Evening star., 1948-06-06
Hstory Most Daring Military Move Was Made Four Years
D Days Operation Neptune
Was Heroically Led by lst Army

Was Heroically
whelmed In the course Of the day
and BY midnight the two divisions
were holding . strip Of beach nearly
10 miles long and from two to
three miles deep. The forward ele-
ments were well within the enem.'
dsSenses. They had = foothold even
on the high ground which divided
the SEA from the marshes Of the
Azure River. Strong defensive po-
sittons had been established and
. big hole Knocked In the walls Of
Hitler's fortress Of Europe.
Early In the afternoon OF June
Is q battalion Of the 9th Divisions
47th Infantry. veterans Of Africa
and Sicily. crawled down . sunken
road from the west into the streets
Of Cherbourg.
Ninth Divisions Job
These men. commanded by Maj.
Woodrow w. Bailey. had stormed
over the brow Of the fort-crowned
hill Of Equeurfreville. the ports
chief western defense. and through
It's bramble- Of thorn bushes and
barbed wire.
At almost the same time soldiers
OF the 18th Division were taking
Fort Du Roule. on . rocky hill
dominating the city from the south
east, and forward elements OF the
4th Division were moving into the
outskirts from the east.
Thus. In . little less than three
weeks, was attained the lst Army's
first major objective in Normandy,
the capture Of . first-class sea
port which would be an open door
through which men and supplies
could be poured into the European
contingent.
It had been Z long, hard Tight by
six divisions, but the outcome never
had been in serious doubt once the
Utah beachhead was established.
First, 1t was necessary to isolate
Cherbourg by cutting the Cotentin
Peninsula, thus preventing any re-
Inducements Of the enemy defense
from the south. This Job had been
given Maj. Gen. Manton s. Eddy's
veteran 9Th Division.
The drive started on June l3 from
. point about 8 miles due west OF
Ste. Mere-Eglise, led by the 6Oth
Infantry, captners of Bizerte year
before.
Meanwhile, the s2d Airborne Di-
vision, reassembled after its D day
drop astride the Merderet River,
captured the picturesque old town
of St. Sauveur le Vicomte on the
Douve and moved slowly westward
to protect the 9th's left flank from
the south. Before noon on June IL
the Goth had reached the sea ut
Barnville- -Mer and foreward ele-
ments Of the 47th came to the west
ern coast Of the peninsula, within
sight Of the Channel Islands, . few
miles to the north.
Port Commander Captured
Cherbourg was isolated. Waiting
for the order to move forward were
the 4th and 10th Divisions. They
proceeded directly north-the 4th up
the east coast Of the peninsula and
the 10th up the center. At the same
time the 9th made an almost right
angle turn and moved northward on
the west. This great movement
started just before dawn on June
10.
1t was not until June 26, how
ever, that the great Normandy port
was actually captured. None Of
the first troops to enter penetrated
very far into the city filled with ma
chine gun nests or snipers.
Meanwhile the 9th Divisions 39th
Infantry had occupied the hilltop
southern suburb Of Octeville. There,
from 4 command post set up on the
altar of q bombed church, Col
Harry A. Flint directed . de-
termined push downward into the
city. One of his first prizes was
the underground fortress Of St
an enormous artificial
cave in . hill whose crest was COW
cred with rose gardens in full bloom
In this cave Gen. Won Schlieben
of the Cherbourg de-
fenses, and Admiral Henneker, the
port commander, had taken shelter
with their sta1fs.
They came out with their hands
over their heads quickly enough
when the guns Of . tank destroyer
were turned on the cave mouth
Forces of the 9th and 18th were
withdrawn and detachments Of the
4th Division took over the city
under the command Of Brig. Gen.
Theodore Roosevelt, jr. 1t was the
last job of this beloved ofiicer. for
merly assistant commander Of the
1st Division. He died suddenly In
his tent two weeks later.
City Takes Pounding
The 1st Army obtained Cher
bourg At . high price. although by
no means as high as had been an
ticipated. From the first landings Of
the 7th Corps at Utah 2,245
had been killed, 1880
wounded and 3.137 had been re-
ported missing. Many Of these were
prisoners who later were able to
rejoin their commands. The drive
had netted 5000 prisoners. 1t had
essentially destroyed one Of the Ger
man armies in Normandy. 1t had
ru.dn roasihls f11f,,re onera tions