UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II

Pictorial Record

THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY:
EUROPE AND ADJACENT
AREAS

CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1989

First Printed 1951—CMH Pub 12–3

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington, DC 20402-0001

UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II

Kent Roberts Greenfield, General Editor

Advisory Committee

James P. Baxter
President, Williams College

Henry S. Commager
Columbia University

Douglas S. Freeman
Richmond News Leader

Pendleton Herring
Social Science Research Council

John D. Hicks
University of California

William T. Hutchinson
University of Chicago

S. L. A. Marshall
Detroit News

E. Dwight Salmon
Amherst College

Col. Thomas D. Stamps
United States Military Academy

Charles S. Sydnor
Duke University

Charles H. Taylor
Harvard University

Office of the Chief of Military History

Maj. Gen. Orlando Ward, Chief

... to Those Who Served

Foreword

During World War II the photographers of the United States armed forces created on film a pictorial record of immeasurable value. Thousands of pictures are preserved in the photographic libraries of the armed services but are little seen by the public.

In the narrative volumes of UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II, now being prepared by the Office of the Chief of Military History of the United States Army, it is possible to include only a limited number of pictures. Therefore, a subseries of pictorial volumes, of which this is one, has been planned to supplement the other volumes of the series. The photographs have been especially selected to show important terrain features, types of equipment and weapons, living and weather conditions, military operations, and matters of human interest. These volumes will preserve and make accessible for future reference some of the best pictures of World War II. An appreciation not only of the terrain upon which actions were fought, but also of its influence on the capabilities and limitations of weapons in the hands of both our troops and those of the enemy, can be gained through a careful study of the pictures herein presented. These factors are essential to a clear understanding of military history.

This book deals with the European Theater of Operations, covering the period from the build-up in the United Kingdom through V-E Day. Its seven sections are arranged chronologically. The photographs were selected and the text written by Capt. Kenneth E. Hunter; the editing was done by Miss Mary Ann Bacon. The written text has been kept to a minimum. The appendixes give information as to the abbreviations used and the sources of the photographs.

Contents

SECTION I
The Build-up in the United Kingdom and the Air Offensive, Europe[1]

The build-up of the United States Army in the United Kingdom, from January 1942 until June 1944, with the huge amounts of supplies necessary to equip and maintain the forces and to prepare for the invasion of northern Europe was a tremendous undertaking. It involved the transportation of men and supplies across the Atlantic during a time when the German submarine menace was at its peak. The United States Navy played a vital role in transporting men and supplies and in protecting the convoys while en route. During this period the administrative task was enormous since facilities for quartering and training such large forces and for storing supplies and equipment had to be provided within the limited area of the United Kingdom. In October 1942 some of the units stationed in the United Kingdom were sent to the Mediterranean for the invasion of North Africa. The build-up continued after this, well-trained units arriving from the United States. As the time for the invasion of France approached, battle-tested units from the Mediterranean theater were transferred to England to prepare for their part in the assault. In spite of the limited terrain available, large-scale maneuvers and realistic amphibious operations were conducted. In the early spring of 1944 joint exercises of the ground, sea, and air forces which were to make the attack in Normandy were held along the southern coast of England. The last of these exercises was held in early May, the units then moving to the staging areas and embarkation points for the invasion.

While the ground forces were being equipped and trained the Allied air forces bombed the fortress of Europe. The Royal Air Force Bomber Command carried out the air assault by night and the United States Eighth Air Force by day. The first U. S. participation in the bombing of Europe from British bases was on 4 July 1942, when American crews flew six British bombers. During the fall of 1942 the Eighth Air Force prepared the Twelfth Air Force for the invasion of Africa, and it was not until the beginning of 1943 that U. S. bombers began to attack Europe from England in large-scale raids. From that time on the attacks on Germany continued with increasing intensity and shattering power until, in February 1944, the German Luftwaffe attempted to sweep the U. S. bombers from the skies over Europe. After a battle of one week’s duration over important industrial cities of Germany, the Luftwaffe was beaten and supremacy of the air was in Allied hands where it remained until the end of the war.

NORTHERN IRELAND

U. S. TROOPS arriving in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first U. S. troops to cross the Atlantic after the declaration of war by the United States went to Northern Ireland in January 1942. In the same month the Special Observer Group was replaced by Headquarters, United States Armed Forces in the British Isles. Shortly thereafter the center of concentration was transferred from Ireland to England and the rapid build-up of personnel commenced. Logistical planning began in April 1942. This build-up of men and supplies was to become one of the greatest logistical undertakings in military history. Supplies were shipped from the United States in ever increasing quantities until, during the month of June 1944, approximately 1,000,000 long tons were received in the United Kingdom.

NORTHERN IRELAND

U. S. TROOPS marching through the streets of a town in Northern Ireland escorted by a British sergeant. The first U. S. troops to arrive in Ireland were 18 officers and 18 enlisted men, the advance party for the first contingent. By 1 June 1944 there were 1,562,000 U. S. troops in the United Kingdom. During the early months after the United States’ entry into World War II a large part of the equipment was similar to that of World War I. In the succeeding months much was done to improve all types of equipment and many of the changes may be seen in the pictures that follow in this volume.

