US 101st Airborne Division

▣ Unit · 1944 – 1944

The 101st Airborne Division dropped behind Utah Beach on the night of 5–6 June 1944 to seize the causeways that led inland from the flooded marshes and to protect the southern flank of the landing. Like the 82nd, it was widely scattered on landing, and its men fought in small groups to secure the exits from the beach. The division held Carentan after sharp fighting in mid-June, helping to join the Utah and Omaha beachheads. It then remained in the Cotentin and later took part in the breakout and the pursuit across France, its airborne role giving way to ordinary infantry duties. Its actions on D-Day were among the most dispersed of the campaign, and the division's small-unit leadership was tested severely. The positions shown here are schematic and indicate the division's general area of operations rather than precise locations. Its success in holding the causeways was essential to the American advance off Utah Beach.

Sources

• Wikimedia Commons — Charnwood (SVG, by EyeSerene)
• Wikimedia Commons — Operations Greenwood and Pomegranate, Normandy, July 1944 (EN.svg)
• Wikimedia Commons — Operation Tractable (SVG, by EyeSerene)
• Wikipedia — 352nd Infantry Division (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Wikipedia — Falaise pocket (CC BY-SA 4.0)
• Wikipedia — Normandy landings (CC BY-SA 3.0)
• Wikipedia — Operation Overlord (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Related

• Normandy landings

Reuse this data: open dataset (GeoJSON / CSV, CC BY 4.0)