(gunfire)
NARRATOR: Not long after D-Day, the farmhouse headquarters of an
American Airborne battalion comes under heavy counterattack
from German Fallschirmjäger units.
(rapid gunfire)
When the Artillery Liaison Officer tries to summon the U.S. guns
he needs to drive back them back,
he discovers the Germans have jammed his radio.
On June 6th, 1944.
Allied forces finally land troops in Normandy
to open the western front.
(speaking in native language)
NARRATOR: But Nazi fanatics and diehards
continue to fight ferociously for survival.
D-Day was a battle.
They still need to win the war.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: June 7th, 1944.
Normandy, France.
(rapid gunfire)
Gunfire punctuates the streets of Vierville-Sur-Mer,
a small town, on the bluff above Omaha Beach.
As American and German soldiers
fight for control.
Not only of the shore, but for access to a highway
that leads all the way to Paris.
The Germans must contain the American troops to
their small foothold after the D-Day landings,
the day before.
(rapid gunfire)
(explosion)
NARRATOR: In the house-to-house fighting, a patrol of combat engineers
finds a dead American officer with a briefcase chained to his wrist.
It contains documents.
PETER: When the German officer reviews the content of the briefcase,
he quickly understands this is something extremely important.
It shows parts of the Allied plans,
and he knows this is part of a bigger invasion.
NARRATOR: He holds the operational plans for all of
the American five corps.
24 hours earlier, the allies stormed the beaches of Normandy.
They fight desperately to secure their beachheads and move inland.
The Germans on the coast see the massive scale of the landings,
but Hitler is not fully convinced.
PETER: There is concern in the Führer HQ that the Normandy landings
are not the large invasion,
that there might be another invasion coming in the area of
Calais further up in the north.
NARRATOR: But the contents of the briefcase are undeniable,
this is the main attack.
PETER: The German intelligence officers quickly understand that this
is a Godsent present.
They have got now the allied plans for D-Day plus 17.
So, this would allow them to shift their plans,
in order to hinder an U.S. advance.
NARRATOR: Their advance relies on consolidating
the Utah and Omaha beachheads.
To achieve this, the Americans must seize Carentan.
Located inland from the landings,
Carentan has the bridges, highways,
and railroads to facilitate the push of tanks
and men further into France.
Because of its obvious strategic value, well before the landings,
the Germans flooded an area to the northwest to protect the town.
Based on the captured documents,
German command sends the elite sixth Fallschirmjäger Regiment
to the defense of Carentan.
PETER: Sixth Fallschirmjäger Regiment
is the only regiment of the division that is combat ready.
It is well trained, well led.
Has got many veterans in its ranks,
and is considered a very reliable force.
NARRATOR: A key strength comes from the top leadership.
PETER: Friedrich Von der Heydte
is a, an officer with a distinguished military career.
Initially, he was quite Pro-Nazi,
but became much more skeptical in the years before the Normandy battle.
But still, he is a officer who has got an honor and
he's also ordered to hold Carentan to the last man.
NARRATOR: In preparation for the American attack,
he quickly entrenches his paratroopers in a defensive line
on the outskirts, to target the likely avenues of approach.
Von der Heydte is assisted by the flooded fields to the northwest,
which force attackers to a long causeway linked by
a series of four bridges.
Advancing from that direction, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole,
Commander Third Battalion,
American 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment
comes under immediate attack as he leads
his airborne troops toward Carentan on June 10th.
JOHN: Robert Cole came from Texas.
He was a, um, graduate of the United States
Military Academy at West Point class of 1939.
He's a pretty young man in 1944.
He's in his late 20’s, and he's in command of a battalion.
And so, it's an incredible amount of responsibility on a young guy.
NARRATOR: Cole discovers that retreating Germans
destroyed the second bridge.
And the American combat engineers assigned to replace it,
were driven off by German artillery before
they could begin construction.
Angered by the delay, Cole grabs a few men and supplies,
and begins work on a make-shift foot bridge himself.
JOHN: He spends the better part of two to three hours doing that
more or less himself with this small group.