NORTHERN IRELAND

TRAINING IN IRELAND, FEBRUARY 1942. Before leaving the United States members of the U. S. armed forces normally had completed their training, but to keep the men at the peak of their fighting fitness programs in firing, field exercises, and special problems were begun under varying weather and terrain conditions. Men in their late teens or early twenties made the finest soldiers as they had stamina and recuperative power far beyond that of older men. This physical superiority often determined the issue in heavy and prolonged fighting.

ENGLAND

INFANTRY MAN WITH WEAPONS. Soldier is holding a .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun M 1928A 1; from left to right are: 60-mm. mortar M 2, British antitank gun, .30-caliber U. S. rifle M 1 with bayonet M 1 attached, .30-caliber Browning machine gun M 1919A 4, hand grenades, .45-caliber automatic pistol M 1911A 1, .30-caliber U. S. rifle M 1903 with grenade launcher M 1 attached, .30-caliber Browning automatic rifle M 1913A 2, and 81-mm. mortar M 1 (top). Infantryman has just completed an obstacle course (bottom).

SCOTLAND

SOLDIERS LAND FROM AN ASSAULT BOAT during a training exercise in Scotland, July 1942. The base of fire of a rifle platoon was its automatic weapons. The riflemen concentrated their fire on the impact area blocked out by the automatic weapons. The base of fire of a U. S. rifle squad in World War II was the Browning automatic rifle (BA R). The man in right foreground is armed with this weapon. The two men behind the soldier with the BA R are armed with .30-caliber U. S. rifles M 1.

GERMANY

TWO TYPES OF U. S. HEAVY, FOUR-ENGINED BOMBERS. Consolidated B-24 Liberators on a bombing mission over Europe (top); Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses dropping bombs on enemy installations in Bremen, Germany, while flak bursts around them (bottom). The first U. S. air unit to engage in combat over Europe was a light bombardment squadron. Flying British planes, six U. S. crews joined six RAF crews in a daylight attack against four airdromes in the Netherlands on 4 July 1942. On 17 August twelve B-17’s, accompanied by four RAF Spitfire fighter squadrons, attacked the marshalling yards at Rouen, France, and successfully completed the first U. S. attack over Europe. From these small beginnings the number of planes taking part in the raids grew until the average per raid in 1943 was 570 heavy bombers, a figure that was to be almost doubled in 1944.

ENGLAND

THREE TYPES OF ESCORT FIGHTER PLANES over England. From top to bottom: Lockheed P-38 Lightning, North American P-51 Mustang, Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. P-47’s were the first to join the British Spitfires in providing escort for heavy bombers, the P-38 was available in small numbers in October 1943, and the P-51 began to appear in January 1944. At first the 47’s flew top cover, but before long they began to drop down and engage the enemy fighter planes. As the war progressed the escort opened out more and more until it became a huge net to envelop the enemy.

ENGLAND

A BRITISH POLICE SERGEANT gives road direction to a U. S. first sergeant during a march. By the end of June 1944 there was a total of 140,656 Negro personnel in the European Theater of Operations assigned to both combat and service units. The M 1 helmet worn by the sergeant was standardized on 9 June 1941, and mass production began shortly thereafter, it replaced the earlier M 1917A 1 helmet shown in preceding pictures.

ENGLAND

MEMBERS OF THE FIRST OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL (OCS) in the United Kingdom decontaminating a building that has been subjected to mustard gas (top). Machine gun training at OCS (bottom). Qualified enlisted men were selected from units stationed in the British Isles and sent to this school where, upon the successful completion of the courses of instruction, they were commissioned second lieutenants in the Army of the United States. The first class began in September 1942 and there were in all seven classes, each lasting for approximately three months. The OCS in England graduated and commissioned a total of 472 men.

ENGLAND

A FIGHTER PILOT, Standing beside his plane in England, wearing an oxygen mask and helmet equipped with earphones. Over his leather flying jacket is a life preserver. A number of young men from the United States joined the Canadian and British air forces before America’s entry in the war. When the U. S. declared war these pilots were transferred to the U. S. air force. The strength of the U. S. air force in 1940 was about 43,000 men and 2,500 planes. In early 1944 there were 2,300,000 men and 80,000 aircraft.

ENGLAND

INTERIOR OF A B-17 showing two .50-caliber Browning machine guns. These planes were highly complex machines, well armed, with machine guns in front, rear, sides, top, and bottom. The man in the picture is working on the gun turret which protruded beneath the fuselage. The tank on top of this turret was for oxygen.

ENGLAND

AN ORDNANCE SPECIALIST in the repair of optical equipment cleans a pair of field glasses, England, September 1942. Ordnance responsibility extended to “everything that rolls, shoots, is shot, or is dropped from the air.” Its complete catalogue contained 35,000 separate items, ranging from watch springs and firing pins to 20-ton howitzers and 40-ton tanks.

ENGLAND

A REPAIRED M 3 MEDIUM TANK is given final check by Ordnance personnel. Every tank, gun, or vehicle, damaged either by an accident or later in combat, which could be repaired meant one less new tank to be supplied. As the war progressed the medium tank underwent changes as did a great deal of other U. S. equipment. It became lower so as to present a more difficult target, the riveted hull was replaced by a welded or cast hull, and toward the end of the war the suspension system was changed. These, and other mechanical changes, with the addition of better armament and armor, made the vehicle a more formidable fighting machine, better able to combat enemy tanks.

