Battle of Carentan 1944
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 10 June 1944 – 14 June 1944 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1944 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Operation Overlord | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Nazi Germany, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 49.3050, -1.2494 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Carentan was an engagement in World War II between airborne forces of the United States Army and the German Wehrmacht during the Battle of Normandy. The battle took place from 10 to 14 June 1944, on the approaches to and within the town of Carentan, France.
The objective of the attacking American forces was consolidation of the U.S. beachheads (Utah Beach and Omaha Beach) and establishment of a continuous defensive line against expected German counterattacks. The defending German force attempted to hold the town long enough to allow reinforcements en route from the south to arrive, prevent or delay the merging of the lodgments, and keep the U.S. First Army from launching an attack towards Lessay-Périers that would cut off the Cotentin Peninsula.
Carentan was defended by two battalions of Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6 (6th Parachute Regiment) of the 2nd Fallschirmjäger-Division. The 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division, ordered to reinforce Carentan, was delayed by transport shortages and attacks by Allied aircraft. The attacking 101st Airborne Division, landed by parachute on 6 June as part of the American airborne landings in Normandy, was ordered to seize control of Carentan.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Carentan (revision 1372953342), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Battle of Graignes 1944 · 7 km
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Other battles of the Operation Overlord
- Battle for Brest 1944
- Battle for Caen 1944
- Battle of Bréville 1944
- Battle of Cherbourg 1944
- Battle of La Haye-du-Puits 1944
- Falaise pocket 1944
- Liberation of Paris 1944
All 8 battles of the Operation Overlord →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War II era battles