Lieutenants Rush, Rice and Gilbert were part of F Company US 16th Infantry Regiment who were stationed in West Bay for the nine months prior to D Day. These men became special friends to Arthur Watson, who was a child at the time and he has treasured this image of them.
On June 6, 1944, the 16th Regiment landed at 06:30 on Omaha Beach in the first wave. German resistance was ferocious and 95 per cent of the officers were killed and no one had landed where they should be. But the veterans remain motivated and forced the Atlantic Wall, guarded by the 352nd German Infantry Division. Colonel George A. Taylor, commanding the 16th Infantry Regiment, standing on Omaha beach, yelled at his men a phrase that went into history:
“There are two kinds of people who are staying on this beach: those who are dead and those who are going to die. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
Arthur never heard from these men again. To commerate the 75th Anniversary of D Day 5 years ago Sandy Hashimi, our then Centre Manager, discovered that although these three men had survived, thirty-seven men from F Company had died on Omaha Beach. Twenty one of these men were under 25 years of age.
As Arthur so eloquently put it ”
These anniversaries make you stop, think and remember. Without them such great and brave men could easily be forgotten.”
The ‘West Bay in the War’ exhibition which features the GI’s finishes on Sunday 30th June 2024 at the westbaydiscoverycentre.org.uk
