Figure 1.--This International News Photo was distribured by the Office of War Information. It was captioned, "Tribute to a Liberator". The caption read, "A French boy presents a bottle of his family's treasured wine to an American soldier at the wheel of a jeep moving through Carentan. This Normandy town was taken after two days of bitter fighting in the sparring that preceeded the drive to capture Cherbourg." The photo was dated June 27, but it may have been taken earlier. A French reader writes, "This French boy and the American soldier perfectly represent our country free again. All the French children in 1944-45 were fashinating with the Americans, their Jeeps, and all their considerable equipement. After the war the miniature Jeep toys were especially prized by all us boys."

Carentan after the Alliees had secured their initial lodgement emerged as a key strategic position. It was a small town of only about 4,000 people, but it was a crossroads that sat astride the N-13 highway as well as the Cherbourg–Paris railroad. And Cherbourg with its invaluable port was a key onbjective that the Allies desperately needed. Carentan itself was also located between the American beaches--Utah and Omaha. The Germans as well as the Americans could read a map. It would thus be a critical battle fallowing the Ameican landings. The town had existed since Roman days. The Romans were master engineers. The land around Carentan was low-lying, crossed by rivers and extensive marshes. Canals were built to drain the are for agriculture. Napoleon had once flooded the area, turing Carentan into a fortified island. The Germand did the same, making Carentan a very difficult objective for ground forces to take, especially lightly armed infantry. The Americans had few options. They had to attack over the narrow roads, the only dry approaches. The Germans deployed Major Friedrich von der Heydte's 6th Fallschirmjäger (parashoot) Regiment to defend the town. And they had their guns zeroed in on the roads. General Bradley ordered the 101st Airborne, the "Screaming Eagles" to take the town. The lightly armed 101st had been droped on the night preceeding the D-Day landings. The drop had not gone well and the Division was spread all over Normandy. They managed, however to regroup sufficently to protect the access roads onto Utah Beach--the western flank of the D-Day landings. The 101st fought a bruising fight with the Germans, but they made it impossible for the Germand to attack the Utah Beach landing on the critical first day. The 101st was to be evacuated, but Carentan was so important that Bradley ordered them to take the town, setting up one of the most important battles of the Normandy campaign. The 101st was part of VII Corps which had landed at Utah. Taking Carentn would enable VII Corps to link up with the 29th Infantry Division of V Corps driving west from the Omaha Beachhead.

Created: 11:07 PM 2/29/2008
Last updated: 5:28 AM 3/13/2008