I need to solve a mystery. Don Rich was in the lead squad that crossed a footbridge over the Carentan Marina (Canal a Flot) which is where the Douve, Vire Canal and Canal a Flot converge. He, Frank Delorosa, 2nd BN scout Tom Niland (Niland Family from Tonawanda), and others crossed. They moved down the west bank of the Marina Canal toward Carentan several hundred yards and came back. He described the bridge as wrecked with planks to make it passable. While the Company moved down, Don, Capt Hugh Evans, Col Harper and others shared apple cider at an orchard building across the water. Here is the MR report of from 326 Engineers attached. Next is a drawing of a bridge built that date. Finally a map of the area which very well could match the drawing. Is this the correct location of the bridge? Sure looks so. If it is, does anyone know if there was another bridge that had been wrecked? I have found Don was wrong very few times. Btw, when the company advanced toward Carentan there was a brutal fight and Don among others was wounded. Col Harper was with Niland and Don when Don was shot.
Hi Gliderman327, I could be wrong, but my understanding is that the rubber boat bridge was at the site of the present bridge at the left of this Google Maps 'street view'. Your map is centered on the pair of locks at the seaward end of the Canal a Flot, which may well have shown damage and been repaired with timber to make the gates passable when closed. There is footage of the rubber boat bridge being built, if I am not mistaken. Regards, Pat
Thx Pat, I really don't know. I do know that the area you marked it where 1 BN 327 attacked, but they did not cross the canal according to records I have. The held their position while 401 -A,B,C and 327 G attached secured Carentan. G had something like 20 casualties. 401 with G attached entered Carentan along the Marina. 2nd BN attacked up to the canal like 1 BN only they were north of the Isigny highway and they did not cross either. That bridge on GE must have been for the Isigny highway and was the dividing line between BNs. Col Wear was relieved of duty for several reasons, one of which was A Co crossing in front of G along the highway. G was relieved and immediately went north for the crossing. If you look at the drawing there is a structure just like in the map. Yes, could be locks. The trees in the background would not look like either side of the GE place as it was more residential. It does look like the north end of the Marina canal. Not arguing just trying to sort this out.. Again, thx for the response. Need to find the video. I'll post the map of the area tomorrow. [hr] Well, I looked at the map and it is possible as their is a structure at the GE point as well. Again will post tomorrow.
Hi Gliderman327, I can't post the link from my work PC just now, but if you search the Critical Past site using the search term 'rubber boat bridge carentan', there is some footage of both the Bailey bridge and the pontoon (rubber boat) bridge in the first result. The video number is 65675037060. The Bailey bridge is still there today on the right of my GM 'street view' above. Other footage also shows the rubber boats being put in position by the engineers. Regards, Pat
Hi Kevin, I was paging through your book and reviewing the map on page 74, and I think the location you are looking for is more north of where Pat is thinking. Here is a map that is related to your map: https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=attack+on+carentan&view=detailv2&id=437EE741BF522BD5622ACF2E4BA9BDDEDA12E5C5&ccid=b5zI7Cfx&simid=608038843332037912&thid=OIP.M6f9cc8ec27f1248f1ff4d1dc737e4e6eo0&mode=overlay&first=1
Hi Guys. Thx for the input. I can totally believe the location is correct based on the structure in the middle of the drawing. The attached map shows such a structure where Pat sad the bridge was. To see the location follow the highway west from St Hilaire - Petit Ville. What puzzles me is that the drawing says June 10 as the date built. The area was firmly in German hands on the 10th and the 327 arrived at the east bank about midnight. The 326 MR says June 11. On the 11th, I went back and pulled 1 of the 1BN MRs and Co 6 had 6 KIA on the 10th and were dug in on the east bank on the 11th. Co G had 8 with 19 wounded in the attack on the west bank of the marina some 1000 yards away while attached to the 1 Bn of the 401). Co A 401 was on the east bank (closer) and also had many casualties but are impossible to separate from June 10, 11, 12. Al Regenberg (1 BN 1st Lt) and Chaplain Cosby both earned the Silver Star for action on the 11th. 1st and 2nd BN (the later minus G Co) had to withhold fire to keep from hitting the 401 and G coming from the NE along the Marina Canal. It greatly puzzles me how the bridge could have been built in that location on June 11.
