Dr. Walt’s Latest World War II Blogs

The 3rd Division’s mission in southern France was to land on beaches in the vicinity of St. Tropez and Cavalaire, approximately 30 miles east of Toulon. Once […]

As the men followed him down the rope ladders into other Higgins boats, Phil yelled to them, “Hold the verticals, or your hands will be stepped […]

At dawn on D-Day, August 15, 1944, there were ships as far as the eye could see.[1] Onboard an LST in the Mediterranean Sea, Phil Larimore […]

OPERATION DRAGOON [the southern France D-Day], originally called ANVIL, had first been intended as a diversion during OPERATION OVERLORD [the D-Day at Normandy] to occupy eighteen […]

By August 13, [almost all of the ships were] underway, part of a naval force totaling some 1,000 ships, all committed to landing some 151,000 troops, […]

Phil wrote his last letter home before the D-day apparently from the ship on which he was sailing.[1]

The Marnemen left the Naples area by convoy.[1] Units had received maps in sealed packages seventy-two hours before embarking, together with the Seventh Army identification code […]

On the afternoon of August 11th, the Chief of Staff and other personnel boarded the USS Henrico in the Bay of Naples. Here the Seventh Army […]

After two days of sailing, on August 10, Phil and Ross Calvert were sharing a smoke on their ship’s afterdeck when they noticed a speck in […]

Finally, on August 9, we pushed off, and looking out over the harbor, we saw Winston Churchill, riding around in a speedboat, smoking his cigar, and […]