The first is captioned 'American Dead on Beachhead, France' and was passed for publication by the US Army Press Censor on June 26, 1944. The caption reads:
These American assault troops died in their attempt to storm across a narrow strip of beach on the northern coast [of] France to the comparative safety of a chalk cliff of [sic] a few hundred feet from the surf.
The second image is titled 'July 11, 1944 - American Dead in France and was passed by the Censor on July 27, 1944. It is captioned:
American soldiers killed in action fighting for the liberation of France lie stretched out at a temporary graveyard in Normandy. The bodies are swathed in sheet and grave markers bearing the names of the soldiers rest on top of the corpses. After this war, the bodies will be removed from the temporary graves and transported back to the United States or to permanent cemeteries in Europe. In the first ten days after the Allied landings in northern France June 6, 1944, US Forces suffered 15,883 casualties including 3,283 known dead.
4 comments:
That was grim Laurie, find it a wonder they came up for sale. So sad all those young people died
The statistics are staggering. Very sad, but informative post.
A bit grim, Bill but not as bad as some. Such photos are often on sale at militaria fairs.
As you say, Vermont Deadline, staggering!
This picture is from Omaha Beach, there are a series of related pictures, the photographer took as survivors of the sunken landing boat were pulled out of the surf. They are from a beach engineer detachment.
respectfully,
Paul H. Scheidler
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