Forgotten Fights: The 101st Airborne at Carentan, June 1944 by Author Mitch Yockelson, PhD | The...

On June 12, 1944, 101st Airborne troops marched into Carentan, Normandy. An excerpt from the article:

"Because the casualties began piling up, Taylor had his officers in the field negotiate a truce at noon to collect the dead and wounded. Taylor exploited the opportunity to send a message to the German commander, Major Friedrich von der Heydte, to offer him a chance to surrender. Strict orders from Hitler to hold Carentan at all costs meant that Heydte couldn’t even consider Taylor’s offer.

Right after the truce expired, the Germans repeatedly counterattacked until 10:30 p.m., forcing all three battalions of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment to withdraw under cover of artillery and mortar fire. By late afternoon on the next day, June 12, the Germans had run out of ammunition, so von der Heydte ordered his troops to abandon Carentan under the cover of darkness and under fire.

Around midnight, as the Germans began pulling out of Carentan, 101st Airborne artillery commander Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe’s men pelted the enemy with big guns. Supported by air strikes, six hours later McAuliffe’s firepower had cleared the town of Germans. Snipers continued firing, but the jubilant French citizens came out of hiding to greet the American liberators. The French skillfully uncorked the bottles of wine that hadn’t fallen into enemy hands.

Jubilation was short-lived. Two days later the German 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division mounted a heavy assault to strike the 101st by way of the Carentan-Baupte-Périers road. The Americans were overrun by German infantry armed with self-propelled guns, but Colonel Robert Sink’s 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment managed to hold on until relief came from tanks, half-trucks, and heavy guns manned by an element of the 2nd Armored Division. After five days of almost continuous combat, on June 14, the 101st drove off the final German counterattack: Carentan and the link between Omaha and Utah were now secure."