The original record detailing the men selected for the Île du Large mission.
Around 4:30, as the D Day invasion force massed in the English Channel, 64 enlisted men and 3 officers, from reconnaissance Troop B came ashore on the Île du Large, a fortified island just off Utah Beach. Along with two men from the 4th Cav Recon, they were the first seaborne allied soldiers to reach French soil.
The After Action Report says only that this forward echelon was commanded by Capt. Wales Vaughan (O-418813) and several public accounts have named Sgt. John W. Zander (6858147) and Cpl. Melvin F. Kinzie (16059114) as the first ashore.
But the identities of the rest of the detachment have been unknown until the definitive list was surfaced, among the squadron’s Morning Reports.
Now we know that the echelon was formed on May 21 1944, by written order - Paragraph 1, Special Order 458, Headquarters 4th Cavalry Group. On that day 3 officers and 64 enlisted men of Troop B were pulled out of the troop and placed on "temporary duty" as a distinct detachment. This was approximately half of recon Troop B.
The same detachment moved from Chichester to Torquay, Devon, on the same day. Through early and mid-May the whole of Troop B had been sitting at Chichester (the Goodwood Camp area of West Sussex) under a standing "alerted for departure" notice that appears on nearly every daily report.
They remained in Torquay for the rest of the month. On May 29 the Morning Report shows that a German bombing raid on Torquay, in the early hours, wounded two of the Troop B men - Private Manuel R. Marquez (39117554) and Sergeant Allen L. Sheldon (39117554). Both were evacuated to hospital and it is currently unclear whether they took part in the final mission.
The Morning Report describing the formation of the Troop B forward echelon.
The Morning Report describing Marquez and Sheldon’s wounding in a bombing raid on Torquay.
Editor’s note: the Morning Reports do not explicitly state the purpose of this detachment and Special Order 458 has not yet been located. I have interpreted that this was the Îles Saint-Marcouf mission detachment on the basis of numbers exactly matching a reference to 3 officers and 64 enlisted men being selected for the mission, in the After Action Report for June 1944.
The men of the Troop B forward echelon mission to take the Île du Large
Officers
Vaughan, Wales — Capt — O-418813
Haverstick, Harry R. — 1st Lt — O-1030672
Rubin, Alfred — 1st Lt — O-466699
Staff/Sergeants
Connelly, Donald C. — S/Sgt — 17018288
Holter, Ervin K. — S/Sgt — 37081147
Hacker, Ronald — Sgt — 37049057
Krause, Charles F. — Sgt — 37023334
Sheldon, Allen L. — Sgt — 37081132 (wounded 29 May)
Zander, John W. — Sgt — 6858147
Corporals
Kinzie, Melvin F. — Cpl — 16059114
Gill, George R. — Cpl — 35025620
Johnson, Alfred B. — Cpl — 37023319
Peterson, Norman M. — Cpl — 37078649
Riggs, Teddy R. — Cpl — 6939314
Redgwick, Thomas J. — Cpl — 33075837
Wildes, John K. — Cpl — 37023265
Zivanov, Michael — Cpl — 36120558
Technicians 5th Grade
Rudowicz, Peter S. — Tec 5 — 36396860
Collins, Wayne C. — Tec 5 — 37078669
Enger, Arthur M. — Tec 5 — 37023261
Foss, Charles S. — Tec 5 — 37023137
Guenther, Gustave Jr — Tec 5 — 37042022
Harkness, Ewald L. — Tec 5 — 37078664
Klomp, Clarence L. — Tec 5 — 37023391
Peterson, Woodrow A. — Tec 5 — 37049059
Olson, Selmar O. — Tec 5 — 37081209
Stoeckel, Richard C. — Tec 5 — 33082851
Privates First Class
Banicki, Norman J. — Pfc — 37089732
Broncaccio, Nicholas — Pfc — 32156505
DeWitt, Lionel A. — Pfc — 16110006
David, Joseph M. — Pfc — 37024225
Davis, Arnold F. — Pfc — 37049058
Elvesaeter, Anton J. — Pfc — 37049004
Groves, Harold F. — Pfc — 37071909
Gorney, Chester F. — Pfc — 36120815
Hunt, Verlin H. — Pfc — 37049074
Haracz, Edward J. — Pfc — 33088300
Jaskot, Joseph — Pfc — 32156431
Potter, Ray — Pfc — 37023286
Rustad, Raymond R. — Pfc — 37089703
Red Eyes, 37049107 — Pfc — 37043107
Sluka, Charles Jr — Pfc — 37023145
Schultz, Benjamin C. — Pfc — 36120813
Ulwelling, Paul J. — Pfc — 37023195
Veeneman, William G. — Pfc — 35125375
Wagner, John P. — Pfc — 37020499
Privates
Alle, Louis — Pvt — 16149673
Blevins, Earl C. — Pvt — 15324080
Bunting, William R. — Pvt — 34599439
Courey, Michael — Pvt — 15324762
Couch, Walter F. — Pvt — 6208919
Dieter, Robert E. — Pvt — 16149819
Galloway, Harry P. — Pvt — 16150246
Hilton, Seth C. Jr — Pvt — 18023389
Cicoria, Albert J. — Pvt — 35590474
Kohler, Raymond L. — Pvt — 32735639
Muscarella, Gene F. — Pvt — 32735699
Marquez, Manuel R. — Pvt — 39117554 (injured 29 May)
Norris, Richard K. — Pvt — 36414310
Placzkiewicz, Henry L. — Pvt — 32834058
Pragle, Donald E. — Pvt — 32735667
Keating, Charles T. — Pvt — 15324777
Shanklin, Glendale A. — Pvt — 15323832
Shine, Edward F. — Pvt — 32833878
Stephens, William W. — Pvt — 34601174
Whitener, Alfred P. — Pvt — 34600694
Richardson, Wess — Pvt — 37247378