doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT: 75th Anniversary of D-Day - 82nd Abn A/O

As you all know I'm in Normandy for the 75th anniversary to dedicate a plaque to my father, killed at Pretot on 20 June. We're wandering for the most part, at least initially, the 82nd Airborne a/o, more precisely the area the 508th PIR operated in from 06 June to 15 July 1944. I'll be posting photos as the week goes on.

Here is the B&B which is right on the DZ where the Pathfinder stick of the 3BN, 508th commanded by Lt. Gene H, Williams came down at 0130 hrs 06 June. The house was a German strong point. The four members of the stick who landed beyond the house didn't make it.



At night in Sainte Mere Eglise, which has become a sort of re-enactors Disneyland and tourist Mecca, hundreds of US paras along with re-enactors and military of other nations drink beer till midnight and beyond in the shadow of the famous church where the American 82nd trooper hung for several hours.



Reenactor WWII nurse getting hit on by young paratroopers.



Sainte Mere Eglise Steeple with a dummy of the hanging 505th trooper,



there must be 1,000 WWII jeeps and vehicles. Many of the re-enactors are just not authentic but the big thing now seems to be to dress up in a facsimile of an American WWII uniform.



Lots of different types of 75th anniversary wines on sale:



Ill be posting more. Until you try to walk the fields west of the Mederet River in the Brocage, you can't understand how impentrable the hedgerows were, featurelessness of the countryside and why we had such problems maneuvering in the area.

This article written by my Twin brother is the best one ever written about the Pathfinder operations on D-Day. It explains why the 505th was able to concentrate and take Sainte Mere Eglise. The 82nd originally had three regiments, 504th and 505th PIR and the 325 Glider Infantry. Well, The 504th had been chewed up in Anzio and so the 507th and 508th were attached for Normandy. 507th was transferred after Normandy to the 17th airborne Division; 508th remained attached to the 82nd. The rivalry between the regiments was intense and members of the 508th bore a grudge against Gavin and the 82nd up to 2004 when the regimental association was disbanded - they gave their memorabilia to Camp Blanding in Florida rather than to the 82nd in Bragg.. (clearer in the below link).
https://www.specialforces78.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/0417-Sentinel-News.pdf

God bless those men. They were a tough, determined bunch of men. Excellent article, well worth reading.

Gene,

Thanks for posting and please share more.

Ken

I was HHC 3/325 Inf 82nd ABN attached medic to the 3rd Platoon 71-74
The 82nd Airborne Museum on Ft Bragg is rich in in history and memorabilia, well worth a visit!

Thanks, Gene. Wishing for you and your brother, I think you said earlier that he's with you, a fulfilling trip and safe travel home.

The sacrifices made 75 years ago are heavy on my mind this year. I suspect Thursday will be a somber day for me, but at the same time a day of gratitude.

SRH

This is too weird Gene. My Daughter works in Shelbyville TN which is about 20 miles from where we live. She brings home their local paper on a regular basis. Today in the letters to the Editor was a letter from one Gene Williams. Seems he has been responsible for the past several years of getting white crosses & flags placed on all the graves of veterans in a rather large cemetery there.

I read the letter & the first thing which came to mind was Argo would be Proud of Him for the work he is doing.

My old friend Hendry Mackenzie was a glider pilot. He said some of them broke up like matchsticks. Its not hard to see why we call our WWII-era Americans the Greatest Generation.

The dedication of the memorial at Pretot Sainte-Suzanne was yesterday at 1800. 125 people turned out. The mayor Thierry Renaud gave a speech essentially written for him by Dominique Francois, French historian who has written 12 books about D-Day, one of which Hommes d'Honneur had one-third of the book devoted to Lt. Gene Williams. I spoke in French for about 5 minutes talking about democracy, the 3rd Bn attack on Pretot, the German riposte, etc., my family, background - kids being French citizens...vive la France, vive l'Amerique, Taps were played, La Marseilles, Star Spangled Banner, then an hour of drinking champaign.

Uncharacteristically for Normandy, no rain. People were stopping to see what was going on...probably 160 by the end of the program. Deputy District Commissioner came down and gave a political speech. I think though that my talk about the details of the initial assault on Pretot on 20 June, which came in from the east, personalized the affair for the villagers a bit. I was told it was well received.

Thierry Renaud the mayor did an amazing job putting up this stone in three weeks. There are a lot of these memorials around. Pretot had renamed its square after LTC Mendez, CO of the 3 Bn, 15 years ago but had no memorial stone. Now the join the other villages here. American, Canadian, British, French flags everywhere.

Flags at the ceremony:'


from left: Twin brother Jack's sons Lear and Patrick, Jack Williams, Gene Williams, Mayor Thierry Renaud.


Monument text to the 3rd Bn.

The hedgerows are incredible, Until you try to walk the area you can't realize the lack of landmarks, tiny sunken roads, walls of foliage impossible to penetrate. The paratroopers landing at night...wouldn't have had a clue where they were:



Ponl'Abbey (Etionville) 1944 from Father's camera and today