M7 'Priest' in Carentan

Colourised by Paul Reynolds

     A 105 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M7B1 'Priest' of the 14th Armored Field Battalion, 2nd Armored Division moves down Rue Holgate, Carentan, Normandy on the 18th June 1944. The nickname 'Priest' was given to the vehicle by the British due to the machine-gun ring looking like a pulpit.

     At dawn on 13 June, the 101st Airborne was about to attack the German line when it was attacked by tanks and assault guns. Two battalions of Panzergrenadier-Regiment 37, supported by elements of the 17.SS-Panzergrenadier-Division "Götz von Berlichingen" and III./Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6, struck hard at the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment on the American left, which fell back under heavy pressure. The left flank companies (Dog and Fox Companies) of the 506th then gave way, and by noon the spearheads of the German attack were within 500 yards of Carentan. However, Company E (Easy) of the 506th, commanded by 1st Lt. Richard D. Winters, anchored its right flank against a railroad embankment and held its position. Reinforced by the 2nd battalion, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment taking position on its right, Easy Company slowed the German attack until American tanks could be brought up.
     Reacting to an Ultra warning of the size and threat of the counterattack, Lieutenant General Bradley diverted Combat Command A of the U.S. 2nd Armored Division (commanded by Brig. Gen. Maurice Rose and near Isigny sur mer) to Carentan at 10:30. At 14:00 Combat Command A attacked, supported by the self-propelled howitzers of the 14th Armored Field Artillery Battalion. One task force of tanks and mechanized infantry surged down the road to Baupte in the 2nd Battalion of the 506th's area and shattered the main German thrust. A second task force drove back German forces along the Périers highway, inflicting heavy losses in men and equipment. Combat Command A, followed by the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, then pushed west a mile beyond the original lines.
     The counterattack became known anecdotally among the surviving paratroopers as the "Battle of Bloody Gulch".

A recent photo of the area

 

Map of the German counterattack