70th-2-Expanding the Beachhead - Eagles Strike

Wild Bill Wilder
June 9th, 1944, near Monteburg, Normandy\\ The beachhead must
be expanded at once, Colonel. Your tanks are to reinforce the
paratroopers as they push forward. The enemy is reacting to our
presence in strength. They hope to push us back to the sea.\\
We can't let that happen. You and your tanks are to support
the paratroopers in their efforts to extend our front lines.
We must not fail. We are counting on you as never before! See
to it! Dismissed!\\__________\\Some History: It did not take
long for the 70th to get into action. Their first objective was
to fight their way along the Cotentin Peninsula and slice it
off from German control. The next step would be to secure the
port of Cherbourg, so vital to the influx of troops and equipment
for the advance into France. A storm on June 19th, one of the
fiercest storms in decades nearly destroyed the "Mulberries,"
artificial harbors in place at Normandy.\\ By now, however, German
resistance had not only stiffened, but the enemy was finally
beginning to commit its panzers to the battle. This meant of
course that in addition to the German infantry, equipped with
dreaded Panzerfaust (a small hand-held enemy anti-tank weapon),
enemy armor was beginning to make an appearance.\\ A German counterattack
was developing towards Carentan by way of St Mere Eglise, which
could threaten the recently established bridgehead. It was stopped
cold. Now came the US response in the form of an advance into
the heart of th e peninsula. The 70th Tank Battalion, along
with units of the 2nd Battalion, 505th Airborne were put together
for the attack.\\ Sergeant Bob Knoebel, a gunner with Company
B remembered the fighting vividly. He had two tanks shot out
from under him in one day. After the loss of the first tank to
an 88mm gun, Knoebel found his way to a second tank from the
Headquarters company, commanded by Lt. Corrado.\\ Ordered by
Colonel Wellborn to flank the gun and take it out, Corrado's
tank was ambushed by German engineers and hit with five Panzerfaust
rounds. Knoebel found himself again on the ground with another
tank out of action. Both Knoebel and Corrado were badly wounded
and lay in a ditch until taken prisoner by the Germans. Corrado
died in captivity but Knoebel survived. The battle itself turned
into a rousing success and over 300 Germans were taken prisoner.
- WBW\\Sources:\\Cross Channel Attack, Harrison\Strike Swiftly,
Jensen\D-Day, Ambrose\Normandy, Essame\Normandy 1944, Badsey\