On the way from Cherbourg was Sainte-Mere-Eglise and we stopped there for awhile to look at the town. The 467th AAA had moved to protect this area and other surrounding towns, Carentan and Isgny, in the weeks directly following the D-Day landings.
Some of the earliest landings by paratroopers at 0130 on June 6, 1944 occurred here and the buildings in town were on fire that night, likely from pre-raid bombings, making easy targets of the descending paratroopers. Many landed in the fires or were caught hanging from trees and poles and shot before they could cut loose. The German were also alerted in this area that something was up.
Paratrooper, John Steele, got caught on the spire of the town church, and could only observe the fighting going on below. He hung there for two hours, pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. Steele later escaped from the Germans and rejoined his division when US troops of the 3rd Battalion, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment and attacked the village with great success.
Who can forget the parachutist representing John Steele’s situation hanging from the Church steeple played by Red Buttons in the “The Longest Day”. The locals have immortalized the scene by keeping a replica hanging from the church to this day. Its right behind us in the below picture if you look closely.
Next: Port en Bessin: Our Normandy Home Base
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