The 110th Field Artillery Battalion
in Vierville on 7 and 8 June
See excerpts from "After Action Report 110FA Bon": 1, 2, 3, 4, 5and the commemorative map of a battalion witness
7 June 1944
At about 8:00 a.m., Lt-Colonel Cooper (cdt the 110th Battalion of Field Artillery, attached to the 115th Infantry Regiment), disembarked the day before at the Ruquet, went to Vierville with Colonel Slappey (cdt the 115th RCT) to see General Cota at the advanced PC (in the career of Vierville) of the 29thème DI.
At approximately 10.30 a.m., the Bie C/110 (4 howitzers on LCT 304 and the rest on LST 456 via a Rhino pontoon?) commanded by Captain Plinner, on the Navy's indication, attempted to land at the Moulins (Saint-Laurent). This proved to be a failure, with CTA 304 touching in front of a deep channel. [LCT 304] 2 vehicles, equipment and valuable documents were lost on disembarkation. Two other attempts were made and finally the Bie C/110 with its 4 howitzers was landed at about 1:00 p.m. still in St-Laurent.
The Bie C/110 then held a position in the "Transit Area 2" northeast of Saint-Laurent and was ready to fire at about 4:00 p.m.
The battery carried out 2 shooting missions, but was subsequently limited by safety problems, imposed by the short firing distance.
The Bie C/110 was then continuously available until 7:30 a.m. on June 8, except from 8:00 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. where it moved 400m south of St-Laurent.
At about 1410, the rest of the Battalion attempted to land at Vierville, but the beach was not yet cleared of obstacles, and there were still snipers firing.
At approximately 2000 hours, the S/110 Battery (on LCT 301 and 316) followed by the A/110 Battery (on LCT 302 and LST 451 via Rhino pontoons?) landed in front of Vierville. Arriving in the village, they were led by the Military Police towards Transit Area 1 to 500m west of the village. (It was not possible to set up a position at Deux-Jumeaux because it was in the hands of the enemy.) The Bie S/110 and A/110 moved into the "Transit Area 1" without difficulty.
At approximately 8:30 p.m., the Command (QG) H/110 battery (on LCT 301 and 316) began landing at Vierville and headed south of Vierville. She had just crossed the village, when, for an undetermined reason, the traffic blocked in front of her.
The Bie B/110 (on LCT 303 and LST 452, via pontoon Rhino?) which had disembarked later, had to stop while it was halfway in the village. Just then (about 8:45 pm) artillery fire fell on Vierville. Shots were scattered all over the village, but especially on the crossroads in the centre of the village, where Bie B/110 was stopped. There were also some snipers firing in the village.
Civilians, 116th RI and 115th RI men, a few Rangers and a few sapeurs of the Beach Battalions sought to leave the village in all directions south, east and west, and these movements created some confusion. Several B/110 vehicles and 2 artillery howitzers were shot directly or without artillery. Battery B/110 lost 17 killed or injured.
Part of Bie B/110, its remaining 2 howitzers and a few vehicles were directed by a battalion's Major-State Officer to a position south of Saint-Laurent where they joined at approximately 11:55 p.m. at the C/110 Battery, which had just moved from the north of Saint-Laurent.
It was there that the 2 Batteries B/110 (reduced to 2 howitzers out of 4) and C/110 remained in position on the night of 7-8 June.
Meanwhile, the Battalion's HQ/110 battery and Bie B/110 HQ were in position 1100m south of Vierville.
The 110FA Battalion was therefore cut into 3 pieces during the night of June 7-8, East, West and South of Vierville.
The fire support was available at the request of any observer, there were in each battalion of the 115ème RI, in contact with either Bie A or Bies B and C. But no mission was requested, mainly because the infantry was not sure of its exact positions.
The battalion was still attached to RCT 115.
8 June 1944
On the morning of 8 June, the battalion was gathered in the area 1100 m south of Vierville. Bies B and C arrived in Vierville near the battalion PC at about 11:00 a.m.
From 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Colonel Cooper, Commander of the Battalion, with Captain Purnell, Officer S2 of the Battalion (signatures) went to recognize a position located on a map near Deux-Jumeaux.
The 115ème RI, after a quick advance in the morning, occupied a ridge, then Longueville around 1:00 p.m.
At 12.00 the 110th Battalion was ordered to move. At 1:00 p.m., he moved and at 5:00 p.m., he was in position near Deux-Jumeaux and ready to fire.........