A small-unit American airborne defense that delayed a German SS counterattack on Carentan and ended in a massacre of 44 French civilians.
Key Facts
- Battle dates
- June 10–12, 1944
- American unit
- U.S. 82nd Airborne Division
- German unit
- 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen
- Civilians massacred
- 44 people
- Duration of American defense
- 2 days
- Related battle delayed
- Battle of Bloody Gulch, June 13, 1944
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the Allied airborne landings preceding D-Day, American paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division were scattered by navigation errors and landed near Graignes, France. They organized a defensive perimeter in the town, which lay in the path of the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division's planned counterattack toward the strategically vital town of Carentan.
From June 10 to 12, 1944, a small force of American paratroopers held Graignes against repeated assaults by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division. Supported by local French civilians, the Americans defended the town for two days before being overwhelmed and forced to withdraw as German forces retook the commune.
The defense delayed the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division's counterattack on Carentan; when that attack finally came, it was repulsed at the Battle of Bloody Gulch on June 13. After recapturing Graignes, German troops massacred 44 civilians and an undisclosed number of American prisoners of war captured at an aid station, and burned much of the town.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent