(Page originally posted in May 2009)

     As the world remembers and commemorates the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, let us also recall the much overlooked contribution of Army Antiaircraft Artillery on that historic day.  As a tribute to the antiaircraft artillerymen who crossed the Channel and made history, the following excerpts are presented to preserve D-Day as seen through their eyes.  The following selections were pulled from unit histories and after action reports of AAA units that participated in the Normandy Invasion on 6 and 7 June 1944.      

467th AAA AW Bn

     The Germans were laying down a heavy barrage of mortars and 88's. No one had anticipated the fire power to be as heavy as it was. This was like going through a living hell. Many of us mistook incoming shells for those being fired short by the navy. After one or more boats were hit we soon changed our minds. We landed on beach "46" known to us as Omaha beach located near Vierville-Sur-Mer. We got our signals mixed and landed on Easy Green instead of Dog Green near exit E-1 instead of D-1.

     Tec 4 Edward B. Miller was killed in action. He was hit by an artillery shell. Both of his legs were severed. Death was almost instantly. Cpl Thomas J. Chavez, Medical Detachment and attached to the battery was killed instantly by artillery fire. Parts of the body were not identified. 2nd Lt. MAURICE C. ELLSWORTH wounded in the wrist by shrapnel. He was hit while directing men from danger areas. Two halftracks and one jeep were lost in the landing operations. S/Sgt. Herman S. Greenlee wounded.

(From Battery C Unit History, entry for 6 June 1944)

397th AAA Provisional Machine Gun Bn

The mission of the 397th Provisional MG Bn was to come ashore alongside elements of the 29th Infantry Division in the second wave of landing craft, shortly after H-Hour.  The three batteries of this special unit were to set up 36 .50 caliber machine guns across the length of Omaha Beach to provide immediate on-beach AA protection for the landing. 

     At 0645 we saw the beach clearly and headed toward that point on its outline which each man memorized.  Few of us realized that the enemy still held complete control of the high ground immediately south of the beach because we were intent on recognizing our landing terrain features. 

     On the beach, hugging the ground behind the first protecting rise of ground or sand, was the assault wave of infantry watching us approach.  We learned why they were watching shortly after this for between 0700 and 0715 the battalion landed. As the ramps would drop and men would start pouring out, an 88mm shell, a mortar shell, or cross fire from calibre 30 machine guns would burst as the ramp opened. The toll of life was appalling, men bleeding and drowning everywhere.  The enemy would force a group of us down prone in the water and would then spray the cluster with machine guns.  Men blown out of LCVP's by artillery fire, and still in confusion as they splashed and flailed the water, would be showered with the deadly fire of those machine guns.  But the battalion advanced to the safety of the rise sheltering the infantry, who so far were not firing at the enemy. 

     Shortly after we arrived, the officers rallied their men and patrols moved south to clean the cliffs.  To aid the infantry, this battalion gave them three HB machine guns, and set up our remaining weapons, cleaned them, and prepared to cover the advancing infantry.  In doing so, one of our guns with three sergeants as crew was blown to bits by a direct hit of an 88mm shell. 

     The greater part of two batteries had been landed on FOX GREEN and of these only five guns remained.  The third battery was found on EASY GREEN and DOG WHITE beaches with three guns in operation.  

        (From Narrative Report of Capt. Arthur L Meyer, dated 14 June 1944)

197th AAA AW Bn

     Omaha Beach was approximately three miles in length. Steep chalk cliffs rimmed the flat, sandy beach which was some 50-100 yards wide.  These cliffs, slightly concave, were broken by three small corridors -- the beach exits -- and several small draws.  That's what the geography books might have said about the small strip of French Coast in the vicinity of Colleville-sur-Mer and St. Laurent-sur-Mer.  What the men in the 197th learned about Omaha Beach on D-Day was a little different.

     They went in -- elements of the 197th did -- at H plus 120 minutes. That was after the preliminary naval shelling and the landing of the assault infantry waves. And they learned a few more things about Omaha Beach. They learned that, half in, half out of the water were hundreds of obstacles -- pilings, hedgehogs, tetrahedra, most of them mined. They learned that the passages through these obstacles were narrow and too often clogged with wrecked landing craft. They learned that they must debark with all their vehicles in deep water -- that many of their vehicles drowned out.

     They learned that maybe you didn't make it in your first try, and so you tried again. And they learned that if an 88 round landed in your LCT you didn't make it at all. They learned that if you reached the beach, you were pinned down at the water's edge.  They learned that the beach and the beach exits were heavily mined. They learned that about midway between the water's edge and the cliffs ran a deep anti-tank ditch filled with water. All this they learned -- at a price:

Killed: 1 officer, 4 enlisted men.

Seriously wounded: 1 officer, 11 enlisted men.
Lost material: 6 M-15 halftracks, 7 M-16 halftracks, 1 M-2 halftrack, 3 Jeeps, 1 trailer.

     Approximately 60 men lost all their personal belongings and equipment. The majority of them were in the First Platoon of B Battery, which lost all its vehicles when LCT No. 25 was hit by heavy artillery and burned.
 

     The Second Platoon of A Battery was the first unit of the battalion to land successfully, coming onto Easy Red at 0835. Other elements followed during the ensuing hours. Many gun crews, unable to bring their weapons to bear on German positions because of the slope of the beach at the water's edge, gave small arms support to infantry and engineers. Others helped clear mines from the beach exists. Medics worked long hours under direct fire, aiding the wounded.

     After many strenuous hours it became possible to move most of the men and vehicles off the beach and up onto the plateau above. Crews from disabled tracks dug in on infantry missions. Operational crews set up tactically. The first night was a tough one.

