Notes of D-Day Operations by Major Stanley Bach
6/6/1944
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The success of D-day came at a great cost for Allied forces, especially the American troops that landed at Omaha beach where the fiercest fighting occurred. This November 27, 1944, report was transcribed from Maj. Stanley Bach’s original D-day notes. Major Bach's account details the horrors of the invasion, with the post-script, "I'VE SEEN MOVIES, ASSAULT TRAINING DEMONSTRATIONS AND ACTUAL BATTLE BUT NOTHING CAN APPROACH THE SCENES ON THE BEACH...MEN BEING KILLED LIKE FLIES..."
Transcript
HEADQUARTERSSECOND INFORMATION AND HISTORICAL SERVICE
A.P.O. # 230 - U.S. Army
27 November 1944.
(The following notes were made by Major STANLEY BACH, liaison officer, Hq. 1st. U.S. Army. Maj BACH was a liaison officer for the 1st Inf Div, attached to the Advanced Headquarters 29th Inf Div as it landed on OMAHA BEACH, D-Day. His original notes were scrawled on two tattered pages from a memorandum book and on three battered envelopes that he had torn apart to permit writing on both sides. His original notes are in CAPITALS, the small type representing the recent comments made by him on his D-Day adventures. -JTS)
6 JUNE 1944
0230 - up for D-Day
0310 - BREAKFAST
0545 - BARRAGE ON SHORE
0625 - H-HOUR
0830 - LOAD INTO LCVP
0900 - VERY ROUGH SEA
0930 - 1/2 MILE OFF-SHORE
1010 - RAMP DOWN...ANKLE DEEP..WONDERFUL HANDLING OF CRAFT..LANDED AT ST. LAURENT-SUR-MER ON EASY GREEN BEACH.
1015 - PINNED DOWN BY RIFLE AND ARTILLERY FIRE
1030 - DOWN TO SEE GEN WEYMAN
1045 - FIRST DIVISION UP TO ST. LAURENT POINT TO STRONG POINT AND THEN NAVY SHELLED POINT.
1100 - POINT TAKEN
1130 - WELL DUG IN BY WALL - 5 FEET DEEP WITH 2 FOOT STONE WALL BEHIND.
Maj Bach, 2
1130 - MORTAR, RIFLE, 88' and MACHINE GUN FIRE SO HEAVY ON BEACH, ITS EITHER GET TO RIDE IN BACK OF BEACH OR BE KILLED
1145 - LED A GROUP OF 15 MEN THROUGH MINE FIELD AND WADED WATER KNEE DEEP TO HILL SIDE, DUG-IN GULLY, 2 FT. SHORT OF CREST, SAFE THERE AS NO MORTER OR 88' COULD POSSIBLY HIT US.
1200 - Noon - BEACH HIGH TIDE, BODIES FLOATING..MANY DEAD AMERICANS ON BEACH AT HWM. (High Water Mark)
1215 - HEAVY MORTER AND 88' FIRE STARTED ON BEACH FROM E. END TO W. END - SERIES OF FIVE SHELLS IN SPOTS - DIRECT HIT ON SHERMAN TANK, MEN (?) OUT LIKE RATS - THOSE ALIVE.
1230 - LCT HIT TWO MINES CAME ON IN - HIT THIRD DISINTEGRATED AND REAR END SUNK - AT BURST OF SHELL TWO NAVY MEN WENT FLYING THROUGH THE AIR INTO WATER...NEVER CAME UP.
1250 - SAW A CAPTAIN, INF, PULL FIVE MEN TO SHORE OUT OF WATER.
1300 - TIDE GOING OUT - NOW RHINO FERRY IN BUT BURSTING SHELLS FORCED IT TO GO BACK OUT TO SEA AFTER UNLOADING TWO VEHICLES.
1320 - SAW DIRECT (H) IT ON BEACHED LCM, FLAMES EVERYWHERE, MEN BURNING ALIVE. BEACH NOW CAN BE SEEN BY AID OF GLASSES ENTIRE DISTANCE ABOUT 2 MILES EAST AND TWO MILES WEST - WITH TIDE SLOWLY GOING OUT - LONG RUNNELS APPEAR IN BEACH, ALSO OBSTACLES WITH DEADLY TELLER MINES ON TOP OF BEACH.
1400 - FIRE ON BEACH INCREASING - AID MAN GO TO HELP MAN THAT WAS M.G. (machine-gunned) BUT HIT BY BULLET HIMSELF, ANOTHER AID MAN PULLED HIM TO FOX - HOLE.
Maj BACH, 3
1430 - JUST HEARD FROM ABOVE (?) THAT CAPT. T. ERNST OF 115 INF. (116?) IS ABOVE US IN FIELD HIT BY BULLET - FOUR AIR MEN GO GET HIM - HE COMES BACK SMILING DESPITE SHOULDER WOUNDS SAYS GET TWO JERRIES FOR HIM.
1440 - MORE MORTAR FIRE AND MORE MEN HIT - LCVP UNLOAD FIVE LOADS OF MEN, THEY LIE DOWN ON BEACH, MORTAR FIRE KILLS FIVE OF THEM - REST UP AND RUN FOR FOX HOLES WE LEFT COUPLE OF HOURS AGO.
1500 - SNIPERS IN LARGE BRICK HOUSE ON BEACH ONLY 50 YARDS FROM H.W.M., KEEPS MEN IN HOLES.
1520 - DIRECT HIT ON 2 1/2 TON TRUCK GASOLINE LOAD - CANVAS FLAMES - ANOTHER CATCHES FIRE - THEN ENTIRE LOAD GOES UP. AREA 100 YDS SQUARE - MEN'S CLOTHES ON FIRE - ATTEMPT TO ROLL IN SAND TO PUT OUT FLAMES - SOME SUCCESSFUL - OTHERS DIE IN FLAMES.
1540 - INFANTRY MOVING BY US UP PATH OVER CREST AND MOVING FORWARD - WE ENDEAVOR TO MOVE ON - M.G. HOLDS US FOR A FEW MINUTES, THEN LIFTS, WE GET TO OPEN FIELD - FOLLOW PATH - SEE ONE MAN THAT HAD STEPPED ON MINE, NO BODY FROM WAIST DOWN - JUST ENTRAILS AND CHEST ORGANS -
1600 - WE REACH WOOD THROUGH FIELD 500 YARDS FROM TOP OF CLIFF WE JUST CAME UP. SEE MAN ON KNEES, WE THINK HE IS PRAYING OR SCARED, ROLL HIM OVER AND HE IS DEAD, DIED ON KNEES PRAYING.
1630 - BARBED WIRE, MINES, MORTARS, M.G. RIFLE AND 88' FIRE EVERYWHERE IT SEEMS - PRAYED SEVERAL TIMES - "WHY DO THESE THINGS HAVE TO BE FORCED UPON MEN?"
Maj BACH, 4
1650 - REACH TOWN OF ST. LAURENT 3/4 MILE FROM BEACH, SNIPERS HOLDING UP OUR ADVANCE - ESTABLISHED CP AND SAW FIRST TIME THE 1st DIV. FRIENDS WERE QUIET, FIGHTING MAD - GAVE ME HEART, TOO.
1700 - PRISONERS BEGAN TO COME UP ROAD - A SORRY LOOKING BUNCH IN COMPARISON TO OUR WELL-FED AND EQUIPPED MEN.
1800 - STILL PLENTY OF GUN FIRE IN DISTANCE - MORTAR FIRE IN ORCHARD WHERE CP WAS CAUSED ALL TO DIG IN OR GET BEHIND TREES, STUMPS OR DITCHES.
P.S. - I'VE SEEN MOVIES, ASSAULT TRAINING DEMONSTRATIONS AND ACTUAL BATTLE BUT NOTHING CAN APPROACH THE SCENES ON THE BEACH FROM 1130 - 1400 HOURS - MEN BEING KILLED LIKE FLIES FROM UNSEEN GUN POSITIONS - NAVY CAN'T HIT EM - AIR COVER CAN'T SEE EM - SO INFANTRY HAD TO DIG EM OUT.
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This primary source comes from the Records of the Adjutant General's Office.
National Archives Identifier: 6922049
Full Citation: Notes of D-Day Operations by Major Stanley Bach; 6/6/1944; C. I. - 81 29th Inf Div. Omaha Beach (FD I) June 6 THRU 10, 1944; World War II Operations Reports, 1940 - 1948; Records of the Adjutant General's Office, Record Group 407; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/dday-operations-bach, April 24, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.