Bringing ashore massive amounts of materiel on D-Day and beyond, Construction Battalions were vital to Allied success in northern France
During early 1944, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel had begun preparations to repel an Allied amphibious assault that the German High Command knew was coming somewhere along the coast of Nazi-occupied Europe. He ordered millions of mines to be sown and the construction of steel hedgehogs and Belgian gate obstacles to hinder approaching landing craft and armour.
When the ‘Longest Day’, June 6 1944, arrived, the Normandy beaches were the scene of heavy fighting. British, American, Canadian and Free French troops stormed ashore, and among the first to set foot in France with the US troops at Utah and Omaha beaches were men of the US Navy Construction Battalions.
The Seabees were trailblazers in Normandy on D-Day, as well as afterwards, with many of their number having trained as combat demolition specialists. Their initial responsibility was to blast Rommel’s minefields and beach obstacles, clearing the way for the American soldiers of the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions at Omaha and the 4th Infantry Division at Utah to come ashore and move inland. From D-Day throughout the coming weeks, the Seabees played an integral role in maintaining the chain of supplies and equipment that gave the American forces the sustenance and firepower necessary to win the decisive campaign along with their Allied partners.
The Seabees had been born via the exigencies of war. When the US entered the Second World War, it was immediately clear that combat engineers – military units that could both build and fight if necessary – were needed. From their inception in early 1942 through to the end of the conflict and to the present day, the US Navy Seabees have lived up to their motto of We Build, We Fight.
Seabee blood was shed early on D-Day as demolition teams took heavy enemy fire while moving from obstacle to obstacle to set explosive charges. In some cases, German mortar rounds or machine-gun fire killed or wounded entire squads. Nevertheless, the Seabee mission was completed. The 25th Construction Battalion (CB) Regiment contributed its 11th Battalion to Omaha Beach and its 28th and 81st Battalions to Utah. Throughout the day, the Seabees were under fire, losing at least two men killed in action, five missing and more than 50 combat wounded or sustaining other injuries. Elements of additional Seabee units were dispersed across the landing beaches as well.
As the invasion wore on, more than 10,000 Seabees of the 25th Regiment continued to work under fire, building causeways that enabled men and materiel to be brought fr
