Carroll H. Dunn
This success continued throughout the war in France. When we moved into Germany
in the
of 1944, we became involved in the defenses in and around the Siegfried Line
near the border of Germany. Mines, both antipersonnel and antivehicular, again became
a major problem.
Q ..
Another activity that the unit would have been frequently engaged in was bridging.
There was some training in this, too, in England, isn't that correct?
A ..
Yes, although our unit, as a part of an infantry division, did not have the same degree
of either training or capability as existed in, say, an armored division. We did train with
bridge units. We did considerable training with relatively short sections of
bridge for hasty bridge
This paid off in the early days in Normandy in
allowing our vehicles and troops to cross some of the canals and relatively narrow
watercourses that we found.
We also trained with foot bridges and other types of expedient bridging, which were
the primary things that we would be called on to use. Any major bridging requirement
meant that we were
by corps engineer units. They provided the bridging for
any major water crossing, the first of which was the Vire River.
.
Q.
Was it Bailey bridging?
A
Not so much Bailey, although in a few cases we used them. More often than not,
treadway-type vehicular bridges were the best solution.
Omaha Beach to Saint Lo, France, June 1944
.
Q.
How much did you know about the enemy that you were meeting before you landed
in France; about the kinds of weapons they used, etcetera?
A
The general
I think, was fairly good. We had good intelligence on German
units. However, we found after we got to France that many of the units were made up
of older people and, in some cases, very young people. In many cases, there were what
I would call impressed people
other nations who were added to the German units.
The 30th Infantry Division, of which we were a part, actually came in as a part of the
elements arriving on
on Omaha Beach. Our first major mission was to clean out
a section of the
along the Vire River, starting about six to eight miles inland from
the beach
continuing to the area of Saint Lo. We were engaged from the time of
the landing (about 13 June) until late July.
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