Second Naval Beach Battalion

Second Naval Beach Battalion. . Commissioned at Camp Bradford, Virginia, in late March of 1943 under Commander John F. Curtin, the 2nd Naval Beach Battalion (NBB) was the most seasoned of the three NBBs to participate in the D-Day assault on Normandy. The 2nd NBB, along with the 4th NBB, had taken part in Operation Husky (the invasion of Sicily) on 10 July 1943; and one of the 2nd NBB's platoons had served in Operation Avalanche (the invasion of Salerno) on 9 September 1943. A critical component of the shore party supporting the landing of the reinforced 4th Infantry Division (Force U) on Utah Beach, the 2nd NBB was attached to the Army's 1st Engineer Special Brigade (ESB). , , As a matter of doctrine, the 2nd NBB would be the link seaward and control the landing in the tidal flat; the 1st ESB would be the link inland and control the area above the high-tide mark. The extent to which that doctrine could be applied in the Uncle Red and Tare Green sectors of Utah Beach would depend upon the situation in both areas, something the veterans of the 2nd NBB knew well enough from their experience at Sicily. , , Approaching France, Force U took a fierce pounding from westerly gales, but once in the lee of the Cotentin Peninsula, encountered the best weather to be had on any beach that day. Smoke and dust from the naval bombardment masked the shoreline, a situation made worse by the loss of the Red flotilla's two control vessels; thus the first wave landed some 2,000 meters south of the Uncle Red sector., Coming ashore that far from the assigned landing areas might have proved disastrous, but it did not. , According to Commander Curtin, who prepared this narrative on 23 July 1944: ,

This error worked very much to our advantage, it was discovered later, because the enemy strong points upon the selected beaches were much heavier than than were those of the sectors upon which the landing actually was made, and the underwater obstacles upon the [pre]selected beaches were more numerous, were of much more substantial construction, and were heavily mined - while those upon the beaches upon which we actually “went in” were not mined , ,

Having good luck is one thing, being able to exploit it is another. That the 2nd NBB did so with such success reflects most favorably on their training, professionalism, and leadership at all levels. From D+1 through D+11, the strand remained under heavy fire from enemy artillery. Nevertheless, "up to 1800, 3 July, the Utah Beaches had landed 188,098 men, 119,529 tons of equipment and supplies, and 32,617 vehicles, including mobile artillery. During the same period, 14,802 casualties and 30,805 prisoners of war were evacuated from the beaches" (Cartin). , Given in tribute to the officers and men of all the World War II Naval Beach Battalions by the veterans of the 2nd and 4th Naval Beach Battalions. In addition to operations Husky and Avalanche, the 4th NNB served in Operation Dragoon (Southern France, 15 August 1944). Dedicated on Memorial Day, 29 May 2006.