Pointe du Hoc - D-Day - World war II

	A tank bag sized guide to the 2 Day battle with 16 pictures from the ride, a map of the planned assault and a custom route map of the ride from Ouistreham to Pointe du Hoc and the surrounding countryside, including the American cemetery at Omaha Beach and the German cemetery at La Cambe..
USD $4.99 for electronic PDF	USD $9.99 for laminated hard copy by snail mail

In between Omaha and Utah beaches in Normandy lies a promontory called Pointe du Hoc. Prior to D-Day on 6 June 1944, the Germans had six 155mm artillery pieces that could effectively fire on either Omaha or Utah beaches. Pointe du Hoc (typo'ed as Pointe du Hoe on many D-Day documents and maps) was target number one for the Americans to neutralize.

Feeling the pointe was unassailable from the sea, the Germans focussed most of the defenses facing rearward. The Americans, knowing this, sent their elite infantrymen, Companies D, E & F of the 2nd Ranger Batallion, to scale the seaside 100 foot vertical walls of the pointe in an attempt to surprise the Germans.

The pointe was subjected to an unprecedented aerial and naval bombardment prior to the invasion. You can see the effects of this in the giant craters that still exist here today. The firing lifted just before the Rangers were to land at 06:30. This is where things begian to go wrong.

At approximately 06:20, the Rangers’ landing craft were heading for the wrong pointe (Pointe de la Percee, a similar pointe) 2 miles closer to Omaha beach. The Ranger leader, Lieutenant-Colonel James Rudder, noticed the error and corrected the flotilla. However, to correct, the Rangers had to run parallel to the coast and against a strong tide. Swells engulfed several boats, including a supply boat. This meant they were 40 minutes late, short of men, food and ammunition. The delay meant the Germans had begun to re-occupy the pointe after the aerial and naval bombardment had lifted.

The Rangers landed at the base of the cliffs at approximately 07:10. Using grappling hooks and ladders, the first elements were up in 10 minutes. The Germans killed and wounded 15 by firing down on the Rangers and dropping grenades on them, but supporting naval fire suppressed them enough to allow the Rangers to get on top of the pointe.

The next problem came when the Rangers realized that the guns they had come for were not there. However, being trained to never dally around, the Rangers began to move toward their next objective which was to get to the main road (today’s D514) and set up a blocking position. Some Rangers had to fight from trench to trench to move forward, but others had a clear run to the road. Once at the road, elements from the 3 companies that had landed on the pointe set up blocking positions on the road and began immediate patrolling of the area. A CP element and an element trapped by snipers and an anti-aircraft position on the western side remained on the pointe.

Back at the road, the patrols were out. During 2 of these patrols, the missing German guns were found hidden in an orchard. One of the patrols with two Ranger sergeants moved to the south of their positions along a farm track and hedge row. At the end of the track, they found the heavily camouflaged guns in the orchard. They could hear their German crews being briefed and formed up in the distance. The Rangers destroyed the guns with thermite grenades. They quickly made their way back to the highway and sent a messenger to report to the CP back at the pointe.

After landing late in the face of determined opposition and not initially finding the guns, the Rangers had accomplished their mission in approximately 2 hours. Colonel Rudder sent the message that still inspires soldiers today; “mission accomplished - need ammunition and reinforcements - many casualties.”
Rudder thought that his scheduled relief would arrive at any minute, but only a single platoon had made it through. The near disaster at Omaha Beach was preventing the mass of the Rangers’ organic reinforcements from reaching Pointe du Hoc. Rudder and his decimated force were alone. Over the next 2 days, there were 5 German counter-attacks. The Rangers, initially strung out over a mile from pointe to the road, were forced back inside a 200 meter perimeter. They fought for their lives on low ammunition and little food to avoid being pushed off the cliffs and into the sea. In the end, the 190 man strong Ranger force was down to 90 that could defend the position. On D+2, the relief force arrived. The Rangers had taken 70% casualties, but a near mythical founding chapter of an elite force had been written.

In my current life it is hard to imagine the amount of personal sacrifice required for such an undertaking as Pointe du Hoc. This is one of the reasons I ride to these historic battlefields. I may never have to do what these Rangers did, but I have a responsibility for keeping the institutional memory alive. An excellent description of the action can be found at the US Army's Center for Military History.

Not far from Pointe du Hoc is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. It is well worth the visit and the new interpretive center there is superb.

Ride Recommendation

This is not hair on fire riding. However, you can see all of the key points of the battles for Sword, Juno, Gold and Omaha beaches. Relax, take the day, drink lots of espresso and eat some nice meals. Once in your hotel for the evening, take in the local Calvados.

Book Recommendations

By the end of 1861, the Union forces had secured Missouri by routing the Missouri militia that favored secession. In early 1862, the Union commander, General Samuel Curtis moved his Army of the Southwest into northwest Arkansas to take the fight to the Confedrates and secure Missouri from Rebel cross border incursions.

Newly appointed Confederate Army of the West commander, General Earl Van Dorn decided to take his numerically superior, but logistically inferior forces to the northwest of Arkansas and push the Union back onto the back foot in both Arkansas and Missouri.

After several skirmishes in February and early March, 1862, Curtis settled on favorable ground to the east of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. Van Dorn knew it was a good position, so decided to split his forces in an attempt to draw Curtis into a weaker position.