ENGLAND

PARATROOPERS having their parachutes inspected before taking off for a practice jump, England, October 1942. These troops were equipped with specially designed clothing and equipment including helmets with a new type fiber liner and chin strap, jump suits with large pockets that could be securely fastened, and boots that laced higher up the leg and which had reinforced toes and stronger ankle supports.

ENGLAND

SOLDIER BEING TRAINED in the correct method of attack when armed with a knife. Note the difference between the uniform worn by the infantryman here and that worn by paratroopers on opposite page.

ENGLAND

AN ENGINEER COMPANY AT WORK ON AN AIRFIELD in England. By 1 June 1944 a total of 129 airfields was available in the United Kingdom for the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces. In addition there were 3 base air depots, 7 combat crew and replacement centers, 2 reconnaissance and 1 photographic reconnaissance fields, 19 troop carrier fields, 11 advance landing grounds, and 2 miscellaneous fields. Living quarters for more than 400,000 air force personnel had to be furnished, plus many thousands of square feet of space for storage.

ENGLAND

B-17 LANDING, after having dropped two flares to indicate that it has wounded crew members aboard, while two medical crews stand by to give first aid to the wounded (top). During raids over enemy territory crew members were sometimes wounded by flak or gunfire from enemy fighter planes. A crew member receiving medical attention as soon as his plane lands (bottom). In this case blood plasma is being administered. Blood plasma, which is whole blood minus the corpuscles, was given to those who had lost blood or were in shock. The plasma increased the volume of blood and kept the blood stream going. When casualties arrived at a hospital whole blood was administered to replace the blood lost and also to relieve shock before further treatment was begun.

ENGLAND

ENLISTED MEN OF THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT operating caterpillar tractor cranes to unload a crated gun carriage (half-track) which weighed approximately 20,000 pounds. The Ordnance Department maintained a large depot at Tidworth, England.

ENGLAND

BOMBS BEING UNLOADED at a U. S. Air Corps Ordnance Depot in England. After being stacked the bombs were covered with camouflage nets such as those behind tractors at left center of picture. Facilities for storing bombs in any other manner were limited. These stacks became common sights along the country lanes and roads in England during the war years. (1,000-pound bombs; crawler-type revolving crane on tractor mounting with diesel engine.)

ENGLAND

MEDIUM M3 TANKS in an Ordnance Depot, England (top). Combat tracked vehicles temporarily stored before being issued to the using units (bottom). After a vehicle arrived in the United Kingdom there was much to be done before it could be issued to the using unit. Tanks were received from the United States with about 500 items of accessory equipment, including small arms, radio, tools, gun sights, and other incidentals, packed in waterproofed containers; many were coated with a rust-preventive compound. The job of preparing an M 4 tank took approximately fifty working hours. Accessories were unpacked, cleaned, tested, and installed; the motor and all mechanical components were checked and tuned. When a vehicle left the Ordnance depot it was completely supplied, including ammunition and rations.

ENGLAND

A 105-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE M 7 on maneuvers in England, March 1943. This was an open-top, lightly armored vehicle and was the principal artillery weapon of an armored division.

NORTH ATLANTIC

U. S. NAVY PLANE attacks and sinks a German submarine in the North Atlantic, June 1943. The sinking of a British liner without warning by a German submarine off the coast of Scotland on 3 September 1939 opened the battle of the Atlantic, which continued until 14 May 1945 when the last U-boats surrendered at American Atlantic ports. Enemy submarines, traveling alone or in wolf packs, sank many Allied ships but by the middle of 1943 the menace had been reduced to a problem. This was accomplished by the use of the interlocking convoy system that provided escort protection along the important convoy routes, small escort aircraft carriers and destroyer escorts, and planes, from which hunter-killer groups were formed to seek out and destroy the U-boats.

SCOTLAND

LIGHTERS PULL ALONGSIDE THE QUEEN ELIZABETH to unload U. S. troops in Scotland (top). Representatives of the American Red Cross serving refreshments to Waacs who have just arrived in Scotland (bottom). On one trip the Queen Elizabeth carried a record load of 15,028 troops. Between December 1941 and June 1944 the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth transported a large portion of the total number of troops to the United Kingdom, running alone through seas in which their great speed was their chief protection against enemy submarines.

GERMANY

BOMBS TUMBLE FROM THE BAYS OF AN OVERTURNED B-24 BOMBER. The plane was caught in a heavy flak belt while on a mission over Germany. During 1943 the enemy became much more aggressive as he shifted his fighters from the Russian front and the Mediterranean theater to western Europe. The German day fighters continually harassed U. S. heavy bombers, sometimes following them far out to sea on their withdrawal.

NORTH SEA

A ROYAL AIR FORCE SEA RESCUE LAUNCH picking up the crew of a B-17 which crashed into the North Sea while returning to its base in England after a bombing raid over Germany. The crew members are in rubber boats and are flying a kite to which is attached the aerial of a short wave radio used to signal and give their position to the rescue craft. Many bombers were shot down over enemy territory and their crews captured, killed, or wounded; others were badly damaged and crashed into the North Sea on their return; while still others managed to return to their bases even though damaged. Many crews of the planes forced down at sea were rescued in the manner shown here.

