James J. FARRELL

 

Farrell james j
ARMY SERIAL NUMBER33254402
AGE26 yo
DATE OF BIRTH14 July 1918
STATEBlair County PENNSYLVANIA
FAMILYMarried
RANKPvt
FONCTIONParatrooper
JOB before ENLISTEMENTSemiskilled cranemen, derrickmen, hoistmen, and shovelmenPENNSYLVANIA
DATE of ENLISTEMENT2 october 1942 Altoona PENNSYLVANIA
COMPANYCompany I
BATTALION3rd Battalion
REGIMENT506th Parachutiste Infantry Regiment
DIVISION101st Airborne Division
DATE OF DEATH6 june 1944farrell james j tombe
STATUSKIA
PLACE OF DEATHMagneville
DATA PLANDouglas C-47 - type A-75-DL - s/n 42-100905 9X*? Chalk #15

C 47 douglas

Macr: 6167
Mission: Serial 16 Mission Albany - Paratroopers Transportation of 506th 101st AB - DZ D à Angoville au Plain et l’heure de largage est 1h43.
Position of the C47: 6juin1944.com
Take Off: Station 463 Exeter, Devon UK For a drop at 01:40
Shots by flak
CEMETERY COMMUNALCEMETERY COMMUNAL of Magneville
CEMETERY TEMPORARY

CEMETERY TEMPORARY of Blosville

C 47 douglas

Story of Cemetery of Temporary

CEMETERYNORMANDY AMERICAN CEMETERY from Colleville

Map Normandy American Cemetery

GRAVE
PlotRowGrave
C2512
DECORATION
  
Purple HeartPhoto
  
American Campaign Medalamerican campaign medal
  
World War II Victory Medalvictory medal
  
Combat Infantry Badgecombat infantryman badge
us armydiv 101506pir
STORY 

 

Married, James enlisted for airborne troops in October 1942. He joined the 506th P.I.R. who was at Camp Toccoa in Georgia.

Camp Toccoa

Camp Toccoa


The training that begins in this camp is the first step that will eliminate those who will not resist the hardness of the parachuting school. These days and nights are punctuated between daily races (including the famous climb to Mount Currahee), walks, intense sports sessions, the path of the fighter, theoretical and practical courses on the profession of infantryman, weapons handling, shooting, etc… will lead men to exhaustion and beyond their limits ; but they will come out as true soldiers of elite troops.

Fort benning

Fort Benning

 

Early December is the transfer to Fort Benning for parachute jump training. The program consists of four one-week phases.
The first week that is reserved for physical preparation (week that for the 506th will prove unsuitable because the regiment comes with exceptional preparation and fitness).

The second week is reserved for learning about folding, simulation of jumping from platforms (model  planes, 10m tour, etc…) to learn how to fall.
The third week is the one of jumps from the famous frying pans, 80m high towers that perfectly transcribe the conditions of jumps.
Then comes the last week of the C-47 jumps, five jumps that will be crowned with the “wings” award, the parachutist certificate.
James will pass all these steps successfully and leave on Boxing Day on a 10-day leave.
Returning in mid-January 1943, the regiment trained in urban fighting techniques.

Camp Mackall


In april, it is the start towards Camp Mackall where training takes an intensive turn, the jumps take place with equipment and weapons followed by three days in simulation of enemy territories.
On June 10, the regiment was attached to the 101st Airborne Division.
In early July, the 506th took part in large maneuvers in three states (Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana), where the fighting exercises followed the jumps.
The regiment then moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, until its departure day for Camp Shanks a few kilometres from New York to prepare for a departure for the Old Continent.

Fort benning

 

On September 3, James and the regiment boarded the SS Samaria from where they landed on September 15 in Liverpool.

Trains will take the men south of Hungerford in Witlshire and will then be assigned to their various quarters
For James and the third battalion it will be Ramsbury.

A rigorous training regime will begin in the camps and surroundings of the English countryside, complete with jumps and forced steps.
At the end of March 1944, the units participated in Exercise Beaver and at the end of April in Exercise Tiger.

On may 11 it is Exercise Eagle, where only the 101st Airborne Division participates and which will take place in conditions almost identical to those that the men will have the opportunity to experience on D-DAY. They will embark in C-47 with a flight time identical to what they will live over the sea and then towards the Drop Zones on the continent, and this will be the opportunity to work with the 9th Troop Carrier Command.

At the end of May, James prepares his package, the order has arrived to embark towards the airfields. This famous day, so long awaited since its arrival in the airborne troops is approaching; all these training since 1942, all these efforts to finally experience what it has come to be.

James arrived at Exeter Aerodrome in Devon where the 440th TCG of 95th TCS was parked.

station exeter

 

James settles in the camps prepared for the troops.

James arrived at Exeter Aerodrome in Devon where the 440th TCG of 95th TCS was parked.
James settles in the camps prepared for the troops.

On June 3, paratroopers were notified of the departure date, but the bad weather pushed it back 24 hours.

D-Day is set for Tuesday, June 6.

It is 11:50 pm, this Monday, June 5, when the C-47 42-100905 belonging to the 440th TCG and piloted by the 1st Lieutenant Ray B. PULLEN takes off and joins the formation for setting up before heading to Normandy and Drop Zone "D"Located near Angoville-au-Plain, the drop time is scheduled for 0143. The C-47 is in position 15 in serial 16. James is in position 13 in his stick.

506pir Drop Zone D et objectif ponts

 

The mission of the third battalion is to seize two bridges at the mouth of the moat and establish a bridgehead.
The flight over the English Channel was uneventful; the convoy arrived on the mainland from the east and was confronted with a cloud bank, then tried to keep its course and the formation was shot by the flak.

The area of Negreville is complicated to cross, certainly it is in the area of the Cotentin that the C-47 is hit at one of its engines.
According to several witnesses, the C-47 was flying at low altitude and trying to land, it is at this time on the commune of Magneville; but in the meadow (certainly spotted by the pilot who with an exceptional coolness repositioned his aircraft in the axis) there were rows of trees unfortunately not seen early enough; the aircraft penetrated between thoseand exploded instantly leaving no chance for the crew and company I stick; the C-47 will be found overturned and broken in two parts.

The bodies will be buried initially in the mass grave at the cemetery of Magneville.

 

Crew of Douglas C-47 - type A-75-DL - s/n 42-100905 Chalk #15

1st Lieutenant Ray Ben PULLEN Pilot 95th TCS - 440th TCG airborne troop carrier Dead - Farmington Cem. KENTUCKY
2nd Lieutenant John M GREELEY CoPilot 95th TCS - 440th TCG Dead - Riverview Cem. INDIANA
S/Sergeant Sidney H SALTZMAN Radio 95th TCS - 440th TCG Dead - Mount Sharon Cem. Springfield, PENNSYLVANIA
S/Sergeant Finney W GORDON Dispo 95th TCS - 440th TCG Dead - Mem Park Cem. Tulsa, OKLAHOMA

Crew Paratroopers

1st Lieutenant Gerald V Jr HOWARD Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD div 101 Dead - Cim Am Ardennes Neupre (Belg)
Pfc Warren K CARNEY Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer
Pfc John J KITTIA Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer
Pfc William R OLSEN Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer
Pvt James J FARRELL Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer
Pfc Frederick H SMITH Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead
Pvt Paul J WEBER Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - St-Andrew Cem. Shields, MICHIGAN
Pvt Howard PHILLIPS Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Aragon Cem. GEORGIA USA
Pvt Glen L WEIRICH Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD 10db Dead - MIA - Tablets Cambridge
Pvt Clarence M WRIGHT Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - MIA
Pvt John A WRIGHT Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer
Sergeant Robert TODD Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer
T/4 John E BRAY Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Greenwood Cem. New Orleans, LOUISIANA
Cpl Donald K BIGNALL Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Cim Am Colleville-sur-Mer
Cpl Marvin Murry STALLINGS Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Fort Sam Houston Nat Cem. San Antonio, TEXAS
T/5 Orville R VANDERPOOL Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Coop Prairie Cem. Mansfield, ARKANSAS
Pfc Gilbert AMABISCO Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - St-Marys Cath Cem. Sacramento, CALIFORNIA
Pfc Richard L CALHOON Paratrooper 506th PIR - 101st AD Dead - Mound Grove Cem. Independence, MISSOURI
C47 douglas
Stele in memory of men who fell during the C47 crash at Magneville
42 100905 stele magneville
42 100905 stele magneville 1
42 100905 stele magneville 2

INFORMATION SOURCESAad.archives.gov - Francecrashes39-45.net -  Bruno CADEVILLE
PICTURE SOURCEFrederick  JARED - Frédéric LAVERNHE  -  Bruno CADEVILLE
PROGRAMMERFrédéric & Renaud
Partagez moi ...
Comments  
# relativesBrackett, Danny 2021-01-09 04:23
I was looking for any information on what had happened to my Grandfather's brother, Howard Phillips. My uncle had told me years ago that he had died during the airborne invasion on June 6, 1944. All family was ever told was he had died, none knew where or how. Thank you so much for this posting as it helps to piece the puzzle together. AIRBORNE, ALL THE WAY.
Reply