MSG John McCarthy’s Road to Lecaudey Farm (Part II)

All.

As Pat mentioned above, before we move forward with Part II of this research effort, I want to re-post this summary of the analysis of my site visit to the Hiesville, France area completed in May of this year. For those readers that are new to this story, here is a quick summary of what transpired prior to the site survey:

In early April of this year, I began finalizing my plans for a trip to Normandy with the intent of attempting to retrace the D-Day path of my deceased father, MSGT John T. McCarthy, 101st Airborne Division (DIV HQ CO, G-1). My research efforts started with a phone call to my father’s 101st Airborne Division friend and author, George Koskimaki. In the late 1960’s, my father description of his Keokuk Mission glider flight/landing and his first night in Normandy was included in Koskimaki’s book, “D-Day with the Screaming Eagles”. During an Internet search, I stumbled upon Paul Woodadge’s D-Day Historian website and the Battlebus Forum. At Paul’s suggestion, I contacted Pat and provided him with a summary of my father’s D-Day information that was included in Koskimaki’s book. In a period of two short weeks before my trip to France, Pat completed an outstanding analysis of NCAP photographs of the Hiesville area and found two possible landing sites for my father’s glider. Based on Pat’s research, Paul Woodadge and I completed a site survey of those two sites in early May. The following post, which originally appeared on the Battlebus Forum on May 28, 2012, is a summary of my analysis of that site survey:

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(Beginning of the original Battlebus Post)

On the morning of May 6th of this year, joined by Paul Woodadge, I completed a site survey of the two current most probable landing sites for gliders # 3 and 4 of the Keokuk Mission. One of those sites was in the NE corner of Pratt Field (identified as Landing Site B (LS B) in this discussion) and the other was on the western edge of the field south of the Pratt Memorial (identified as Landing Site A (LS A)).

Due to deep mud at the western entrance to Pratt Field, access to LS B was impractical. However, access to LS A was possible and we entered the field south of the Pratt Memorial at the gate entrance in the SW corner. After taking photos/video of LS A, I walked and took photos/video along Path A enroute to Lecaudey Farm, stopping at Farms A-1 and A-2. The day prior (May 5th), while with an Overlord Tours group, I took photos/video of Path B on Route de l’Eglise as well as Farm B. The tour guide identified Farm B as part of the former Hiesville Presbyter. See overview aerial shot below.


This Google Earth shot provides an overview of the two landing sites in the Hiesville area. Information associated with LS A is annotated in red, while LS B information is annotated in blue. The red and blue arrows pointing at “LS A” and “LS B” approximate the landing rollout tracks of gliders # 3 and 4.


In this post I want to conduct an analysis of both possible landing sites and discuss my conclusion, based on the data points summarized below, that LS A is the most probable site. Sources of the data points include:
-My father’s inputs to George Koskimaki’s book “D-Day with the Screaming Eagles” (JM)
-Inputs by other contributors to George Koskimaki’s book D-Day with the Screaming Eagles (DDSE)
-My phone conversations with Mr. Koskimaki (GK)
-Inputs from Paul Woodadge during our site survey (PW)
-My observations from the site survey (KM)

