26211
Company B of the 147th Beach Engineers Battalion
The landing of Company B/147
Excerpts from the testimony of the Company's officers (Captain Roy Gordon and Lieutenant George Itzel):
"700 metres of shore, called Dog White, were assigned to the company, whose mission was to
1/ Delimit the beach with white panels
2/ Remove remaining mines and obstacles between low sea and cliff foot
3/ Facilitate the movement of men and equipment from ships to shore
4/ Ensure security in the Dog White area
The transportation plan provided for a detachment (1 officer and 8 sappers) in an LCVP and a group of 4 officers and 86 sappers in LCI 91. The rest of the company, vehicles, bulldozers, cranes, with their drivers were transported in various LST, LCT and LCM, US Navy and US Coast Guard. All came from Weymouth, England.
Company B was completed by 1 officer and several rescuers from the 147th Bat, who were to take care of first aid and evacuations on the beach. There were also many officers and sappers of the 116th Regt on LCI 91. (121st Engineer Battalion). Many sailors were also required to land with the 147th Battalion to handle sea evacuations of the wounded to hospital ships or England.
From the beginning, the LCVP (scheduled at 7:10 a.m.) responsible for the detachment of beach markers derived from Dog Red, several hundred metres further east under Saint-Laurent. Hosted by mortars and machine guns, the officer and four sappers were killed. The survivors, shocked and disoriented, were only able to carry out their task later in the morning.
The main group, on LCI 91, was scheduled to approach Dog White at 7:30 a.m. Although the beach was not marked, his skipper led the LCI on time and in the right place.
As soon as the barge had been heeled and the port ramp was lowered, I went down and entered the water. Advancing to the shore, the water has become deeper. The vessel had touched a sand bank and a deep channel was in front of it 100m wide. The water was so deep that it was necessary to swim 15/20 m.
Looking back, I saw smoke coming out of the starboard side. The barge had moved back a little and was 45° from the beach, exposing its starboard flank to enemy fire.
Men were trying to get down by the ramps, others were jumping overboard. Some were still on board, stuck in the rubble. I've seen others swimming towards the shore, others floating, apparently dead or seriously injured. Others were drifting offshore. Some were recovered at sea and found themselves on the offshore wet hospital vessels, while others were returned to Weymouth for treatment. Most of them joined the company 15 days or 1 month later.
There are those who died aboard LCI 91 and those who lost themselves in the water and whose bodies were never found.
As a result of these initial losses on the beach, the company was reduced by 50%. 1 officer and 19 sappers were killed at that time. 35 sappers were burned, injured or found floating half drowned in water near the ship in perdition. The others got away and arrived at the shore.
Some of those who arrived were seriously injured and had to be evacuated to Weymouth. The most seriously affected were later returned to the US.
The company's PC was to be installed on the beach, in the middle of the Dog White area (at the height of the Raymond Marchal villa). The location was known to everyone in the company, in case they needed something during the operations. I had to crawl to this location across the obstacle area. There was machine gun fire everywhere. Shortly after I arrived, mortars and 88 shots hit the area.
As a result of these continuous shootings, operations began slowly. The staff responsible for specific tasks were to be consolidated and new assignments ordered. There were not enough people to carry out the missions quickly. Specialized equipment had often been lost and dispatches were on the agenda."