Landing on Utah Beach

74 years ago today

US Navy LST-134 beached at Normandy, France as jeeps driving along the invasion beach carry casualties to the waiting vessel, 12 Jun 1944 [1].

74 years ago today, a Saturday, the 145th ECB landed on Utah Beach after sailing from Portsmouth the night before in an LST (landing ship, tank). The ship ran up onto the beach at high tide in the early morning of July 8, 1944, and the Battalion came ashore after the tide receded and the ship’s bow doors were opened.

The photo above, taken 26 days before the 145th landed, is a good illustration of how troops and equipment landed in France in the days following D-Day. Even more than a month after D-Day, the beach was still being hit by sporadic artillery fire when the Battalion landed.

July 8, 1944, was the first of 534 days the Battalion was in Europe. Of those 534 days, 306 days – 10 months – were spent at war. While individuals left the Battalion and returned home earlier, as a unit, the 145th remained in Europe until Christmas Eve 1945.

[1]. U.S. Navy photo. From World War II Database website, ww2db.com/images/ship_lst14.jpg.

July 8, 2018August 5, 2018 by 145ecb Tags: Daily activities Leave a comment