The Lost Ranger: A Soldier's Story
Page 34
An account of another Ranger caught my attention to help describe the emotions of the moments on Omaha Beach. Robert Edlin, 2nd Rangers, who landed on Dog Green in front of the D-1 exit wrote: “We had been trained for years not to go off the front of the ramp, because the boat might get rocked by a wave and run over you. So we went off the sides... It was cold, miserably cold, even though it was June. The water temperature was probably forty-five or fifty degrees. It was up to my shoulders when I went in, and I saw men sinking all about me. I tried to grab a couple, but my job was to get on in and get to the guns. There were bodies from the 116th floating everywhere. They were facedown in the water with packs still on their backs. They had inflated their life jackets. Fortunately, most of the Rangers did not inflate theirs or they also might have turned over and drowned… I continued across the beach. There were mines and obstacles all up and down the beach. The air corps had missed it entirely. There were no shell holes in which to take cover. The mines had not been detonated. Absolutely nothing that had been planned for that part of the beach had worked. I knew that Vierville-sur-Mer was going to be a hellhole, and it was… When I was about twenty yards from the seaway I was hit by what I assume was a sniper bullet. It shattered and broke my right leg… As I moved forward, I hobbled. After you've been hit by gunfire, your legs stiffen up, not all at once but slowly. The pain was indescribable. I fell to my hands and knees and tried to crawl forwards. I managed a few yards, then blacked out for several minutes.”35
As Task Force C made their approach to Dog Green, Schneider witnessed the absolute carnage being inflicted upon the men of Task Force B and others making landings in the face of Exit D-1. His experience as a battle tested officer and leader kicked in and he ordered a turn to port of the flotilla. Lt. Colonel Schneider was reporter to have said “I’m not going to waste my battalion on that beach!”34 as he made his decision to shift to the east. Many of the accounts of the 5th Rangers and those who have written about them talk about the chaos of the plan, how it fell apart. Copeland told his biographer “Most things that day went wrong for us.”30 Task Force C was running to shore at Dog Green a mere 1000 yards behind Task Force B.
All of the senses of the soldiers were put to the ultimate extreme of human endurance as the men landed on the beaches. The sights of the dead, dismembered and the dying were enough by themselves to put the most ardent warrior into a state of shock. The visuals of the fires, explosions and other results of warfare filled the eyes of the men as far as they could see in every direction.
Next to assault the senses was the tremendous and deafening sound of battle. The descriptions of the sounds were nothing short of amazing. From the rear of the advancing troops came the crescendo of naval gunfire of all sorts. The concussive blasts of the battleships and cruisers in particular created concussive shockwaves the men could feel in their bones. There was an unmistakable sound of the naval shells as they whined overhead. Closer in the destroyers with their higher velocity and rate of fire armaments could be heard whizzing overhead. The sound of rockets both allied and German produced a high-pitched whistling sound. Next, add to this sound mix of high velocity bullets whizzing past or hitting objects or people. Then add the report and explosions from artillery hitting all around the beach. Add the mechanical sounds of the vessels themselves, and the sounds of all sorts associated with that. The sound of the aircraft overhead layered three deep and for as far as the eye could see produced a unique sound. The men experienced the sound of the sea itself, usually soothing to a human being, but in this instance, filled with dread, anticipation or whatever other emotion associated with it by the individual soldier as they came ever nearer to the shore. Then there were the sounds of men screaming orders, dying or any other manner of human sound.
The sense of touch was assaulted by the chill of the cold 50 degree water of the English Channel. The anticipation lead to the sense of touch being thrown completely off to the men landing as the sensation of legs being numb was a common report amongst landing soldiers. There were other assaults to this sense that varied from person to person dependent upon their own specific micro-scale experiences.
The smell of the battlefield is described as something that resides nowhere else on earth. This is yet but another assault on the senses of the men who landed on the beach during the assault. The odors were a result of gun powder, knowable to anyone who has fired a weapon. It permeates your nose and deep nasal passages and the back of your throat with a sort of sweet yet acrid smell. Then add to that odor the heavy unmistakable smell of diesel fuel from the engines of the craft, and the acrid smell of burning fuels. Then there was the smell of the sea air which has its own odor when the water is cold. Next, add the smell of dead fish, as the concussive force of the blasts that morning caused tens of thousands of fish to die and drift ashore littering the beaches with dead fish and fish guts. Lastly, combine with these odors the smells of dismembered and burnt human beings. These smells are very overwhelming. It is said that hunters of big game know the scent of this odor, but that in combat it is magnified as the human remains are sprayed everywhere in the vicinity of their demise by explosive forces causing the stench to permeate everything and everyone around.
