Pvte John Steele of F Company 505th PIR 82nd Airborne Division jumped into Normandy on the night of 5th-6th June 1944. Poor weather conditions led to a scattered drop and 36 men of Steele’s company came down into the Church square of St Mere Eglise where they were captured or killed.
Some buildings in the village were on fire and the fires illuminated the night sky, making easy targets of the descending paratroopers. Steele’s parachute caught on the Church Tower where he hung for two hours feigning death. He was eventually taken prisoner for a further two hours before he escaped and rejoined his unit. Steele was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his exploits in Normandy.
His experience was famously recreated by the actor Red Buttons in the film ‘The Longest Day’.
The courtyard of a modern day cafe which is opposite the church of St Mere Eglise. Another paratrooper, Clifford Maughan, landed in this garden.
The Church and square of St Mere Eglise where John Steele and his fellow paratroopers of F Company 505th PIR 82nd Airborne Division landed. 12 were killed.
John Steele returns to St Mere Eglise in 1964. He died in 1969 at the age of 57years
The quieter side at the rear of the Church at St mere Eglise. It was on this side that John Steele was hung up. The effigy is placed on the other more open side as it is more visible to passers-by and tourists.
An effigy of John Steele still hangs from the Church Tower in St Mere Eglise, as a commemoration of the paratroopers who landed there in the early hours of D Day.
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Not all of the two Mortar platoon sticks which were misdropped into the square were captured or killed. Eg. Ken Russell and Charles Blanchard. Russell and Steele stated that Steele got stuck on the eastern side of the steeple, not the west as outlined above.
My father was one of the men that ended up in the square that night. He was Ernest R. Blanchard. The plaque next to the C47 Cafe has his name incorrect, as does the above entry. The plaque shows him as R. Blanchard, “R” was his middle name, for “Riley,” the same as my name.
Dad did survive that night, as well as Nijmegen and the Battle of the Bulge. I just returned from over there. I’m doing research on a book about his adventures. I actually managed to find my father’s helmet in the museum at Le Gleize, Belgium. It was in a display at the December 44 Museum. Belgian National Television actually came to film my visit. http://www.rtbf.be/video/detail_jt-19h30?id=1849328&t=1426
My dad’s book is titled: Where Dad Dropped In and should be out in six months or so.
Dennis
Hello Dennis,
Thank you so much for your fascinating contribution. As the son of a ‘Red Devil’ with a particular love of all things airborne I am looking forward to reading Ernest’s war story.
Love the true story thank you
My godfather Nick Kastrantas was one of the paratroopers that survived
Thank you Dennis for your comment. It is an important contribution. I am a local tour guide and I mention sometime your father’s name. I will make to correctly name him from now. Thanks again. Christophe
This was the third and last combat for my father, Robert W. Landl, before returning stateside with his reoccurring malaria for treatment at Harmon General Hospital in Brownsville, Texas. Following his release from the hospital, he returned to the Jump School at Fort Benning, Georgia as an instructor/jumpmaster until the end of the war.
My father was the radio operator for F Company, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg through North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, Naples and the Volturno River then through the Straits of Gibraltar to Belfast, Northern Ireland then Quorn (Quorndon), England and Normandy. Company communications and company machinegun & mortar always jumped the same aircraft. I am not certain whether their aircraft for that operation was a C-47 or C-53 ‘Skytrooper’, which were also at RAF Cottesmore. I have also emailed with one of the troop transport pilots at RAF Cottesmore too. Then I read the members who landed ‘downtown’ Sainte Mere Eglise landed extraordinarily close together. This speaks to the purpose of the C-53 with its twin static lines and twin jump doors and need to have communications and machinegun & mortar land as a unit, very close together. Two nine-man sticks lands a whole lot closer together than one eighteen-man stick.
My father and John Steele would have jumped the same aircraft as he landed but a short distance from the church in an enclosed courtyard with a rabbit hutch. In the picture in the 82nd album, you can see both the church and the courtyard along with the power/telephone pole on the edge of the open field where his equipment bundle was hanging. Recently, I have run across a picture of four mortar men, including Steele, standing at attention in the drizzle a couple of days before the jump with their equipment lying in front of them. A couple of their names are familiar but, like a fool, I didn’t copy the link. I will find it though! Of the four men, only Steele survived the war.
After leaving RAF Cottesmore for the jump, they headed across the Channel. The aircraft were in formation and about to fly past the German occupied islands of Jersey and Guernsey. However, they then turned inland and flew between the two islands at 10,000 feet MSL. My father watched the German AAA arching up toward the formation. This last minute change of direction put them but a short distance from their drop zone. The pilots did over speed the aircraft and lose altitude to cut their open time in front of German AAA. My father indicated the opening shock on earlier jumps caused the jump pants’ pockets to tear open, dumping their contents. You will notice post war jump pants are not only heavier material, but they have drawstrings to wrap around the pockets to further secure and immobilize the contents.
