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29th Infantry Division at Saint-Lô | Rare WW2 Combat Footage Explained (NO AI)

WW2 Wayfinder

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Saint Lo was a vital crossroads town for the American First army in Normandy during the summer of 1944.

Following D-Day it was identified that to enable a breakout and rapid advance that Saint Lo would need to be taken. The task would fall to the XIX Corps of the US Army, with the men of the 29th and 35th Infantry Divisions doing the hard work.

In this episode of WW2 Wayfinder I examine archive footage from that push into Saint Lo and follow the men of the 29th Infantry Division - the same men who faced annihilation on Omaha Beach on D-Day.

I break down each frame, examining the vehicles, equipment and provide the wider context of the fight for Saint Lo.

I also identify a few Then and Now locations as well!

I hope you enjoy it!

Episode Chapters:

00:00 - 00:30 Introduction
00:31 - 03:24 The Battle for Saint Lo
03:25 - 04:00 Major Thomas Howie - The Mayor of Saint Lo
04:01 - 04:34 Dodge WC63 on Fire
04:35 - 04:58 Sherman Mine Flail Tank
04:59 - 08:06 29th Infantry Recon
08:07 - 08:34 Culin Hedge Cutter
08:35 - 08:42 Dodge WC54 Ambulance
09:13 - 10:33 Piper L4 Grasshopper in Normandy
10:34 - 11:45 Fighting in Saint Lo
11:46 - 16:39 Saint Lo Then and Now
16:40 - 19:08 Street Fighting in Saint Lo

#WW2History #SaintLo #29thInfantryDivision #Normandy1944 #ShermanTank #WW2ArchiveFootage #BattleOfNormandy #ThenAndNow #MilitaryHistory #dday

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20 Comments

@WW2Wayfinder Creator 2 months ago Pinned

I hope you enjoy this look at the archival footage of the 29th Infantry Division’s push into Saint-Lô. If you enjoyed this let me know down below👇

@jamesjustus6568 2 months ago

My Uncle Junior was wounded during the assault on St. Lo. Left for dead, it was only when he and the others that had been killed were being collected was it realized he was alive. He lost a leg, part of his arm and stomach. Eventually evacuated to England and then the US, he spent the rest of the war and into 1946 in VA hospitals. He married his nurse (Aunt Joy) and had a passel of kids. Passed away in 1994.

@WilliamHudgins-n7q 2 months ago

My uncle, father's brother, was a scout/sniper with the 29th Infantry Division. He was wounded at St. Lo when a German mortar team dropped an 81mm mortar round right in the middle of a multi-man patrol he was getting ready to head out with. He received multiple shrapnel wounds to his legs, picking out splinters thereof the remainder of his life, while several other membees were killed.

@Mr.D.Phelps 2 months ago

Thank you for sharing and for the excellent narrative, There is a lot of original footage of WW2 online but unless you are a historian like yourself it is difficult to make sense of it. Your narrative brings this footage to life. Thank you.

@jaybluff281 2 months ago

FWIW, the Jerry cans on the front of the recon vehicles are water cans. They are identical to the regular fuel cans but have a latch cap instead of a screw cap. The one on the Jeep has a 'W', too.

@frankjennings8647 1 month ago

My Mother-In-Law’s cousin, TSgt Frank Dabney Peregoy, fought with the 29th Infantry Division. Landing at Normandy on D-Day, he advanced inland before being killed in action a few weeks later. He rests in the American Cemetery above Omaha Beach. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. We were fortunate enough to visit Normandy, as well as the towns and places in this video, several years ago. And, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to pay our respects to TSgt Peregoy and the men resting alongside him.

@Mike_C_64 2 months ago

The device on the M4 at 8:20 actually is not a variation of the Culin device. It was a device invented independently as a separate idea by the 29th to solve the same problem as the Culin. It was intended to allow combat engineers to put explosive charges into the hedgerow. The tank would drive up and slam into the embankment and then back off, leaving two holes which would be packed with C4. The charge would be detonated and create a gap. It was impractical because of the amount of explosives needed to do a large number of breeches. It was also found that the tank could just drive through the hedgerow most of the time. So it wasn't a Culin device really, even though it wound up being used the same way.

@sophdog1678 2 months ago

This sort of footage is always interesting, but even more so when we have the context you've provided. I too am fascinated by the 'then and now' images. You could be having a lovely drive today near St Lo and be otherwise unaware of the Shermans and the jeeps, and the trudging GI's that once travelled this road. Wonderfully evocative stuff.

@w.rustylane5650 2 months ago

My wife's father (my father in law) was in Company L, 29th Infantry Division, 116th Infantry Regiment, and stormed Omaha beach on the first wave. He went the whole war without ever getting wounded. His brother, Uncle Grover, wasn't as lucky. He was shot in the head at the Malmedy massacre by one of Joachim Peiper's men from Kampfgruppe Peiper on December 17, 1944, near St. Vith. He survived the wound and helped the other survivors to get back to the US lines as he was a runner from the 80th Division, attached to the 285th Forward Artillery Observation Battalion which Peiper and his troops ambushed on the road to St. Vith. Semper Fi from an old Marine sergeant/Vietnam vet in eastern TN

@garybehrend7395 2 months ago

Fantastic footage I've not seen before. My father was in the 29th Infantry Div., and described St. Lo where he was located when Operation Cobra occurred.

@patrickmoran687 2 months ago

My barber when I was a teen fought at St. Lo. He said the place was flattened by artillery and fighting.

@KeithRanker 2 months ago

My Uncle Dave fought as part of the 35th Division from their landing in Normandy on to Germany. He was wounded in Germany. Fortunately, the wound wasn’t severe.

@thomashoffman6343 2 months ago

Thank you so much. My dear Dad was one of those 29ers going into St Lo. He talked a little about it and adds to my memories my Dad talked about. Thank you again.

@815thengineers8 2 months ago

The commander of the M10 at the 17:00 mark is the late SGT James Walker or Watkinsville GA. His daughter visited Saint-Lo about 10 years ago.

@705SAF 1 month ago (edited)

My late Dad flew a planeload of small arms to les Maquis @ St Lo a few days after these events. Dad was solo PIlot for the trip. Les Maquis had been told that he spoke French. When he got there, they mobbed his plane, so excited to be getting weapons. There was a crate & a half of brand new “Tommy guns”; but each had only one “stick magazine”. Dad apologized for not having more magazines, but the Maquis told him it didn’t matter b/c they were to be used for suicide missions during which the Patriots knew they’d never have a chance to reload, anyway. By the time I got to St Lo in 1992, there was little evidence of those events. Thanks so much for finding & showing these images !

@battistebuono2530 2 months ago

Excellent video! I particularly liked the effort to point out different details and locations, and your use of the maps to orient the viewer. Bravo!

@undrwtr84 2 months ago

This is a great video. The details you’re able to draw from this video because of the number of vehicles and their markings is amazing. Probably one of your best

@timothylindsay3244 2 months ago (edited)

Thanks for this. My Dad was a CPT/Commander of the 125th Cav Trp, 125th Cav Rec Sqn (Mech), 313th Cav Reg in support of the 19th Corp, 29th and 35th Inf Div, 1st Army throughout the ETO from Omaha Beach to the Torgau, Elbe River. He was awarded the Silver Star in addition to two Bronze Stars with V device along the campaign which included the battle for StLO, the north shoulder of the Bulge and Hurtgen Forest along the way. He never spoke much about the war but was very proud of his service and mostly the brave men under his command. These annotated/narrated videos are exceptional for keeping the true history of the war fresh and forward in the consciousness of the American public….thank you so much. COL Tim Lindsay, US Army Ret.

@garygoins2280 1 month ago

I am incredibly touched by Major Howie's mens act of making him the first american to enter Saint-Lo. The more I learn about the men who fought in that war the more I am in awe of them,

@cuirassier92 2 months ago

Thanks for the video. As a resident of Saint-Lô, I am surprised to see the church still with both spires at the 18:11 on July 18th. Today, it has only one.