This led to the final sense of taste being impacted as the sense of smell became overwhelmed. The sense of taste likewise took in the odors such that the men actually tasted the smells. Many of the men had the taste of vomit in their mouths. As the men were thrown into the water, they tasted the sea water mixed with the blood and death all around them.
All of this happened in the moments the doors dropped and the men went ashore. It remained so in one form or another until the man was out of active combat for his part in the invasion action. The memories of these assaults to the men’s senses lasted their lifetime.
S/Sgt Copeland told his biographer about the final approach to shore. He said that as they were within 200 yards of shore, the men all the sudden forgot about the vomit and stench in the bottom of their LCA. The men stared up at the beach and cliffs beyond. They witnessed the heavy German artillery and U.S. naval gun fires each generate “incredible explosions”. These were on the cliffs, beach and out into the water in and around the approaching craft. JR said that a soldier in 2nd Platoon hollered “their throwing everything at us but the kitchen sinks.” S/Sgt Copeland responded “Here comes the kitchen sink now.” S/Sgt Copeland remembered that particular projectile was massive, “It was a helluva projectile—I’d never seen anything like it before.” It toppled, turning sideways and looked to be the size of a bathtub. This projectile flew over the LCA of 2nd Platoon hitting the water near the side of another landing craft capsizing the boat. “We couldn’t stop, someone else would pick them up . . . we moved forward.” Copeland recalled.30 This large caliber artillery was likely the 105mm and 150 mm shells fired by the IV/352 Artillery (155 mm) situated in fields south of Asnieres approximately one mile southwest of Vierville or from the 2/352 or 3/352 Artillery Regiments (105 mm) located south of Louvieres. JR told me that he was pretty sure some of these rounds were 150 mm shells. The IV/352 fielded the German heavy field howitzer, model 18 or 15 cm schwere Feldhaubitze (sFH 18). These artillery weapons were every bit as formidable as the guns of Point du Hoc as they were the same caliber as them. They were German arms and not captured French weapons, which meant increased reliability. They are reported to have had a range of 14,490 yards at a rate of fire of four rounds per minute.
Although stated by a Ranger that climbed Pointe du Hoc, Corporal Ralph E. Davis 2nd Ranger Infantry Battalion, the statement he made when interviewed by Cornelius Ryan stands as stark testament to one of the physical tolls the landings had on the human body as the men arrived. “My legs were a dead weight, my body was numb and cold, and my hands were chilled blue so that I could hardly grab the rope to climb the cliff.”37 I can’t help but imagine that many if not most of the men, particularly those who got wet physically felt the same way, regardless of whether they climbed a rope on the cliffs or
were landed on the beaches.
General Raaen provided me with a hand-drawing of the landing area used by the Rangers Force C on Omaha Beach as shown in Figure 249. This drawing illustrates the conditions of the landing area and shows the breakwater jetties, wooden wall and roadway covered by barbed wire and the smoke covered cliff.
Figure 249: Dog White/Dog Red Beach Sectors on D-Day sketch (Courtesy MG John Raaen, Jr., Army ret) Fires were burning all along the face of the bluffs facing the Dog Red and Dog White sectors as seen in the following pictures. This was created by the naval shelling of the shoreline before 0730. This smoke provided an effective screen from direct fire of the sector and hindered the observation required to bring indirect artillery fire from observers in positions in the immediate area. It did not hinder the ability of the artillery observers located in the bunkers and shelters who maintained communications from calling in fire from nearby artillery units located well behind the beach. The smoke likewise complicated the ability of the defenders to deliver machine gun fire effectively on the beach in certain parts of Dog White and Dog Red. Machine gun fire could be employed effectively enough though by gunners located at nearby WN70 atop the bluff to the right front of these landing zones of the beach. These MG-42s fire reportedly struck the fronts of the LCAs as they approached and struck the sand and water all around the Rangers as they disembarked. The most menacing large caliber weapon in a position to provide direct fire on Dog White and beyond was that of the 88 mm artillery piece located within WN 72.