ENGLAND

SOLDIERS PLACING A BANGALORE TORPEDO under barbed wire during a training problem in England, August 1943. When fired, the charge would explode and clear a path through the obstruction. This method was not only faster than cutting through the wire, but also did not expose the men unnecessarily to enemy fire.

ENGLAND

MEMBERS OF AN AIRBORNE DIVISION loading a ¼-ton 4x4 truck into a British Horsa glider (top). By removing the tail section, the glider could be unloaded in approximately seven minutes. Airborne infantrymen in a U. S. glider (bottom). In this picture men are armed with .30-caliber U. S. rifles M 1903A 3; .30-caliber U. S. rifles M 1; .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun M 1; 2.36-inch rocket launcher M 1A 1; and .30-caliber Browning automatic rifle M 1918A 2. Machine guns, mortars, and light artillery weapons were dropped by parachutes and brought in by gliders along with other supplies which made the airborne troops a compact fighting unit.

GERMANY

AERIAL VIEW OF SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY, October 1943. This city was the center of the ball-bearing factories, one of the target priorities picked for destruction by the strategic air force. The order of these priorities was as follows: (1) submarine construction yards and bases, (2) aircraft industry, (3) ball-bearing industry, (4) oil industry, (5) synthetic rubber plants, and (6) military transport vehicle industry. The Schweinfurt raid had considerable significance at this time because the Americans were still trying to prove the feasibility of daylight precision bombing. This crucial raid was made by a force of 228 heavy bombers and there ensued one of the greatest battles in Eighth Air Force history. From the German frontier at Aachen, where the fighter escort had to leave the bombers because of limited gasoline capacities, to Schweinfurt and return wave after wave of enemy fighters attacked the bombers.

GERMANY

BOMBS STRIKING THE BALL-BEARING FACTORIES at Schweinfurt, Germany, October 1943. Flak over the target was intense but good visibility enabled the bombers to make an accurate run and more than 450 tons of high explosives and incendiaries were dropped in the target area. Heavy damage was inflicted on the major plants. The cost to the attackers was also severe. Sixty-two bombers were lost and 138 were damaged. Personnel casualties were 599 killed and 40 wounded. Such losses could not be sustained and deep penetrations without escort were suspended. Schweinfurt was not attacked again for four months and the Germans were given a chance to take countermeasures, which they did with great energy and skill.

GERMANY

HEAVY BOMBERS ON A MISSION over southwestern Germany, December 1943. Planes at upper level are Boeing B-17’s; those at lower level are Consolidated B-24’s. After the Schweinfurt raid unescorted bomber raids were discontinued until 1944 when long-range fighters equipped with wing tanks were able to provide fighter escort for the B-17’s and B-24’s as far as Berlin. By 1944 the Luftwaffe, although still offering a formidable defense, basically had decayed and was very vulnerable to Allied air power that was being concentrated against it. By April 1944 the Allies had achieved air superiority which permitted full-scale air attacks on Germany, an indispensable prerequisite for the invasion of Normandy.

GERMANY

B-17’s DROPPING BOMBS OVER BREMEN, December 1943. Control of the air started with an attack on the Focke-Wulf plant at Bremen in April 1943, but the main attacks did not get under way until that summer. On six successive days in late July Allied air forces attacked the German aircraft industry so successfully that the production rate started downward. It was not until February 1944 that the decisive air battle came, when for a period of six days of perfect weather a continuous assault on the widely dispersed German aircraft-frame factories and assembly plants seriously reduced the capabilities of the Luftwaffe. Subsequent attacks affected the entire aircraft industry and it never fully recovered.

ENGLAND

BRITISH FIRE FIGHTERS combating a fire started by bombs during a German night attack over London, February 1944. The Battle of Britain began in August 1940 and continued on a large scale through October. During the air blitz over England the Luftwaffe suffered irreparable losses from which its bombardment arm never recovered, even though smaller attacks were carried out until late in the war. In daytime raids over England during the Battle of Britain from August to October 1940, the Germans lost 2,375 planes and crews, while the British lost 375 pilots.

ENGLAND

A BRITISH SPITFIRE FIGHTER chasing a German V-bomb over England. Only fast low-level ships, such as the British Spitfire or the U. S. P-47 or P-51, were good at this type of pursuit since the robot bombs averaged well over 300 miles per hour. These bombs, launched from sites along the invasion coast of France and the Low Countries, caused considerable damage in England and in addition were a demoralizing factor in that one never knew when or where they would strike. The launching sites were placed on the list of targets for the Allied air forces, but because these sites could be easily moved and camouflaged they were not completely destroyed until the invasion forces took over the areas in which they were located. The first of the V-bombs appeared over England on 13 June 1944.

