The United States Army in World War Two

[dragoon500ly]

Originally Posted by Adm.Lee

It's my understanding that a few battalions of 4.2" mortars were used in the early waves of most amphibious landings in the ETO and MTO. They were portable enough to be gotten to the beach on LCVP, and had the firepower and range to be effective while firing from just off the beach.

Having said that, I can come up with zero sources for this assertion at this moment....

The best source for the Normandy landings is "Spearheading D-Day, American Special Units in Normandy" from Histoire & Collections (THANK GAWD! For re-enactors!!!!)

"Much less space was needed to transport the 4.2-inch mortar units than a regular artillery battalion, so a chemical mortar battalion were assigned to the early waves. The mortars would be pulled ashore on small wheeled carts and would be able to be placed into action upon reaching dry land. On Omaha Beach, a major problem was that these powerful mortars needed a minimum range of 550 yards and in some places, the Germans were not pushed back that far until later in the day."

"The 81st Chemical Mortar Battalion was assigned to support the Omaha Beach landings, with A and C companies attached to the 16th Infantry Regiment and B and D companies to the 116th Infantry. The original plans called for the mortars to be landed with the 2nd waves. Due to the confusion on the beach, A and D companies were not landed unitl H+50, B company at H+90 and C company at H+9 hours."

"B Company was mis-landed on Beach Easy Green at about 0930 hours. The company managed to move inland through a uncleared minefield and set up their firing positions. It was not until 1700 hours that they were able to fire thier first fire mission of the day."

"Much of the 81st's equipment was lost during the landings and the troops had to man-carry the mortars and ammunition inland."

"The 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion was assigned to Utah Beach. A company was attached to the 1/8th Infantry, B company to the 2/8th Inf, C company to the 3/8th Inf and D company to the 3/22nd Inf. During the landing, two mortars and two jeeps were lost when an LCVP was sunk, but no personnel drowned."

"A and B companies were landed at H+5- and set up firing positions just behind the sand dunes. They quickly fired some 100 rounds before moving further inland 40 minutes later. C and D companies also landed and set up within the sand dunes, before firing some 40 additional rounds before moving inland."

Hope this helps!