D-DAY

U.S

Canada

Great Britain

Germany

Charles Hangsterfer

Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret). Civilian soldier

My name is Charles Hangsterfer, Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret). Civilian soldier. I was born 31 October 1918 in Philadelphia PA, the year of the influenza epidemic, and 11 days before Armistice of World War One. Halloween birthdays never allow for a birthday party - everybody is trick or treating and has no time for giving presents. Upon graduation from Gettysburg College I received a commission as 2nd Lt Infantry as a result of participation in the ROTC program. I went on active duty as a Thomason Act Officer in June 1940 and was detailed to Fort Benning Officer’s Refresher Course and communications course. Upon completion I joined the 16th Infantry at Fort Jay NY. I never had a chance to become a “foot-soldier” as I was assigned to go on amphibious maneuvers with 3rd and 16th down in Puerto Rico. The army was short of supplies and equipment so we used row boats or made an outline of landing craft on the ground with rope, rocks, or whatever was available so as to get the boat teams used to acting as a unit. After the maneuver were completed, the 3rd and 16th sailed to Britain and acted as quartering party for the entire division to assemble at Fort Devens, Mass.iiii

In November 1942 I landed at Arza, North Africa and participated in the campaign in Algeria as Regiment Communications Officer. When this campaign was completed we thought we were going home but instead landed at Gela Sicily. I was then 1st Battalion H Co. CO. As the song goes - “We won’t come back till it’s over over there.” So the division went to England to prepare for the invasion of Europe.

Every unit had to go through assault training near Ilfracombe, England. The rifle companies were divided into 30-man assault teams - consisting of pathfinder scouts to mark and blow a path through mine fields or barbed wire to mark way to a pillbox or strong point. They were supported by rifle, MG, and mortar fire, so as to maneuver a pole and satchel charge team who were to blow a hole in aperture of the pillbox. And then a flamethrower would finish off the job. It was a fire and maneuver plan which took time even when there was no hostile fire.

The ship’s mess consisted of steak and ice cream for dinner. Giving a condemned man his last good meal on earth ran through my mind. However, shortly after the evening meal, word came down there would be a delay of one day. I remember how let down everyone seemed. On one hand nobody wants to expose themselves to danger but this was main reason everyone was fighting... lets get it over so we all could go home. This would be another day away from home and another day of anxiety and sweating out what might happen.

About June 1st we were ordered to proceed to Weymouth and board our transport ship the “Samuel Chase.” Once aboard the ship we were issued the operations order “Overlord.” The big picture was - the British were to land on our left - our code name Sword and Gold Beach. The 4th Division was to land on our right at Utah Beach. The Rangers to land at Point du Hoc to our right, and the First Division and 29th were to land on Omaha Beach. General Clarence Herbert was the 1st Division CO and was in command of the initial assault on Omaha Beach.

The 16th Infantry and 116th and 29th were to be the task force and land first with General Norman Cata ADC 29th Operational Control. The 18th Infantry would follow the 16th, with the 26th Infantry following the 18th.

"On the evening of 4 June we were told D-Day was going to be on the 5th."

As we got in view of the shore, some of the landing craft from the first wave were returning to the transports. They waved to us, we waved back just like you would do on a pleasure boat ride. As we approached the beach I could see the water obstacles still in place. It appeared to be high tide so it was perilous trying to land. I could see landing craft being blown up by mines and could hear machine gun fire. I yelled to the coxswain to let down the ramp but Major Al Smith, battalion executive officer in front of the boat could hear machine gun rounds hitting the front of the craft and until it was all clear he didn’t give the signal to lower the ramp. When the ramp was lowered the troops ran off in a hurry, but not before we were raked with machine gun fire which hit a few men. I helped one of them to shore and looked for Major Smith. There were so many troops on the beach it was difficult to find a space to take cover from the enemy small arms fire. There was one path through the barbed wire which led to what appeared to be a swamp. This swamp didn’t show up on our photo so it must have been excess rain water. However, it was over waist deep so the troops had to hold their rifles overhead. It was just like a movie I had seen where some troops making a surprise attack through a swamp had done.

I found the Beach Master station and borrowed his loudspeaker to call for troops of the 1st Battalion to report to me. A few did report and they helped me round up more. I noticed a mortar crew getting set up to fire and I asked them if they had observation on what they were firing at. They didn’t, so I told them to stop until our troops were up over the top of the ridge, besides, I was going up there myself in a few minutes and I didn’t want to hit by friendly fire. Then an enemy mortar shell hit nearby me and I was pelted with stones, fortunately not a shell fragment, I so I was bruised. Later I found out that this beach was a source of supply for stones used to grind paint pigment.

After I assembled a sizeable group of the Battalion I led them through the swamp back to Major Smith’s position. Our Company A, Captain Jim Pence commanding, led his company across the beach and through the barbed wire and swamp and up the steep ridge. This made it possible for the group I was with to get off the beach. On the hill up the ridge was evidence of the price that was paid. Dead bodies either shot or blown up by personnel mines. It’s hard to express the feeling I had when I saw the dead soldiers I knew. There wasn’t anything there to help either; nothing with which to cover their bodies. I remember seeing them in training and at other occasions but you can’t let it bother you too much..