The troop carrier planes took off with the paratroopers of the 2nd
Battalion of the 508th from Saltby Air Base around midnight on June 5, and
after rendezvousing with other troop carrier planes taking off from other
airfields in England, headed for the west coast of the Cotentin
(Cherbourg) Peninsula and their approach to the drop zones. Because of the
heavy antiaircraft and machine gun fire from the German defenders on the
ground, many of the paratroopers were not able to assemble with their
assigned units. Heavy fog and the tall trees in the numerous hedgerows
scattered throughout Normandy also contributed to the assembly problem.
Don and his Battalion hit the silk about 2:15 am, June 6, 1944.
Some paratroopers were killed or wounded on the jump and some were taken
prisoner, as was Don Cunningham. Antiaircraft shells were exploding around
the planes all over the drop zones, and tracer ammunition from the German
machine guns lit up the sky. Many planes were damaged but most
paratroopers managed to exit their aircraft. Some paratroopers were killed
or wounded while still in the planes and others were hit while descending
in their parachutes. Some troopers landed in water and drowned. The
Germans had flooded the lowlands just prior to the invasion as an
anti-airborne obstacle. Don managed to reach the ground safely but was
taken prisoner soon during the confusion following the jump. While he was
being marched to the rear,
Don managed to escape from his German guards and hid in a barn covering
himself with fence posts. During the time he was separated from his unit
he was so hungry that he ate a chicken raw. He soon was able to rejoin his
unit and remained in Normandy for 33 days fighting the German defenders on
Hill 30, near Picauville, Baupte, Chef-du-Pont, and La Haye-du-Puits. The
Regiment was relieved by American ground troops which had assaulted the
beaches on the east coast of Normandy on D-Day and returned to its base
camp in England about July 10, 1944. The casualty rate for the Regiment
during its 33 days of combat in Normandy was 55 percent. Some of the
wounded men returned to the Regiment as soon as their wounds healed.
At Nottingham, the Regiment took in replacements for the
many casualties suffered in Normandy, equipment was issued, and the men
resumed training for their next operation, which began September 17, 1944
when they jumped into Holland. The 508th and the rest of the 82nd jumped
in the vicinity of Nijmegen and they withstood strong resistance from the
German forces in the area for about eight weeks before being relieved by
the British. The Regiment then moved to Sissonne, France to set up a new
base camp and prepare for its next operation. The Regiment wasn't at
Sissonne very long when it was alerted on December 17, 1944 that the
Germans had penetrated the American positions in Belgium and were heading
toward Antwerp. The men of the 508th, with full combat equipment, were
loaded onto tractor-trailer trucks and moved up into the bulge created by
the German last-ditch offensive in Belgium. During the next two months,
the Germans were in full retreat. The winter of 1944-1945 in Belgium was
one of the worst in its history and many men from the 508th were evacuated
with frostbite. |
