The Battle of Bloody Gulch

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The Battle of Bloody Gulch was a battle that took place near Hill 30 (U.S. Army Designation) just outside Carentan in Normandy, France on June 13, 1944, between the German 17th Waffen SS Panzergrenadiers and the American 502nd and 506th Parachute Infantry Regiments of the 101st Airborne Division.

When the Americans captured the town of Carentan, they met relatively little resistance, due to the fact that the Waffen SS had been pulled out of the city earlier that week; and after a day of fighting, managed to drive the Germans out of the city. Both sides realized the importance of the city. For the Americans, it was a link between Utah Beach and Omaha Beach. Capturing the city would provide the soldiers that landed on both beaches to link up and gather their bearings; gather supplies; and launch attacks on other German-occupied towns. For the Germans, it would be a base for surgical strikes onto the two beaches to destroy and capture valuable resources of the Allies. If the Allies lost the city, the entire invasion, Operation: Overlord, might be doomed.

The Germans resupplied themselves with men, weapons and resources, and lauched an attack on the Americans on June 13th. The attack lasted from dawn to about 1:00 p.m. The Germans brought in Panzer tanks and tank destroyers, along with fanatically loyal Fallschirmjägers, to drive the Americans back to the city and destroy them for good. By about 10:30 a.m., the 506th PIR was pushed almost back to the city. At this time, the 502nd PIR (which had helped capture the city) arrived from Omaha Beach, where they had been resupplying. They aided the 506th, but by 1:00 a.m., they had suffered many casualties.

Just in time, tanks from the 2nd armor division arrived from Omaha Beach and quickly destroyed the Panzers and tank destroyers. They eventually pushed the Germans out of the city and eliminated most in the hedgerows. The Germans were beaten severely, and were forced to retreat from the area.

[edit] The Battle in Fiction

The battle was relatively unknown to the American public, overshadowed by larger battles such as the Battle of the Bulge (which would occur later in the war). The battle became better known recently with the release of the video-game Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. The game portrayed a fictional group of soldiers (who were based on a real group), led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole (who was a real soldier), on their journey to take Carentan. The game is quite possibly the most realistic World War II game ever released, due to its extreme use of violence, blood/ gore, and profanity; while taking very few dramatic liberties except perhaps the use of the brotherhood created by men in war times. The final level of the game is the Battle of Bloody Gulch, which concludes with the tanks from the 2nd Armored division arriving on the battlefield.

The battle is also briefly portrayed in the miniseries Band of Brothers (in the episode Carentan), which portrays the 506th P.I.R.'s part in the battle.

The video-game Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood has a mission entitled "Bloody Gulch" where Hartstock's squad clears the left flank. It explains why Hartsock was missing from the second fight after Baker wakes up and it shows why a limited number of German tanks came.

[edit] References

Brothers in Arms: The Untold Story of the 502nd - A two part documentary on the History Channel hosted by Ron Livingston (who played Captain Lewis Nixon in the miniseries Band of Brothers), which combined footage from the video game Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, real footage from the war, and interviews with historians and men of the 502nd P.I.R. who actually took place in the battles; to create an hour by hour review of the 502nd's journey from their mislandings at St. Mere-Eglise to the Battle of Bloody Gulch.