[Eric 951]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

Brécourt Manor Assault - Wikipedia

Battle[edit]
Upon arrival at the battery location, Winters made his plan; he positioned a pair of M1919 machine guns for covering fire and sent several soldiers (2nd Lt. Lynn D. Compton, Pvt. Donald Malarkey, and Sgt. William J. Guarnere) to one flank to destroy a machine gun position with grenades and provide covering fire.
While the trenches connecting the artillery positions provided the Germans with an easy way to supply and reinforce the guns, they also proved to be their biggest weakness. After destroying the first gun position, Winters and the rest of his team used the trenches as covered approaches to attack the remaining guns in turn. Each gun was destroyed by placing a block of TNT down its barrel and using German stick grenades to set off the charges.[8]
Reinforcements from Company D, led by 2nd Lt. Ronald C. Speirs, arrived to complete the assault on the fourth and last gun. Speirs had a reputation as an excellent and extremely aggressive officer, and he led his men against the last gun position by running outside the trenches, exposing himself to enemy fire.
After the four guns were disabled, Winters's team came under heavy machine-gun fire from Brécourt Manor and withdrew.[9] He had discovered a German map in one gun position that was marked with the locations of all German artillery and machine guns in that area of the Cotentin Peninsula. This was an invaluable piece of intelligence, and once Winters returned to Le Grand Chemin, he gave it to the 2nd Battalion intelligence officer (S-2) (Lewis Nixon), who passed the information up the chain of command. Command was so thrilled that it sent the first two tanks to reach Utah Beach to support the paratroopers.[10] Winters directed their fire to eliminate remaining German resistance.
Winters lost one man, Pfc. John D. Halls (of A Company) from an 81mm mortar platoon.[11][note 4] Another, Private Robert "Popeye" Wynn, was wounded during the attack.[note 5] Another casualty was Warrant Officer Andrew Hill, who was killed when he came upon the battle while searching for the headquarters of the 506th PIR. Also killed were Sgt. Julius "Rusty" Houck from F Company, who was with Speirs, and one soldier from D Company under Speirs' command. Another soldier from D Company was wounded.