U.S. Army Units at Tamerville and Valognes

To preserve and honor the memory and share the stories of those who served at Tamerville and Valognes


While in Company C, 3110th Signal Service Battalion, Army Service Forces, my later father, Felix A. Cizewski, bivouacked at Tamerville probably while working at the major communications center at Valognes.

Georges Dennebouy, Remi Agnes, Claude Letellier, and Mickael Simon  while searching for the sites of downed American aircraft in the area, found the site of the Company C's bivouac at Tamerville. They and and I have been researching what other units were stationed there.

Below is the list of Americans units that served in and around Tamerville and Valognes that our research have identified to date.


Some of these units may be included in the memorial the Tamerville mayor and town council are planning for the 70th anniversary of D-Day in 2014.

Not every unit on this list may meet Tamerville's definition of service in Tamerville for inclusion in the memorial.

This list is not complete.
Before D-Day, June 6, 1944
Army Air Forces:
Downed Planes and Crews



Units Dates in 1944 Notes
B17 42-97136
8th Army Air Force
384th Bomber Group
544th Squadron
Shot down near Tamerville on April 27 during a raid on the Nazi V-2 site at Sottevast in Normandy.

Crashed near La Pont du Durand, two miles south of Rocheville, six miles west of Valognes.

Missing Aircraft Crew Report

(MACR) # 4350.
Crew of 10 killed.

Summary

Full report  (downloads PDF file)

Source: 384th Bomber Group history site



From; THE ARMY AIR FORCES IN WORLD WAR II: COMBAT CHRONOLOGY, 1941-1945 by Carter / Mueller, the Office of Air Force History,
on the site of the 8th Air Force Historical Society

Mission 322 narrative

384BG Mission Report
B17 42-107056 "THE DENVER DOLL"
8th Army Air Force
100th Bomber Group (Heavy)
13th Combat Wing
349th Squadron
Shot down  on April 28 during a raid on the Nazi V-2 site at Sottevast in Normandy.

Crashed near Tamerville
Crew of 10, seven killed, three captured.

Missing 100BG aircraft on 1944-04-28 from 8th Air Force Historical Society
B17 42-107024
8th Army Air Force
100th Bomber Group (Heavy)
13th Combat Wing
349th Squadron
Two flak hits in nose on April 28 during a raid on the Nazi V-2 site at Sottevast in Normandy.
|
Crashed Croix Jacob, south of Cherbourg, 8 km west of Valognes.

Missing Aircraft Crew Report # 4234.
Crew of 11, 6 killed, five captured

KIA

Col. Robert H. Kelly, Command Pilot
Co-Pilot: Capt Bill Lakin,
Navigator: Capt Joe Payne
Engineer / Top Turret Gunner: Jim Brown,
Waist Gunner: John Spiker,
obs-T/Sgt Delbert Barnhart{Fighter Gp}

POWS

Bombardier: Maurice Cain,
Radio Operator: Leo Cannon,
Ball Turret Gunner: Albt Freitas,
Tail Gunner: Lt Herb Alf

Missing 100BG aircraft on 1944-04-28 from 8th Air Force Historical Society

Thanks to the late Captain Joe Payne's nephew Andrew Payne for reviewing this for accuracy.
A20 HAVOC
9th Army Air Force
409th Bomber Group (Light)
June 6

Missing Aircraft Crew Report
# 5655.

Serial Number
43-10128
Crew:

Sgt Vernon V. Reich


Source: Sgt. Reich's cousin Stephanie Vance
P51


D-Day, June 6. 1944
Units Date Notes
C47  42-92415 442eTCG/303eTCS
442nd Troop Carrier Group (306th Squadron), 9th Army Air Force carry troops of the 1st.Battalion,.507th Parachute Infantry Regiment,82nd Airborne Division
Shot down near Tamerville on June 6, D-Day Crew:

Pilot Lt John Jacob PRINCE, Sgt Ralph Earnest CHARLTON , Flight Officer Joseph Kahn LOEB ,Escaped with assistance of the French resistance.

Sgt Francis Hugo SCHULTZ.:Captured & made a POW

Passengers:

S/Sgt.Carl H.Yarrington
Cpl.Joseph J.Vavro
Pvt.William J.Wilbert
Pvt.George Popivchak
Pvt.Clarence McGlothren
Pvt.Lewis M.E.Stroud
Pvt.Nathan D.Corley
Pvt.Hobert Conger
Cpl.Grady C.Bragg
Pfc.Claude B.Keyes
Pfc.John Petrullo
Pfc.Ted R.Williams
Pvt.Anthony S.Leptuck
Pvt.Willard R.Trivett
Sgt.Stanley J.Melnick
After D-Day: Liberation
Liberation by Army Ground Forces

Units Dates in 1944 Notes
8th and 12th Infantry Regiments of the 4th Infantry Division June 19, 20 & 21 As the 8th and 12th Infantry advanced, the Germans abandoned Tamervillle and retreated north to Cherbourg.

Company I, 3d Battalion, 8th Regiment

Map
4th Medical Battalion, clearing station and headquarters units or companies June 21 They were initially were stationed at Tamerville but were soon withdrawn further to the rear because of German fire.
After Liberation: Signal Corps and Army Service Forces
Signal Corps *

Units Dates in 1944 Notes
17th Signal Operation Battalion July 1 to 8 Installed, operated, and dismantled.switching centrals at Valonges
Detachment of the 980th Signal Service Company
Worked with a team from Company C, 3104th Signal Service Battalion (below).
One cable section, 3104th Signal Service Battalion July 5 to about late October or early November. This one cable section of the 3104th may have consisted of about one officer and eleven enlisted men.

The 3104th was the cable team responsible for the transatlantic cable from the U.S. to France.

In late October or early November, this section o f the 3104th went to Urville-Hague west of Cherbourg where a new cable head was constructed.
Team from Company C, 3104th Signal Service Battalion, Army Service Forces Until August 7 With a detachment from the 980th Signal Service Company selected sites, constructed buildings, installed a complete 15-kilowatt Press Wireless radio teletypewriter transmitter station in an apple orchard near Valognes, erected a rhombic antenna oriented towards England, and established a cross-channel radio relay circuit. They also installed two Federal 1-kilowatt transmitters and fifteen SCR 399A 300-watt transmitters. They had communications services available when COMZ headquarters opened at Valognes on August 7, 1944.
Company C, 3110th Signal Service Battalion, Army Service Forces July 26 to August 18 Company C was the 3110th’s Open Wire Repair Section with pole and wire construction and maintenance responsibilities. From Tamerville, Company C went to Cherbourg.
Companies A & B, 3110th Signal Service Battalion August 24 to September 5 From Tamerville, Companies A & B went to Paris.
* To date the 3110th is the only Signal Corps unit that has been confirmed to have been in the Army Service Forces. The other Signal Corps units at Tamerville and Valognes may also have been as they were neither Army Ground or Air Forces units.
Army Service Forces Arrived August 7 Headquarters at Valognes until it relocated to Paris.

Unofficial Informal Archive of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in Northwest Europe in WWII

INDEX: Felix A. Cizewski & WWII
INDEX: Cizewski, Lovetere, Musbach, & Robinson Family History

All material not in the public domain © 2006 -2014 Leonard H. Cizewski

Last Updated: July 19, 2014
Posted: January 9, 2013
Last Reviewed:


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