Beach to the Breakthrough
As three ugly landing ships (tanks) disgorged their cargoes on Utah Beach, Normandy, France, on 11 July 1944, the Ninety-Fourth Armored Field Artillery Battalion made its final step into actual combat.
The first night in France, the battalion was greeted by enemy aircraft on one of its nightly raids. Several bombs falling within two hundred yards of the battalion area convinced everyone that training days were over. The battalion was now In combat.
With the exception of serious guard duty and anti-aircraft posts, the first few days on the Cherbourg peninsula saw a drill schedule again make its appearance.
On 17 July, Field Order Number One arrived, placing us in First Army and VIII Corps. The mission was to take over a portion of the front held by the Fourth Infantry Division. The battalion moved in at dusk to a position one mile and a half north of Sainteny and on the following morning fired its first registration. Amidst cries of "the dry-run is over", Sergeant Vlto Tamlli's fourth section of Battery "C", with Corporal Wineberg gunning and Private First Class Sam Gaglio pulling the lanyard, fired the first round.
Despite the intensive training, much was new in combat. Slit trenches were really dug. Counter-battery fire was something strange. A howitzer in Able Battery was hit by a counter-battery concentration of about eighty rounds, causing eight casualties.
Combat was also new tor the infantry. The Fifty-Third Armored Infantry Battalion, which held the front lines and of whom we were in direct support, was counterattacked on the second day by the SS Das Reich Division. As a result of the vague situation and of new inexperienced troops, Lt George B. Pow&ll, our observer with the Fifty-Third Armored Infantry Battalion, was captured. His sergeant, Staff Sergeant Herman L. Orsbon withdrew their observation post and was awarded one of first Silver Star Medals in the division for his part in organizing scattered elements of Company "A", Fifty-Third Armored Infantry Battalion and withdrawing them to the safety of our lines.
After an anxious night of uncertainty and interrupted wire communications, the situation stabilized, with the dawn, to the usual Normandy battle of attrition, mortars and artillery. Lt Bertil W. Nystrom. who took LI Powell's place as observer, was among those who suffered when be was wounded by mortar fire.
No words can express the difficulties of units in their initial baptism of fire. First, there is the uncertainty of not knowing the capabilities of the enemy. Every outgoing round is mistaken for an incoming shell. The rattle of small arms fire at night sounds much closer than it should. For the Fourth Armored, there was the additional difficulty that the initial mission was to hold, rather than the armored assault in which it had received most of its training. The spirit of attack was lacking, and the feeling could not be suppressed that the terrain and mission were grossly unsuited to our troops.
Despite this, much was learned for future use. The battalion became acclimated to the stark reality and horrors of warfare, the battered ruined buildings and towns, and the stench of dead, bloated, decaying cattle.
