and the Quinneville Ridge .... as the sacred ground where we stood in silent recollection of the terrible tragedy that happened there to a member of our family those 64 years ago.
Here is a brief summary of the 22nd Infantry Regiment:
In the summer of 1939, as the war clouds in Europe gathered as sharply as thunderheads, the 22nd Infantry began its slow and painful change from a peacetime garrison-type outfit to a wartime, battleworthy unit. Assigned to the Fourth Division at Fort Benning, Georgia, in June 1940, the regiment began immediately to train and equip so as to be an able integer of the division. Moving to Camp Gordon, Georgia, and later to Fort Dix, New Jersey, Camp Gordon Johnston, Florida, and Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the regimental training was strenuous and continuous up until the time the regiment sailed from New York on January 18, 1944, for England.
Training increased in tempo on arrival in that country. It had become increasingly obvious that the division was to participate in amphibious operations, and consequently, training in that phase particularly was stressed. For the first time in four years the regiment was split; the First Battalion, under command of Lt. Col. John F. Ruggles, was billeted at Newton Abbot; the Second Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. John Williams, was at Denbury Camp;
and the Third Battalion, Lt. Col. A. S. Teague in command, was at South Brent—all in Devonshire.
The Third Battalion underwent special instruction in amphibious assault techniques at Braunton, England.
Although the exact date for the invasion of France was unknown to the participating troops, and remained so until the night before the operation took place, it was readily apparent that the time was close at hand.
Staffs of regiment, and in turn, of battalions, were acquainted with enough details to allow prior planning. War rooms, enclosed in barbed wire and closely guarded, were set up for this planning phase.
Everything that could possibly be associated with the operation was cloaked under the highest type of secrecy.
Meanwhile, training in this specialized operation continued apace and tension mounted. This, apparently, was the assignment to end all assignments.
Just before D-Day, and in order to guard the secret until the last possible moment, troops were gathered together in marshalling areas into which no unauthorized person could enter, and from which no one was allowed to go.
At long last, orders were issued to all and the entire plan was laid out to those in whose hands the success of the operation now rested.
Invasion currency was issued, ammunition was checked, rations were distributed, and troops departed during the night for the various ports from which the operation would be mounted. The show was on, the time for battle had come.
On June sixth, the 22nd Infantry, under the command of Colonel Hervey A. Tribolet, went ashore into the teeth of Festung Europa.
The channel was rough; even for seasoned seamen the weather was heavy.
The assault plan attached the Third Battalion to the Eighth Infantry Regiment, and at H plus 75, this battalion hit the beach in small landing craft, followed by the First and Second Battalions, landing abreast in LCI's. On landing, the Third Battalion rapidly turned 90 degrees right and commenced to reduce all enemy fortifications on the beach; the First Battalion, now commanded by Lt. Col. S. W. Brumby, moved inland and turned right to seize Crisbecq, a fortified locality.
The Second Battalion, with Major E. W. Edwards in command, moved farther inland and then turned right to seize Azeville, a similarly fortified position.
Although the Quineville ridge was not seized during the first day's operations, the landing was successful, and by nightfall the regiment had a firm toe-hold ashore.
The attack was resumed on D plus 1, and an attempt made to seize Crisbecq, and Azeville, but the attack was repulsed with heavy losses sustained by the First and Second Battalions. Task Force "Barber," under the command of Brig. Gen. Henry A. Barber, was formed, and the Third Battalion was relieved of its beach fortifications mission and brought inland to attack Azeville.
Crisbecq, still in German hands, was to be contained and by-passed. Formation for the main attack was a column of battalions in the order Third, Second, First, with Lt. Col. John Dowdy now commanding the First Battalion.
The attack was well planned and fires were carefully coordinated. The concrete fortifications of Azeville fell on June 9, after stubborn resistance on the part of the Germans had been overcome, and the Third Battalion moved up in preparation for an attack on the emplacements of Azeville.
With the First and Second Battalions protecting its right flank, the Third Battalion assaulted and seized Azeville and its German garrison.
Enemy artillery and mortar fire was causing increasingly large numbers of casualties, and the strength of all three battalions had been appreciably reduced.
Azeville having been captured, the attack toward the Quineville ridge was resumed without delay.
The Second Battalion swung wide to the left and attacked down the ridge toward the Channel; the First and Third Battalions attacked north with tanks.
The number of German dead found in the position after occupation attested to the enemy's determination to retain the ridge.
The distinctive sound of the nebelwerfer (a rocket-type mortar) was commonplace, and came to be known as the "Screaming Mimi."
On the day following the consolidation of the Quineville ridge (15-June-1944), for the first time since landing no attack was ordered.
Personnel were directed to shave and bathe themselves to the limit of existing opportunities. |
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