Built by forced labours, the Azeville Battery was one of the numerous batteries along the coastline of Normandy to prevent the Allies to establish a bridgehead. Located 4 miles at the east of the town of Sainte-Mère-Église and 8 miles northwest of Utah Beach, this battery was composed of four 105mm Schneider 1913 guns, set up in and protected by concrete emplacements reinforced with 6 feet walls thick, pointed toward the sea with machine gun positions on the rooftops, plus an underground trench network.
Aerial view of the battery showing the four gun emplacements - ©IGNRemonterletemps.com
Approximately 170 men were required to run it, everything was made under the command of Hauptmann (Captain) Hugo Treiber.
While the 1st Battalion of the 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division was near Saint-Marcouf ready to launch its attack on the 210mm gun position of Crisbecq and the 2nd Battalion at Azeville, the 3rd Battalion was still along the coastline silencing enemy strongpoint at Ravenoville on June 7th.
On the next day Taret-de-Ravenoville was also taken by 0500pm, the outfit split, some boys spent the night into the pillboxes, others into an assembly area west of the village. In the early hours of June 9th, it was decided to attack Azeville. It was necessary to take the 105mm gun positions of Azeville as those guns were shelling Utah Beach since D-Day but also Crisbecq. Indeed the 1st Battalion was hotly engaged at Crisbecq by the enemy, being under heavy machine gun and artillery fire.
The fourth and last gun emplacement has an antiaircraft gun on the roof.
Captain Joseph T. Samuels, Commanding Officer of “I” Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, jumped off at 1100am from the crossroad at coordinates 370011 (see map below) toward the hamlet of Cibrantot. Being lucky none a single enemy has been encountered yet. Captain Samuels decided to turn north and to cut through cross-country, using the cover provided by the hedgerows, the party was able to reach the creek south of Azeville. Captain Samuels’s boys positioned at coordinates 358013 (see map below) walked up the trail to attack the gun position from the southwest.
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In the meantime, “L” Company crossed the creek and got into the village by the west, the company was able to hit the main street at coordinates 348014, 500 yards away from the main enemy emplacement.
Map showing the advance of "I" and "L" Companies drawn by the 22nd Infantry Regiment
A 20-minute artillery preparation was laid on the enemy, but was not very effective as Germans found shelter in the tunnels. When the artillery ceased, Captain Samuel’s party didn’t have any fire support except from a tank of the 70th Tank Battalion
Note: Three tanks had to be in support to reduce the enemy position but they never showed up.
To assault the 105mm gun position, “I” Company was organized into five assault sections. Two sections have been able to get through the minefield and reduced three pillboxes located on the outer ring of defenses, being only 80 yards away it was necessary to take cover behind the hedgerows. that mortars failed to knock out.
Boys of the 22nd Infantry Regiment moving up along hedgerows
Advancing with the support of the tank, it fired fifty rounds on the first gun emplacement, while three sections were cleaning up the first major pillboxes. It was quite obvious due to the thickness of the gun emplacements that shells from the tanks and bazookas were effectiveness. Realizing this, Captain Samuels decided to concentrate the attack on the main door of the nearest gun emplacement, to do so, one section discharged its flame thrower and two pack charges set off against the door but the door remained intact. Then a satchel charge of 40 lbs of TNT was set off knocking the private unconscious by the concussion, and once again it was ineffective.
Gun emplacement N°1
Captain Samuels seeing that two attempts failed to blow up the door, called for another flame thrower and Private Ralph G. Riley reported.
Captain Samuels: “All right Riley, go in and give it a few squirts ». Private Riley was successful to reach the entrance of the gun emplacement, once there he emptied his full tank, gasoline on the ground, lit a match, thrown in on the ground and ran back as quick as possible. Small arms fire started to pop inside the gun emplacement for couple of minutes and all of the sudden a white flag appeared around 0330pm. The German commander offered to surrender himself and the entire battery to Captain Samuels. One hundred and fifty-nine enemy soldiers came out from the underground tunnels and gun emplacements filed out.
