Saint-Côme-du-Mont

To secure the route from Sainte-Marie-du-Mont towards Carentan, it was necessary to take the town of   Saint-Côme-du-Mont, wich is located on the right flank of the D 913. At the intersection,   now known as 'Dead Man's Corner', the D 913 makes a connection to the north with the D 270, a couple of hundred meters further up this road and you arrive in Saint-Côme-du-Mont.

During the night of 6 June, para’s of the 101st Airborne Division also jumped in these area. Just as in the jump over Ste-Mère-Eglise where the 82nd para’s Steel en Russell were caught on the roof of the church, so was a paratrooper landing on the roof of the church of Saint-Côme-du-Mont. T/4 Joseph ‘Jumping Joe’ Beyrle, I-Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division jumped from just a height of 400 feet from his C-47, to low to adjust his landing in time. Beyrle landed on to the roof of the church. Machinegun fire from the church steeple tried to hit him, but luckily for Beyrle he was not hit. Some distance away a farmhouse was in flames, and the machinegun was pointed into that direction.

When Beyrle finaly was on the ground, he decided to move to the west, the route the C-47 were coming from, in the hope he would run in to some comrades of his stick. In the next hours he tried to destroy a generator which was guarded by a couple of Germans. He tossed some grenates and moved away through a hole in a hedge,… right into the hands of some German para’s of the 6. Fallschirmjäger Rgt. manning a machinegun. The German paratroopers took Beyrle prisoner. Beyrle played his part by suggesting he had an injured back, and so he was brought to the first aid post near the church. Here he was looked after by the 101st Division Battalion surgeon Stanley Morgan, who was also taken prisoner by the Germans. After Beyrle made an attempt to escape, he was brought to the German HQ, south of Saint-Côme-du-Mont.

During the morning of June 6, the Germans of the headquarter of 6. Fallschirmjäger Rgt. at Periers, became aware that American paratroopers had landed in the Cotentin. The HQ was moved north, to Saint-Côme-du-Mont. In the afternoon the commander of 6 Fallschirmjäger Rgt., Major Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, came in person to check out what was happening, still not aware that at the same moment the invasion at Utah Beach was in full swing. But when he climbed into the bell tower of the church, Von der Heydte, realised at once what was going on. He looked in awe at the enormous fleet in front of the coast. When he looked through his binoculars the guns on navy vessels shot large shells towards him. The earth was shaking and trembling by the explosions and Von der Heydte left in a hurry his post, which was hit a short while later.

Angoville-au-Plain

Leaving Carentan and heading for St-Marie du-Mont, you pass the village of Angoville-au-Plain. It’s located between St-Côme-du-Mont and Vierville on the D 913. Central in this small village is the little church. It was smack-dab in the middle of DZ-D, the most southern drop-zone of the 1st and 2nd Battalion, 501st PIR. Of the 101st Airbornes Division. The first 48 hours after the jump there was heavy fighting between the paratroopers and the German Fallshirmjäger.

In the 2nd Battalion were two medics active, Robert E. Wright en Kenneth J. Moore who used this church as first aid post. Days on end they had their own battle to save the lives of countless troopers and civilians. Three paratroopers died in the church. On a bench at the back of the church the blood of one of these unfortunate ones can still be found,… a grim reminder of a precious life that was lost here. The battle raged around the church and at one point Germans entered the church. But after a fast check they left it again. Wright en Moore welcomed everyone, as long they left their weapons outside. The church, one of the eldest in the surroundings was damaged during the battle and all the medieval windows were broken. Only in 2004 the restoration was commenced when enough money was collected. Two glass-in-lead windows are dedicated to the paratroopers, among one especially for the medics Wright en Moore.

To Ste-Marie-du-Mont

Head for St. Côme-du-Mont on the D 270 and go straight for Houesville, turn right towards La Croix-Pan (go underneath the N 13). Take the D 129. After a kilometer you find on a divided crossing the memorial for General Pratt, the first killed General on D-Day. More details on 101st Airborne Division. On this crossing, take the right lane and head for Hiesville and Vierville.

Just as you leave Hiesville, you come across a large farm on the lefthand side. This is the place where the succesor of General Pratt, General Taylor, stayed for a week. To remember this a plaque is to be found on the right entrancecolumn.
After Vierville, make a left turn towards Ste-Marie-du-Mont, on the D 913.

The church of Ste-Marie-du-Mont, Then and Now,
Left, with an excuse of General Taylor for the damaged done by war

The 101st consisted of 8451 men, but they were scattered during the jump over a large area. In the first hours there was coherend consilidation. Small groups fought with German's. In this sector fought the 506th PIR of the 101st Airborne Division (later made famous in the TV-series 'Band of Brothers').

Ste-Marie-du-Mont, Then and Now

The church in St-Marie-du-Mont had new glas installed after the war and the tower was restored. The town has little changed in 60 years. Many buildings and houses have a plaque with information to tell their history during the occupation and D-Day. Near the church is a surplusshop, ´La Boutique du Holdy´, with authentic wartime material from June 1944. Also behind the church is a shop with authentic material, but very pricey.

An impressive episode in the TV series, Band of Brothers , from part 2, 'Day of Days',  took place here. Lt. Dick Winters  was given the order to launch an attack on four guns that fired from a meadow at Brécourt Manor towards Utah Beach. Since 2008, this action has been commemorated with a monument. To find the place, leave Ste-Marie-du-Mont  via the road to the northeast (the coast) on the D 913. This road is known as 'EXIT 2' ('EXIT 1' was at Pouppeville). After a kilometer you will come to the intersection with the D14, turn left here. After about 500 meters  you are at the small road towards Brécourt Manor (the monument is on the corner here). The monument has also been realized  through the support of the De Vallavieille family (Brécourt Manor), Marco Kilian, Marion van Hellmond,  Frank Slegers, Ralph Ligtvoet, in collaboration with the Steenhouwerij Rijtink (all from the Netherlands).

Striking detail of the monument is the etched map that Dick Winters made after the war  the situation shows on June 6, 1944. You may recognize the design of the monument, the same design can be found  at the edge of the woods Le Bois Jacques near Foy Belgium.  

You can now take the narrow road towards Brécourt Manor. Opposite Brécourt Manor   is the pasture where the German guns once stood. This is private land and it is not allowed   to be walked on.  

On June 6, 2012 a new monument was unveiled. This time a statue of Richard Winters which is further dedicated to all troops that landed first in Normandy. The statue is standing on the D 913, a kilometer from Ste-Marie-du-Mont towards Utah Beach. The statue carries on the pedestal Winters' statement: 'Do not make men great, but they bring out the greatness in good men'.

On the next page the tour continous to Utah Beach and the north, to the Batterie of Crisbecq and Azeville and further to Ste-Mère-Eglise. Click on the picture below with Richard Winters that commemorates the landing of the first Allied troops in Normandy.