Hi All, I have been reading Ernie Pyle's 'Brave Men' of late and one of the Normandy related chapters, No. 28, is titled 'American Ack-Ack'. Ernie goes in search of a particular gun crew to spend some time with the unit as was his custom. While he doesn't make direct reference to Omaha Beach by name, he does state that he landed on the beach which was taken by the 1st and 29th Divisions. Here are his own words as to why he sought out this crew: Before I go further, does anyone know the location of the 88 on Omaha - or the identity of the American ack-ack unit? Thanks, Pat
Short of Omaha books Pat? ;-) Based on the few I have, I'm guessing either the 197th or 467th AAA Battalion.
Pat, From what I believe I read, there were only two 88mm guns. One at WN 61 facing west, and one at WN 72 facing east for enfilading fire. I would have figured so many more. :/ John
Don't focus too much on the '88' part. It usually just means some unidentified German piece of metal firing shells at you. ;-)
Thanks Guys, No, not short on books; just getting you to do some of the leg work Niels While Ernie never identified any of the units which he wrote about, he does gives names and addresses of the individual men he interviewed. He goes onto write: Can't see Sergeant Haas mentioned in Phil's 'American Heros'. I presume Flatbush Avenue was a rival ball team back in Brooklyn. My connection speed is crawling today,so I can't check Fold3 just now. Regards, Pat
Sorry guys, must have missed this somehow. Haas was in the 467th and the "88" was 5cm, but as per Niels' comment, it wasn't as if anyone was actually measuring at the time. The bunker and gun (complete with damage and commemorative plaque) will be familiar to any who have visited Wn65 at the foot of Exit E-1. Cheers, Sean
Thanks Sean, I came across a photograph of the bunker somewhere taken shortly after D-Day and it shows multiple hits from the same weapon which I assume is the 37mm gun in question. Regards, Pat
Hi All, Joe Macker's blog here relates a very moving 'Return to Normandy' story. Joe's father, William J. Macker, Battery A, 467th AAA Battalion, appears to have known Sgt Hyman Haas, referred to by Ernie Pyle above. Joe's blog entry titled 'Finding the 467th AAA Memorial on Omaha Beach' in which he states: Ernie relates what we now know to be Battery A's action on Omaha thus: I wondered why the half track had to be turned round in order for the gun to fire on the WN 65 bunker, as this is not explained by Ernie's account. Joe Macker's blog gives the answer; the roof of the half track was piled up with equipment, preventing the gun from traversing to the front at the required low angle. Below is a photograph of the bunker shortly after D-Day showing what appears to be a shotgun blast effect to the upper right (east) side of the bunker's front face. I am not an expert in matters munitions, but the impacts appear to be from more than just shoulder weapons: Today, this GE 'street view' of the bunker shows the plaque to the 467th AAA Battalion. The shot below is a closeup of this plaque: Hopefully the Google machinery will bring some of the families of the crew to us here on this thread. BTW, for you American readers, what does the acronym 'RFD 2' mean in Lieutenant Wallace Gibbs's address above? Thanks, Pat
"I wondered why the half track had to be turned round in order for the gun to fire on the WN 65 bunker" Hi Pat, I was reading up a little bit on the halftrack mounted 37mm gun and some other reasons mentioned are that they may have trouble depressing the barrel low enough on a halftrack angling slightly upwards as it comes off the beach, and also the effects of the gun blast on the crew driving the vehicle and the windshield. I'm just not sure a vehicle landing in the early waves on Omaha would be so loaded down that they could not take action with the gun immediately. John
Hi John, In Joe Macker's blog there is a reference to the half tracks coming down the ramps and hitting deep water, so deep in fact that the guy sitting beside the driver had to hold a rifle and tommy gun up to keep them dry. I expect that knowing the gun could not be operated whilst it was pointing forward over the cab as you indicate, they just piled all their equipment onto the roof to keep it dry. Regards, Pat
Interesting thread; I believe that the RFD in the cited address is an acronym for "Rural Free Delivery". It was begun in the latter 1800s in order for the Postal Service to get mail to the large rural/farm population in the country, which would otherwise have been an expensive prospect for that population. Charles
To Continue... Ernie next moves to do a two day visit with the crew of a heavy 90mm ack-ack gun crew. Later in the chapter, Ernie describes how his gun was aimed by some means of a central control unit - does anyone know to what extent these four gun batteries were automated? The location of this battery is somewhere inland from either Utah or Omaha Beach as far as I can tell, as Ernie simply describes the battery field as being 'on the Normandy beachhead'. He goes on... Its obvious then that the only real threat from the Luftwaffe to the invasion beaches was at night. I always understood that these night raiders were lone hunters who came over in small numbers, but Ernie describes quite high claims by the ack-ack gunners later in the chapter - even more so as they never actually saw the aircraft they were firing at. This again seems to indicate some form of centrally controlled aiming of the battery guns. Ernie then goes on to describe the daily routine of his crew... Ernie at this stage of the War had seen far worse conditions in Africa, Sicily and Italy so you can see why he would comment on the attitude of this green unit to what he would consider very minor discomforts. I would be very interested to know the extent of automation in the operation of these 90mm AAA guns - anyone able to shed light? Thanks, Pat
Ah!, The Wiki article seems to have the answer: So, an early form of radar directed gun laying. Regards, Pat