The Carentan Causeway: Normandy 1944

The Carentan CausewayNormandy 1944In the early days of the Normandy Campaign, the link up of the Omaha and Utah beachheads, along with the capture of Carentan, was essential. The main obstacle to an attack on Carentan was the swamped lowland of the Douve Valley. At about 2100 on June 9th, Lieutenant Colonel Robert G. Cole, a 1939 graduate of West Point, received the order to lead the attack toward Carentan across the swamped area on an exposed causeway with four bridges. The 29 year old bat...