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#OTD 76 years ago US forces entered St Lô (a tad behind schedule but still, good effort...).
A little photo thread...All aerials taken on 25th of July 1944. #WW2 #WW2History
The town was a mess.
Anyone know a roofer?
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A little photo thread...All aerials taken on 25th of July 1944. #WW2 #WW2History
The town was a mess.
Anyone know a roofer?
/1
Note the completely undamaged bunker (still there today) /2
Further west towards Agneaux, some P-38s fly low over the railway station /3
Back east, to the junction of the roads to Isigny, Torigni and Bayeux, site of some well-known photos of M10s in action, vividly described in Glover Johns' "Clay Pigeons of St Lô" (a must read IMHO) /4
Johns initial CP had been in the restaurant on the left of this photo (above the M4 co-driver's hatch) taken a bit earlier:
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Due to angry Germans, mostly remnants of the 352.Inf-Div, he was forced to move into the nearby cemetery and the blanchet mausoleum
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Visible here are two M10s from B/803rd TD Bn, along with the "old CP". The tall house beyond the furthest M10 is the only pre-war building left standing at this crossroads
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The M10 next to the restaurant was commanded by Johns' fellow VMI graduate Sydney Vincent who sadly lost his life in the engagement. He's now buried in the Normandy American Cemetery
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1: The M10 was still there a week later
2: The cemetery where Johns set up his CP in the Blanchet mausoleum
3: Stables used as PoW camp (now a school, so pretty much the same thing)
4: Only pre-war building
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2: The cemetery where Johns set up his CP in the Blanchet mausoleum
3: Stables used as PoW camp (now a school, so pretty much the same thing)
4: Only pre-war building
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From above, the destruction in St Lô is evident but even more so from the ground.
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