Recently I went to La Fière with my good friend and professional photographer: Sabina Cowdery http://www.anibas.fr/
Sometimes it is quite refreshing to revisit battlefield locations you know very well with just friends or family, to take a moment and contemplate what actually happened right where you are standing.
If you visit La Fière take time to stop, look around and remember you truly are walking in the footsteps of giants!
Battle of La Fière 6th – 9th June 1944.
This photograph sums it all up in one easy visual representation. Please do zoom in on the casualty figures shown on the plinth underneath the statue of “Iron Mike”. the words and figures speak for themselves:-
Killed 254 Wounded 525.
I am pleased to announce a very special plaque presentation taking place D-day June 6, 2024, at La Fière 10:00am to commemorate the actions of the Airborne Medics of the 82nd Airborne Division.
I wanted to draw attention to just one of those men who knowingly jumped into combat with nothing more than medical supplies and a steadfast resolve to provide lifesaving care to the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment on D-Day
Colonel Daniel B MCILVOY REGIMENTAL SURGEON 82ND AIRBORNE, 505TH RCT (Regimental Combat Team) AKA “Doc McIlvoy”
Daniel B McIlvoy was born in Springfield KY on July 16, 1912. He was the third child and first son of Daniel and Ruth Baker McIlvoy.
Daniel McIlvoy’s military career began at just 17 when he dropped out of High School and joined the National Guard. In the 1930’s Daniel returned to studies and successfully graduated from Tulane Medical School before obtaining a commission as a First Lieutenant in the U. S. Army Medical Corps Reserve in 1940. Called to active duty in 1941 he received his initial training at the Medical Field Service School at Carlisle Barracks, Pa. before volunteering for parachute training at Fort Benning Ga.
Lt McIlvoy was assigned to the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment Regimental Combat Team of the 82nd Airborne Division. By early 1944 the now Major McIlvoy had already seen action in North Africa, Sicily and Naples before he and the rest of the 505th PIR were relocated back to England, for pre-invasion deployment training.
Doc McIlvoy used this time wisely implementing a full paratrooper familiarisation training program in first-aid procedures. In addition, he oversaw improvements to medical supply parachute drop procedures as well as working with the other 505th medical staff to set up a combat ready casualty triage and evacuation system.
Promoted to the role Regimental Surgeon, McIlvoy jumped with the 505th into Normandy just after 2 a.m. BST on D-Day 1944. Major McIlvoy and his team would excel themselves in the fierce fighting in and around Sainte-Mère-Église and the bridge at La Fière by saving the lives of countless soldiers wounded on the battlefield. During the fighting the Major would find himself cut off from friendly forces for two days whilst treating a wounded soldier. Later in the campaign and in the midst of fighting around Picauville, Doc McIlvoy would even find time to deliver a new born baby, Daniel Jeanne, born 29th June 1944.
Promoted to Colonel, McIlvoy would see action throughout the European Theatre of Operations including Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. In total Colonel McIlvoy made four combat jumps, a distinction he shared with only two other medical officers in all of the Armed Forces. For his service to his country Colonel McIlvoy was awarded a Citation for Gallantry in Action, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.
Following the war, Doc McIlvoy would return to medical practice, marry and start a family, becoming a proud dad to three daughters, Mary Anne(Annie), Carol and Linda. After a long and rewarding career he would retire in 1980. On May 31, 1998, aged 85 years old Colonel Doc McIlvoy passed away and was buried with full military honours in Arlington National Cemetery.
Here is what John Ospital, a chaplain’s assistant in the 505th RCT, had to say about Colonel Doc McIlvoy in his book, ‘We Wore Jump Boots and Baggy Pants’.
“The only way I can describe the Colonel is to say that if you took a poll of a cross-section of enlisted men as to what in their minds constituted the perfect officer, the composite of their ideas would result in Colonel McIlvoy.”
Four members of Doc McIlvoy’s family, his daughters Mary Anne “Annie” Zaya, Carol Kersting, Linda Penn and son in law Dr Frank Kersting will be special guests at the presentation and commemoration ceremony to represent their father in honouring the Airborne Medics of the 505th PIR.
Here are two more photos of La Fière showing a then and now perspective.
The family are forever grateful to Michel De Trez who not only told the stories of the airborne medics in the book ‘Doc McIlvoy and his parachuting Medics’ but also ensured that Doc McIlvoy’s memorabilia is proudly on display at the D-Day Experience museum near Carentan.
Last but not least here is a link to the article published by France 3 in 2014 showing daughter Annie Zaya meeting Daniel Jeanne for the very first time, the boy delivered by her father on 29th June 1944.