Summary of data points with respective sources:
-Gliders # 3 and 4 of the Keokuk Mission landed in close proximity to each other in a field within one mile of Hiesville. (JM)
-Glider # 3 came to rest with its nose embedded in a hedgerow. The cockpit suffered significant damage, resulting in the death of the co-pilot and injury to the pilot. (JM)
-Glider # 4 landed approximately twenty yards from a hedgerow, with glider # 3 “just in front” of glider # 4. (JM)
-Glider # 4 contained the jeep of the Division Chief of Staff, Colonel Gerald Higgins. (JM) The tail of the Horsa glider would have been blown off to remove this jeep.
-Gliders # 3 and 4 came to rest near a hedgerow that was in close proximity to a hard-surfaced road with an associated deep ditch. (JM)
-My father encountered and hid from a German patrol somewhere along the path from the landing site to the farmyard where he hid on the night of June 6th. (JM)
-Small German armored vehicles and troops were present along Path A near the current site of the Pratt Memorial during the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. (DDSE)
-German troops were present in Vierville until the evening of June 7th. (PW)
-On the evening of June 6th, German troops were shooting at the landing site of gliders # 3 and 4 from a hedgerow corner of the field. (JM)
-The most likely location of the source of the German shooting into the LS A field was the SE corner, the corner closest to Vierville. (PW)
-The LS A field has only two gated entrances, one in the NE corner and one in the SW corner. The rest of the field is surrounded by hedgerows. (KM)
-German snipers were present in the immediate vicinity of Hiesville on June 6th and 7th. (GK)
-Elements of Batteries A and B of the 81st Anti-Aircraft Battalion and 3rd Battalion 501st PIR were responsible for maintaining security outposts around the Division CP in Hiesville. (GK)
-On the morning of June 7th, sometime after his arrival at Lecaudey Farm, my father mentioned to George Koskimaki that glider # 4 had landed somewhere to the west of Hiesville. (GK)


Landing Site B Discussion

The NCAP_4052 aerial photograph clearly indicates two Horsa gliders in the NE corner of Pratt Field in a configuration very close what my father described in Koskimaki’s book. In fact, based on just what can be seen in NCAP_4052, LS B probably better fits his description than LS A. (Only one Horsa can be clearly seen at LS A, with a hint of second Horsa mostly hidden in the shadow of a hedgerow.) However, I believe the other data points do not support LS B as the most likely site. First of all, while LS B is in close proximuty to a hedgerow, there is no nearby “hard-surfaced road” or deep ditch associated with the landing site hedgerow as described by my father. The nearest roads are approximately 1000 feet from LS B. Second, as discussed early-on in this thread, LS B and especially Farm B are too close to Hiesville to fit with the overnight journey described by my father. Farm B is on the western edge of Hiesville and the gate entrance to the barnyard is less than 800 feet from the entrance of Lecaudey Farm based on measurements taken from a Google Earth shot. Farm B does have a “shadowy hedgerow” with a shallow ditch near a barn building. (See photo below.) However, in a photo I took on Route de l’Eglise at the entrance of Farm B, looking to the east towards the center of Hiesville, you can clearly see buildings at the Hiesville crossroads. Also in a photo I took from the NW corner of the barnyard, you can see the Hiesville church steeple. I realize that in the dark of the night, this would not have been visible to my father. However, I think that it is likely his group would have made contact with American troops manning outposts on the edge of town. Also, American forces had been present in Hiesville since earlier in the day on June 6th. According to Mr. Koskimkai, there were German snipers in Hiesville on the evening/night of June 6th. However, I have to question if a German patrol would be on Route de l’Eglise to the west of Hiesville on the evening of June 6th. In comparison with the LS A scenario, a German patrol would have been much more likely in the vicinity of LS A which was closer to the German outpost in Vierville. Finally, realizing that road elevations do change over the course of 68 years, I just did not see the prevalence of deep ditches described by my father along Path B that I observed along Path A. Based on these discussion points, I think LS B can be discounted as the landing site for gliders # 3 and 4.


Landing Site B Scenario Photographs


Photo taken from a location due north of LS B on Route de l’Eglise, at the point where “Path B” joins a hard-surfaced road and turns sharply to the east towards Hiesville. Photo looks to the south at the tree line associated with the hedgerow where in this scenario gliders # 3 and 4 came to rest. This spot is the closest that any current hard-surfaced road comes to LS B on the path to Hiesville.




This Google Earth shot provides an overview of Farm B and the short distance to Lecaudey Farm.



Photo taken from the gate entrance to Farm B, looking west/northwest on Route de l’Eglise/Path B towards LS B.





Photo taken on Route de l’Eglise at the gate entrance to Farm B looking east towards Hiesville. Building in the distance just past the curve in the road is located just to the west of the Hiesville crossroads.



Photo taken from the NW corner of the barnyard of Farm B, looking to the east towards the Hiesville church steeple.





Photo taken from the NW corner of the barnyard of Farm B looking south towards the gate entrance on Route de l’Eglise. To the right (west) is a shallow ditch near a hedgerow. To the left (east) and just out of the camera field of view is the barn structure seen in the photo above.