Hello there My two penn'orth.... I think it's pretty certain the bridge crossed by Don Rich was at the seaward end of the marina, where the current Bailey Bridge still stands.* The sketch may (probably does) show the site of the other bridge, which later became a Bailey Bridge, named "Tucker Bridge". It's the old N-13 leading out of Carentan. The sketch is dated the 12th, so could have been made then. The dates have been added later, possibly even by someone other than the artist, so might refer to another bridge (ie not necessarily the one in the picture. It's a picture of a bridge in/near Carentan. It wouldn't be the first time a picture has been used to fit a scenario/story or whatever. Nothing malicious or even intentional, just normal behaviour). *Pat, the bridge over the Taute is no longer a Bailey Bridge. It looks similar but isn't. I wish it was... Cheers Sean
Thx Sean. I'd say no way they built it on the 10th. Or even the 11th for that matter as per the MR. Maybe late in the day? But again the west back wasn't secured until the 12th. [hr] On this subject, does anyone know of an orchard on the west bank of the Bassin a Flot near the locks at the north end? The reports and Don say one was there and they drank cider with Capt Evans and Col Harper. Don was certain of that location. Less certain is the house where Don went after being shot. He said where he was shot was 2/3 the way down the marina towards Carentan or a bit further. He crawled back toward the main line and then went west of the trees to get away from flying stuff, but then he still had bullets overhead. There was a house with a man and woman about 30 and a 2 yo child. They bandaged him. He and another guy managed to help each other to a row boat the other side. A medic quickly treated them and they had to row to the other side. I think it was Medic Miller who is pictured here. If you look a the above map, there are a couple of possibilities for the house. Any thought?[attachment=226]
Kevin, I don't know the source of the drawing, but regarding the drawing of the pontoon bridge it could have been of the location Pat refers to, or I wonder if it could have been built in the area of Brevands or Le Moulin. In my opinion the building in the background in the drawing looks like it could be a factory. I wonder if the chimneys could actually be smokestacks. That makes me think of the Phosphate factory towards Brevands as a possibility. Since it was written on the drawing by the 991st Engineer Treadway Bridge company that they took it down on the 16th, maybe they were not specific about it's location but said "Carentan" as a general location. They also may not have known when is was built. Just throwing another possibility out there... John
This has been interesting for sure. The island type structure in the pic does show up at the location in SE Carentan. I also wondered about the bridges area near Brevands/Le Moulin. The 327 waded and rowed across the Douve near Brevands. Are there any pics available of the factory? The guy who ones the actual drawing does living history of the 401. I'm not sure how he got it. Is the factor north of Brevands? The 401 crossed north of Brevands. thx... I also wonder if the tide impacts the canal water level at the video location. The drawing shows more of a drop than does the video. Further north, the trees wouldn't have existed? The trees would lend toward the Bassin a Flot. But as mentioned, not sure anything can be made of that.
I think this fits OK... Of July, which would infer as you say John a lack of detailed knowledge about the bridge. Yep. At least it did. I think the new bridge carrying the bypass (1955-ish) has gates beneath it. This bridge also seems to be roughly (maybe a tad further south) in the same place as the rubber boat bridge in the video, which for now I believe is the one in the sketch. For now. Cheers Sean Cheers Sean
Hi Guys, Just a few more items; Below is the footage I was referring to above of the pontoon bridge under construction. Its film #f000103 of the PhotosNormandie YouTube collection: [video=youtube]https://youtu.be/WaGfNartPKA[/video] Probably know to most of you here, but I also found this map showing G/327th crossing at the lock gates. Also, an interesting reference from this page on the Combined Operations Command site referring to the actions of the 238th Combat Engineers: Cannot find a link though between the 238th Combat Engineers and 991st Treadway Bridge Company. I found another reference here to the 49th Engineer Combat Battalion building a bridge on the Douve at map reference 434880 on the 9th June, this location being between the locks and the mouth of the river. Regards, Pat
Hi Kevin, The house Don crawled to could be the one Sean circled, or there was another house at about 1 o'clock from Sean's circle along the tree lined marina where the triangular piece of land is. My concern with the house circled is that Don would have had to crawl about 150 feet, in open fields and in the direction of the German machine guns that were firing from the south and west, to get there. Don may have gone nearly two/thirds of the way down the marina, but once wounded they seem to start back... Just my opinion. I am pretty sure though, that the house where Don enjoyed apple cider would have been the one just west of where they crossed the Douve. The house that is on the west end of the entrance to the marina. This makes sense to me because only after Don scouted the west side and made his way back, did they find the cider. Then when they crossed back over the Douve and reported to Captain Evans and Colonel Harper, he told them about the apple cider "over there". Evans and Harper went for some themselves, which makes me also think it was very close. In a 1944 aerial, there did seem to be a small rows of trees to the west of the house that could have been an orchard. John
