Introduction

In determining a subject for writing a historical article to complement our coverage of Squad Assault: West Front, I wanted to use a framework that included a good portion of the 1944 Normandy campaign without necessarily re-hashing some of the battles that have received a lot of press in recent years. Thus I decided to pass on the American Airborne, Omaha Beach, Pegasus Bridge and the battles before Caen.

In casting about for a suitable subject, my eyes fell on "The Famous Fourth." The US 4th Infantry Division is not only featured in seven of the game's battles, but is also the core of two multi-battle operations: "Utah Beach" and "Battles before Cherbourg." Apart from the battles represented in the game, the 4th ID participated in the breakthrough from St. Lo (Operation Cobra) and helped to stop the German counterattack to the North of Mortain, before playing a part in the Battle of the Falaise Gap. Untried before 6 June 1944, the Ivy Division quickly gained the reputation as one of the premier infantry divisions in the United States 1st Army.

Background

The United States 4th Infantry Division has a lineage stretching back to World War One, during which it participated in campaigns such as St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne. Inactivated in 1919, it was reformed again in June of 1940 (Combat Chronicle p.1). Earmarked for the invasion of France, the 4th underwent years of rigorous training, both before and after its arrival in England in January of 1944. Though not engaged in combat, as were her sister divisions in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, the 4th was introduced to the perils of war during training at Slapton Sands in England. German E-boats launched an attack, sinking several LST's and killing about 700 men (Harrison, p. 270).

The 4th was organized as a standard triangular US infantry division, with an authorized strength of 14,253 troops. The core consisted of the 8th, 12th and 22nd Infantry Regiments. Each infantry regiment had an authorized strength of about 3,200 and was broken down into three infantry battalions (Stanton, pp.8-16).

There were four field artillery battalions to support the infantry: the 29th, 42nd and 44th . Each was armed with twelve 105mm howitzers and the 20th was armed with twelve 155mm guns. The 4th Mechanized Reconnaissance Troop and the 4th Engineer Combat Battalion rounded out the combat troops permanently assigned to the division. Units attached to the division for the majority of the Normandy campaign included the 70th Tank Battalion, the 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion and the 377th AAA Auto Weapons Battalion. (Stanton, p. 81)

D-Day

The Allied invasion of France, code name Operation Overlord, opened with an airborne assault by three divisions (2 US and 1 UK) followed by an amphibious assault by five divisions (2 US and 3 Commonwealth). The 4th Infantry Division was attached to the US VII Corps, which had been assigned the mission of securing the Cotentin Peninsula, especially the port of Cherbourg. The 4th was chosen to spearhead the landing on the east coast of the Cotentin Penisula at an area designated as Utah Beach. The predominant terrain features behind Utah Beach were the Merderet and Douve Rivers. The marshy nature of the land had been "enhanced" by flooding directed by the German defenders, resulting in a general inundation of the area and restricting movement through the areas to a series of four causeways leading inland from the beach. (Ruppenthal 3) These circumstances prompted the decision to paradrop the 82nd and 101st airborne divisions behind Utah Beach to seize and hold the causeways and crossings over the two rivers, thus opening the "gate" for the 4th and blocking the beach from German counterattacks.

The defenses in the vicinity of Utah Beach were probably the weakest in the Normandy sector, as the inundated areas were expected to inhibit an assault. They were not insignificant, however, and included steel gate blockades, iron hedgehogs and booby-trapped stakes on the beach as well as pillboxes, mounted tank turrets, trenches, anti-tank ditches and a lot of mines. Further inland, artillery had been placed in concrete fortifications to cover the beaches. German units in the vicinity included two regiments of the 709th Division on the beaches, with the other regiment from the 709th and the 243rd and 91st Divisions in reserve. (Ruppenthal 6-8)

The seaborne part of the Utah Beach invasion force was designated Task Force U and consisted of about 865 ships, mostly transports and landing craft. The 4th Division loaded out in Dartmouth, Torquay and Exmouth in the United Kingdom. (Ambrose 166) Minesweepers led the way with 17 warships standing by to provide naval gunfire support. Additional fire support was available from a support craft group equipped with artillery and rocket launchers. The 4th would not be landing alone. Amphibious tanks from the 70th Tank Battalion would accompany the first waves with combat engineers and naval demolition teams following right behind. (Ruppenthal 12-13)

The airborne assault began in the early hours of 6 June. Though the drop was scattered far more than anticipated, the men of both divisions were for the most part able to regroup with their assigned divisions. This was in part helped by the confusion caused by the dispersed nature of the air landings, which hindered the German response. The 101st Airborne Division was able to seize all four beach exits and the locks at La Barquette on the Douve river, but were unable to fight through St. Come-du-Mont to destroy other bridges to the north of Carentan. The 82nd Airborne Division was able to capture the town of Ste. Marie-Eglise and the bridge over the Meredet at Chef-du-Pont, but a German counterattack had retaken the bridge at La Fiere. The goal to control both sides of the Merederet was not accomplished, but the paratroopers had ensured that the German reserves were blocked from interfering with the seaborne invasion. (Ruppenthal 41-42)

At 0550 on 6 June, the naval bombardment of Utah Beach began. This was followed closely by 276 B-26 Marauder medium bombers dropping about 4,500 250-pound bombs on the beach defenses. At the La Madeleine fortifications, all but one gun was destroyed and the sight of the invasion fleet emerging from the mist unnerved the defenders, many of whom were non-Germans with little stomach for a fight to the death.