Google Earth shot taken from the intersection of roads at the center of Hiesville, looking to the west down Route de l’Eglise towards the entrance of Farm B.



Google Earth shot taken from the same spot as the photo above, looking to the NE towards the entrance of Lecaudey Farm.



Landing Site A Discussion

In the field south of the Pratt Memorial, the NCAP_4052 aerial shot indicates what appears to be only a single Horsa with the tail blown off (most likely glider # 4 in this scenario) near a hedgerow on the western side of the field. Despite there being only a hint of a second glider hidden in the shadow of the hedgerow (glider # 3), I believe that a LS A scenario is the more likely of the two possibilities when you consider the other date points that are available. First of all, LS A is in close proximity to a hedgerow associated with a hard-surfaced road and deep ditches. This is not the case with LS B where the nearest hard-surfaced road is approximately 1000 feet away. Second, the distance from LS A to Lecaudey Farm via Path A is approximately one mile. The distance from LS B to Lecaudey Farm via Path B is about one half mile. The one-mile distance associated with LS A seems to be a better fit with the story of my father’s overnight journey. The entrances to Farms A-1 and A-2 are located at least 500 feet further away from the Division CP than the entrance to Farm B. This additional distance would have made it less likely that my father’s group would have encountered an American outpost on the edge of Hiesville prior to finding the farm where they decided to spend the night. Finally, I believe that the German patrol activity that my father encountered was more likely along Path A than Path B based on the proximity of the route to Vierville. Based on the data points summarized above, I would like to outline one possible version of my father’s landing and journey to the Division CP.

Gliders # 3 and 4 touched down in the SE corner of the field south of the Pratt Memorial as outlined by Pat Curran in one of his earlier posts. The landing rollout of these two gliders continued on a track of approximately 290 degrees true towards the western edge of the field. Glider # 3 eventually impacted the hedgerow. This impact caused the glider to break-up, and as Paul Woodadge suggested during our site survey, resulted in a portion of the hedgerow being pushed out into what is now Route D-129. This created a “kink” in the straight line of the hedgerow that is still present today. This damage to the hedgerow also created a convenient exit route from the field. (The nearest gate entrance to LS A is in the SW corner of the field. I doubt the group would have gone south, away from Hiesville, to utilize this exit. The other gate entrance is in the NE corner of the field, which would have required a trip across the German field of fire to gain access.) After exiting the gliders, the Americans began to take fire from the Germans, most likely positioned somewhere in the SE corner of the field. Utilizing the break in the hedgerow created by glider # 3, my father’s group exited the field and went north in the ditch along D-129. At the intersection with Route de Rabey (current site of the Pratt Memorial), they turned to the east. It is probably somewhere in this general area that they encountered the German patrol. Also along this path, they went past the hedgerow where General Pratt’s glider had crashed that morning. Continuing along Path A, they reached Farms A-1 and A-2. Both of these farms have barnyards with easy access to the road along with shadowy hedgerows and shallow ditches. My father’s group could have spent the night in either of these barnyards. The next morning the group then continued north another quarter mile on Path A to the Lecaudey Farm. Sometime that morning my father briefly spoke George Koskimaki in the Division CP.


Landing Site A Scenario Photographs



Spot where glider # 4 came to rest in LS A looking NW towards the hedgerow on the western edge of the field. Route D-129 is on the other side of the hedgerow.




Looking to the SE from the glider # 4 location back down the landing rollout track towards the point of touchdown.




Area where glider # 3 possibly hit the hedgerow creating the “kink” and exit route that pushes out into Route D-129. Note the depressions in the ground along the fence line.




Paul Woodadge surveying the glider # 3 “kink” in the hedgerow from the LS A field. The hedgerow is at least 20 feet thick at this point.




Looking south on D-129 towards the “kink” in the hedgerow.





Another view of the “kink” and the ditch alongside D-129.




A Google Earth overview of Farms A-1 and A-2.




Looking southwest from Route de Rabey to the entrance of Farm A-1.




Looking east from Route de Rabey into the barnyard of Farm A-2.




Looking north on Route de Rabey from the entrance of Farm A-2 towards Hiesville.

Conclusion

Based on Pat Curran’s photo analysis, there are currently only two possible landing sites worthy of consideration. When you consider the totality of the evidence presented in this analysis; including data regarding the landing sites, the potential paths to the Division CP, the distances between the landing sites/farms/Division CP, the farms themselves, as well as the limited information available about the disposition of the American and German forces; I believe that of the two sites considered, LS A is the most likely landing site for gliders # 3 and 4 of the Keokuk Mission.

Again, my thanks to George Koskimaki, Paul Woodadge and Pat Curran for their assistance with this research project.

(End of the original Battlebus Post)
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As Pat discussed in one of his posts above, the field south of the Pratt Memorial is one possible landing site for my father's glider. With Pat’s posting of NCAP_US30_4079_1073 that will soon follow, I look forward to this renewed research effort that could confirm my analysis above or point in a different direction.

Regards,
Kevin

 

Nice job, Pat. That freehand lettering style is different from other Horsa missions that we can ID from UK ground photos. Unfortunately, I don't know of any other potential Keokuk Horsas with similar lettering. If Bob Ballintine makes it to NARA sometime, I have on the wish list for him to take a look at image of the Aldermaston Horsas prepped for takeoff in hopes some markings might be visible.

Chalk #16 would fit with my overall Keokuk theory that the front half of the right element of Keokuk (#3, 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16) released somewhere in the neighborhood of the Pond Field.

On a related point, I answered Kevin's earlier question about the Warren AFHRA study from memory. Having checked the footnote, it appears I may have been at least half right. For the description of the Keokuk landing locations the footnote cites 3 pgs in RwD - the first of which contains the landing map - plus the 434th OPREP. Pat Elie's treasure trove of reports does not present this report. I presume the report is at NARA and AFHRA. No way to know, but I suppose it is plausible that the OPREP contains an overlay of the landing locations - and thus could be the original source of the later versions of the map. The report narrative could contain just about anything.

As previously discussed, with Horsas from other missions landing in LZ 'E,' there had to be some way of determining which Horsas belonged to Keokuk. My hope has always been to find documentation clearly stating whether the map represented release spots or landing locations. Recall that in the MACR for HG-915 (Chalk #5), the tug pilot reported his release point as about 300 yards west of les Houches. And thanks to Pat Elie for plotting the overlay on a copy of the Bigot map. Recall also my theory that Chalk #5 is the lone Horsa just NE of the Big Dipper Group (based on the damaged right wing). If Keokuk released from flight formation of four across (about which we're not sure), then presumably they obeyed the directive (also shown on Pat Elie's site) of a 2000' spacing between the left and right elements (pairs). If you buy all of that, then the Pond Field and Big Dipper Field start to make sense - at least in general.

Pat, did you inform Bob B. about this site? Haven't heard from him in awhile.

 

I’m going to stray a bit off topic for a moment, but I think it is appropriate.

In Part I of this thread on the Battlebus Forum, a few postings discussed T/5 Charles H. Laden. Laden was a member of the 101st Airborne Division Signal Company and a friend of George Koskimaki and my father. I was privileged to meet Mr. Laden numerous times early in my life as he lived just a couple of miles from our home.

T/5 Laden’s WWII story is well documented on the ww2airborne.com website at: http://www.ww2airborne.com/charlesladenpage1.htm

Based on my research and conversations with George Koskimaki, I believe T/5 Laden arrived in Normandy on D-Day in Chalk #8 of the Keokuk Mission. His landing is described below:

