The Battle at La Fiere

31/07/2025

This is a really interesting film I haven’t seen before, it appears they are preparing for Market Garden, Glider Riders, no unit insignia, Antitank crews prepping their guns for loading onto gliders. Any thoughts on which Division they’re from, 101st is my thoughts but I could be wrong.

WWII Paratroopers & Artillery Crews Prepare for Combat — Rare Color Film (1944–45, Music Only)This rare, restored color footage—filmed by the U.S. Army Signa...

06/07/2025

Sorry I've been absent for a while, thank you for all the likes, I hope you have found this page useful.

I got a little discouraged about not being able to find out much about the German Soldiers captured at the farm, if I was only back home, I'd sit in the records office and gladly sift through all the interviews from the German soldiers who were interrogated back in England, following their capture and transportation across the channel.

However, I'm not there and whilst the records exist I cannot pay someone to do this research on my behalf. If some one has an interest in finding out the full story of the soldiers who fought and died at La Fiere on both sides, I'd love to hear from you.

I do have a question for those who may know more about the German Soldiers in Normandy who has done some amazing research on the subject.

I have been looking at a photo for some time which appears to depict a grave yard on the Manoir site on the east side of the road, near the two gravel pits, it could have been made by the Farmers for the animals that may have been killed during the battle, or it could be a temporary grave site for the German soldiers who were killed there. If anyone has a copy of this photo, that we could analyse it would be really cool.

You can see a cross at the location in the box indicated in red, this was the area of the temporary aid station, one of the gravel pits, which would make sense, on the original aerial you can clearly see disturbed individual grave plots. They were probably all collected? I have no idea tbh.

30/11/2024

Ok so I've managed to find a Neptune Map of the area which shows the Road Network in and around Baupte just to the west of Carantan, Baupte was the CP of the 1st Kompanie of the Panzer Ersatz-und-Ausbildungsabteilung 100, with the 2nd Company slightly to the north at Coigny and the 3rd Company at Auvers just to the south.

Their location indicates why it was so important that the bridges were seized and destroyed at the locations indicated on the map by the 82nd on the morning of D-day, because it was across in all probability the Etienville Bridge, that the German Armored unit used to cross the Douvre and travelled on to La Fiere and Chef Du Pont. With these two bridges remaining intact, a lot more pressure was able to be imposed at La Fiere and Chef Du Pont than otherwise may have been, which resulted in as we know high casualties.

We have to remember though, with all the best planning in the world, things don't always go as planned, the 82nd had to adapt and tough it out, which we all know they did.

30/11/2024

You may recall that a few months ago, I drew up a map with the locations of the objectives listed by the 82nd that they initially wanted to secure on D-day.

Due to the miss drops, with exception of the 505th PIR who basically nearly all landed where they were intended to, this became impossible and had a knock on effect especially for the 82nd paratroopers not in so much when they were attacking the La Fiere Manor, but more in the defence and later taking of the causeway between la Fiere and Cauquigny.

The reason these bridges and cross roads were so important on the southern edge of the map was due to the expected counter attacks from the 91st Infantry Division and the possible routes they might take to reach La Fiere, St Mere Eglise and then onto the beach head itself.

Now I'm looking at the German Grenadier Regiment's, Artillery and Panzer Units and their CP locations, it make a whole lot more sense as to why these bridges and cross roads were so important and why not capturing them on D-Day, unfortunately cost so many lives.

In my next post o will be look at the locations of the various Regiments that countered at la Fiere, what route they may have taken to get there and the engagements they had along the way.

Unfortunately, my efforts to obtain the interrogation reports for the soldiers captured at La Fiere by the US Paratroopers has fallen on hard ground. Whilst they have the documents, they have requested that someone does the research for me on site, so if any of you are in the UK and would fancy spending a few days at the National Archives ctr, going through the various records please let me know.

21/11/2024

Hi all,

We know with some confidence that there was a Panzer three from
Panzer Ersatz-und-Ausbildungsabteilung 100, the photo below indicates this without a doubt.

But which version of the Panzer III was it? Now Ausf G has been given the nod by some researchers, although others are not 100% sure.

Couple of things to note here:- it has the armored vent covers on the rear, which means it was possibly meant for Africa use, but as we know this didn't go so well, so may not have been deployed there. You see these on Ausf J but not so much G's.

We also know that allot of tanks were being cobbled together out of this and that, with this being a training unit, it would not surprise me if they were given what was available, rather than what they wanted.

However, the differences between the G and J appear to be mainly related to the thickness of the armor, a slightly increased Hull length to accommodate this change, a armored roof vent in the turret, which we are not able to see in this case and the Ausf.J was equipped with a 75mm KwK 40 L/48 gun, while the Ausf.G had a 5cm Kw.K 38 L/42 tank gun.

It would appear that with the consideration that the Records indicate that the armament was 50mm rather than 75mm and that G was also referred to in reports, this may well be a G, originally prepared for Africa and then reassigned to France and this training unit.

The 2nd Image is of a Panzer 3 Ausf G in Russia and as you can see, there is allot of similarities here, with the exception that the G in Russia does not have the armored ventilation/hatch covers on the rear of the vehicle, however, the back sprocket wheels are identical as is the exhaust location etc.

So what version do you think this is?

15/11/2024

In other News, I think I may have found the interrogation reports the The 82nd Airborne Division in World War II was referring too.

I've requested a copy of them from the Archives, like everything this will take time to arrive and time to go through, but hopefully I should be able to glean allot of information from them. Just have to keep my fingers crossed.

I did find another 3rd Battalion 1057th Regt Grenadier who was listed as missing in Cauquigny on the 9th June 1944, in the listed missing soldiers on the IRC's lists. I also found a possible relative in the town he was born in and have approached them for information about the soldier.

This is always a difficult thing for people to deal with, being contacted out of the blue by someone who has an interest in a deceased member of their family. I hope they are willing to provide some background, however, the chances are I may not hear anything which is understandable.

15/11/2024

I've been trying to decide for some time what truck, described as a German weapons carrier by one of the members of the 82nd Airborne was placed across the western end of the bridge?

Now we have a photo of the truck, on it's side, on site a few days after the battle, be it a part image, the closest to it is the Citreon U23, which would make sense, as it's also described as a French/German Truck and was basically a utility vehicle used by the Germans in France.

It's not the Peugeot due to the fact it has a bonnet and Mud Guards, it has to be a smaller Lightweight truck for a few airborne infantryman to have pushed it from the farm to the western end of the bridge and flipped it on it's side.

Here's a few pictures of a Citreon U23, could be one of the usual suspects, but seems to fit the bill. Let me know your thoughts.

13/11/2024

You know when you look at a photo and you're focused on something specific and miss something of importance, here is a good example of that.

There has always been a fair bit of conjecture that there was, or was not a truck placed at the end of the bridge by members of the 82nd Airborne. Well, this picture I think answers that.

I had been focused on the Panzer 3, Hotchkiss and Renault tanks and had missed the truck lying on its side, it's bonnet and mudguards facing towards the camera. which type of truck this is? well could anyone of several as I have discussed before, but at least it's there.

29/10/2024

Hi all,

I'm making some progress with my search for the German Soldiers who fought at La Fiere, it's a bit of a grind but that's what comes with researching things.

I've completed my examination of the records of missing personnel in the Normandy Region for the 1079 Grenadier Regiment all three battalions and Panzer Ersatz-und-Ausbildungsabteilung 100, they only had three companies in the area, so their numbers are very low.

I'm well into the 1078 Grenadier Battalion at the moment and i'm already seeing some interesting patterns appear.

