Nez de Jobourg
On the 29th of June 1944, after the fall of Cherbourg, the remaining Germans who still thought they had a chance to defeat the American troops attempted to stop the American’s advance at the West of the Cotentin peninsula.
While the 47th Infantry Regiment was dealing with the Germans at Hameau de Gruchy and at Gréville–Hague, the 60th Infantry Regiment was facing them at Beaumont–Hague further southwest (D-901).
The 1st Battalion of the 60th Infantry Regiment consolidated all the hills around Beaumont–Hague where "B" and "C" Companies reached Hills 179 and 175.
Nevertheless, the German resistance was still heavy, and the hills at the West were well defended and protected with machine gun nests.
Soldiers of the 9th Infantry Division had noticed that the landscape was not the same as in Orglandes or in the middle of the Cotentin county. Near Cherbourg there were no hedgerows and men were able to see further out.
The Hills around them were bare, and offered a commanding position with good fields of fire for the enemy, sometimes equipped with 50 mm or 80 mm guns.
The 3rd Battalion was on the right of the road at the North holding a line of defence with the 1st Battalion at coordinates 008233-001250.
During the night, the 2nd Battalion came up, and all three battalions dug in for the night (the rest was for 2 short hours).
To plan the attack scheduled at 08:00 hours, in the early hours of the 30th of June 1944, Captain Sprindus commander of "E" Company and Colonel Michael B. Kauffman, Battalion CO made a reconnaissance ahead of the road but German machine guns spotted them!
Only two officers were onto the frontlines, Lieutenant John I. Cookson said: “We’ve got to take these hills. Let’s show the Colonel we can do it without officers”.
At 08:00 hours, "E" Company begun to push forward on the road, crossed the railroad tracks in the gully, the 1st squad crossed it first just a couple of minutes before the 2nd squad of Sergeant Wallace Burr. The 1st squad reached the crossroad coordinates 006256, the 2nd took position 100 yards from them at the southwest and the 3rd squad 100 yards at the East.
The main road was covered by machine gun nests which were themselves covered by machine guns and guns from the hills and from Beaumont–Hague. One by one, men crossed the road, tragically the 2nd and 3rd squads were pinned down by machine guns and worse, some of the men marched on mines.
Then it was the turn of the 1st Platoon to go into action. Technical Sergeant George Pastwait followed the 3rd of Technical Sergeant Frank L. Czar which crossed the road in first and took positions in the minefield.
The attack had been scheduled at 08:00 hours but was postponed by one hour and fifteen minutes, support of smoke was requested to hide the men from the deadly machine gun bullets.
The soldiers who gave this interview described this attack as a “typical Captain Sprindus attack, 3 platoons abreast, 3 squads abreast in each, in skirmisher formation who at the signal for the attack charged up the hill firing while moving”
At the head of "E" Company, Captain Sprindus charged across the minefield on the right with his pistol. His voice could be heard above the others! The Captain was a born leader, removing mine after mine to clear a path for his men and for the others.
Private First-Class Graham moved across the minefield so fast that, as he stepped on a mine, his pack was blown off his back!
Most of the opposition came from Hill 179. The 1st and 2nd Platoons went into action and climbed Hill 179.
Meanwhile, the 3rd Platoon went up the draw between Hill 179 and Hill 175, swung to the West down the draw, circled Hill 179 and pushed forward the town.
This maneuver made by the 3rd Platoon was not without risk! Men were exposed to the machine guns and mortar fire coming from Hill 179. Private First-Class Charles E. Vondersher took his 2nd squad, fired back and succeeded in limiting the casualties (4 casualties), allowing his company to move ahead.
The other company, "F" Company had tanks in support. The tanks went up the road to fire on the enemy then retreated; this maneuver was done several times. Then Lieutenant Formanek, took the 2nd Platoon up on the road, ordering to keep a distance of 5 yards between each man in the ditches.
When the platoon arrived at the road junction coordinates 163, it received machine gun fire. Lieutenant Formanek thought it was friendly fire from “E” Company’s machine guns, tanks were brought in the front and the friendly fire miraculously stopped!
Actually some Germans had left their positions when they heard the tanks and withdrew to the town.
The tank commanders were told by Colonel Kauffman to catch up with "E" Company in mopping up whatever they could of the enemy.
On their way to the village of Beaumont–Hague the tanks were in the lead, followed by “E” Company (2nd, 3rd and 1st Platoons) followed by “F” Company and "G" Company closing the rear.
At the entrance of the village the column split up. 2nd Platoon of “E” Company followed the tanks which made a swing to the left upon entering the town, one squad took each side of the street and cleared the houses, room by room and so for two hours.
The 3rd Platoon ran into a machine gun position at the southwest of the town but it was silenced a couple of minutes after the first bullets had been fired.
The village was entered at 11:30 hours by “E” Company. “F” Company took over in clearing it off enemy resistance.
In reality, there was no serious resistance in the town, the Germans wanted to hold the Americans as long as possible while others were destroying the radio equipment.
"E" Company made 53 prisoners of war including a Lieutenant Colonel who had his CP in a bunker at the southwest.
The 2nd Platoon went to Le Hameau Sauvage to establish a defensive position to prevent the Germans of organizing a counterattack as the German prisoners had told them they were about to shell the village.
The barrage artillery started at noon, shells seemed to come from Auderville and were falling everywhere. Both Companies took refuge in houses and buildings made of stones.
The 2nd Platoon was placed behind a wall stone but the shells were falling all around them, destroying everything in the area. As the bombardment was terrific, clouds of dust were compared to snow by Sergeant Burr. Only the 2nd Platoon with Lieutenant Formanek were still at Le Hameau Sauvage.
Note: General Manton S. Eddy was with the 2nd Platoon during the shelling
Auderville la Haye German battery 203 mm guns, 38 km range
The rest of the troops had left for Jobourg further the North.
When the 2nd Platoon decided to take off, General Eddy asked why he was leaving? Staff Sergeant Herrin replied: “Who the hell wants to know?” without realizing to whom he was talking to.
The attack on Beaumont–Hague was a costly attack, "E" Company suffered 28 casualties. But the taking of the village was one of obstacles to the capture of the Cap, where the other two battalions, the 1st and 3rd , were held up by the Germans there. They had told to "E" Company they would never take the ground but "E" Company did it.
Captain Sprindus was then transferred to the 1st Battalion as CO. Needless to say that not one soldier of "E" Company “E” regretted him. His plans of attack and his will to conquer, for his own ego the German Army, caused many unnecessary casualties.
Written by Pierre Fallet, WWII Trainee of Normandy American Heroes
DON'T FORGET TO SHARE THIS BLOG!