“When we did finally touch the ground, we continued to skid at a very high rate of speed. Evidently the smooth Norman grass in the fields was too slick to slow us down. We crashed through a hedgerow at the edge of one field and the wings of the glider were torn off. We continued to slide until finally crashing into another hedgerow that stopped us. Unfortunately due to the impact, we were torn up pretty bad. The pilot and co-pilot were both ejected, killing one of them. Also killed were a few guys from my company, Pfc. Raymond Demonge, T/5 Robert McCullum, and T/5 William Weber. Both the motorcycles ended up hanging in the trees, and the trailer and other equipment was tossed everywhere. Staff Sergeant Harrison who had been sitting in the tail section was alive, but wounded badly. I was also thrown from the wreckage, but miraculously I was fine, except for bumps and bruises on my right leg. I brushed myself off and then helped Harrison out of the wreckage and into a ditch at the side of the field for cover. A few minutes later a jeep from our signals company drove up and the driver told me to get in. I was then driven to General Taylor’s command post that he had established at a farmhouse in Hiesville." (Source: ww2airborne.com)

If you recall, Pat posted a photo of a similar Horsa crash site on the Battlebus Forum as part of this discussion.

Last summer, during one of our phone conversations, George Koskimaki mentioned to me that Charles Laden was still alive and that they had recently talked on the phone. Unfortunately, Mr. Koskimaki did not have any contact information for Mr. Laden. That pushed me to start an Internet search for Mr. Laden that had been unsuccessful until this weekend when I found his recently posted on-line obituary. T/5 Charles H. Laden passed away in Riverside, California on December 31, 2012 at the age of 101. His laid to rest in the National Cemetery in Riverside on January 11, 2013.

Of note, T/5 Laden (33 years old at the time and one of the oldest enlisted men in the Division) served as General McAuliffe’s radio operator during the Market Garden Operation. Laden arrived in Holland in a Waco glider (Chalk #1 of the lift) with the General, several MPs and a war correspondent on D+1, September 18, 1944. (Source: Koskimaki’s Hell’s Highway.)

This “war correspondent” was not Walter Cronkite as erroneously reported by several sources. Ken McAuliffe (on the Trigger Time Forum) and George Koskimaki (during one of our phone conversations) confirmed that this was the case. In fact, Cronkite arrived in Holland on D-Day (September 17, 1944) in the same Waco glider as my father. My father reported this to his sister in a letter sent shortly after the Market Garden Operation. He also swore that he would never fly in a glider again because he never wanted to experience another glider landing. Several sources describe Cronkite’s glider landing as “hard” or that the glider “flipped and broke up”. Clearly validating my father’s concerns, Cronkite’s most detailed description states: “I thought the wheels of the glider were for landing. Imagine my surprise when we skidded along the ground and the wheels came up through the floor.”

T/5 Charles Laden’s death marks the passing of another member of the “Greatest Generation”. May he rest in peace.

R/Kevin

 

List,

In June of 1944, somewhere in Normandy, my father picked up this copy of an Allied appeal to German troops in the Cotentin that they surrender. With my limited German language ability, I can translate the basics such as the promises of good food, hospital care and the ability to send letters home for those that surrender. However, I can’t go much beyond that.

Last year, on my behalf, Pat posted this on the Battlebus Forum. At the time, members of that Forum quickly provided an English translation as well as a bit of history about similar documents found in Normandy. Unfortunately, I did not save a copy of this information prior to the crash of Battlebus. I would like to repost this document again on this Forum for the benefit of new readers and with the hope that someone can repost the translation and/or other related information.








I appreciate the assistance.

R/Kevin

 

Pat
Yes, Ragsdale and Rawlins are listed among the recipients of the air medal (GO #33 IX TCC, 5 july 1944) without the note saying they are missing or KIA

 

@ Kevin, I think I still have my translation somewhere on my HD. Will look for it. If I can't find it I'll post a new translatation.

@ Pat, one of those albums appears to have a shot of the La Fière Panzer III.

 

@Don : there is nothing in the 434th OPREP. The two usual pages with the number of A/C and gliders dispatched, troops and equipment carried.. nothing else. below is paragraph A:
Short narrative of operation : serial departed base as scheduled. an uneventful trip to LZ. no gun fire or flak encountered either way. result of drop believed good. Return from LZ uneventful. One ship landed for refueling. Reached base alright.

@Pat : Kenny I. Knotts was in 307th A/B Med. Co. they were carried into Normandy by the 438th TCG. Mission Elmira serial #31. Great albums with, for me, a special mention for the Brown