Now the information I have gleaned from the International Red Cross records was correct as of 1950, bearing in mind there were still soldiers guys after that time in some Allied Prison of War Camps and the fact that the majority of German soldiers were not reinterred into the Official German Cemetry's was not completed until the 1970's means there are discrepancies between the personnel which the IRC has listed as missing and the German War Graves Commission have listed as missing.

So, I'm cross checking them to see if they have been found and re buried or if they still have no known grave or location. I'm also completing a check of memorials from the towns they are listed as coming from in Germany, I've also contacted the German army Records office to try and get the names and numbers of the Soldiers associated with those regiments.

One thing I have noticed is that there are groups of soldiers missing from certain Battalions in very specific locations, St Mere-Eglise is one example and there are no records of these men being reinterred. The best scenario would be they were captured and returned to their homes after the war, however, the chances are they are in an unmarked mass grave somewhere close to the town, that's been forgotten over the years.

If you'd like a copy of the spreadsheet I'm creating for this part of the project let me know and I'll send you a link. This information should be shared, I don't own it, I'm simply collating it. I would also remind you and I need to remind myself, that these were real people, with real families who contacted the red cross to find their relatives. So please be respectful of the information that you obtain and how you use it.

22/10/2024

Ok this is how I'm going to start to track down, which German Soldiers were fighting in and around La Fiere.

Well in truth I have already started.

Unfortunately, there has been very little information forth coming from the German records office, in fact their website states that they will not be looking up anyone until January 2025 as they have reached their limit for enquiries. Which is fair enough tbh.

So I'm approaching my research from a slightly different angle and I'm already getting promising results.

Ater the War ended, the International Red Cross collected a missing person list for German soldiers who had vanished during WW2, this list is available online. A significant number of German soldiers, who were either killed or went missing during WW2 still have not been located, which is terrible tbh.

What the IRC provide is a photo if available, in all probability this would have been originally provided by a relative, where and when the soldier was born, where they were last seen and when they were last seen. Now these are only given as a month and a year for example June 1944. Whilst this is fairly vague, we do know which units were involved.

Grenadier-Regiment 1057, 91. Infanterie Division
III/Grenadier-Regiment 1058, 91. Infanterie Division
Panzer-Ersatz-Abteilung 100

This reduces the demograph, the window if you like. So the IRC Records allow you to search by Unit/Regiment and after selecting that unit you are presented with a page, so here I'm looking at Grenadier Regiment 1057, and the first screenshot indicates that this soldier was listed as missing in June 1944 at St Mere Eglise, As this was an occupied area, this may have been one of the Soldiers Lost on D-Day... but still not a La Fiere.

The next soldier is from Grenadier Regiment 1057 2nd Bat, he went missing in Amfreville, June 1944... so we are getting closer but already we can see which Battalions were where and also confirms that 1057 was indeed engaged with the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne.

Well here's the clincher. Werner Engert 19 Years Old.. this soldier went missing June 44 Cauquigny, which is just across the causeway at La Fiere, He's from the 3rd Battalion 1057, considering that this hamlet was captured/lost and recaptured again in the days that followed June 6th, it gives us a good understanding of which battalions were where in this area.

Now this is not only interesting from a history point of view, but the fact that this small hamlet is listed as where he went missing indicates that the relatives were probably told by someone in his unit who saw him there, the majority of the entries for troops who went missing in June 1944 are listed in general areas, Normandie, Cherboug etc... these general locations may well have been the result of MIA notifications from the Regiment, considering the chaos on the German side in the first days and weeks of the invasion, generalizations would be common place.

So this is the first small piece in a rather large puzzle, I know that at least some of the 3rd Bat 1057 was in and around Cauquigny, it therefore follows, (stretching here a little) that this battalion of the regiment was also at La Fiere and the Manor houses. Hence I can start looking for soldiers from the 3rd Bat, if i can find out what company Werner was in, I'm not sure if the "B" is related to that, it will start narrowing things down a little further.

I have checked the Panzer-Ersatz-Abteilung 100, they have no one listed as missing in this area, which surprised me... but that's for another day.