An Allied aerial reconnaissance photo taken at 0730 hours shows the 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion first wave as it made final approach to the landing on Omaha Beach at the boundary between Dog White and Dog Red Sectors (Figure 250). Figure 251 shows the beach in 1943. The zigzag path traversing the bluffs is the route taken by the Rangers on D-Day. Figure 252 shows the beach from off shore as it appeared in the moments surrounding the landing. The smoke mentioned by many of the Rangers and reports can clearly be seen in the photo.
Figure 250: 0730 aerial photo showing 1st wave of 5th Ranger Infantry BN moments before landing on Dog White (NARA) Figure 251: March 1943 Army Reconnaissance Photo of Dog Red/Dog White boundary (NARA). Note the lack of obstacles on the beach.
Figure 252: Dog White Beach showing smoke on bluffs from US Landing Craft. (NARA) A portion of the 743rd Tank Battalion landed in front of and to the right of the Rangers on Omaha Beach with their Duplex Drive (DD) tanks (Figure 253). Of the sixteen tanks that attempted to land, only eight even made it to shore. However, by the time that General Cota landed, there were some 18 total tanks between his position and Exit D-1 spaced some 70 – 100 yards apart. It was noted that each tank fired at positions to their front and not the more dangerous WNs to the west as they should have. Along with these tanks landed the 116th Infantry Regimental Combat Team, Company C. These men suffered tremendous casualties. It was these men though that first reached the top of the bluffs just to the right of the Rangers. A few companies of the 2nd Rangers to the right of the D-1 Exit either beat the 116th to the top, or arrived at the top at nearly the same time according to reports and accounts of the action. These assaults on the bluffs are important to the 5th Rangers landing intact because they undoubtedly drew the attention of the Germans in their immediate vicinity. The men of the 116th RCT and 2nd Rangers assaulting to the right of the battalion caused a disruption in the manning of WN 70, just as the battalion were organizing and beginning their assault of the bluffs en masse.
Figure 253: Duplex Drive (DD) Tank, Variant of M4 Sherman medium tank used by 743rd Tank Battalion (United Kingdom)
PFC Ching recalled of his experience with 2nd Platoon as they landed: “A, B & E Company land on the first wave. What I mean by the first wave is the, there are already troops on the beach. We’re the first wave from the Ranger Battalion. Not the landing, so there are already 116th Infantry Regiment landed there, and also, 16th Regiment from the 1st Division landed there. The 116th is from the 29th Infantry Division. We landed H+60, in other words, H – Hour was 0630. H+60 would be 60 minutes later, because we were supposed to land on Pointe du Hoc. We waited for the signal to land, but the signal never came through. So we, the battalion commander headed to Omaha Beach. That’s where we landed sixty minutes later. I read through the Carl Weast and Thornhill describe the landing on D-Day. Well, my personal feeling when I was on the beach to the seawall, and I watched artillery shells coming up to the seawall, from the left, to the right, when I was at the seawall. We walked, we came up, because the Germans got the seawall, all zeroed in. And they come up, three shells, boom, boom, boom, all over the seawall, and we thought, Oh hell, this is gonna come up pretty close to me pretty soon. It just so happened that two LSI {LCI} landed. I guess from the 116th Infantry Regiment. And both ramps dropped, the LSI {LCI} both of them got both ramps of them down. Soon the artillery turned their attention to those LSI {LCI}. LSI {LCI} means Landing Craft Infantry. Each craft came in with I think one company. There’s two coming in at the same time. It hit both of them. The first one hit, nearest to me so I saw that. They hit with three shells, so people, started to {can’t make out} more or less. The worst part I remember in my mind is one of the persons on the LSI was carrying a flamethrower, and the flamethrower exploded. That stuck in my mind”.
His daughter asked him during the interview “So the whole landing craft died, the people died in it because the flamethrower exploded?” Ching responded “As far as I know, I don’t know what happened, both landing craft. So finally, Omar Bradley got order from the beach, stop all reinforcements to the beach. So, that’s what I heard on the radio, until the troops on the beach now get over the top, before he land any more troops. And another thing that the Captain (Captain Whittington) said, “Alright you bunch of Rangers, you’re going to die, you don’t want to die on the beach, so you’re going to die inland.”