Pat, thx for the information. The map does show a lot, including 1 BN pulling back. They were relieved by the 501. Yes, this has to be the bridge. At the 2:45ish mark several of those guys have to be G Co being 2nd BN tics in Carentan. The short guy at 2:54 sure looks like Al Borzimowski and acts like he was described to me. He was playful until a tank went over his fox hole at Marvie. At 4:20ish it looks like 401 (3 BN 327). Btw, the last link doesn't work. Very interesting stuff. [hr] John, Don vividly described wanting to get out of the line of fire and went west. He wasn't expecting to get shot at but he was. He crawled. I would think the orchard would be just west of the locks as he described. He described it before I ever saw records. I would think it would be the place where the triangle is, but hard to say. Yes there was fire from the west. With the 1st house I think it would have been far to get to the river walking arm in arm with a guy who had the opposite leg hit. Would be nice to see the 44 pic. For your interest, here is a link to the poem that Louis Simpson wrote about the battle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtb1gxZ9kM0 The Capt was not wounded in this battle though. Simpson was with him when wounded at Marvie (not so friendly friendly fire). There were a lot of casualties though. Simpson himself had a shoulder wound. He suffered severe emotional trauma after the war. Don describes his wounding here: https://www.facebook.com/327gir/videos/vb.109600119062869/1481872932965/?type=2&theater The medical report says shrapnel, but Don said MG.
Apologies Kevin; it's a MS Excel file and the link appears to have only a limited life. If you Google the search tern "49th Engineer History - Bill Carr - VI Corps Combat Engineers" without the quotes, its the second result down the list. Obviously you will need MS Excel on your computer to open the file. Regards, Pat
With the help of an Dutch military engineer, I did find out about the bridge in question. It was built near Brevands on June 10th after the 327 cleared the area. It was in Wong's book Battle Bridges.
Pat, On Oct 20, 2012 you shared a post with a link to this drawing. This was done by my father. It hangs in my home. I have reached an age and interest in learning more about my father's involvement in WWII. He was a captain in the 991st Engineer Treadway Bridge Company European Theater. His Army Serial Number was: 01 106 513. His name was Charles K. Straub. I never new him as Charles, always went by Ken. I have a great interest in discovering how he got to D-day, what group he was part of during the landing and where he went from there. I am a novice at this research. Any and all the help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, David Straub
Hello, I found this page a couple of days ago and was granted access, thanks. First, I would like to say the drawing is mine, the file used here is a copy of the original that I made while I was on the staff and faculty of the Army War College. I can tell by the white around the edge, I used it for presentations and may have sent a copy to someone. The original is in its original frame in my office. I also have made a copy of the notes written on the back by the original owner whom I suspect was one of original signers of the sketch by Ken Straub. The notes are not shown. All the signatures are original and not copies. I contacted Capt Lynn Guilloud shortly after I obtained the sketch and we exchanged a few emails and talked on the phone. My hope as well as his was that we could meet up some day on one of my trips through Texas but he passed away before we could make that happen. He was the company commander of the bridging unit. He said there was a drawing of the bridge at high tide and low tide (this is low tide) and that he either had the originals or copies like mine in his office too. He said the only other living member at that time was Ed Lindsay (signed) who I believe he said graduated with him at T A&M. Here is a another photo of the bridge that someone on the 238th site sent me. It is the exact same bridge and is included with other photos from an album on their site. I'm not exactly sure if Kevin or the others listed above found the exact place as I was helping Michel D with some work at the time. My most interest in meeting with Capt Guilloud was that he had pictures of the unit etc and was hoping that maybe he could identify some of the engineers in the photos of the book Michel was making at that time. As you can see there are planks attached to the side of the bridge and maybe these were the ones Don was talking about to Kevin. Captain Wong was in the 238th and I have some of his bridge sketches done by Stookie Allen as well as his Vol 4 Invade Mecum which came from his estate. I know this is an old thread but I thought I would help try to clarify some of the unknown information. Regards CC