Page 13

dash, crossing the flat under fire. It was not accurate, however,
and they got to the far side and were pretty well dug in before the
German defenders (there were some fire pits and gun positions just
50 yards beyond the lock) began to find the range with any power.
Then they rained mortar fire on the lock area, mingling it with
small arms and automatic fire. The Americans had dug their fox-
holes deep in the soft clay and they stuck it without too much
trouble. They had found the lock a rather simple affair, about
30 feet wide, and hand-operated. It was undamaged; they had ar-
rived in time. The Germans seemed quite content to remain at a
respectful distance and try to root them out with fire.

Johnson was about 300 yards from this detachment. He could see
the men when they went in. After they went to earth, they were
no longer visible to him, but he knew they were alright. Shortly
afterward---about 0600---he heard the racket of a continuing small
arms-automatic fire to the northward; it was the first sign to him
that an action was coming along up there and that other American
forces would probably be advancing toward him. There were no more
men coming into him now, and he knew if he was to build his force
up any larger, it would be by his own action. The position at the
lock appeared to be secure for the time being; on the other hand the
small (4-5) patrols which he sent out reported that they could not
move more than a couple hundred yards in any direction without draw-
ing fire. The bridges across the Douve appeared to be heavily de-
fended and any approach to that flank was sharply met. Johnson's
own position was none too good. He was in a hollow. From the high
ground around Carentan and on the other side of the river near St
Come, the Germans could put him under observation and fire without
great difficulty. At 0630, a patrol came in with word that Major
R. J. Allen, S-3, was at Bse Addeville with a fair-sized force.
This was to the N of Johnson's position. The patrol couldn't tell
him what Allen's situation was---whether he was pressed or not.
Johnson knew that he couldn't move against the bridges with the
few men at his disposal. He decided to move the bulk of his force---
50 men---to Allen, leaving the force at the locks as it was. He
told them of his decision. At 0730 the force got underway, moving
back via the swampy ground and the ditches. They reached Bse
Addeville at about 0900, having come under fire most of the way.
Coming through one of the last fields, the last man in the column
had been hit by a bullet while some distance behind. Lieut Edley
Craighill of Company A---later killed by arty fire south of
Carentan---dropped his weapon, crawled back across the wide and
fire-swept space and drgged the man to safety. There were about
100 men with Allen, including many of the Rgt's key personnel,
and including Lieut Farrell, USN, who had taken special drop train-
ing with the Rgt for SFC pruposes. The Bse Addeville force was
occupying a group of houses and had been engaging the enemy to the
north and west. Allen had taken charge and was making the village a
rendezvous point. He had hoped to collect enough men to go on
against St Come, but he was also intending, in advance of that
to try and clear out the enemy forces which were pressing him from
the north. His was a conglomerate force---including men from most