4th Infantry Division Journal Recounts the D-Day Assault and Capture of Utah Beach (1944)

Date: June 6-17, 1944

Created By: 16th Infantry, U.S. Army

Original or Replica: Original

Era: D-Day and the Normandy Invasion, The General

Collection: Eisenhower Presidential Library

Citations: U.S. Army Unit Records, Box 1264, 16th Infantry Regiment Journal June 6-17 1944; NAID #12004868

These restricted U.S. Army journal entries describe the 4th Infantry Division’s D-Day landing at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. The account follows soldiers of the 8th Infantry Regiment as they approached Normandy aboard landing craft under difficult weather conditions, supported by naval bombardment and aircraft. The first assault companies landed shortly after 6:30 a.m. and moved inland despite German artillery, machine guns, mines, beach obstacles, and fortified positions.

The journal explains that the landing did not unfold as German defenders had anticipated. Allied airborne forces, including the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions, had landed inland before dawn, disrupting German defenses and helping secure important routes from the beaches. Soldiers of the 4th Division quickly overwhelmed resistance along Utah Beach, allowing additional infantry, artillery, tanks, and supplies to move ashore. By the end of D-Day, the division had established a defensive position several miles inland and connected with airborne forces. The account emphasizes the speed and effectiveness of the assault while noting losses of equipment and delays caused by rough seas. It concludes that the 4th Infantry Division had successfully accomplished one of the most important missions assigned to an infantry division during the Normandy invasion.