ENGLAND

MEMBERS OF AN ENGINEER UNIT operating multiplex machines in the process of preparing maps from aerial mosaics. Relief and other features were plotted from photographic diapositives, contained in the conical shaped holders on the beam in background of lower picture, to sheets on which control and check points have been plotted. In these two photographs contours are being drawn on the maps by use of the multiplex machine. Contrary to general opinion, France was not a well-mapped country. During World War I detailed maps showed primarily trench fortifications and special small areas. The Engineers were responsible for making maps, which required the services of highly trained personnel.

ENGLAND

MEMBERS OF AN ENGINEER TOPOGRAPHICAL BATTALION preparing maps of Europe prior to the invasion of France. In 1944 more than 125,000,000 maps giving more complete details than those shown here were printed for the invasion alone. An average of 867 tons of maps was shipped each month from the United States. In addition, 3,695,750 salvaged enemy maps were used for reverse side printing. Large-scale maps showing beach and underwater obstacles on the American and British assault beaches were produced by the U. S. Army Engineers in preparation for the invasion.

ENGLAND

ANEMOMETER AND WIND DIRECTION INDICATOR being checked by an enlisted man of a weather section. Improvements in weather forecasting, instrument bombing technique and equipment, and operating procedures had advanced so much that whereas in 1942 U. S. bombers could operate on an average of only six days per month, in the last year of the war they averaged twenty-two days.

ENGLAND

MEMBERS OF A FIGHTER GROUP being briefed before taking off on a mission England, 1944

ENGLAND

WACS WORKING IN THE COMMUNICATIONS SECTION of the operations room at an air force station. No opportunity was overlooked to replace men with personnel of the Women’s Army Corps both in the United States and overseas, Wacs were given many technical and specialized jobs to do, as well as administrative and office work. The Medical Corps employed the largest number of Wacs in technical jobs, but other technical services such as the Transportation Corps, Signal Corps, Ordnance Department, and Quartermaster Corps had many positions that could be performed by women as efficiently as by men.

ENGLAND

MAIL FOR UNITS STATIONED IN ENGLAND being sorted. The handling of the mails through the Army Post Office (APO) was a function of the Adjutant General’s Department. Mail normally was delivered to the armed forces with the least possible delay as it was an important morale factor for men stationed away from home. During the last week of May 1944 an artificial delay of ten days was imposed on the forwarding of all American mail to the United States and elsewhere, and the use of transatlantic telephone, radio, and cable facilities was denied to American personnel. British mail was strictly censored by the military authorities from April 1944 until the invasion on 6 June 1944. These precautionary measures were taken to assure the secrecy of the coming invasion. In addition, a block was also placed on diplomatic correspondence of all countries except the United States, Great Britain, and the USSR.

ENGLAND

ARTILLERY UNITS TRAINING IN ENGLAND. A liaison plane flying over a battery of 105-mm. howitzers M 2A 1 (top). A 155-mm. gun firing (bottom).

ENGLAND

155-MM. GUNS AND 105-MM. HOWITZERS (top and bottom respectively) stored in England, 1944. After about 2,250 rounds had been fired, the barrel of the 155-mm. gun had to be replaced; in howitzers the number of rounds was higher.

ENGLAND

DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES, TANK CARS, AND FREIGHT CARS lined up in England to be used on the Continent after the invasion (top). Caterpillar tractors and bulldozers stored at an Engineer depot to be used after the invasion of France (bottom).

ENGLAND

20 GROSVENOR SQUARE, LONDON, U. S. Headquarters of the European Theater of Operations (top). U. S. enlisted men passing Number 10, Downing Street, residence and office of the Prime Minister of Great Britain (bottom). During the period of the build-up in the British Isles, activities and plans were formulated for the large and small units scattered throughout the United Kingdom in a group of buildings located near the American embassy in London. This group of buildings housed the offices of the personnel whose task it was to co-ordinate the activity and training of units and, in addition, to handle the problems relating to the build-up of supplies for the invasion.

ENGLAND

A COLUMN OF HALF-TRACKS advancing along a road during the training period in England (top). The second, third, and fourth vehicles in the picture are 75-mm. gun motor carriages M 3. This was the first standardized U. S. self-propelled antitank weapon used in World War II, and provided high mobility for the 75-mm. gun. It was replaced in March 1944 by the 76-mm. motor gun carriage M 18, and in September 1944 was declared obsolete. Temporarily stored half-tracks (bottom). These vehicles were used as gun and howitzer motor carriages, antiaircraft gun carriages and personnel carriers.

ENGLAND

ARMORED UNITS PARTICIPATING IN MANEUVERS in England. In the spring of 1944 intensified training was given to all units which were to take part in the invasion of Normandy. Light tank M 5A 1 (top), medium tank M 4A 1 (bottom). The U. S. tank was designed as a weapon of exploitation to be used in long-range thrusts deep into the enemy’s rear where it could attack his supply installations and communications. This required great endurance, low consumption of gasoline, and ability to move long distances without a break-down.

ENGLAND

MEN OF A SERVICE SQUADRON SALVAGING A FUEL TANK from the wing of a P-51. These tanks helped to make the bomber escort planes into long-range planes which gave fighter protection to the heavy bombers. The tanks, the fuel from which was consumed first, were dropped when empty and the plane then used gasoline from its permanent tanks.

ENGLAND

P-51’S IN FORMATION. Each plane in this formation has two wing tanks attached.

