Hello everybody,

Did anybody ever consider the BATTERIE/STURMBATTALION AOK7 to be the unit of Brecourt Manor?

STURMBATTALION AOK7 was placed in the cherbourg Area on D DAY but its BATTERIE was placed somewhere SOUTH EAST of ST.MERE EGLISE on D DAY to support and help FJR6.

This BATTERIE Had 4 French 105mm Cannons.

Couldn't this be the batterie of BRECOURT MANOR?Anybody can support this theory?

Merci Beaucoup.

Daniele

In my mind, the soldiers that were at the Brecourt Manor were membres of a bataillon from 6FJR but don't have futher information about this....
Do you have enough proofs that can justify that such a unit xas at Brecourt on dday?

Regards,
Lip'.

I know of a Batterie / Sturmbattalion AOK7 Soldbuch who was Killed on D DAY,I know that Helmets that were found in Brecourt were Normal Germal Helmets and not FJ helmets.

As i wrote above the cannons in Brecourt were French 105mm and the Batterie of STurmBttl.AOK7 was armed with French 105mm

No further proofs unfortunately as i just suggested a valid possibility...

So it might proove that several units (at least 2 different) were on dday at Brecourt.
Thanks for the information anyway.
I'll try to find more information about this.
Regards,
Lip'.

Daniele,

Some German witness accounts cannot support your theory:

In a debriefing session with the Americans after the war, Col. Triepel, CO of the HKAR 1261, placed the battery of the 7. AOK assault battalion between the 1./1261 at St Martin de Varreville and the 2./1261 at Azeville, more precisely at Cibrantot, thus, further north than Brecourt.

Lt.Co. Keil, CO of the 919th GR, told the Americans that two batteries of the 191st Artillery Regiment (91st LLD) had just been installed around Ste Marie du Mont before being taken by US paratroopers on D-Day. For me, these 2 batteries are Holdy and Brecourt.

So far, I think that the guns at Brécourt were 10,5 cm leFH18/40 (Cf. page 2 of http://dday-overlord.forumactif.com/utah-beach-f66/brecourt-manor-german-unit-t9610-15.htm)


Je traduis en français:
Dans un débriefing aux Américains après la guerre, le colonel Triepel, commandant du HKAR 1261 plaçait la batterie du 7. AOK Sturm Battaillon entre la batterie 1./1261 à st-Martin de Varreville et la 2./1261 d'Azeville, plus précisément à Cibrantot, donc plus au nord que Brécourt.

Quant au Lt-Col Keil du 919e RG, il rapporta de son côté qu'il y avait deux batteries du 191e RAt (91e LLD) venant juste de s'installer autour de Ste-Marie-du-Mont et qu'elles furent prises par des paras US le Jour J. Pour moi, ces 2 batteries sont Holdy et Brécourt.

A l'heure actuelle, je pense que les canons de Brécourt et Holdy étaient des 10,5 cm leFH18/40. (Cf page 2 de http://dday-overlord.forumactif.com/utah-beach-f66/brecourt-manor-german-unit-t9610-15.htm)
.

Emmanuel

La présence de la batterie 3./191 semble avoir été confirmée à Holdy par des vétérans allemands de cette unité. Cf. “wound badge” dans http://www.101airborneww2.com/souvenirs.html

A l’heure actuelle, en recoupant plusieurs informations, il semblerait que c’était la 6./191 en position à Brécourt.

Il semble aussi que les deux batteries (Holdy et Brécourt) étaient équipés de 10,5 cm leFH18/40.

The presence of the 3./191 at Holdy seems to be confirmed by German veterans of that unit. See “wound badge” in http://www.101airborneww2.com/souvenirs.html

As of today, by cross-referencing several pieces of information, it looks like it was the 6./191 at Brecourt Manor.

It also seems that both batteries (Holdy and Brecourt Manor) were armed with 10,5 cm leFH18/40.

Emmanuel

Merci pour ces précisions fort précieuses...
A+.

Emmanuel,

Thanks for the infos,Can i ask then where do you think BATTERIE/STURM BTL AOK7 was based?

I own a Soldbuch of a guy that was with this unit and he was Killed on D DAY,I d like to find out where it was based and what american units landed there.

Daniele

Daniele,

As I've mentioned above, the battery was located at Cibrantot, northwest of Foucarville.

Since the Cibrantot area is outside the planned DZs, it's probably a small group of paratroopers who landed next to the battery on D-Day and took care of it. For the unit they belonged to, I'll let our specialists of US airborne units on the forum figure it out.

Emmanuel

Emmanuel,

My apologies,i read your message too fast.

Can i ask just where did you read about the position of that batterie?A book specified that or you found it out in other ways?
Thank you again for your patience

Daniele

The texts of Keil's and Triepel's debriefings can be found in a book by David Isby that gathers debriefings of German military commanders by the Allies after the war. The original texts can be found at the National Archives near Washington DC.

"Fighting the Invasion: The German Army at D-Day".
ISBN 1-85367-393-5

There's a follow-up book after D-day:
"Fighting in Normandy: The German Army from D-Day to Villers-Bocage"
ISBN 1-85367-322-6

Good reading !

Emmanuel

thanks a million!!
i really appreciate it

Daniele

Salut, Emmanuel.

Par hasard, aurais-tu des informations sur la location exacte de la batterie "fantôme" à Audouville-la-Hubert et sur l'unité qui l'occupait ?

Cordialement,

François

François,

Désolé, je ne viens de voir ton poste qu’aujourd’hui.

Je suis en train de faire des recherches documentaires sur la batterie fantôme d’Audouville-La-Hubert et essaierai de faire un post sur le sujet quand ce sera un peu plus mûr.

A priori, je pense qu’il s’agissait d’une batterie de 4 obusiers d’infanterie de 76,2 mm d’origine russe de la 13e compagnie lourde du 919. Grenadier-Regiment, en position de campagne.

Pour sa localisation, plusieurs éléments laissent à penser qu’elle était de l’autre côté de W5 par rapport à la zone inondée, au bord de la D.514 dans un quadrant au nord-est de Brécourt entre La Chaussée et Vienville (Exit No. 2 avec sa position antichar allemande). Ça va tout le monde suit ?

La 3e section (Lt Saturnus) de cette 13e compagnie lourde était basée quant à elle à Cauvin, au sud de Ste Marie du Mont.

Je ne suis pas encore sûr de qui s’est emparé de cette batterie : Ben Shaub de la 101st AD ou le 3e bataillon du 8e d’Infanterie (4e DI US) venant de la plage.

En parlant de batterie fantôme dans le sud-est du Cotentin, voir aussi mon post sur celle de Cibrantot, près d'Azeville. Et il y en a peut-être d’autres …

Emmanuel