On day one of the battle, Curtis took the north and west of the position by heading off a flanking movement. The day was carried by the quick movement of the Union forces, the loss of two Confedrate Genrals and the capture of a Colonel. Van Dorn led the other Confederate column to take the south and east near Elkhorn Tavern. On day two, Curtis regrouped and attacked Elkhorn tavern with heavy artillery support. Van Dorn held the position but at a tremendous cost in casualties and ammunition and eventually had to retreat and leave the position to Curtis.

The Union continued to hold the area and the strategically important state of Missouri for most of the rest of the war.

Motorcycle Ride Recommendation

Begin or end your ride with the tour of the battlefield(also available as an online tour). Outside of the Pea Ridge Battlefield National Military Parkpark take a through the loop ride through the Hobbs State Park and around Beaver Lake.

Book Recommendation: Pea Ridge: Civil War Campaign in the West from AbeBooks.com or Amazon.com

Map Recommendation: Arkansas Atlas and Gazetteer 2006 from AbeBooks.com or Amazon.com

Accor Hotels in the Rogers area

MONTEITH, JIMMIE W., JR.

Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Colleville-sur-Mer, France, 6 June 1944. Entered service at: Richmond, Va. Born: 1 July 1917, Low Moor, Va. G.O. No.: 20, 29 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, near Colleville-sur-Mer, France. 1st Lt. Monteith landed with the initial assault waves on the coast of France under heavy enemy fire. Without regard to his own personal safety he continually moved up and down the beach reorganizing men for further assault. He then led the assault over a narrow protective ledge and across the flat, exposed terrain to the comparative safety of a cliff. Retracing his steps across the field to the beach, he moved over to where 2 tanks were buttoned up and blind under violent enemy artillery and machinegun fire. Completely exposed to the intense fire, 1st Lt. Monteith led the tanks on foot through a minefield and into firing positions. Under his direction several enemy positions were destroyed. He then rejoined his company and under his leadership his men captured an advantageous position on the hill. Supervising the defense of his newly won position against repeated vicious counterattacks, he continued to ignore his own personal safety, repeatedly crossing the 200 or 300 yards of open terrain under heavy fire to strengthen links in his defensive chain. When the enemy succeeded in completely surrounding 1st Lt. Monteith and his unit and while leading the fight out of the situation, 1st Lt. Monteith was killed by enemy fire. The courage, gallantry, and intrepid leadership displayed by 1st Lt. Monteith is worthy of emulation.

From http://www.army.mil/cmh/mohiib1.htm

Motorcycle Ride Recommendation

Take the ferry from Portsmouth, England to Ouistreham, France then follow the following beach route to the US Cemetery at Omaha Beach.

On 6 February 1862, Union forces descended on the hapless Forts Heiman and Henry on the Tennessee River near the Kentucky / Tennessee border. If there was the one action that precipitated the fall of the Confederacy militarily, this was it. With control of the Tennessee River from Illinois through western Kentucky and western Tennessee all the way down to North Alabama, the Union changed the war with one stroke.

Fort Henry was under the Confederate command of General Lloyd Tilghman, but little could any general do about a poor position and a rising river. If Grant and Foote had not taken him, the river would have. Torrential rains had made the fort almost untenable for river guns. The heights across the river at Fort Heiman were to have been improved and might have made a difference, but the lack of men and equipment meant that the construction was not complete.

A few days previous, Tilghman actually thought the Rebels might inflict a terrible loss on the Yankees, if reserves could be brought down from Columbus and over from Bowling Green. In the end, Tilghman saw he had a losing hand when no re-enforcements came to his call. Tilghman decided to save the infantry and personally join a small artillery detachment to hold off the Yankees long enough to let the infantry escape to Fort Donelson. He succeeded and surrendered to Foote on a gunboat at the entrance to the fort. Grant's infantry divisions were bogged down in mud on either side of the river after alighting from Foote's troop transports, so they didn't even get in place before the surrender.

Commodore Foote's ironclads had taken a significant beating in the battle with the Confederate river guns, but Foote had a few fast timberclads continue up the Tennessee River to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to wreak havoc with Confederate shipping and railway river bridges.

An excellent anecdote from Shelby Foote's The Civil War: Fort Sumter to Perryville pages, 184-185;
"At fifty-six he [Foote] had spent forty years as a career officer fighting two things he hated most, slavery and whiskey. It was perhaps a quirk of fate to have placed him thus alongside Grant, who could scarcely be said to have shown an aversion for either." But both men got along, because they both believed in combined operations fervently. Foote was quoted as saying the Army and Navy "were like blades of shears--united, invincible; separated, almost useless."



with kind permission from
Hal Jespersen's Wikipedia Civil War Maps.

Motorcycle Ride Recommendation

If you're in Memphis, try this ride through beautiful far west Tennessee going through the Reelfoot Lake State Park area and on to the Fort Henry area in Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.

Book Recommendation: Where the South Lost the War: An Analysis of the Fort Henry-Fort Donelson Campaign, February 1862 from AbeBooks.com or Amazon.com

Map Recommendation: Tennessee Atlas and Gazetteer 2006 from AbeBooks.com or Amazon.com

Accor Hotels in the western Tennessee area