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The Taking of
Pouppeville ©
Early in the morning of
6 June 1944 General Maxwell D. Taylor
commander of the 101st Airborne
Division had gathered around 180 soldiers.
Taylor gave Major Lawrence J. Legere the
task of taking the town of Pouppeville with
some of those soldiers.
Legere led his soldiers
marching down the middle of the road out
ahead of everyone. Soon a shot rang out
from a sniper and Legere went down. A
Medic, Technical Five Edward S. Hohl ran to
the Major. Within seconds Medical
Detachment Medic Hohl was killed by the same
sniper.
501st
Parachute Infantry Regiment Company G
soldiers moved to take out the Command
Post. Company G Captain Vernon Kraeger was
wounded and his Radio Operator Corporal Joe
C. Garcia was killed.
After the sniper was
dispatched the attack continued into
Pouppeville. There was a house that was a
Command Post that was the target. Company G
First Lieutenant Nathan M. Marks’ squad
reached a small house next to the Command
Post. Marks looked around the corner and
was killed, shot in the face.
Shortly after two more
Company G soldiers went down, Private First
Class Robert P. Richards was killed and
Sergeant Thomas D. Criswell was severely
wounded. Sergeant Criswell died on a ship
on the way back to England. The other
Company G soldier killed was Private Harold
E. Hibbard.
After the house was
taken and the Germans surrendered 6 soldiers
that had been killed were taken to
Franqueville west of Pouppeville and buried
in an orchard Coordinate 410:940. The 7th
soldier who’d died ship board was Sergeant
Criswell who was buried at Brookwood,
England.
Two soldiers from
Headquarters Company Third Battalion
soldiers were also hit in the attack were
Technical Five Henry L. Gullick who was
killed and Private William J. Murphy who was
wounded during the attack.
The remaining six
soldiers were moved to St. Mère-Église #2
Cemetery for re-burial 7 July 1944.
In the short attack to
take Pouppeville, France 7 killed and 8
wounded. Just the long beginning for the
soldiers from the 501st Parachute
Regiment attached to the 101st
Airborne Division in the taking of
Pouppeville, France.
Below is a list of all
the soldiers who died and one who was
wounded
6 June KIA attack on
Pouppeville.
Marks, Nathan M.
0-1293986 KIA Co G 501st Prcht Inf
Garcia, Jesse
C. 18220774 KIA Co G 501st Prcht
Inf
Hibbard, Harold E.
6919161 KIA Co G 501st Prcht Inf
Gullick, Henry L.
14185620 KIA Hq Co 3rd Bn 501st
Prcht Inf
Richards, Robert P.
32730452 KIA Co G 501st Prcht Inf
Hohl, Edwin
S. 12216462 KIA Med Det 501st
Prcht Inf (atchd to Co G)
Criswell, Thomas D.
18193957 DOW Co G 501st Prcht Inf
6 June LWA
Murphy, William J.
36509596 LWA Hq Co 3rd Bn 501st Prcht Inf
All of the records for
these soldiers’ are here.
BN Siddall
January 5, 2025
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