The situation on the morning of June 7 in Vierville and Louvières
The situation in Vierville was always difficult for Americans on the morning of June 7.
They were few in number and had no space to maneuver in case of counterattack, neither for their supply deposits, nor for reinforcements, the beach was always within the reach of German field artillery, the outlets of Vierville towards Gruchy, Louvières and Formigny were blocked by the Germans.
The St-Laurent exit (D3) was still not open, and the west half of the town of Saint-Laurent was in the hands of the Germans.
The objectives set for D-day, i.e. Grandcamp, the outskirts of Isigny, and Trévières were therefore far from being achieved.
General Gerhardt, commander of the 29th Division, had landed on the evening of D-day in Vierville and had established his command post in the quarry overlooking the bottom of the valley.
The 116th Regiment (Colonel Canham in Vierville) was tried hard and most of its units were still scattered. His battalions did not yet have any of their vehicles and had to carry heavy weapons.
The battalion 1/116 began the day with only 250 men in Vierville, but at least he had recovered his staff.
Battalions 2/116 and 3/116 were in front of St-Laurent and on the Ruquet plateau.
There were also in Vierville the Rangers (about 500 h of the 5/Rgr and 2/Rgr) and the remaining 25 tanks of the 743rd tank battalion, and what remained of the 121st Battalion of the Engineer. In total, a thousand men, grouped in Vierville while the force under the orders of Colonel Canham should have counted 4,000 men.
The reinforcement regiment, the 115th, was also without vehicles, and it had bivouaced southeast of St. Lawrence.
The 3rd regiment of the division, the 175th, was still on board the troop transport.
Early at 5:30 a.m. on June 7, a counterattack entrusted the day before to the Engineer Battalion of the 352nd Division (the 352 Pioneere Abteilung) forced Company B of the 121°Bat. du Génie to leave the Ormel and retreat towards the village.
This battalion was to attack from Louvières at 2:00 a.m. It is likely that the attack was slow to set up and that the Germans did not have the means to push very far, for lack of heavy weapons, armor and artillery (it had to retreat as a precaution in the night and was not really back in action until the evening of June 7).
The Ormel case and infiltrations in Vierville all day have greatly worried Americans, still concerned about a possible Panzer attack.
At the Pointe du Hoc, the other half of the 2nd Rangers battalion (about a hundred men capable of fighting) was still isolated, weakened by heavy losses and lacking ammunition.
The Viervillais, on the other hand, began to realize that they were freed, they counted the dead and destruction, and they were worried, like the Americans, about a possible return of the Germans.
In Louvières, the inhabitants were still waiting for the Americans, 3 of theirs had been killed.
The following decisions were taken on the night of June 6 to 7 by General Gehrardt:
1/ The Battalions 2/116 and 3/116 (currently in front of St-Laurent) would clean up the remains of enemy resistance along the cliffs between Vierville and St-Laurent
2/ The Battalion 3/115 (currently east of Saint-Laurent) would completely clean the village of St-Laurent, and would continue on Vierville for any other similar work if necessary.
3/ The Battalions 1/115 and 2/115 (currently south and southeast of Saint-Laurent), would push towards Longueville, passing largely south of Vierville, through fields, and crossing Louvières.
4/ The Battalion 1/116, the 5th Ranger Battalion and Companies A, B and C of the 2nd Ranger Battalion, supported by tanks from the 743rd Bat., (all units currently in Vierville) would leave West by road to Pointe du Hoc.
However, the German counterattack in the morning led to to urgently recall 4 of the 9 Rangers companies with a few tanks to defend Vierville and clean it of German infiltrations.
5/ The third regiment of the 29th Division, the 175th Infantry Regiment had to disembark in the afternoon and walk directly to La Cambe, crossing Vierville and Gruchy.
6/ armored reinforcements were landed on June 7 in the 29th DI sector, including:
- The CieD/743, equipped with 16 M5 Stuart light tanks.
- The 747th tank battalion (48 Sherman tanks and 16 Stuart tanks).
- Half of the 635th Battalion of Tank-Destroyer M10 to provide anti-tank support to Sherman medium tanks.
These units were to remain available to repel a German armored attack, always predictable and which greatly worried the Americans.