And so, you, you kind of see this kind of can-do,
hands-on leadership element to, to Cole as well.
But I also think that that comes from
being a kind of a young battalion commander,
the kind of dynamism of youth that,
that Cole has.
(explosion)
COLE: One at time! Come down!
Go! Go!
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: The paratroopers begin to cross one by one,
targeted by German guns in the distance.
Including an ‘88 firing down the road.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: The flooded fields on both sides mean
the airborne troops must stay on the road.
They continue their advance,
and past bridge three.
Across the Madeleine River,
Cole’s men come under fire
from the opposite bank.
Unable to pass through a Belgian Gate.
STEVEN: The Belgian Gate was a type of defensive obstacle that
was built in the 1930’s to defend the Belgian Frontier,
and it's a large metal structure
about the size of a big barn door.
They would have all been linked together
to form a gigantic wall.
They were captured by the Germans in 1940,
and then they were used in the defense of the Normandy coast.
They were oftentimes broken up into single obstacles and used
to block road networks or walls or other type of obstructions.
NARRATOR: The Belgian Gate causes Cole’s paratroopers to bunch up,
and makes them vulnerable to well sighted artillery.
(rapid gunfire)
As they pry the metal apart,
bullets ricochet in all directions.
Eventually they create a gap.
JOHN: If you can imagine, a, a battalion of 700-some odd guys
working their way through this Belgian Gate,
one by one, man by man, individual by individual,
doing this.
NARRATOR: It will take hours for them to cross over.
With a damaged bridge behind them,
Cole must keep his men moving forward.
Retreat is not an option.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole,
moves from soldier to soldier to prompt
the Third Battalion of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment to
provide covering fire for their advancing comrades.
They have gotten themselves into what a
later generation will call a fatal funnel,
along that causeway, through the Belgian Gates,
where you tend to have clumps of people trying to negotiate
their way through.
NARRATOR: Under his direction, the American paratroopers target
the hedgerows on the far bank with small arms and bazooka fire.
(rapid gunfire)
(explosion)
But it is not enough.
The artillery liaison officer, Captain Saint Julien Rosemond,
calls in artillery from the rear to provide additional cover
to the men of the battalion.
(rapid gunfire)
Move! Move!
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: As darkness falls, paratroopers continue to file
one-at-a-time through the gap at the Belgian Gate.
(rapid gunfire)
Suddenly, another German machine gun opens up,
from the swamp beside the causeway.
(rapid gunfire)
The crossfire poses a lethal threat.
Private Hans Brandt wades into the water to take out
the machine gun with a grenade.
Another paratrooper follows close on his heels.
But as Brandt steps into the marsh,
a German dive bomber skims above the causeway.
(explosions)
NARRATOR: One of the bombs dropped by the German aircraft knocks
the U.S. Private unconscious.
The Luftwaffe tried to attack allied forces on the Normandy beaches,
but they were usually fought off by allied fighters,
so it was very unusual for American soldiers to be
strafed by Luftwaffe fighters during
the first few days of the Normandy campaign.
(distant gunfire)
NARRATOR: As Brandt comes to, a second German plane continues
the attack along the causeway.
NARRATOR: He discovers that his partner who remains unconscious,
has slipped into the water.
Brandt picks him up and carries him back for medical care.
The aftermath, leaves the dead and injured strewn across the causeway.
The short attack kills or injures 30 paratroopers from,
I company.
JOHN: To me, the,
the only miracle is that it really wasn't even worse.
Uh, and I think the reason it wasn't is that
the Germans didn't have more planes.
NARRATOR: The walking wounded become stretcher bearers.
JOHN: The real fighting hasn't even begun yet,
and yet he's diminished 20 to 25%.
So, that is definitely not
an auspicious way to go into battle.
NARRATOR: Cole decides they must press on with the three remaining companies.
Cole’s third battalion has been tasked with
attacking the French town of Carentan
with the goal of connecting the beachheads at Utah and Omaha.
The battalion advances along a narrow causeway,
passing one by one through a Belgian Gate
which blocks bridge four.
Cole and some others investigate
the far side of the Madeleine River.
NARRATOR: In the early morning light,
Private Albert Dieter closes in on a hedgerow
that borders a farm.
(explosion)
Without warning, German rifle, machine gun and mortar fire land
around Dieter and the paratroopers who follow him.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: Dieter’s left arm is shredded by the salvo.
Others behind him, are also struck.
Cole calls for his artillery liaison officer,
Captain Saint Julien Rosemond, to bring down artillery.
(rapid gunfire)
Eventually American artillery
hammers the suspected German positions.
But enemy fire remains fierce, if not heavier.
PETER: The Germans quickly understand that
there's overwhelming allied firepower.
What is their reaction to that?
They just man the first frontline very thinly,
so if the allies bombard the German lines,
casualties will be relatively low.
NARRATOR: This could mean, the American artillery is
hitting the wrong targets.
The enemy fire is coming from further back.
With his men pinned, Cole must decide.
To continue to press forward, or to retreat and regroup.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: Third battalion commander,
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole knows they would only create
another bottleneck at the Belgian Gate if he decides to retreat.
JOHN: It's a cliché, but he literally is between
a rock and a hard place.
Because if they stay where they are,
they're of course vulnerable along the, the causeway.
And you've got significant opposition ahead of you, but, uh,
from Cole’s standpoint,
there's no point to just staying there.
He's moved his battalion ahead for this particular mission,
so he feels there's really none other option but
to go ahead and attack.
NARRATOR: Cole decides to capture a farmhouse that has
been the source of heavy German fire.
With his men stretched out along the road,
they will cross the 700-foot-long field under smoke.
- Fix bayonets! - MAN: Fix bayonets!
NARRATOR: He tells his executive officer to prepare
the men for a bayonet charge.
NARRATOR: The bayonet charge is a classic combat tactic.
STEVEN: Bayonet is a military knife,
and typically, if it's used in combat,
the bayonet would be attached to the front end
of the soldier's rifle.
NARRATOR: The goal is to plunge into tissue to damage internal organs.
But such brutality is difficult for most people.
STEVEN: Bayonet training is a way of hardening civilians
to get used to the idea of killing enemy soldiers.
It's one thing to shoot at an enemy soldier with a rifle.
It's another thing to attack 'em face to face with a knife.
NARRATOR: In battle, the order to fix bayonets almost
always suggests desperation.
It wasn't very common for the U.S. Infantry
to use the bayonet in Normandy during World War II,
but it was amongst elite units.
Paratrooper units and Ranger units would sometimes fix bayonets
for an attack in order to intimidate the enemy forces.
NARRATOR: Cole also has his artillery liaison call for smoke
to be dropped to conceal their advance.
JOHN: Now, it's time for the adrenaline to kick in of what
the soldiers perceive as the main attack.
You're waiting to, to jump off,
probably with that kind of tinged mixture of excitement,
and trepidation, and dread.
NARRATOR: Satisfied with the smoke screen,
he instructs Rosemond to redirect artillery fire past the farmhouse.
Cole initiates the bayonet charge with his whistle
and wields his colt .45.
Charge!
NARRATOR: Halfway across, he glances back.
His heart sinks at what he sees.
JOHN: From Cole’s point of view, now,
this is the moment to attack, and he's got his pistol ready,
and his bravado ready.
And he figures the whole battalion is going to be out
there with him, and it's only a few guys.
NARRATOR: Most had not heard the order to charge.
JOHN: And it was like, "Did they just go forward?
Did they, what happened here? Are we charging or are we not?
What's happening?"
And it all looked kind of pathetic to them.
NARRATOR: As German bullets clip the grass around Cole,
the message sinks in.
JOHN: "Oh, I guess we're supposed to follow him."
And it's like, "All right, I guess he must know what he's doing."
And so, in this kind of misbegotten way, uh,
arguably one of the most legendary moments
in the entire history of the U.S. Airborne begins right then.
NARRATOR: Even as the charge picks up,
his men follow one another in a line.
JOHN: Here they've come down the causeway.
That's been your single file advance.
Now, you're going to have to spread out more horizontally in
order to attack this objective,
and that's a lot easier said than done.
So, they're transitioning to that,
and they're tending to just follow the guy in front of them.
NARRATOR: Cole waves his arms,
motioning for them to spread out.
They misinterpret the signal and hit the dirt.
Cole must get them moving.
He circles back.
JOHN: So, he's firing his pistol at the Germans and he's like,
"I don't even know what I’m shooting at,
but I just know I’m supposed to go here."
He just looks like this sort of crazy man out there in the,
in the, in the open, firing at the enemy,
trying to inspire.
And I, I think all that adds up to,
to creating a little bit more action to,
to get out there and support Cole,
and make sure that this crazy battalion commander doesn't get
killed right out there on his own.
NARRATOR: The momentum finally builds.
Go!
NARRATOR: Even as paratroopers around him are struck,
Cole nears the farmhouse that is their objective.
At a full run, he hurtles into a water-filled ditch.
NARRATOR: As the charge continues, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole
is uninjured from his dip in the ditch.
But the Artillery Liaison’s Radio Operator also
lands in the water.
Other paratroopers push past them towards the farmhouse.
Some divert to clear the structure.
Second Lieutenant Edward Provost
leads another group along the edge of the property.
(explosions)
(rapid gunfire)
Only to come under heavy fire from a concealed machine gun nest.
Several of his men are shot.
NARRATOR: But Provost and four others close in on the machine gun nest
with firing lines toward the farmhouse.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: American Technician Fifth Grade James Brune pulls
the pin on a grenade and tosses it over the hedge.
STEVEN: Hedgerows are a natural defensive structure.
Usually, they edge all four sides of a field
designed to protect farm fields against the harsh coastal winds.
And so, these hedgerows were built up over the centuries.
And they're very, very substantial.
They could be six, ten feet high.
Combinations of rock and soil.
NARRATOR: The hedgerows can be so thick they prove immune
to many weapons, including tanks.
They create countless small battlefields which negate
large coordinated attacks.
And the Germans have had a lot of time to prepare.
PETER: They have trained there for month in these hedgerows, the bocage.
In every corner of this hedgerows,
there could be a German machine gun,
and they can also move their troops in concealment,
and it makes it very difficult for the Americans to advance.
NARRATOR: Often, the enemy presence is detected
only when it is too late.
(explosion)
Fortunately, the grenade thrown over the hedge by James Brune
stuns the German soldiers occupying the position.
JOHN: Provost is of the mindset that he has to preserve bullets.
That's what he's telling his people
to stick them with bayonets rather than shoot bullets in 'em.
And that's a rather extraordinary order in modern combat.
NARRATOR: With the bayonet charge,
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole captures the objective.
The farmhouse is secure.
The battalion quickly sets up their command post there.
With a foothold on the south side of the Madeleine River,
Cole’s men hope to continue their attack towards Carentan.
As early as June 7th, Eisenhower himself ordered the drive to
close the gap between Omaha and Utah beaches.
And Carentan is the key.
NARRATOR: From the town, Major Friedrich Von der Heydte
positions his crack Fallschirmjäger troops
against the coming American attack.
He has been ordered to hold to the last man.
Meanwhile the 17th SS Panzer Division rumbles slowly toward Carentan.
PETER: The tank reinforcement at Carentan is delayed because
the Germans can move their troops only during nighttime.
During daytime, the skies are full of allied airplanes.
NARRATOR: Throughout June 10th, re-supply also remains hampered.
PETER: There's still a lot of chaos in the German response.
It is difficult to bring in reinforcements and
also to supply their troops,
so the Germans are running out of ammunition.
NARRATOR: Nevertheless Von der Heydte
follows standard German military doctrine and
orders a counterattack before
the Americans can consolidate their position.
Cover that hedge over here.
NARRATOR: As they secure the area around the farmhouse...
Could be more of them!
NARRATOR: Second Lieutenant Edward Provost encounters more Germans.
(rapid gunfire)
During the fight, he tries to pull the pin from a grenade,
and he is struck by a German bullet.
Bleeding, the Lieutenant retreats to the command post
at the farmhouse.
NARRATOR: In the yard, Cole moves between soldiers.
He has established a makeshift aid station where he treats
the wounded Americans who pour into the courtyard from the battle.
JOHN: In normal combat,
Cole would have a battalion command post behind the lines.
He would have his medical people there doing their thing.
But in this instance, he's at this spear point with
whomever happens to be there with him.
And there's not many medics, but there are wounded.
NARRATOR: Without proper supplies, Cole improvises.
He finds a pickax handle to stabilize a broken leg.
Cole looks up to see a young private removing his boot.
JOHN: What Cole really wants to impress upon him
is how vulnerable he is, how he probably ought to move and
put himself in a better circumstance.
This is a hot spot! Get outta here!
NARRATOR: The young soldier brushes off Cole’s concerns.
Private! Now!
NARRATOR: And continues to treat his minor wound.
(explosion)
At that moment, a German round hits the careless paratrooper.
JOHN: The Germans knew the ground, they knew
which buildings were likely to be a command post or
where Americans were likely to cluster,
because of course, they had themselves had done
much the same thing.
It's a, it’s a pretty obvious target.
NARRATOR: As the Germans close in,
Cole is in dire need of his own accurate artillery to stop
the German counterattack.
Communication is critical.
But their Artillery Liaison Officer,
is unable to use his radio after it landed in the water earlier in the day.
He cannot update the batteries to the rear.
JOHN: You want to at least be able to provide them with
a basic sense of where you are, so that they can fire beyond
that line of where you are to where they know you're not.
NARRATOR: Fortunately, just before noon,
a resupply breaks through to the farmhouse,
with a new radio.
But it still needs to be set up.
Rosemond has two options,
go through a procedure to find the right frequency on the new set.
Or, to switch crystals from the old radio,
to match the frequency of the artillery batteries.
JOHN: He understands that time is of the essence,
so in a way, he cannibalizes the parts to use in a radio
that he thinks probably will work.
NARRATOR: American defensive positions around the farmhouse
begin to crumble.
In the firefight, Sergeant William Grant
is struck in the arm, and withdraws to get first aid.
JOHN: His guys are watching him,
they don't see him really get hit.
They just see him start to run back.
So, in their minds, that means, "Oh, we're withdrawing,"
and nobody wants to be left behind.
Retreat!
NARRATOR: Other paratroopers join them and head toward the bridge.
NARRATOR: Cole can’t see this movement, but senses something is wrong.
JOHN: He knows how hard his guys have fought.
He knows they've been through a rough night,
and he knows the most likely explanation is that
they're starting to run out of steam and maybe run out of ammo.
And so, that puts them on the wrong side in the, the fire superiority equation.
It's probably dawning on him,
he's starting to lose control of this battle,
and that is never a good feeling at all.
Rosemond!
NARRATOR: Cole demands more artillery support.
Rosemond continues to work intently on the radio.
Come on!
NARRATOR: Meanwhile, a few American paratroopers retreating
soon becomes a flood of men running back
toward the bridge yelling, “Withdraw.”
It has the makings of a rout.
As Rosemond works to transfer the crystals to the new radio,
Cole receives a message from Regimental Command
with the order to cease fire.
(rapid gunfire)
NARRATOR: As groups of American Paratroopers retreat
to the bridge from the battle.
A U.S. Jeep approaches the German held city of Carentan
under a red cross flag.
Major General Maxwell Taylor, Commander of the 101st Airborne
sends an emissary to Major Friedrich Von der Heydte
accompanied by two German prisoners of war.
Von der Heydte defends the French city of Carentan which
the Americans want to capture to link Utah and Omaha beaches.
This is not an American surrender.
Instead, they offer the German Major an honorable capitulation,
to save the lives of his men and the civilians of Carentan.
Von der Heydte declines.
He doesn't surrender because surrendering is against
the sense of duty of the German officers of this time.
And it's also a danger for him, his career and also his family.
When Von der Heydte receives the offer to capitulate,
he just answers, "Would you capitulate in the same situation?"
JOHN: Maybe I look at it too much from
the German point of view that it's so absurd.
The battle for the town has really kind of just begun.
It's almost analogous to someone
getting a foot in your door and saying,
"Okay, when are you going to turn your house over to me?"
NARRATOR: But the cease fire helps the Americans
to stabilize their line.
JOHN: Their lead unit is in crisis.
They are not particularly well-supplied.
So, any kind of truce like this, I think,
is much likely to help them much more so than the Germans.
NARRATOR: Von der Heydte
also takes advantage of the ceasefire.
German Artillery Observers use the opportunity to crawl closer
to the American command post.
They can now radio back more accurate information.
As soon as the truce expires,
Von der Heydte orders a heavy bombardment
of the American positions.
PETER: Von der Heydte does what almost any commander would do in
the similar situation during the ceasefire.
He reorganizes his men, reinforces their position,
with a message, “We’re not going anywhere.”
NARRATOR: But the Americans have their own artillery observer back online.
Rosemond uses his new radio to relay updated targets
to the American batteries.
But the hedgerows mean he can’t really confirm where
the artillery lands.
JOHN: In this case he may be able to, to get a little sense
of where explosions occur by blasts,
or some smoke here and there.
But that's really nowhere near as good as your,
as your eyes on.
And he's relying on sound, which is very problematic, too,
in the context of a battle,
where there's probably a decent number of weapons cooking off.
NARRATOR: The Germans move along the tree line before slipping to
the flank on the inside of the hedgerow.
They have moved in under the American artillery screen
invisible to the defending paratroopers,
until they start to shoot.
As their need for supporting artillery fire increases,
Rosemond gets dealt another blow.
What did I just say!
(radio static)
NARRATOR: The Germans jammed his radio.
(radio static)
JOHN: Basically, your communications are out,
they are jammed.
And so now, you're going to have to figure out a way around that.
And it's just kind of one more headache that you have,
and one that could be fatal, in this instance.
So, uh, it is a matter of tremendous importance that
those radios come back online.
NARRATOR: As the Fallschirmjäger close in,
the paratroopers start to run low on ammunition.
Without resupply, it will be impossible to hold off
the German attack.
MAN: I need more ammo!
MAN 2: Last one! Make it count!
NARRATOR: The farmhouse command post sits at the south end of a long causeway,
connected by bridges and obstructed by a Belgian Gate.
Vehicle traffic to bring ammunition forward
is virtually impossible.
The causeway is still a dangerous place.
Uh, the Germans can still target it.
NARRATOR: Wounded soldiers also clog the route.
(explosions)
Even individual ammo runners find it difficult to advance.
They decide to use the traffic jam along the ditches to their advantage,
they create a human conveyor belt.
JOHN: There's lines of wounded waiting to get out,
people taking cover, whatever it is.
And so, they just pass the ammo,
in the direction of what they know is the front-line positions.
And so, once again, this is improvised.
NARRATOR: Ammo boxes and belts pass through hundreds of hands
to resupply the American main line of resistance.
Major Friedrich Von der Heydte of
the German Sixth Fallschirmjäger Regiment
faces similar challenges of his own.
PETER: It may not seem to Cole,
but Von der Heydte is running out of ammunition.
So, for him, this barrage is a kind of last-ditch effort
to keep the Americans at bay.
NARRATOR: Von der Heydte throws everything he has
into the counterattack.
NARRATOR: Under the acute pressure,
Cole’s men succumb to wave after wave of intense enemy fire.
The American defenses give way,
and the Germans push in even closer.
(distant gunfire)
(explosions)
NARRATOR: Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole
joins his artillery liaison.
The two men can hear and see a change.
Cole would later describe it as a dying rattle.
JOHN: The term dying rattle I think is really quite poignant,
because it sort of equates to death rattle.
That would happen with an individual dying.
What he's telling you with that term is that,
"My unit is dying if this continues much longer."
NARRATOR: Cole believes that his line has been cracked.
He must start preparations for a retreat.
Rosemond remains determined.
If he can just make contact with the artillery batteries,
American firepower could hold off the German onslaught.
(radio static)
With his radio still jammed, he keeps changing frequencies,
hoping to get his message out.
STEVEN: The problem is during World War II,
the radios are not especially reliable.
The Germans know what frequency the U.S. radios are on and
so they will use jammers, which are oftentimes just
a radio tuned to that particular channel,
and then you just broadcast noise on it.
Do you copy?
Sir! We’re through!
NARRATOR: Captain Rosemond finally breaks through on a different channel.
He calls for a barrage dangerously close to the farmhouse.
JOHN: If you are willing to call down fire on your position,
what military circles are called, “Danger close,”
it means basically that you're willing to take some friendly casualties in order
to save the larger unit, and break up the enemy attack,
and destroy the Germans here.
NARRATOR: But the artillery officer on the line says they have no ammunition.
Rosemond is out of options.
He needs the officer to find something to fire at the Germans.
Cole prepares for the worst-case scenario.
JOHN: He thinks he's going to have to actually
leave his wounded behind for the care of the Germans.
And that tells you how desperate he perceived the situation to be
if he was willing to leave his wounded behind.
So, this was the last option,
but it was one that he was actually contemplating.
NARRATOR: In a turn of luck,
the batteries finally receive their shipment.
Load up!
NARRATOR: The American guns let loose, all of them.
Where Rosemond previously had support from two battalions of artillery,
this call receives every gun.
JOHN: To have every gun within command supporting this battle,
it certainly tells you that it's a desperate situation.
NARRATOR: With a critical objective.
The artillery barrage devastates the German attackers.
Unfortunately, the barrage is so close to the farmhouse,
that it likely strikes some American defenders as well.
JOHN: But, uh, pretty much everyone who was there
later said it was necessary, that it had to be done this way.
As they put it, "We lost some good men, but we needed that barrage."
NARRATOR: Major Von der Heydte pulls his men back to
the southwest edge of Carentan for a last stand.
PETER: He knows he's running out of ammunition.
He had suffered heavy casualties.
So, in the end, he decides to do what any responsible commander
would do in the similar situation.
He orders his troops to retreat.
NARRATOR: Cole’s men have won the day,
at a heavy cost.
JOHN: The scale of losses is just staggering.
You start out with about 700 guys.
And by the time the fighting is over,
you end up with 132.
The Third Battalion, 502nd Cole’s battalion,
is rendered almost combat ineffective for most of the rest
of the battle in Normandy.
NARRATOR: But, they have opened the door to Carentan.
Von der Heydte holds out for six days but without ammunition,
he can no longer wait for their SS reinforcements.
He orders a retreat from the town and
the Americans seize the precious hub.
PETER: For the SS, Von der Heydte is the scapegoat
for the defeat at Carentan.
However, Von der Heydte is covered by Senior Army and Para Officers
so that he's not being court-martialed.
And in contrast, he gets even nicknamed,
"The Lion of Carentan."
NARRATOR: Captain Saint Julien Rosemond earns the distinguished service cross
for repeatedly moving forward in the face of enemy fire to
hold his position to direct artillery.
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole
is celebrated for the heroic fight.
COLE: Go!
COLE (over TV): Of course, coming across this field,
we were exposed to these men over here in the hedgerows,
here all the time.
And they had us perfectly covered.
So it was simply a matter of getting across the open ground
as quickly as possible and getting in amongst them.
NARRATOR: He earns the highest battlefield award,
The Congressional Medal of Honor.
But Cole is killed by a sniper at Operation Market Garden
before receiving word.
The capture of Carentan springboards the Americans off
the beaches of Normandy and consolidates the allied gains.
But the delay has allowed more German reinforcements to close
in on the beaches.
The allies face stiff opposition for every inch of French soil.
The war in Europe will rage for nearly 11 more months.
Captioned by Cotter Media Group.