(From Battalion Unit History, Signal Corps photo)
 

457th AAA AW Bn

According to the invasion plan, the 457th was ordered to land between the 467th and 197th AAA battalions on Omaha Beach.  Due to the nature of the situation on the beach on D-Day, the unit's transports dropped anchor and remained offshore until the next day.

     Shortly after midday On June 6, the French coast came into view, and by 1630 hours that afternoon the eight craft carrying the Battalion dropped anchors about 4,000 yards offshore in front of Omaha Beach. The great show was in its first act.

     The Beach at this time was a scene of intense activity. Heavy warships, sitting close in offshore, were firing large calibre artillery inland. Light warships raced along the coast, raking the hills and cliffs with PomPoms.  Fighter bombers were dive-bombing strong
points on the coast. Smoke from fires and explosions rolled upward and spread above the forbidding brownish-green hills in great, billowing masses. Lower down, on the stretch of white sand between the hi1ls and the water, landings were being effected, but with difficulty because the entire landing area was still under heavy fire from German 88s.  Near the entrance to the tiny road, called "Beach Exit E-1", which wound up over the steep hills, vehicles set afire by enemy artillery burned brightly. The other Beach Exits, as well as E-1, were clogged with traffic unable to move up to proper locations.  The sea in front of the beach was filled with thousands of ships, waiting to discharge their loads.

     According to plan, elements of the battalion should have begun disembarking at 2000 hours, but the entire landing operation was behind schedule, and orders to land were not immediately forthcoming. Therefore, the Battalion LCT's remained at anchor awaiting development of the situation. The .50 calibre machine guns, which were set up on the trucks on the decks of the LCT's, were manned.  Shortly after dark, when enemy aircraft attempted to bomb and strafe the mass of landing craft, many of these machine guns went into action, but with undetermined effect, because of the massive barrage of fire directed at the planes by ship's guns and other AA guns in position on board the ships.  At least two planes were shot down by the combined fire and crashed into the water.  Though it is impossible to assess the accuracy of individual machine gunners in this firing, it nevertheless is noteworthy, for it was the 457's first engagement of the enemy on the continent.

(From Battalion Unit History "From Texas to Teisnach")
 

447th AAA AW Bn

Like the 457th's experience chronicled above, the 447th AAA AW Bn did not make it ashore on 6 June. It was only on the following day that the unit would spring into action. 

D plus 1, 7 June 1944.

    Another night of waiting brought the convoy to anchorage in daylight at 1010 within sight of land. That day the first men and equipment started ashore. During the evening and the following days, at night came the hum of aircraft followed by the stream of tracer and by day the low rumble and thud of Artillery fire. Day by day and little by little the equipment was loaded on smaller craft and beached with surprisingly little loss of equipment and no casualties.  Part of D Btry was one of the first on shore coming in on the second day.  Hq Btry and some of the Med Det also landed under sniper fire to remain on the beach for the night. The gun batteries began the selection of their gun and bivouac areas.

 (From Extract from Battalion History, reported by 1st Lt. Robert S. Radspinner, dated 20 June 1944)

Beach landing of an M15 halftrack. The 37mm guns came in handy, especially on Omaha Beach

49th AAA Brigade

The 49th AAA Brigade, under the First U.S. Army, was charged with the antiaircraft protection for the Normandy landings.  The Brigade's colorful Commanding Officer, Brig. Gen. E.W. Timberlake, was determined to be on the beach himself on 6 June. 

    D-Day, the 6th of June, was a beautiful, sunny day. All that could be seen was boats, more boats, and water - no land.  Radio silence was still in effect, therefore no information could be received as to the results obtained by the initial assault troops. As the morning hours passed by, the shores of France became perceptible and the Cherbourg Peninsula was clearly visible in the distance. The shore line kept increasing in size. A surprising thing to most was the very small number of boats returning from the shore in the direction of England. Soon radio communication was established and the picture of the invasion slowly but surely unfolded itself. The invading forces on Omaha had not found it as soft as anticipated. A special German task force of division strength was defending this beach. The Germans were concentrating a lot of fire power, particularly from mortars and 88's, on the Beach with terrific accuracy. The beaches which were supposed to have been completely cleared were still hot spots, dangerous for any craft desirous of beaching. V Corps radioed that no more ships would be allowed to beach that afternoon but should wait until the following morning.

     General Timberlake would not remain on board, however, but insisted on going ashore. He was accompanied by Major Coffey and Major Kelakos of the Brigade, and Lt. Col. Curren, Commanding Officer of the 110th AAA Gun Battalion, and a few other members of the same organization. The General stepped into an LCVP which was being pounded back and forth against the sides of the LST by the treacherous waves, and headed for the shore. The beach that was destined to be ours was untenable, and the General caused the boat to travel parallel to the beach until a spot was found which appeared less dangerous for landing. The landing was made without incident at 1500 hours on the 6th of June. The beaches were strewn with the dead. Infantrymen and engineers were hugging the shelter of the cliffside and yelled at General Timberlake to take cover. The General, undaunted, his silvery hair a perfect target on the sunny shores of Normandy, instilled the soldiers with greater courage and urged them to "Go get the bastards." Disorganization and apathy seemed to be rampant amongst the men on that beach and stories related to the General by officers were extremely discouraging.

     The shore line was clogged with landing craft which had been destroyed by the German artillery or by land or sea mines, and weapons and equipment belonging to a variety of units. Anti-aircraft units, however, could be seen in firing position, watching for the Luftwaffe that just never came. One LCT with ramp down still held its burden of AA half-tracks, with the leading half-track holding the charred remains of two anti-aircraft gunners faithfully seated in their positions. No better picture could have been drawn of devotion to duty.

(From Unit History "The Forty-Niners")

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