It's now 0138 06 June, French Daylight time, D-Day time was Zulu +2 = French Daylight time, The 3bn 508 Pathfinder stick landed at 0130 according to a survivor, 0138 according to 82nd Abn records.
I just walked up to the top of the hill to see where the first part of the stick landed. You simply cannot cannot get across country with the hedgerows. I found my way I think to the field or near it. It was pitch black, this night, with brilliant stars out and lights from from Sainte Mere Eglise....but with sunken roads and overarching branching,.it was spooky,eerie, and no-one was shooting at me.
Look, I've run small unit reconnaissance missions into Laos..we "RON"'d (Rest over Night) at sundown, but I've operated at night there once...without infrared and before starlight... But the moon then was so bright it cast shadows. Admittedly tonight had no moon...it was dark except for the star pinpricks and the lights in the far distance from the bordello Sainte Mere Eglise has become. But you can't find your way in these sunken, twisting lanes without looking at a map and if you look at a map with a light, and get shot at for doing so, there are no landmarks to tell you where you are.
The 508th rally point was "Hill 30." It's a hill in name only overlooking the flooded Merderet River plain.. But how did you get down there? There was a burning downed 101st C-47 on the DZ of the 3 Bn Pathfinder stick, one of the "markers" twin brother used to identify the DZ. The 101 overflew the 82nd ops area first on the way to their drop zones near the coast. Still, Until you're out in Normandy at this time of night, you won't believe how difficult it would be to find teammates let alone shoot enemies, Makes a lot of things clear, More tomorrow.
Last edited by Argo44; 06/06/19 06:09 PM.