As the 2nd Platoon landing craft approached shore from about one hundred yards out, the Rangers noted there was plenty of beach to cover just to make their way to the seawall for some semblance of shelter. S/Sgt Copeland remembered thinking “There was a helluva lot of beach to cross…” Lt. Pepper reportedly told the British Coxwain to beach the craft as close as possible because all the men on the LCA were needed for the job at hand. The LCA made its final approach then hitting a tripod obstacle hidden under the rising water. The LCA came to rest at 0745, the main ramp dropped and the two inner doors were swung open by the assigned Rangers. The order of landing craft by Company from right to left were ½ of HQ Company with Lt. Colonel Schneider, B Company’s two boats, E Company’s two LCAs, and A Company’s two boats to the extreme left, covering a 150 yard front.38 The LCAs came in spaced with approximately 75 yards between them as they made landfall.
The men’s training instinctively kicked in. Among the first ashore was Lt. Pepper, and the leading riflemen. Each taking an opposite direction from the craft as they touched the ground. The men alternated left and right and center as they were taught to minimize their chances of allowing the Germans to get a bead on them as a group. Next to exit were the members of the light machine gun team, now carrying the venerable BAR. This is where S/Sgt Hull exited the craft. Intermixed with the BAR teams were the wire-cutter men stacked to the right middle of the LCAs. The Mortar Team followed the BAR teams. The Flamethrower and Bazooka teams went next. Last to exit were the Demolition Party with S/Sgt Copeland and Assistant Section Leader, Lt. Gregory. The smoke ahead kept the Rangers from seeing targets, however it did not hinder the Germans from firing upon the beach at random or by preassigned target areas. There was plenty of artillery and machine gun fire to keep the attention of the men as they made their way to the seawall. The first men ashore recounted stepping out on dry ground. By the time S/Sgt Copeland exited the craft, he reported stepping into waist-deep water due to the fast moving incoming tide. The Rangers had been told to get off the LCA and make their own way to safety to maximize survivability. A man named Ryan fell face first off of the craft, a
nd JR thought he was shot. It turned out the man was too heavily burdened with equipment and fell over in the surf.30 The smoke was thick enough that it hindered the defenders from firing directly on the flotilla as it landed the Rangers ashore as had happened to many other units along Omaha Beach.
The LCAs of B Company were expertly piloted through the German obstacles showing through the surf of a rising tide. The craft carrying PFC Weast slid through German obstacles tipped with tellermines with only six inches to spare on each side. He recalled being put down on sand in a completely dry landing. He could see bullets kicking up the sand, and recounted a feeling of amazement, not fear. I attribute this to a state of sensory overload, not unlike how people react when seeing a horrible accident in front of them in the moment. Weast then advanced to the seawall and took cover among the three deep mass of people. He got rid of the 81 mm mortar shell, uncovered his rifle and scanned his surroundings. “Everything was confusion. I looked sown the beach to my left, and I could see enemy artillery shells coming right in behind the seawall and blowing bodies up in the air. They had ranged on that seawall and they were simply blowing the hell out of people. And this fire, I suppose, might have been a hundred yards off to my left where these shells were hitting.”23
S/Sgt Copeland reported that less than two minutes of leaving the LCA, he found that he felt a burning sensation in his left heel, followed thirty seconds later by a burning sensation in his right calf. He showed me his scar on his shin and calf. The bullet had passed clean through killing a man behind him as the bullet hit the soldier square in the head after exiting Copeland’s leg. It was an MG-42 round. His biography reports that he had “never felt anything like this feeling before…” He went on to say that “It was hell out there but we all knew what we had to do… we had our orders and we damn well were going to carry them out.”30 Copeland told me when I interviewed him that after exiting the craft, he doesn’t remember ever seeing S/Sgt Hull again. He went on to tell me he was too busy focusing on his own men and mission to notice his friend. Copeland offered this vivid memory in his biography: “JR’ remembers vividly wading through ‘blood-red’ water scurrying from one hedge-post beach obstacle to another, hurrying to reach the beach seawall that would provide better cover. He passed many dead and dying soldiers strewn along the rising waters edge. “It was a sight to behold, he said, the soldiers hollering; crying, shell-shocked from the explosions . . . most dead with a last blank stare.”30