Emergency Landing Strips ELS1

On June 6, 1944, 3rd Platoon Company A of the 819th Engineer Aviation Batallion, under the command of 1st Lieutenant Herbert E Moore, landed from LCT580 (serial no. 208) on Utah Beach in the Uncle Red sector at H+1h. With 40 men and equipment including 2 Caterpilar D7 2 Grader, a GMC and a jeep reconnaissance element, they joined Exit 1 of La Madeleine beach to reach the commune of Poupeville.
After taking part in the battle and destroying a strongpoint, they arrived at around 6 p.m. in the area chosen for the creation of an emergency airstrip.
This strip of land, 660 meters long and 30 meters wide, could accommodate a fighter aircraft in difficulty and unable to return to England, although its length would not allow the aircraft to take off again.
At 9.15pm, a message was transmitted announcing that the runway was operational. The company spent the night on site, securing the area, and set off again the following day for the future La Londe site....

Note: For the success of the Overlord plan, the Allies had to have supremacy of the skies. Existing airfields had been heavily damaged in preparation for the Normandy landings, hence the participation of engineering elements attached to the 9th US Army Air Force, in order to build airfields and have aircraft available on the European continent without the need to return to England after each mission, and to maintain control of the skies throughout the advance of the front.

Text, photo credit and contribution Brice Monroig

On June 6, 1944, 3rd Platoon Company A of the 819th Engineer Aviation Batallion, under the command of 1st Lieutenant Herbert E Moore, landed from LCT580 (serial no. 208) on Utah Beach in the Uncle Red sector at H+1h. With 40 men and equipment including 2 Caterpilar D7 2 Grader, a GMC and a jeep reconnaissance element, they joined Exit 1 of La Madeleine beach to reach the commune of Poupeville.After taking part in the battle and destroying a strongpoint, they arrived at around 6 p.m. in the area chosen for the creation of an emergency airstrip.This strip of land, 660 meters long and 30 meters wide, could accommodate a fighter aircraft in difficulty and unable to return to England, although its length would not allow the aircraft to take off again.At 9.15pm, a message was transmitted announcing that the runway was operational. The company spent the night on site, securing the area, and set off again the following day for the future La Londe site....Note: For the success of the Overlord plan, the Allies had to have supremacy of the skies. Existing airfields had been heavily damaged in preparation for the Normandy landings, hence the participation of engineering elements attached to the 9th US Army Air Force, in order to build airfields and have aircraft available on the European continent without the need to return to England after each mission, and to maintain control of the skies throughout the advance of the front.Text, photo credit and contribution Brice Monroig