ENGLAND

A MEDICAL BATTALION QUARTERED IN TENTS, Cornwall, England (top). A U. S. hospital installed in Quonset huts (bottom). The hospital plan in the United Kingdom called for over 90,000 beds in existing installations, conversions, and new constructions. The program was later increased by 30,000 beds by using tents for the hospital units.

ENGLAND

U. S. ARMY NURSE, wearing a helmet and fatigue uniform, preparing an intravenous injection; a kerosene lamp provides illumination. Hospital personnel worked under conditions similar to those they might encounter upon their arrival on the Continent after the invasion. Army nurses gave widely varying types of skilled service, some of them in field hospitals and others in the general hospitals farther behind the lines. World War II was the first war in which nurses received full military benefits and real instead of relative officer rank. There were more than 17,000 Army nurses in the ETO in May 1945.

NORTHERN IRELAND

FIRING GERMAN WEAPONS. In order to become familiar with German weapons and to learn the capabilities of enemy arms, U. S. infantrymen fired them during training in Northern Ireland in the spring of 1944. The men in the top picture are firing a German standard dual-purpose machine gun (7.92-mm. M. G. 34). The soldier in the bottom picture is firing a German rifle (7.92-mm. Karbiner 98K—Mauser-Kar. 98K) which was the standard shoulder weapon of the German Army and very similar to the U. S. rifle M1903.

ENGLAND

MEMBERS OF AN ARMORED INFANTRY REGIMENT firing U. S. weapons during training in England. In 1941 the Ordnance Department began its experiments with the rocket launcher, which resulted in the invention of the 2.36-inch rocket launcher (bazooka). This was the first weapon of its type to be used in the war. Designed originally as an antitank weapon, it was used effectively against machine gun nests, pillboxes, and even fortified houses. It required only a two-man team—a gunner and a loader—and as it weighed only a little more than a rifle it could be carried everywhere (top). The crew of a 60-mm. mortar M2 firing at a simulated enemy position (bottom).

ENGLAND

AN ENLISTED MAN ON GUARD DUTY at a rail junction in Wales where American-made locomotives were stored. The United States shipped 1,000 locomotives and 20,000 railroad cars to the United Kingdom for use on the Continent after the invasion. In addition, 270 miles of railroad were constructed in England to facilitate movements. The Transportation Corps was responsible for the movement of men and supplies by land and water, and for the operation and supply of a great deal of this equipment. Since much of the railroad equipment in Europe had been destroyed or damaged by preinvasion bombing by the Allied airforces, locomotives and cars had to be supplied by both the United States and the United Kingdom for use in Europe.

ENGLAND

AN LST ARRIVES IN PLYMOUTH, England, carrying an LCT(6) as deckload, after crossing the Atlantic under its own power (top). The LCT was unloaded by sliding it over the side of the LST into the water (bottom). A great many landing craft were needed to mount the coming invasion. These were built in the United States and the United Kingdom.

ENGLAND

OUTDOOR STORAGE OF FIELD WIRE which was to be used after the invasion of France by the Signal Corps for telephone communications. The large rolls contained one mile of wire while the smaller ones had a half-mile capacity (top). The Quartermaster Corps, after salvaging shoes, supervised the rebuilding of them in English shoe factories and returned the remade shoes to troops in the field. Bottom picture shows shoes before and after being rebuilt.

ENGLAND

MEN OF A QUARTERMASTER UNIT STORING FIELD RATIONS in a warehouse in England, March 1944 (top). The U. S. Army was unquestionably better fed than any other in history. However, food in combat can never be the same as that in garrison or cantonment, since field rations must be nonperishable, compact, and easily carried by the individual soldier. Combat rations were improved as the war progressed and C rations were supplied in a more varied assortment. Engineer construction supplies stored in England in preparation for the invasion of Normandy (bottom). The large rolls of wire netting were to be used on the invasion beaches to make improvised roadways for vehicles.

ENGLAND

PARATROOPERS MAKING A MASS JUMP during their training in England. In practice jumps prior to the drop into Normandy there were numerous casualties. The injured were quickly cared for and the experience showed airborne medics what they could expect during the actual invasion.

ENGLAND

REPUBLIC P-47 FIGHTER PLANES (top) and Boeing B-17 heavy bombers (bottom) lined up on an airfield in England before being issued to the units who will fly them over the Continent against the enemy.

ENGLAND

ENGINEERS CONSTRUCTING A PONTON BRIDGE in England during the training period (top). Members of an antiaircraft artillery unit receiving instruction from a British officer while training with a 40-mm. automatic antiaircraft gun M1 (bottom).

ENGLAND

GUN CREW OF AN ANTIAIRCRAFT ARTILLERY GROUP operating a 90-mm. gun M1 near the coast of England, April 1944. In order to cope with the latest developments in the fields of high-altitude bombing, a 90-mm. antiaircraft gun with longer range, greater muzzle velocity, and a larger effective shell-burst area was introduced.

