KilRoyTrip was here
Position Bas

Charles Timmes Memorial

Détail

  • Nom
    Charles Timmes Memorial
  • Lieu
    AMFREVILLE
  • Contribution
    KilroyTrip.fr
  • ID
    58.57

Partagez

Memorials
Charles Timmes Memorial
Charles Timmes Memorial
On the night of June 5-6, 1944, Brigadier General James Maurice GAVIN, deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, had under his direct command "Task Force A" . He flew from the English base, "Saltby". His aircraft, C.47 No. 43-30651, piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Glen MYER, 50th Troop Carrier Squadron of the 314th Troop Carrier Group, was one of 24 aircraft in the No. 21 series, tasked with ferrying paratroopers from HQ & HQ Company, 508th" PIR, as well as. from "B" Company of the 307th Parachute Engineer Battalion.
The air fleet encountered a thick bank of fog when arriving near the DZ "N" of Picauville, so that General GAVIN's aircraft involuntarily deviated from the planned drop point.
Sometime after 02:00 a.m., (U.S. Army time) on June 6, 1944, General GAVIN at the head of his men, jumped into combat, and landed somewhere in that perimeter between, what would later, and for other reasons; become famous as "des vergers du Lieutenant Colonel TIMMES", and the "DZ T" drop zone.
It was from here, from this little corner of Normandy, that General GAVIN's fabulous epic began, leading his paratroopers to the Liberation of Europe, and ending in Berlin in May 1945.

That night, during his parachute jump, Lt. Col. Charles TIMMES was to experience a great fright, for, imagining that he was going to land in a lush Normandy meadow, such as there are so many here, he touched down on French soil in some 60 centimetres of water in the middle of the nearby marshland. As soon as he landed, a violent blow from the wind carried his parachute 2 or 300 metres, and your head was in the water.Finally, it was another gust of wind that saved his life, hurling him over a small embankment. He got up quickly and unhooked his harness.

During the descent, he was able to make out the railroad line and realized that he was about 2 km east of Amfreville. Accompanied by a small group of his men who, like him, had landed in the marsh water, they headed south towards Cauquigny, while the enemy was already firing bursts in their direction. Close to the chapel, a group of 30 men from Comapagnie D of spn battalion joined him.
Lieutenant Colonel TIMMES noted that the area was very quiet.

He went up towards Amfreville through the fields.. because he could hear shots. from Am. He thought his battalion was attacking the town from the north, he thought he could attack t from the east. But enemy fire was raining down everywhere, and men were falling to the bullets. Lt. Col. Charles TIMMES ordered all the men around him to fall back. The Germans, who were very numerous, paralyzed them.

At around 9:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944, they were all taking up defensive positions in all the orchards you see here. He had no radio communication equipment with which to contact a higher command echelon or other groups, and hoped to rally a troop to be able to storm Amfreville while the day lasted. He sent out a patrol led by Lt. Lewis LEVY to reconnoiter the western approach to the causeway from la Fière to Cauquigny. LEVY reported that it was clear of any enemy presence. Lt. Col. TIMMES dug his foxhole under a tree in an orchard 150 meters from here behind a farm, very close to Monsieur Jules JEAN. His men dug theirs at the foot of all the hedges. Meanwhile, the Germans attacked the Cauquigny position in force, and lost it. The survivors of the 507th (including 1" Lt. Lewis LEVY and 2nd Lt. Joseph KORMYLO) and the 508th paratroopers joined Lt. Col. TIMMES in these isolated orchards.
By the end of the day, he had around 150 men, 1 57m/m cannon and 2 machine guns around him. For the night his men took up defensive positions in the surrounding orchards, as well as in the one in front of us.
Lt. Col. TIMMES was worried, as some forty of his men had been hit by heavy enemy fire. Survival in his isolation was now only a matter of day.

