The 101st Airborne had taken full control of the town of Carentan by June 12th, 1944. However the leadership of the division fully expected a counter attack by the Germans at any time. Recon patrols had already made positive contact with the enemy in the area southwest of Carentan.
Rather than waiting, and taking up a defensive position, it was decided to move into the area and to take the offensive against the enemy. Col. Robert Sink, commander of the 506th PIR, decided the plan of action. On the morning of June 13th, at about 5:00am, 3rd battalion of the 506th PIR stepped off for their part in the offensive. They moved in a southwestern direction from Carentan. In the lead was "G" company, followed by "I" company, and then "H" company. Private Bill Galbraith and his machine gun were part of "I" company but for this battle he was supporting "H" Company. Besides his machine gun, Bill also carried a German sniper rifle that he had taken off the body of a dead German a few days earlier. The gun had been damaged, but Bill had repaired it, with a few small modifications. The battalion soon engaged the enemy in what was to become one of the largest battles of the Normandy campaign. The enemy, it turned out, were regiments of the 17th SS Panzer Division, Götz von Berlichingen, and elements of the 6th Falschirmjäger Regiment. These were both very well trained and experienced fighting units. The 506th PIR had run right into both of these units as they were probably preparing to move towards Carentan for their counter attack.
Everyone from the 101st who was there that day was probably involved in the intense battle in some way. Even Stewart tanks were brought in to help in the battle against the Germans who also had their armor in the form of an assault gun or Sturmgechutz. Bill and his machine gun squad were definitely in the thick of it. At one point Bill had to move away from his machine gun to help a wounded soldier. A short time later, he also had to leave his German sniper rifle propped up against a tree at the rear of the battle zone as he was assisting with the wounded. Bill would return later, but only to find that someone had taken the sniper rifle.
Other units had been passing through the area where Bill had left the rifle against the tree. He was quite angry to find it missing and figured someone from another unit had taken it. But he did not have time to think about it much at that moment because he and his machine gun were needed to lay down cover fire as the battalion retreated. Bill and the other two machine gunners each took turns laying down cover fire as they retreated with the battalion. Bill actually ended up being the last man out of the area. Evidently the Germans had enough of the fighting because they never even made an attempt to follow the battalion out of the gully. Later on, when the battalion was resting after the battle, someone told Bill that a lieutenant from another unit had his sniper rifle. The guy was even boasting that he had killed the German who it had belonged to and then taken the weapon away from him. Through a series of events in which Bill’s commanding officer called the lieutenant to the table about the gun, Bill was able to prove that it was his because of markings he had made on the inside during the repair. The gun was returned to Bill. As a result, the lieutenant was disgraced and was later transferred out of the unit.
No Germans had been seen in the area to the rear of the gully where Bill had left his rifle propped against the tree. Yet the German bullet casings were found there 61 years later. While reconstructing the battle for his research, Ian Gardner did some electronic “metal detecting” in the area he thought Bill had been fighting at in the Gully. Right next to a big tree that fit the description of the one Bill had leaned his sniper rifle against, Ian discovered the two spent casings from a German rifle. Naturally there is no way to know for sure, but it sure seems that perhaps the unnamed lieutenant had taken a few pot shots from the sniper rifle before he walked off with it.
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