Company K, 3rd Battalion, 18th Regiment, 1st Infantry Division Vicinity of Marigny, July 25th - 31st, 1944
photographs by Bryce Johnston & Matthew Lucibello
Program Overview:
The battle for Marigny is one of numerous lesser known actions undertaken by the Big Red One in World War II overshadowed by its larger accomplishments. Despite this, the taking of Marigny proved crucial to the success of Operation Cobra in late July of 1944. Marigny was a small city of strategic value to the operation, one of several French towns and cities in the midst of the maelstrom that was to be unleashed. Beginning on the 25th Operation Cobra opened with bombardment by medium and heavy bombers of the 8th Air Force and strafing runs by fighters and ground attack aircraft, followed by an armored and infantry combined arms assault into the bombarded area. While the 9th Infantry Division had managed to cut the Periers - Saint - Lô road, it had not managed to make and maintain a breakthrough of the German line. While bombardment had been delivered with tremendous effect elsewhere, the effect it had on Marigny and the German defenders in its vicinity was far less substantial. Enemy soldiers taken prisoner by the 9th Infantry Division were reported to be cocky, much unlike their dazed and demoralized counterparts elsewhere in the “target box”.
The 1st Infantry Division was ordered to attack Marigny to establish this desperately needed breakthrough. The success of Operation Cobra hinged on the ability of the ground forces to rapidly break the German defenses along the Periers - Saint Lô road to soldier the taking of Saint - Lô and break out from Norman hedgerow country. The 1st Infantry Division tasked its 18th Infantry Regiment with leading the attack on Marigny with armored support from the 3rd Armored Division’s Combat Command B. 1st Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment was tasked with flanking around Marigny to the east while 3rd Battalion would attack Marigny itself with 2nd Battalion following behind them. The 18th Infantry Regiment poised itself for the attack in the nighttime and earlier morning hours of July 25th - 26th. Before dawn of the 26th, as 216 medium bombers attacked Marigny relentlessly, 3rd Battalion was able to make physical contact with elements of the 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division to its immediate left. Later throughout the battle, the 1st Infantry Division would encounter elements of the 9th Infantry Division operating in its zone as well. These occurrences emphasize the nature of the operation and the number of American troops from different divisions operating in a relatively small area of front to maximize their lethality and strength against a determined enemy. H-Hour arrived at 0700 on the 26th, and 1st Battalion led the advance. Running into enemy fire and resistance from a stand of wounds on their approach to phase line one, assistance was needed from Company K, 3rd Battalion to clear these woods and continue the advance. Company K was first on the objective, with 1st Battalion following up behind them. 1st Battalion reported that the road they were utilizing during this movement would need to be repaired and maintained by engineers if it was to be used for any following advances in the attack. To ensure traffic could pass on this road, combat engineers from the 1st Engineer Combat Battalion.
The woods were cleared in about one hour, and Company K was first on the objective by 0950. 1st Battalion however was hampered in its movement to follow Company K, first encountering a secondary road that required repairs if it were to be utilized for trafficking more troops or vehicles forward. The 1st Engineer Combat Battalion was notified and its engineers got to work making this road combat serviceable. 1st Battalion next encountered mines, which slowed their advance considerably but was nonetheless navigated tediously and as carefully as it could be, taking roughly two hours to weave and prod through. Company K, still attached to 1st Battalion, would have to wait for them to catch up. 1st Battalion’s advance to phase line one being slowed as much as it was revived instruction from regimental command to “advance at all costs”. While continuing its advance, 1st Battalion encountered smalls army, machine gun, and artillery fire in the evening of the 26th, reaching a point 800 yards shy of its objective by day’s end. Nightfall would not bring an end to the grueling combat as the attacked pressed on into the early hours of the 27th. 1st Battalion would continue to fight its way to phase line 2 and reached its objective by 0135, during which time the 1st Battalion CO Lt. Col. Sisson was wounded and evacuated, with Lt. Col. Leonard assuming command. After a long day and night of fighting and slow going, 1st Battalion would consolidate and hold its position until moving to grid point 392609 by 0730 of the 27th, where it again consolidated its position but would encounter enemy forces at this location in the next two hours. After encountering this enemy force 1st Battalion would not be on the move again for another two hours, reporting that it would resume moving at 1145. An hour later, 1st Battalion reported it had crossed its designated line of departure and had continued 300 yards beyond it before meeting slight opposition to its advance, which in the next half hour would stiffen intensely. 1st Battalion’s advance was once again held up by heavy machine gun fire, which after twenty minutes was silenced by the battalion’s lead company. After overcoming the machine guns, 1st Battalion’s plans would change twice over the course of the next several hours. First it was to be withdrawn north of Marigny to eventually follow the 16 Infantry Regiment’s move west around Marigny, but then was redirected to move with a company of tanks west of Marigny to protect the division’s supply lines and the 16th Infantry Regiment’s route of advance.