My father had watched the house fire on the ground for his brief canopy time with a deployment altitude of 750-500 foot AGL. He saw the paratrooper go into the building with a large explosion following. I have read that this paratrooper was Private Blankenship; another responsible of my father was to forward the dead and wounded information up the line. He indicated Blankenship’s canopy was over wires at the intersection of two roads. These two roads were covered by German machineguns and when they would shoot profiles, they would hit Blankenship. A couple of similar explosions had taken place too. Just prior to the jump, they had received an hour or so of training on the use of a plastic explosive and the necessity to keep the charge and the blasting device well away from each other.
I noted a similar error on Blankenship by Stephan Ambrose and brought it to his attention via mail.
June 4, 2014
Wednesday afternoon
Hi John, this is your older cousin Trisha(Pat)…. It was interesting reading all about your dad, my uncle… I need to start digging into my dad’s side of the family, always wanted to do that… Mom(Edith) is still living in Wi. right down the street from Linda, your other cousin but we are moving to SC from Tx in Aug. and will be bringing my mom down to live with us.. She will be 92 in July.. My son, daughter-in-law and 2 grandkids live there, I have been living in Houston TX for 12 yrs. now, my husband retired from the Houston Police Dept. so we are leaving and moving to SC… Hope you are doing well..
Hello John and Dennis,
Fascinating story. Look forward to your book, Dennis. John, the link you were looking for is
http://www.505rct.org/album2/steele_j.asp
Kind regards
Clyde Simpson
Clyde – Thank you for the link! John
Hello. I’m trying to find any record of John Katona. He was in the 82nd, Company B Parachute 307 Airborne Engineer Battalion. He was my wife’s Grandfather.
Recently my wife’s uncle said that he believed John Katona fought at St. Mere Eglise after his drop.
Is there a list of all the paratroopers who did fight there to hold the church? Or any resources you would recommend for finding out if he could have been there?
Thank you for any potential help.
Phil Harbison
Hello John,
Thank you so much for your contribution of your account about father’s jump into Normandy on D-Day. No doubt you are hugely and rightly proud of your dad.
Kind regards
Malcolm
Malcolm – Thank you for the kind words. My father was only in Normandy for seven days before his malaria had him evacuated to the States. My stepfather was in the Second Marine Division and arrived at the USMC Recruit Depot in San Diego during the first week of January 1942. He was a platoon sergeant in charge of a 37mm gun until the USMC took 33 sergeants and sent them home for officer training before the invasion of Japan. He was originally to be sent from San Diego to Middleton, Wisconsin – my hometown and a dozen of so miles from where he grew up – for glider pilot training at Morey Field. The USMC decided to do away with this program before it actually started. His father has two Navy Crosses – one during WWI and one during Haiti – Albert Adolph Taubert. My Uncle John few P-38s with the 82nd FG, Uncle Arden flew B-17s with the 8th and instructed in B-29s, Uncle Walter was an USMC TBF Avenger gunner. John
My father slept in a haystack for the first two nights. He also had a white main canopy – the only white canopy he had noticed during his brief canopy descent. Early in the morning of June 6th, he crawled upon a sight which scared him… men of the 101st having hot chow in the middle of a field. He moved off quickly. This was the 101st first combat jump so perhaps this speaks to this insane gathering.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/2-505pir.htm
The 3rd Battalion may have been credited with taking Sainte Mere Eglise; however, as my father stated, you only had to check the names of the men who died there and their unit to know who were the first to fight there.
http://www.usairborne.be/82/82_505_txt_us.htm
How vulnerable are paratroopers on their descent? If they are fired at can they fire back?
They are sitting ducks. The father of one of my schoolmates was a soldier on Crete during WWII. He and three other soldiers were directly below a German unit parachuting in; they were able to keep killing Germans until they ran out of ammunition, at wh…
Hello, after a thoroughly enjoyable day at the Duxford air show recently. My step-son (who has learning difficulties and Autism) was fascinated by the story of John Steele hanging from the church of Sainte-Mere- Eglise. and keeps talking about it and the lovely painting of it ( in the Aces High Marquee).
The painting was well worth the money but, unfortunately much out of our price range.
I have been trawling the web sites and the nearest I can get is after phoning Aces High gallery, a print for £110. Sadly still way beyond our reach.
Any idea where we would be able to purchase a poster (if one exists?) a bit cheaper? As Matthew would be thrilled.
Many Thanks
Deborah Hallett
Well I’m trying to figure out about my great grandfather I don’t know much I’m trying to find out what airborne division he was assigned to his name is Glenn F. Boonie from Pennsylvania he passed away in 74 long be for I was born if anyone can point me in the right direction that would be amazing
Ian, I too and searching for information about my great grandfather, Walter Bert Hamm. He was a member of the 101st who also ended up at St Mere Eglise. I think he was with the 502nd PIR (I’m waiting on a family member who supposedly has his dd-214 to let me know). He was a pathfinder and was one of the many paratroopers who were misplaced and/or missed their drop zone. He joined up with the soldiers of the 505th 82nd Airborne Division until they took back the town. My great grandfather saw John Steele hanging from his parachute during the fighting. There’s also a story about how he found an elderly woman hiding in her bed under her covers. The story goes that he kissed her on the forehead, told her “Rest well little granny”, and covered her back up to keep her hidden.
If your great grandfather was part of the 101st there’s a chance his records were destroyed. After the war, the 101st was temporarily deactivated in favor of the 82nd and as a result they burned a lot of the divisions paper records before they returned home. I can’t seem to find any information about Company I (as in India) of the 502 PIR except that they exists and were a part of the D-Day events. I suspect my great grandfather is on that missing roster. The 502 is a legendary unit and I’d be floored to discover that’s who he was with.
As an Italian historian, I examined this horrible night. I met survivors and collected a number of testimonies. A historic fact is rarely mentioned by my English and American colleagues but several inhabitants of Saint Mère Eglise tried to oppose the massacre. Some people were members of Resistance but not the majority ( 12 ). Here is the official link (war memorial of the municipality) which will allow you to find the names of the 44 women and men killed that night or executed soon after ( 4 missing never recovered ), trying to prevent German from firing ( except Mrs Chapey , a french resistant radio operator. killed one month before ). Among which the case of the family Viel, all killed.. Alphonse medal-holder of the Croix de guerre, his wife Marie Thérèse died by throwing herself in front of a german soldier who fired at a wounded parachutist (unidentified ) arrived at the ground (one of the 30 prisonners )…their daughter Berthe ( 16 years) has been immediately executed by 5 or 7 bayonet wounds while she was bitting into the leg of the soldier Alfons Jackl who,2 hours later will go to take down the parachutist John Steele ( who escape later ) helped by his mate Rudolf May.
http://www.memorialgenweb.org/mobile/fr/resultcommune.php?idsource=9987
My USAF Col Uncle Arthur Charles II, flew his P51 Mustang out of Bari, Italy. He mostly flew bomber escort looking for German Luftwaffen FOCKE WOLF FW190A’s. My Uncle shot a lot them down, he was an ACE. My brothers and sister and I always admired our Uncle, The WWII Hero. He died a few years back at the age of 91. Godspeed Uncle Art, watch your 6.
does anyone remember Charles Brady who parachuted in for D-day
Hello, Charles Brady was my grandfather ❤️
My godfather, Nick Kastrantas, was one of the men who survived the st. Mere eglise jump. He told me that he landed in the backyard of a house and the people took him in where he hid until the coast was clear.
My father Dominick DiBattista E Company 505 was a proud member of the brotherhood of 82nd Airbone Paratroopers. He also jumped into St. Mere Eglise on that night and was a proud veteran. I was named after his General James M. Gavin and I have some historical documents as well as a handwritten letter from General Gavin, sent to us shortly after my birth. My parents would go to all the reunions and made a couple of trips back to St. Mere Eglise in fact, my father was there when that picture of John Steele was taken. I met Mr. Steele at the Atlantic City Convention in the mid-60’s. One of my most treasured pictures is the one I have of myself shaking hands with my namesake General Gavin, taken at that Atlantic City, NJ Convention. Those men were tough and very tight, their bonds were an unbreakable chain that would last their whole lifetimes.
My Uncle, John Jess Amburgey, died there on June 15, 1944. Attempting to fine more information on his death. Cannot find information as to whether he was a Paratrooper.. Tandy L. Amburgey
My father, Earl Haynes, was also one of these paratroopers who jumped that night. He told me that he was shot, though others died, several were hidden in the cellar of this church where the clergy and others in the Resistance cared for him and several of the injured Americans. My father said he and others injured were hidden in hay behind the church as the Nazi soldiers passed. Daddy was, thankfully, later rescued and taken to England for treatment. Daddy later went to Ft. Benning where he served as a major. He never spoke of the war or any of this until near death. Daddy always wanted to visit the site at Normandy and did not. I will be there in May of this year to see it for myself. God bless us all.
Where can I get a list of the 82nd men who were Involved in the invasion of St. Mere Eglise?
My great uncle was PVT Charles P Blankenship. I am a retired Army Special Forces Officer. I would loved to have met this great man!