In the months leading up to 6 June 1944 – D-Day, the date set for the World War II Normandy Invasion – tens of thousands of American GIs poured into England, and awaited last minute preparations before crossing the English Channel. In all, more than 100,000 Allied soldiers were to be landed on the beaches of Normandy by the end of the first day. If successful, millions more would follow.
The invasion was to begin with a massive aerial assault by paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. Dropped behind enemy lines to secure vital roads and communication centers. Some would parachute. Others would go in in gliders.
The 4th Platoon, 603rd Quartermaster Graves Registration Company was assigned directly to the 82nd Airborne. But none of these GR specialists had yet been jump qualified. So the plan was for them to join in the seaborne assault, and come ashore no earlier than D+1 or 2. One of the specialists, Sergeant Elbert Legg, voiced the opinion that someone from the 603rd probably ought to go in on the initial assault. He, having been the one to mention it, was promptly "volunteered" for the mission.
A few days later, on June 1st, Sergeant Legg moved in with the combat troops and briefly familiarized himself with large wooden, Horsa-type glider that would carry his small group across the channel. Late in the evening on June 5th the air base where he was staying came alive with furious activity – lines forming, last minute checks, everyone getting in position. The invasion was on!
Planes departed throughout the night. Many never returned. And it became clear to Legg that this was the real thing. Hours later it was his turn. Into the glider they went. Eerie silence marked most of their journey – over the water, the coastline, past German defenses, the infamous French hedgerows, to the clearing beyond. His glider ("Number 32") was cut loose and down she went, crash-landing in an open field.
Discovering he was OK, Sergeant Legg wasted no time setting up a collection point, and immediately began receiving the dead. More bodies followed. Then more. By the end of the first week nearly 350 American soldiers had been buried in the temporary cemetery at Blosville. Nearly 6,000 by the end of June.
Sergeant Legg is a vivid reminder that American soldiers take care of their own, that they habitually treat with RESPECT their comrades in arms – both the living and the dead.
Compiled by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps Historian Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia