Operations 29th Infantry Division - Group Critique Notes.

Prepared by Lt. Col. S.L.A. Marshall (War Department, G.S.)

The D-Day experiences of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 116th Infantry, 29th Division on Omaha Beach

This account tied in with that given by Company "F", 16th Infantry. The enemy strongpoint was the same as mentioned in the account of the 5th Section of Company "F", 16th Infantry. The men of the 5th section, Company "F", 116th Infantry, were those who operated with the 5th Section, Company "F", 16th Infantry. Neither group knew the exact identity of the ther, but the stories of the 2 groups, plus descriptions of each other, are identical.

Statement of the detachment of Company "H", 116th Infantry, which was to support Company "F", 116th Infantry, is as follows :

This detachment came onto the beach at "H-Hour" plus 30 minutes but failed to find the unit it was supposed to support. The detachment consited of 38 men in 2 boats with one machine-gun section and one squad of mortars. The men reached the high water line withut difficulty, but here the Machine-Gun Sergeant was killed, and the officer in charge of the detachment, Lt. Saracin was wounded. The detachment remained on the beach for 3 or 4 hours. One gun opened fire on an emplacement on the hill, but the results were not determined. Later this group moved down on the beach to the left, past the hospital set up by the 16th Infantry. They climbed thru an exit opened by the 16th at the top of the hill and joined with seattered riflemen of the 16th Infantry. They joined in firing on enemy machine-gun positions. As Company "C", of the 16th Infantry went forward to St. Laurent-sur-Mer, the detachment from Company "F", 116th returned to the Second Battalion, 116th Infantry, that evening at about 1600 hours.