Brink, Denis van den Héros de Carentan

The liberation of Carentan is not well-known even though it wasnt just an anecdote in the Battle of Normandy. It was in fact the object of ferocious fighting from 9 to 13 June 1944 with two elite units confronting each other : the American paratroopers from the 101st Airborne and the Fallschirmjäger of the FJR 6. General Maxwell Taylor, commanding the 101st Airborne used the whole of his division with its four airborne regiments but also all the supporting units, its four airborne artillery batteries, its medical units and its logistics to encircle the town and to chase out the German paratroopers under Major Freiherr vonder Heydte ; they left after fierce fighting during the night of 11-12 June only to return the next day with the 17. SS-Pz-Gren-Div. Goetz von Berlinchingen. The German losses as well as those of the Americans were very heavy, as were those of the civilians (the town centre still bears the signs). This book gives a detailed account of the Battle of Carentan. Not only chronologically : the accounts given by the participants in the battle enable the feats of arms to be recorded ; they were always poignant, moving even. Each story was a personal epic in itself. This book modestly gathers together some of these individual adventures ; throwing a profoundly human light on what was the complexity and the violence of the fighting for the liberation of this region in the Cotentin Peninsula. For example, Edward David Shames, one of the last heroes of Carentan still alive. Born a 13 June, he thought his last hour had come on a 13 June 1944. For these reasons, Carentan holds a special place in his memories. It was also where he landed at 01h40 on D-Day. Also Don Rich who was wounded in the legs by machine gun fire in G-Companys charge, during the attack on the town. Lets mention also the Californian Staff Sergeant Thomas M. Rice (C/501st) who experienced a Dantesque experience in the Barquette Locks sector, his battalions objective. An obvious book for all those Battle of Normandy buffs, or for all readers sensitive to the human aspects of the war.

This book brings together some of the individual experiences of war in a humble way and sheds a deeply human light on the complexity and violence of the battles to liberate the Cotentin Peninsula. One example is Edward David Shames, one of the last "heroes of Carentan" still alive. He was born on 13 June and thought his last hour would come on that day ... 13 June 1944. For all these reasons, Carentan has a special place in his memories. It is also the place where he landed at 1:40 a.m. on D-Day. Also Don Rich, who was wounded by a machine gun shot during Company G's assault on the town. Also worth mentioning is Sergeant Thomas M. Rice (Company C / 501st Parachute Regiment), who experienced an almost Dantean epic in the area of the Barquette locks, the objective of his battalion.