Saint-Hilaire-Petitville (Manche)
The cities of Normandy during the 1944 battles
Liberation: June 10, 1944
Deployed units:
327th Glider Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
Combat Command A, 2nd Armored Division
14th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Armored Division
Fallschirmjäger Regiment 6, 91. Infanterie Division
MG-Bataillon 17
17. SS Panzer-Division Götz von Berlichingen
History:
In 1944, Saint-Hilaire-Petitville is a hamlet located near the village of Carentan. It has a bridge over the canal of Vire and Taute which allows access to the eastern entrance of Carentan.
On June 10, 1944, at the launch of the American airborne and airborne offensive to seize Carentan, Saint-Hilaire-Petitville was a preliminary objective of the first and second battalions of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment (101st Airborne Division). The Americans advance from La Fourchette along the national road 13 and they reach the immediate vicinity of Saint-Hilaire-Petitville in the evening: they are greeted by a fire fueled by machine-guns and mortar fire which forces them to stop their progression And to take cover. Meanwhile, the Germans destroyed the precious bridge on the canal of Vire and Taute.
The airborne soldiers entered Saint-Hilaire-Petitville and seized the hamlet, supporting the final assault on Carentan, including the northeast by the 3rd Battalion of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the 401st Glider Infantry Regiment).
At the end of July 1944, the Allies installed a field hospital on the land of the commune of Saint-Hilaire-Petitville, equipped with state-of-the-art military technology for the time. It is also near Catz military airfield (ALG A-10), which allows the most serious casualties to be evacuated to England.
Saint-Hilaire-Petitville maps:
