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Sgt. Guenther Burrer With Parachute Regiment That Covered Self With Glory
Headquarters, 82nd Airborne Division. This is the story of a parachute infantry regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division the regiment which captured Ste. Mere Eglise in Normandy three hours before Allied Landing Forces touched the beachhead on D-Day. The regiment played an outstanding part in carrying out the mission of the airborne troops, which was to prevent the Germans from throwing powerful forces from the West and South against the beachhead.
The men of this regiment, including SSgt. Guenther Burrer of here, son of Mr. and Mrs. August Burrer, had particular reason to be proud when they took Ste. Mere Eglise. It was the important junction town through which the Germans were expected to move up reinforcements.
It was they who also took St. Sauveur le Vicomte, opening the way for mobile forces to drive on to the sea and thus cut off the peninsula and Cherbourg.
For them the mayor of Ste. Mere Eglise had asked the decoration of the Fourragere Francaise, stating in a letter: "For 48 hours these men, their strength reduced already by losses during the night, always alert for combat, separated from the sea by eight kilometers of hostile country, having on their right flank in the village of Fauville, towards Carentan, strong detachments of infantry and anti-aircraft units, on their left flank at Neuville au Plain two battalions of the German Division, 1050 German Infantry, composed largely of guns and tanks, and finally on their west facing the
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SSgt. Guenther Burrer— (Continued from page 1)
sea, two companies of fanatical Georgians who would fight to the last man—these American soldiers resisted alone with their sub-machine guns, two machine guns and two small cannons taken from gliders.
“These men I observed in battle. They did not show false bravado. They spoke little, one might say they only maneuvered. They went along, cigarette between their lips or chewing their gum, hugging the walls, yet going along upright and quietly, under the careless shelling from the batteries of Azeville and Saint Martin
....”
The mayor concludes: “Forty- eight hours after their arrival, the
magnificent work was accomplished, by them alone. Two battalions had
been cut to pieces. In the north, two battalions; in the south, one battalion and anti-aircraft units; in the west two companies of Georgians whose remnants barricaded themselves in a chateau at Beuzeville au Plain.
They had destroyed eight tanks, some cannon and had taken 364 prisoners. Their losses were heavy.”
Men of the regiment landed; mostly around Ste. Mere Eglise. Many met machine-gun fire as they hit the ground. There was some mortar fire as well. Snipers were all about. Almost every man found himself forced to fight the enemy immediately. It was close country, made up of small fields bordered by hedgerows ages old. These gave the Germans excellent cover. The country favored defense. |
Roads were narrow trails worn far below the general surface. There were few open fields to fire.
Having overcome initial resistance, various elements of the
regiment got together soon after landing. One force took up a position
at the bridge across the Merderet outside Ste. Mere. The bridge was held
despite heavy counterattacks of tanks.
During one of these attacks Private First Class Leonard C.
Peterson, of Viking, Minnesota, won a Distinguished Service Cross. He
was a bazooka gunner posted at the edge of the bridge. Artillery fire
rained down and Peterson prepared for an attack.
Soon it came. Tanks began coming across the marsh toward the
bridge. When they got to within 100 yards, they took to the road.
Peterson let them come on. When the leading tank was about 30 yards
away, he opened fire. It burst into flame. Peterson continued firing at
the tanks until he had knocked out three and the others had withdrawn.
Meanwhile, his bazooka had been struck and penetrated by
machine-gun fire, and he had been wounded by a shell which ricocheted
from it. German infantry were coming forward, so he grabbed the rifle of
a wounded fellow soldier and picked off oncoming Germans.
After a sharp engagement which included hand-to-hand fighting, the
Germans withdrew and did not reappear until several came forward under a
Red Cross flag to retrieve their wounded. The bridge was held.
[Fredericksburg Standard, Fredericksburg, TX, 30
August 1944, Wed, Pages 1 & 6] |
