PVT. Robert Cifton Knapp served with the 29th Infantry Division. He landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day; and was Killed In Action at the Battle of St. Lo, in Normandy, France, on 18 July 1944.

The cross-channel invasion of France finally came on June 6, 1944, D-Day, otherwise known as Operation Overlord, codename for the Allied invasion of Normandy. The 29th Infantry Division sent the 116th Infantry to support the western flank of the veteran 1st Infantry Division's 16th Infantry at Omaha Beach. Omaha was known to be the most difficult of the five landing beaches, due to its rough terrain and bluffs overlooking the beach, which had been well fortified by its German defenders of the 352nd Infantry Division. The 116th Infantry was assigned four sectors of the beach; Easy Green, Dog Red, Dog White, and Dog Green. Soldiers of the 29th Infantry Division boarded a large number of attack transports for the D-Day invasion, among them Landing craft, Landing Ship, Tank and Landing Ship, Infantry ships and other vessels such as the SS Empire Javelin, USS Charles Carroll, and USS Buncombe County.

As the ships were traveling to the beach, the heavy seas, combined with the chaos of the fighting caused most of the landing force to be thrown off-course and most of the 116th Infantry missed its landing spots. Most of the regiment's tank support, launched from too far off-shore, foundered and sank in the channel. The soldiers of the 116th Infantry began to hit the beach at 0630, coming under heavy fire from German fortifications. Company A of the 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry, from the Virginia National Guard in Bedford, Virginia was annihilated by overwhelming fire as it landed on the 116th's westernmost section of the beach, along with half of Company C of the 2nd Ranger Battalion which was landing to the west of the 116th. The catastrophic losses suffered by this small Virginia community led to it being selected for the site of the National D-Day Memorial. The 1st Infantry Division's forces ran into similar fortifications on the eastern half of the beach, suffering massive casualties coming ashore. By 0830, the landings were called off for lack of space on the beach, as the Americans on Omaha Beach were unable to overcome German fortifications guarding the beach exits. Lieutenant General Omar Nelson Bradley, commanding the American First Army, considered evacuating the survivors and landing the rest of the divisions elsewhere. However, by noon, elements of the American forces had been able to organize and advance off the beach, and the landings resumed. By nightfall, the division headquarters landed on the beach with about 60 percent of the division's total strength, and began organizing the push inland. On 7 June, a second wave of 20,000 reinforcements from both the 1st and 29th Divisions was sent ashore. By the end of D-Day, 2,400 men from the two divisions had become casualties on Omaha Beach. Added to casualties at other beaches and air-drops made the total casualties for the Normandy landings 6,500 Americans and 3,000 British and Canadians, lighter numbers than expected.

The entire division had landed in Normandy by 7 June. By 9 June, Omaha Beach was secure and the division occupied Isigny. On 14 July, the division was reassigned to XIX Corps, part of the First Army, itself part of the 12th Army Group.

The division cut across the Elle River and advanced slowly toward Saint-Lô, fighting bitterly in the Normandy hedge rows. German reserves formed a new defensive front outside the town, and American forces fought a fierce battle with them two miles outside of the town. German forces used the dense bocage foliage to their advantage, mounting fierce resistance in house to house fighting in the ravaged Saint-Lô. By the end of the fight, the Germans were relying on artillery support to hold the town following the depletion of the infantry contingent. The 29th Division, which was already undermanned after heavy casualties on D-Day, was even further depleted in the intense fighting for Saint-Lô. Eventually, the 29th was able to capture the city in a direct assault, supported by airstrikes from P-47 Thunderbolts. After taking Saint-Lô, on 18 July, the division joined in the battle for Vire, capturing that strongly held city by 7 August.

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The Citations for the newspaper clippings I posted are:

Norwalk Reflector Herald
Norwalk, Ohio
Tuesday, August 15, 1944
MIA

Sandusky Register Star News
Sandusky, Ohio
Wednesday, November 1, 1944
KIA

Norwalk Reflector Herald
Norwalk, Ohio
Wednesday, February 14, 1945
Memorial Service; 2 parts

Sandusky Register Star News
Sandusky, Ohio
Thursday, February 15, 1945
Memorial Service

Norwalk Reflector Herald
Norwalk, Ohio
Friday, February 16, 1945
Memorial Service

Norwalk Reflector Herald
Norwalk, Ohio
September 11, 1948
Repatriated Remains

Sandusky Register Star News
Sandusky, Ohio
September 15, 1948
Funeral Services

Robert C Knapp