"Guy Alcala" wrote in message
. ..
Keith Willshaw wrote:

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

Throwing the inexperienced US Army on some West-European
beach,

In 1944, the army might be more experienced, but the troops were not.
The Americans put new troops onto the beach at Omaha, rather than
moving combat-experienced men from Italy or some such place.


The US divisions that landed at Omaha were from the 1st Infantry
Division which HAD taken part in the Torch invasions and
fought in North Africa and Sicily

It was two RLTs from the 1st ID along with an RLT from the 29th ID (plus
the Rangers) who landed in the first wave. Here's General Bradley's
comments on his choice of the 1st ID, from his book "A Soldier's Story":

I don't think so, Guy; the spearhead was only *two* RCT's, the 16th from the
1st ID and the 116th from the 29th ID. The schedule had the next two RCT's
(18th from 1st ID and 115th from the 29th) following at about H+3. And when
you read the accounts of what happened that morning on the beach, it is
quite apparent that there was not a danged bit of difference between the
performance of the previously unblooded 29th troops and those veterans (what
there was of them--ISTR the Big Red One already had picked up its share of
green replacements since its previous efforts). Furthermore, while it is
true that the these lead elements were all under the command of the 1st ID
HQ, that entity had darned little to do with what happened that morning, and
in fact it was IIRC the 29th ID's ADC, BG Norm Cota, who was instrumental in
getting the stagnated effort moving off the beach proper and up the
Vierville Draw?

snip

"Had a less experienced division than the 1st Infantry stumbled into this
crack resistance, it might easily have been thrown back into the Channel.
Unjust though it was, my choice of the 1st to spearhead the invasion
probably saved us Omaha Beach and a catastrophe on the landing." [ibid,
pg. 272]

As much as I respect and admire Bradley, the fact is that the above is
after-the-fact window dressing. In fact the performance of the 29th ID
troops and their leaders on the beach and as they seized the beachhead was
as much, if not more, responsible for the success gained at Omaha as was the
efforts of their 1st ID counterparts. The proof is in the pudding, as they
say, and the pudding demonstrated that the 29th was indeed just as capable
as the 1st ID was on 6 June 1944.

snip further stuff I don't disagree with

Brooks