The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (121 page)

“
I went in with 150
”: Liddle,
D-Day by Those Who Were There
, 75.

First Tide

Ship by ship
: “War Diary of Force ‘U,’” June 5–6, 1944, SEM, NHHC, box 82, folder 46;
IFG
, 87; Buffetaut,
D-Day Ships
, 75; Robb,
The Discovery of France
, 312 (
Norman pirates
); Colville,
Footprints in Time
, 161 (“
War in these conditions
”); Colville,
The Fringes of Power
, 492.

On the pitching decks below
: John C. Raaen, Jr., “Sir, the 5th Rangers Have Landed Intact,” ts, 2000, MMD, 1 (
watched for mines
); Liebling,
Mollie & Other War Pieces
, 188 (“
a passion
”); Alter and Crouch, eds., “
My Dear Moon
,” no pagination (“
extra systoles
”); Reynolds,
How I Survived the Three First Wave Invasions
, 89 (“
The mind can wander
”); Balkoski,
Omaha Beach
, 111 (“
when a bullet hits you
”), 163 (
Horace’s
Satires).

At two
A.M.
the ship’s loudspeaker
: Capa,
Slightly Out of Focus
, 139 (
white jackets
); Liebling,
Mollie & Other War Pieces
, 204 (
tinned beef
); Arthur,
Forgotten Voices of World War II
, 305 (“
superb 1812 brandy
”); K. G. Oakley, “Normandy ‘D’ Day 1944,” ts, n.d., IWM, 96/22/1, 1–2 (“
Do not worry
”).

Precisely what the enemy knew
: ALH, vol. 2, 35–36; Hinsley, 466–67 (
5 percent
); Leppert, “Communication Plans and Lessons, Europe and Africa,” lecture, Oct. 30, 1944, NARA RG 334, E 315, ANSCOL, box 199, L-7-44, 22–24; “The Invasion of Normandy,” USNAd, vol. 5, 479–82; Arthur,
Forgotten Voices of World War II
, 290 (
electronic signature
); Dear, ed.,
The Oxford Companion to World War II
, 333 (
simulate two large naval fleets
).

The actual
OVERLORD
fleets
: Allen, “Electronics Warfare,” lecture, Sept. 21, 1944, NARA RG 334, E 315, ANSCOL, L-7-44, 4; Leppert, “Communication Plans and Lessons, Europe and Africa,” lecture, Oct. 30, 1944, NARA RG 334, E 315, ANSCOL, box 199, L-7-44, 22–24; “The Invasion of Normandy,” USNAd, vol. 5, 479–82 (
Jamming had begun
).

Of particular concern were glide bombs
:
DOB
, 217–19; Sunset 592, June 6, 1944, NARA RG 457, E 9026, SRS–1869 (
145 radio-control bombers
); Martin J. Bollinger, “Warriors and Wizards: The Development and Defeat of Radio-Controlled Bombs of the Third Reich,” ts, 2010, a.p., 326, 345–46; Orus Kinney, “Nazi Smart Bombs,” VHP, Jan. 2010,
www.kilroywashere.org/003-Pages/03-OrusKinney.html
(“
like a man’s erect penis
”).

“
Each time they woke us
”: Stiles,
Serenade to the Big Bird
, 127;
WaS
, 42–43; Arthur,
Forgotten Voices of World War II
, 336 (“
a late tea
”); Philip Cole, “Air Planning for Overlord,” lecture, Oct. 28, 1944, NARA RG 334, E 315, ANSCOL, box 199, 14–16; Mason, ed.,
The Atlantic War Remembered
, 403 (
crash amid the waves
).

Behind the British came
: Balkoski,
Utah Beach
, 87–91.

Less precise was the main American force
: ibid., 92; Juliette Hennessy, “Tactical Operations of the Eighth Air Force,” 1952, AFHRA, historical study no. 70, 15–17 (
forty-five coastal fortifications
).

Conditions were far from perfect
: memo, “Statement of Result of D-Day Bombing by 4-Engine Aircraft,” Eighth AF, Aug. 8, 1944, NARA RG 407, AFIA, 2-3.7 BG;
AAFinWWII
, 190–93.

For an hour and a half
: Robert W. Ackerman, “The Employment of Strategic Bombers in a Tactical Role,” 1954, AFHRA, study no. 88, 78; Crane,
Bombs, Cities & Civilians
, 70–71; memo, “Statement of Result of D-Day Bombing by 4-Engine Aircraft,” Eighth AF, Aug. 8, 1944, NARA RG 407, AFIA, 2-3.7 BG (“
many seconds
”); Davis,
Bombing the European Axis Powers
, 357.

