SATURDAY, JUNE 6, 2009
ANGOVILLE-AU-PLAIN |
Angoville-au-Plain is one of the least populated communes
in Manche having only 50-60 inhabitants today, perhaps even fewer in
1944. At 0220 Hrs on June 6, 1944 paratroopers of the 101st
Airborne Division landed in their designated DZ (Drop Zone) D, near this
small village.
During that afternoon an aid station was set up in the village's 11th
century church. Medics, Pvt Robert E. Wright and Pvt Kenneth J.
Moore of 2nd Battalion, 501st PIR began caring for wounded US
paratroopers. The fighting in the area continued for three days
and the number of wounded grew. Casualties from both sides and one
French child were treated by Moore and Wright. Angoville
changed hands 3 times during the fighting as each side alternatively
found it necessary to withdrew and regroup. But the aid station in the church
held fast and continued treating the wounded. When the Germans first retook Angoville they burst into
the church but when they saw that both American and German wounded were being
treated, they placed a red cross on the door and the church was not bothered
again.
Both Wright and Moore later received the Silver Star in recognition of
their bravery and the 80 lives they saved, |
Pastoral Setting
belies the intense fighting that once took place in this countryside |
Bocage Barriers
prevented easy movement between rods and fields |
Bocage Tunnel
in some cases the hedgerows had been allowed to tower over the
roadways |
Village Church
is impressive for such a small village |
 Beautiful
Interior
with vaulted ceilings and stone floor |
Praying Angels
flanking the altar must have offered comfort to some of the wounded |
Wooden Pews
retain their bloodstains more than 65 years later |
 Sunlit
Stained Glass
hues fall across the pews |
 D-Day
Remembered as paratroopers descend on Angoville-du-plain |
 Stained
Glass Window commemorates the 101st Airborne Division. A
monument in front of the church denotes what had
been Place d'Église (Church Square) and is now named Place Tocca (Toccoa
Square) in
honor of Camp Toccoa where the unit trained |
Medical Caduceus
is dedicated to medics Robert E. Wright and Kenneth J. Moore. |
Currahee!
the battle cry of the 101st depicts parachutist descending over
Mount Toccoa |
 
No Greater Love
lengthy panel quotes John 15:13 scripture "Greater
love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" |
Medic Monument
reads: "In honour and in recognition of Robert E. Wright and Kenneth J.
Moore, Medics 2nd Bn 501 PIR 101st Airborne Division.
For humane and life saving care rendered to 80 combatants and a child in
this church in June 1944." |
 Commemorative
Panel
features Col. Howard R. Johnson as well as medics Wright and Moore |
|
|
All Normandy 'D-Day Plus 65' trip photos are a
multi-national mixture of work
by Hervé Argoud, Hans DeBree, Gene Garren, Fred Hoek, Herbert
Lahout, Randy Lewellen, Cyndi Mathews, Bill Nation, Dick O'Donnell,
Dominique Potier, Vivian Roger, Zane Schlemmer, Donald van den Bogert and Nelly
van Loo. Individual credits have not been
given. |