As 1st Battalion conducted its move westward in the late hours of the 27th, patrolling to have guides meet anti-tank and tank destroyer laments following the 16th Infantry Regiment, Company K would come into the vicinity of its original unit 3rd Battalion by 2157 but was not yet reverted to its control. Company K would patrol in the vicinity of 1st Battalion to link up with the AT and TD units trailing the 16th Infantry. The 16th Infantry’s attack would commence at 0600 of the 28th, meeting no resistance and unable to accurately report its frontline positions. 1st Battalion would hold a position through the morning until doing reconnaissance to protect the 16th’s movement, reporting no enemy observed south of the road they were using to move west, and no enemy observed beyond a junction on this road either. At 1145 of the 28th, Company K was reverted to 3rd Battalion control after two and half days attached to 1st Battalion. The reunited 3rd Battalion moved on to another position by early afternoon. Later in the afternoon it would move into a new assembly area for the 18th Infantry Regiment, which closed on this position in full by 2210. The fighting for Marigny at this point had concluded. With the town cleared and victory in hand, the 18th Infantry Regiment began to prepare for its next mission. The 29th saw little activity on 3rd Battalion’s part. The battalion had tasked Company K with a patrol to make contact with elements of the 9th Infantry Division which was conducted successfully. The following day on the 30th, the 18th Infantry Regiment moved and closed on a new staging area in the vicinity of Saint Demis Le Gas. From this assembly area, the 18th Infantry Regiment would continue to advance against the enemy.
Note: occurrence of Co. K's attachment to 1st Battalion and the duration of this attachment is based upon information provided in the 18th Infantry Regiment's S-1 Journal across July 26 - 28, 1944. However, grid points attributed to Co. K's reported locations throughout this time period do not coincide exactly with those reported by 1st Battalion and at times are closer to the vicinity of 3rd Battalion. Further research has yet to have been done to determine if the S-1 erroneously recorded Co. K attached for the duration of July 26 -28, 1944, or if Co. K operated in conjunction with 1st Battalion sporadically rather than continuously through this time.
M1910 or M1942 Canteen w/ Cup and M1910 or M1942 Canteen Cover, OD3
M1924 First Aid Pouch, OD3 w/ First Aid Packet (tin or cardboard packaging) M1910 or M1943 Intrenching Tool w/ M1910 or M1943 Carrier
M1943 Carrier --> OD3, or Transitional w/ Fixed Wire Hanger
M1 Bayonet, 10 Inch w/ Scabbard
Bandoliers, x1-x2
C and / or Type K Rations (2 Day Supply Ideal)
Rubberized Assault Gas Mask Bag for M5 Gas Mask or M6 Lightweight Assault Mask Carrier for M3 Gas Mask, OD3 or OD7
GI Wool Blanket, x1-x2
Shelter Half, Single Door
Period Correct Personal Items
Weapons:
Rifle, Caliber .30, M1
Wartime parts: milled trigger guard, Type II Lockbar Sights, "single slot "of "x slot" gas plug
M1907 sling with brass or steel hardware, or OD Canvas M1 Sling w/ Flat Buckle (no postwar variants)
Early nickeled brass oiler w/ cleaning kit components or later plastic oiler w/ cleaning kit components and M3 Combination Tool
Mk. II Fragmentation Grenade (x1 – x4)
OD body with yellow ring at the neck, M10 series fuses only, no postwar RXD’s
Other Weapons: for weapons such as the M1911/M1911A1, M1903 Springfield variants, Thompson variants, M1918A2 BAR, M3 Grease Gun, and M1919A4 / M1919A6 as well as any other infantry weapons such as rifle grenade launchers and any other heavier weaponry, please consult the President and/or Vice President before acquisition and/or expectation of use. The goal is to accurately portray elements of an infantry platoon by adhering to the prescriptions of the appropriate TO&E for the covered period.
Reproductions - Acceptable Vendors
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(production specifications are approximate to what most likely would have been available as of winter 1944/1945) *: denotes non-mandatory equipment or equipment for which you should consult the group leaders prior to purchasing / using EM --> Enlisted Man; w/ --> with; w/o --> without