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Contact Info
Home Town Port Jervis
Last Address Bradenton, FL
Date of Passing Dec 27, 2002
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Lewis Clark Taynton, Colonel, United States Army (Retired), a resident of the Washington, D.C. area during the 1960'S, passed away in Bradenton, Florida, on December 27, 2002.
Born in Port Jervis, New York, on September 17, 1917, Colonel Taynton had a distinguished 27-year career with the Army. He was a highly decorated combat veteran of World War II. Awards received during his career include: three Purple Hearts, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars, and the Legion of Merit. During the war, Colonel Taynton served with the 70th Tank Battalion, earning eight campaign stars including the invasion of North Africa, invasion of Sicily, invasion of Normandy, engagements in Northern France and the Ardennes.
The battalion sailed with the 1st Infantry Division on 9 January 1942 for the French island of Martinique in the West Indies because it "was probably the only tank battalion combat ready for this amphibious operation". In February 1942 Company C was detached and sent for garrison duty in Iceland, with a new Company C being formed in May. Company A was detached later in the year, and landed in North Africa as part of Operation Torch, attached to the 39th Regimental Combat Team.
The battalion landed in Sicily as part of Operation Husky in July 1943, and was withdrawn to England in November, where it re-equipped as a standard battalion with M4 Shermans. The former Company C (now designated as Company D) rejoined the battalion, giving it four tank companies.
The battalion suffered some casualties when during Exercise Tiger on an early morning of 28 April 1944, German E-boats that had left Cherbourg on patrol spotted a convoy of 8 LSTs carrying vehicles and combat engineers of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade in Lyme Bay and attacked.
On D-Day it landed on Utah Beach as part of the 4th Infantry Division, supporting the 8th Infantry Regiment led by Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.; companies A and B used amphibious DD Sherman tanks. It fought in the northward drive to Cherbourg, and in the breakout from St.-Lo, through France and into Belgium, entering Germany on September 13th. It fought in the Hurtgen Forest in November, and moved to the Ardennes in December, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. On March 29th 1945 it crossed the Rhine, and moved quickly through Germany, crossing the Danube on April 25th and ending the war near the Austrian border.
The battalion performed occupation duties until mid-1946, when it was deactivated; shortly thereafter, it was reactivated as a training unit at Fort Knox. In 1949, it was redesignated the 70th Heavy Tank Battalion and reduced to a three-company establishment.
Other assignments during his career included the Armored School (Fort Knox, Kentucky, Occupational Forces Command (Salzburg, Austria), Command and General Staff College (Fort Leavenworth, Kansas), Armed Forces Staff College (Norfolk, Virginia), Base Comptroller (Fort Ord, California, Military Advisor for Financial Management to the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Pentagon) and Faculty Member and then Comandant of the Army Management School (Fort Belvoir, Virginia) where he retired in 1965.
He was an Associate Professorial Lecturer in business administration of the off-campus faculty of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Survivors include: his wife of 62 years, Laura Craig Taynton; two sons, Lewis F. Taynton of Sudley Springs, Virginia, A. Craig Taynton of Martinsburg, West Virginia; four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. His only daughter, Diane Carol Johnson died in 1984.
WWII - European Theater of Operations/Normandy Campaign (1944)/Operation Overlord/D-Day Beach Landings - Operation Neptune
From Month/Year
June / 1944
To Month/Year
June / 1944
Description The Normandy landings (codenamed Operation Neptune) were the landing operations on 6 June 1944 (termed D-Day) of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the invasion of German-occupied western Europe, led to the restoration of the French Republic, and contributed to an Allied victory in the war.
Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on D-Day was far from ideal, but postponing would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days in each month were deemed suitable. Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion.
The amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 British, US, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France starting at 06:30. The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword Beach. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialised tanks.
The Allies failed to achieve all of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five bridgeheads were not connected until 12 June. However, the operation gained a foothold that the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months. German casualties on D-Day were around 1,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. Museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area host many visitors each year.