The next day, Wednesday June 7, German pressure increased. They crept through hedges and bushes. They were coming from the hamlet of Le Motey, but also from the north side, coming from Château Gris. They tried to infiltrate the defensive perimeter positions. The men repelled them with heavy fire. They were never able to penetrate the marsh. That same day, at around 5.00 pm, the isolated men received a parachute drop of food, weapons and ammunition, which gave them a glimmer of hope. Seeing himself attacked from both north and south, Lt. Col. TIMMES knew he couldn't hold these positions much longer.

Thursday June 8 was a terrible day. Between 5 and 600 Germans arrived nearby at Le Motey. The paratroopers of Lt. Col. TIMMES launched strong patrols, one towards the Château Gris, the other towards the LAPIERRE farm. The battle raged on, with hundreds of bullets riddling the trees and facades of the houses in the hamlet of Les Heutes that you can see over there. The Germans launched several furious attacks. The paratroopers mowed down anyone who came into the open. Lt. Col. TIMMES had held their ground under mortars and grapeshot.

That same day, still seeking contact with a higher echelon of command, Lt. Col. TIMMES instructed 1st Lt. John MARR(Co. G/507th PIR) to make contact with any friendly forces he found on the other side of the flooded coastal river basin (Merderet). MARR and his platoon dispatch rider, Pfc. Norman CARTER, set off at noon and stumbled unexpectedly onto a cobbled road hidden beneath knee-deep water, which led them northeast towards the railway embankment. A trip by boat and then jeep later, they reached the 82nd Division's command post, where it was decided to send the 1st Battalion of the 325th to the other side that night by means of the submerged road, to attack the Germans holding Cauquigny and the western slope of the chaussé de la Fière from behind. CARTER returned to warn TIMMES of this plan, and MARR stayed behind to guide the glider men towards TIMMES' position. Their arrival enabled TIMMES to fulfill his long-awaited need for liaison with the division. At 11:30pm, Major Teddy Sanford, commanding the 1" battalion of the 325th gliders, who had as his guide 1st Lt. John MARR G/507th PIR accompanying ter Lt. Wayne PIERCE 325th GIR, departing from the railroad, took the secret ford running east-west across the marsh. With Company "C" in the lead, its men attacked the Château Gris, while Companies "A" and "B" crossed the orchards to gain the Chemin du Motey. At 3.30 a.m., near the Amfreville crossroads, "C" Company came across a German artillery bivouac. The reaction was violent. Twelve soldiers of the 325th Glider fell to the bullets. Alerted, the mortars of Lt. Col. TIMMES' mortars went into action, allowing the rest of the 1st Battalion to regroup, albeit disorganized, in Lt. Col. TIMMES.

The following day saw the hard-fought battle of the causeway linking the pont de la Fière to the chapelle de Cauquigny. Among others, the 3rd Battalion of the 325th Glider and those of the 507th PIR were engaged there. The Germans were driven out of the position. At the same time, our American friends pushed towards the Motey. This push broke the German hold around the orchards of Lt. Col. TIMMES' ORCHARDS. They were finally able to resume fighting under different conditions. But here, casualties were very high. The German stranglehold having been broken, the able-bodied men were able to pick up their wounded and the dead who were scattered across the fields. They counted almost a hundred. The wounded were evacuated to the field hospital set up near the Fière manor house. The hamlet's inhabitants, who helped and rescued the wounded, recount that when they washed the sheets in the large pond, the water was red with the blood of the heroic soldiers.

 
Charles Timmes Memorial
Crédit photo Mickael Fr.
Memoriaux
Charles Timmes Memorial
Crédit photo Mickael Fr.
Memoriaux
Charles Timmes Memorial
Crédit photo Mickael Fr.
Memoriaux
Charles Timmes Memorial
Charles Timmes Memorial.
Memoriaux
Charles Timmes Memorial
Charles Timmes Memorial.
Memoriaux
Charles Timmes Memorial
Charles Timmes Memorial.
Memoriaux
Charles Timmes Memorial
Charles Timmes Memorial.
Memoriaux

Charles Timmes Memorial

Kilroytrip Android application