ENGLAND

EXHAUST STACKS AND AIR-INTAKE VENTS being installed on a medium tank M4 (top). After the installation was completed, the tank was tested off the coast of England (bottom). In addition to stacks, the tanks were further waterproofed by sealing all unvented openings with tape and sealing compound to render the hull watertight. Special attachments permitted rapid jettisoning of any waterproofing equipment which might interfere with satisfactory operation of the vehicles when on shore. These methods were first successfully used in the invasion of North Africa in November 1942. All vehicles which were to be driven ashore in Normandy under their own power, through water, and in the face of enemy fire, were waterproofed. Ordnance inspectors checked the vehicle in the marshalling yards a few hours before the tanks were loaded for the invasion.

ENGLAND

LCT(R) FIRING ROCKETS DURING A TEST in Portsmouth Harbor, England (top). Close-up of the rocket launchers (bottom). These ships converted from landing craft, tank, were equipped to fire as many as 1,000 rockets.

ENGLAND

LANDING MANEUVERS. During late April and early May 1944 these were held for the invasion troops. Infantrymen landing from an LGI(L) (top). A combination gun motor carriage M15A1 landing on the beach from an LCT (bottom). This was a highly mobile weapon, capable of a concentration of rapid fire, and designed for antiaircraft defense.

ENGLAND

WATERPROOFED TANK RECOVERY VEHICLE M31 being loaded on an LCT during training along the English coast (top). For camouflage purposes, the normal appearance of the tank was retained as far as possible. A simulated turret without cupola was used and dummy 75-mm. and 37-mm. guns were mounted in place of the real guns. Actual armament was limited to two .30-caliber machine guns. A half-track 81-mm. mortar carrier M21 maneuvering on a road in England (bottom). The mortar could be used on the vehicle or separate from it.

ENGLAND

BOAT-LANDING DRILL during a training exercise, Slapton Sands near Weymouth, Devon, England, May 1944. The infantrymen shown here have their equipment as complete as it will be during the actual invasion landings. They are descending ladders into an LCVP. Standing with his back to the camera at the top of the ladder is an officer, identified by the broad white vertical stripe painted on the back of his helmet. Noncommissioned officers had a similar horizontal stripe painted on their helmets.

ENGLAND

MEN AND TRUCKS ON THE UPPER DECK OF AN LST near Slapton Sands in May 1944. As D Day drew nearer loading exercises and amphibious operations were practiced by the invasion troops. The greatest advantage the United States was to have in equipment over the Germans was the multiple-drive motor equipment, principally the ¼-ton truck and the 2½-ton truck. Shown in the picture are: ¼-ton 4×4 truck, ¾-ton 4×4 weapons carrier truck, 1½-ton 6 × 6 personnel and cargo truck and 2½-ton 6×6 truck.

ENGLAND

AMPHIBIAN TRUCKS CARRY SUPPLIES ASHORE from a coaster under the protection of a smoke screen during landing maneuvers (top). A 2½-ton amphibian truck hitting the beach during maneuvers (bottom). These versatile trucks proved invaluable in bringing supplies to the beaches during the early stages of landing and during the build-up after the invasion of Normandy. During one of the amphibious exercises, which were made as realistic as possible, two LST’s were sunk by German E-boats. In other respects the training was successful and valuable lessons were learned.

ENGLAND

LCVP’S CIRCLING NEAR THE MOTHER SHIP while waiting for the signal to land on the beach during landing operation training at Slapton Sands (top). Members of an armored unit being briefed at a marshalling area (bottom). At the conclusion of the training exercises in May all the assault, follow-up, and build-up troops moved from their camps to marshalling areas for final staging.

ENGLAND

MEN AND EQUIPMENT BEING LOADED INTO LST’S (top) and LCVP’s (bottom) during the first days of June 1944 at one of the “hards” (paved strips running to the water’s edge) in southern England for the invasion of Normandy. The training given the assault forces during the amphibious exercises was so thorough that the final loadings for the invasion were accomplished with a minimum of delay and confusion and resembled another exercise more than the real thing. Two and one-half years after the first U. S. troops sailed for the United Kingdom, the training and preparation was completed and the large invasion force of U. S. and Allied troops was to receive its real test in battle against the enemy.

NORMANDY CAMPAIGN

NORMANDY

The American and British Invasion Beaches and the Allied Advance during the Normandy Campaign 6 June 1944 to 24 July 1944

SECTION II
Normandy Campaign

On 6 June 1944 the Allied military forces invaded northern France. After long study of the German strength, including coastal defenses and the disposition of enemy troops, the Allied commanders selected the beaches along the Bay of the Seine for the assault landings. The two beaches to be used by troops of the First U. S. Army were given the names of Utah and Omaha. Those on which the British and Canadians of the British Second Army were to land were named Gold, Sword, and Juno. The assault began at 0200 on 6 June when airborne troops were dropped behind the beaches with the mission of securing exits from the beaches. Planes of the Allied air force bombed the coastal defenses and shortly after sunrise the Navy began shelling the beach defenses. At 0630 the first troops landed on the beaches of Normandy. The sea was rough and the assault forces met varying degrees of enemy opposition, but the beachheads were secured and the assault and follow-up troops moved on to accomplish their missions. The U. S. forces landing on Utah Beach moved northwest to clear the northern portion of the Cotentin Peninsula and capture the port of Cherbourg. Those landing on Omaha Beach advanced southward toward Saint-Lô. The troops of the British Second Army were to advance in a southeast direction from Caen.