Heavy chains rattled
: Naval Guns, 35–36; Breuer,
Hitler’s Fortress Cherbourg
, 83 (“
For Chrissake
”);
IFG
, 93 (“
Anchor holding
”).

Aboard
Princess Astrid: J. H. Patterson, ts, n.d., IWM, 05/491, 1/7, 6 (“
Troops to parade
”); Ewing,
29 Let’s Go!
, 37–39 (
blackout curtains
); Smith,
The Big Red One at D-Day
, 32 (“
metal shoeboxes
”); diary, Cyrus C. Aydlett, June 6, 1944, NWWIIM
(
“
a great abyss
”).

Nautical twilight arrived:
“War Diary of Force ‘U,’” June 6, 1944, SEM, NHHC, box 82, folder 46; Beevor,
D-Day
, 92 (“
gigantic town
”); Raitberger, “French Remember D-Day Landings,” Reuters, May 18, 1994 (“
more ships than sea
”).

Minesweepers nosed close
: Yung, “Action This Day,”
Naval History
(June 2009): 20
+
; Yung,
Gators of Neptune
, 178;
IFG
, 96 (
Two destroyers also took fire
); Naval Guns, 36–37 (“
Commence counterbattery
”).

Soon enough eight hundred naval guns
: “Notes on the Assault,” vol. 1, ts, n.d., Sidney Negretto Papers, MHI, box 4;
VW
, vol. 1, 161; Wilson, ed.,
D-Day 1944
, 204 (“
air vibrated
”); Naval Guns, 37; Liebling,
Mollie & Other Pieces
, 180 (“
yellow cordite
”); Baker,
Ernest Hemingway
, 501 (“
railway trains
”); Reynolds,
Hemingway: The Final Years
, 96–98, 102; Heinz,
When We Were One
, 10–11; McManus,
The Americans at D-Day
, 261 (
blue steel
); Lankford, ed.,
OSS Against the Reich
, 60–61 (“
There is cannonading
”).

“
The arc at its zenith
”: John F. Latimer, n.d., NARA RG 38, E 11, U.S. Navy WWII Oral Histories, 12; Dailey,
Joining the War at Sea, 1939–1945
, 314 (
height of the splash
); Ryan,
The Longest Day
, 162 (“
monstrous thing
”); Raitberger, “French Remember D-Day Landings,” Reuters, May 18, 1994 (“
It is raining iron
”).

Allied planes swaddled
: The smoke plane in
Corry
’s sector was shot down, weakening the screen. Buffetaut,
D-Day Ships
, 83; AR, U.S.S.
Corry
, June 19, 1944, MMD; McKernon,
Corry
, 38–52.

“
We seemed to jump
”: Karig,
Battle Report: The Atlantic War
, 334;

Most sailors on the destroyer
: W. H. Greear, lecture, n.d., NARA RG 334, E 315, ANSCOL, box 199, 7; Hinsley, 478 (“
overlooked it
”); “The Invasion of Normandy,” USNAd, vol. 5, 504;
http://www.uss-corry-dd463.com/d-day_u-boat_photos/d-day_photos.htm
. The cause of
Corry
’s sinking remained controversial long after the war.

Eight minutes after the first explosion
: AR, U.S.S.
Corry
, June 19, 1944, NARA RG 38, CNO, 370/45/31/1, box 932, 5; Robert Beeman, “The Sinking of the U.S.S.
Corry
, June 6, 1944,” ts, n.d., MMD (
necktie
); memo, R. M. Allan, “U.S.S.
Corry
—Sinking of,” n.d., SEM, NHHC, box 81; OH, George D. Hoffman, CO, U.S.S.
Corry
, July 11, 1944, NARA RG 38, E 11, U.S. Navy WWII Oral Histories; Balkoski,
Utah Beach
, 214–15; Hinsley, 478; “The Invasion of Normandy,” USNAd, vol. 5, 504.

Experience from the Pacific
: Yung, “The Planners’ Daunting Task,”
Naval History
(June 2009): 12
+
;
WaS
, 31–33; “Notes on the Assault,” vol. 1, ts, n.d., Sidney Negretto Papers, MHI, box 4 (
140,000 shells
); “Enemy Defenses and Beach Obstacles Above Highwater Mark,” bulletin Y/23, Nov. 1944, COHQ, CARL, N-6530-12, 7 (
few enemy casemates
); Yung,
Gators of Neptune
, 209 (
Houlgate battery
); AR, Don P. Moon, Force U, June 26, 1944, NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file #217 (
none were completely knocked out
); Yung, “Action This Day,”
Naval History
(June 2009): 20
+
(
pesky St.-Marcouf battery
).

