| Information sur la photo |
| Copyright: kostas photos (magkas) (28) |
| Genre: Lieux |
| Média: Couleur |
| Date de prise de vue: 2007-06-04 |
| Catégories: Evénement |
| Exposition: f/2.7, 1/320 secondes |
| More Photo Info: [view] |
| Versions: version originale |
| Date de soumission: 2007-07-02 0:09 |
| Vue: 389 |
| Points: 0 |
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| [Ligne directrice - Note] Note du photographe |
Normandy, France - Beginning at 00:15, in the darkness of June 6th 1944, General Maxwell D. Taylor's paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division became the first Allied soldiers to touch French soil, and for 33 successive days they carried the fight to the enemy. This was the beginning of the Allies' airborne trail through Nazi occupied Europe.
The 101st had been assigned the mission of capturing the key Norman city of Carentan. Before them lay St Côme du Mont, defended by a well-entrenched, crack German unit - the Fallschirmjägers of the Luftwaffe - the famed German parachutists. Here, the troopers of the 101st were to be commited in the first large-scale attack launched by the Division during the invasion. The germans had been issued orders to hold Carentan at all costs. For the Americans, it was vital to capture the city, so they waited for the supporting light tanks landing on Utah Beach to move inland. Only one road was open to the tankers from the beach to Saint Côme du Mont.
On June 8th, from hedgerow to hedgerow, through field after field, then onto the road and on into town, fierce fighting raged as the Eagle troopers swept into the streets of St Côme du Mont. As the first American tank reached the intersection and drove toward Carentan, it was struck in the turret by a German rocket. The tank was disabled and the commander, 1st Lt Walter T. Anderson, was killed. For several days thereafter, the hull remained abandoned at the intersection, with the dead lieutenant hanging out of the turret. The paratroopers at first referred to "The corner with the dead guy in the tank", but soon shortened it "to Dead Man's Corner'", by which name it will always be remembered. A single house located at this intersection served as both a Headquarters, and later, as an Aid Station for the German paras.
The Dead Man's Corner Museum is located in that house at the intersection, on this highly historical ground near St Côme du Mont and contains an impressive collection of authentic WWII German and American artifacts directly related to the location.
http://www.paratrooper-museum.org/about_dmc.html |
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