The enormous build-up of men and material began immediately after the assault. This operation was made most difficult because of the lack of port facilities, but before the invasion plans had been made for the construction of artificial harbors. The plans were quickly put into effect and the harbors were almost completed when a summer gale struck the Channel coast destroying most of the construction work. By using amphibian trucks and Rhino ferries, and by drying out LST’s, the build-up over open beaches progressed much faster than was anticipated and men and supplies were poured into France in ever increasing numbers.

While the beachheads were expanded and the build-up continued, the infantry and armored units fought their way through the hedgerow country toward their objectives. The fighting was slow and costly as enemy opposition stiffened in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Allied advance. With the capture of Cherbourg and Saint-Lô the initial missions of the U. S. forces were completed and the forces were then assembled in preparation for the drives south and west from the beachhead toward Avranches and the Brittany Peninsula. The British forces were to push southward from Caen exploiting in the direction of Paris and the Seine Basin. These attacks were scheduled to begin on 19 July 1944 but because of bad weather the supporting aerial assault was delayed and the breakout of Normandy did not get under way until 25 July.

ENGLAND

FULLY EQUIPPED PARATROOPER, armed with a Thompson submachine gun M1, climbing into a transport plane to go to France as the invasion of Normandy gets under way. At approximately 0200, 6 June 1944, men of two U. S. airborne divisions, as well as elements of a British airborne division, were dropped in vital areas to the rear of German coastal defenses guarding the Normandy beaches from Cherbourg to Caen. By dawn 1,136 heavy bombers of the RAF Bomber Command had dropped 5,853 tons of bombs on selected coastal batteries lining the Bay of the Seine between Cherbourg and Le Havre.

FRANCE

A MARTIN B-26 MEDIUM BOMBER flying over one of the invasion beaches, early on D-Day morning. All planes which supported the invasion operations, with the exception of the four-motored bombers, were painted with three white and two black stripes for identification purposes. At dawn on D-Day the U. S. Air Forces took up the air attacks and in the half hour before the touchdown of the assault forces (from 0600 to 0630) 1,365 heavy bombers dropped 2,746 tons of high explosives on the shore defenses. This was followed by attacks by medium bombers, light bombers, and fighter bombers. During the 24 hours of 6 June Allied aircraft flew 13,000 sorties, and during the first 8 hours alone dropped 10,000 tons of bombs.

FRANCE

GUN CREW ALERT aboard the cruiser USS Augusta, as landing craft approach the coast of France during the invasion, 6 June 1944. The three landing craft nearest the Augusta are an L C T(6), an L B V, and an L B K. While the Allied air forces were bombing installations along the invasion beaches the Allied sea armada drew in toward the coast, preceded by its flotillas of mine sweepers. Bad weather conditions and high seas had driven the enemy surface patrol craft into their harbors, and the 100-mile movement across the English Channel was unopposed. By 0300 the ships had anchored in the transport areas some thirteen miles off their assigned beaches, and the loading of troops into landing craft and the forming of the assault waves for the dash to the beaches began. At 0550 the heavy naval support squadrons began a 45-minute bombardment which quickly silenced the major coast-defense batteries.

FRANCE

OMAHA BEACH ON 6 JUNE 1944. From Grandcamp, cliffs extend eastward to Arromanches-les-Bains with only two breaks, one in the Vierville-Colleville region which was the V Corps area. The Aure River behind Omaha Beach is a serious obstacle for a distance of ten miles from its mouth, near Isigny. Between the Vire and Orne Rivers the area is covered to a depth of forty miles inland by bocage (land divided into small fields by hedges, banks, and sunken roads). Observation was limited, and vehicle movement was restricted to the roads. The highlands that extend across the invasion front, with a depth up to twenty-five miles, are broken with steep hills and narrow valleys. Although narrow, the roads in this area are generally good. Vital initial objectives were the towns of Carentan, Saint-Lô, Bayeux, and Caen.

FRANCE

U. S. TROOPS WADING ASHORE FROM AN L C V P at Omaha Beach during the assault. Elements of two U. S. infantry divisions, with engineer troops and tanks of an armored unit, made the first landings. The beaches selected for these landings were about 7,000 yards in length. From the beach the ground curves upward and is backed by bluffs that merge into the cliffs at either end of the sector. H Hour was at 0630 6 June. The mission of V Corps was to secure a beachhead in the area between the Vire River and Port-en-Bessin, from which troops would push southward toward Caumont and Saint-Lô, conforming to the advance of British Second Army to the east.

FRANCE

INFANTRYMEN WADING ASHORE FROM AN LCT(6) (top). Troops leaving an LCVP to wade ashore (bottom). Half-tracks and 2½-ton amphibian trucks can be seen on the beach, and in the background men marching in columns start southward toward the bluffs. On the shelf the enemy strung barbed wire and planted mines. Lanes had to be cleared through these obstacles before the infantry could advance. Beyond this strip containing obstacles, the enemy laid out firing positions to cover the tidal flat and the beach with direct fire, both plunging and grazing, from all types of weapons. The men landing were fired upon from these positions, which for the most part had escaped destruction during the prelanding bombardment.

FRANCE