The Channel’s idiosyncratic tidal flow
: Wilmot,
The Struggle for Europe
, 220; Babcock,
War Stories
, 97 (“
I can jump
”); Jeffers,
In the Rough Rider’s Shadow
, 236 (“
there are shadows
”).

“
Away all boats
”: Vining, ed.,
American Diaries of World War II
, 101.

He was an unlikely vanguard
: Liebling,
Mollie & Other War Pieces
, 221; Howarth,
Dawn of D-Day
, 112–13 (“
frazzle-assed
”); Jeffers,
In the Rough Rider’s Shadow
, 4, 243; Morris,
Colonel Roosevelt
, 548.

“
achieve the same heights as his father
”: Morris,
Edith Kermit Roosevelt
, 173 (
steel-rimmed spectacles
), 307, 330, 461–63, 474, 487;
AAAD
, 85–86;
DOB
, 94–95; Hamilton, “Junior in Name Only,”
Retired Officer
(June 1981): 28
+
;
http://www.loc.gov/rr/mss/text/roosvlt.html
*
, TR, LOC MS Div;
http://www.nps.gov/archive/elro/glossary/smith-al.htm
*
.

“
What man of spirit
”: Morris,
Colonel Roosevelt
, 509; Renehan,
The Lion’s Pride
, 239 (“
first, best destiny
”);
DOB
, 160; Michael David Pearlman, “To Make Democracy Safe for the World,” Ph.D. diss, University of Illinois, 1978, 606 (“
manhood
”); Roosevelt,
Day Before Yesterday
, 450–51 (“
all right to pull strings
”); Eleanor Roosevelt to GCM, Feb. 7, 1944, GCM Lib, box 83, folder 31 (“
matter considered so serious
”).

The Army’s chief capitulated
: TR to R. O. Barton, May 26, 1944, TR, LOC MS Div, box 39 (“
the behavior pattern
”); Jeffers,
In the Rough Rider’s Shadow
, 5 (“
can’t be that rough
”); TR to Eleanor, July 11, 1944, TR, LOC MS Div, box 10;
IFG
, 100.

He was on the wrong beach
: Balkoski,
Utah Beach
, 182;
IFG
, 98; Drez, ed.,
Voices of D-Day
, 172–73; Wilson, ed.,
D-Day 1944
, 231 (
two thousand yards south
); Naval Guns, 44 (“
Higher than her length
”); Maynard D. Pederson et al., “Armor in Operation Neptune,” May 1949, AS, Ft. K, 21 (
the remaining Shermans
).

“
We’re not where we’re supposed to be
”: James A. Van Fleet, SOOHP, H. Williams, 1973, MHI, 55–56.

The accidental beach
: “Combat Engineering,” CE, Dec. 1945, NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file #547, 19–21; Baker,
Ernest Hemingway
, 501 (“
pikemen
”); Ryan,
The Longest Day
, 179 (“
real estate
”); Rollyson,
Nothing Ever Happens to the Brave
, 197 (“
heavy, dry glove
”).

“
How do you boys
”: Astor,
June 6, 1944
, 229; Balkoski,
Utah Beach
, 236 (“
great day for hunting
”); “Notes on Utah Beach and the 1st Engineer Special Brigade,” n.d., NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file #359A, 67; Fane and Moore,
The Naked Warriors
, 68 (“
Fire in the hole
”); OH, Herbert A. Peterson, Naval Combat Demolition, Oct. 1, 1944, NARA RG 38, E 11, U.S. Navy WWII Oral Histories, 2–3 (“
no fear of impaling
”).

Through the dunes and across the beach
: Royce L. Thompson, “American Strength in D-Day Landings,” n.d., CMH, 2-3.7 AE.P-5; Ingersoll,
Top Secret
, 126 (“
ironed flat
”); Fowle, ed.,
Builders and Fighters
, 448–49 (
Four causeways
); Balkoski,
Utah Beach
, 236 (“
arm signal
”).

The mutter of gunfire
: Maynard D. Pederson et al., “Armor in Operation Neptune,” May 1949, AS, Ft. K, 28–29; Drez, ed.,
Voices of D-Day
, 181 (
shaving cream
); Balkoski,
Utah Beach
, 254 (
horse-drawn 88mm guns
); diary, Cyrus C. Aydlett, June 10, 1944, NWWIIM (“
It sure takes a lot
”); “D-Day Experience of Eugene D. Brierre,” ts, March 15, 1998, NWWIIM, 2001.160, 5–6 (
snipped the unit flashes
).

East of Pouppeville
:
CCA
, 283; Wilson, ed.,
D-Day 1944
, 233–34 (“
Where’s the war
”); Babcock,
War Stories
, 52 (“
Hey, boy
”).