Mortars, Utah Beach

1944 3 officers of the 8ist were killed and 2 others, including the battalion commander, were seriously wounded. One company lost its total complement of transportation while each of the other three companies lost two vehicles. 

The 87th Chemical Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. James H. Batte, was attached to VII Corps in the D-day assault of Utah Beach. Three of the firing companies supported the three battalions of the 

After the fall of the port of Cherbourg half of the battalion supported the 9 th Division during the several days required to mop up the Cap de la Hague. By r July, when this operation ended, the 87th Battalion had been in continuous combat for twenty-five days. Nineteen man had been killed and 75 had been wounded battalion ammunition expenditures totaled 19,129 rounds of HE and 11,899 rounds of white phosphorus. 

The terrain was particularly dangerous for mortar forward observers, a fact emphasized by the following notation from the journal of the 87th Battalion for 13 July 1944 Scarcely a day passes that some one, if not all the forward observer party, are either wounded or killed. Yet, all officers of this battalion operate as forward observers and there are always volunteers among the men.  

the offensive to break out of Normandy, began on 25 July. The VII Corps, with three divisions abreast, led the attack. Companies A and B, 92d Battalion, were firing preparatory missions in support 

---