The D day Series. Airborne heroics,John Steele's harrowing experience above St Mere Eglise"
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Anyone who goes past this church without knowing the story of John Steele will think a parachutist snagged on a church tower is very peculiar. It commemorates his terrible mishap when he was parachuting into the German held Cherbourg peninsula on D Day.
He was a member of the American 82nd Airborne Division who, along with the 101st Airborne Division, was tasked to secure the western flank of the invasion forces. They had to ensure that the Germans in the Cherbourg Peninsula would not be able to attack the north west flank of the troops invading Utah Beach. The mission involved 15000 paratroopers but unfortunately, numerous things went wrong with this dangerous operation. Researching Steele can be a little complicated in that, the 82nd Airborne Division was made up of 4 infantry regiments, one of which was the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment with Steele being in its 2nd Battalion. Steele can be listed in any one of these or the lot!
Steele was meant to land just outside St Mere Eglise but his pilot was inexperienced and visibility was difficult due to extensive cloud cover. Steele was dropped right above the village and unfortunately, he was to snag his parachute on a pinnacle of the church. A house or barn had been set on fire and Steele had to concentrate in missing the blaze which he achieved but at the cost of landing on the bell tower of the church! To make things worse, a piece of shrapnel or a stray bullet injured his foot during his descent. To add further to his problems, when he pulled out his knife to cut himself loose, it slipped from his hand and fell to the ground! His only solution was to “play dead” hoping that one of his colleagues in action against the Germans in the village square below, would eventually set him free.
This idea failed and after about three hours, two German soldiers, Rudolf May and Rudi Escher, stationed in the bell tower, saw that he was still alive and captured him after cutting him loose. Steele soon escaped but the duration that he was held by the Germans varies according which source you are reading. Wikipedia states he escaped after only four hours whereas some sources state after four days! However, the end result was the same in that he found his colleagues and was evacuated to England. When his wounded foot was recovered, he resumed fighting, this time in the Netherlands. At the end of the war, he went back to the USA and rarely talked about what he did on D Day until he responded to a questionnaire from Cornelius Ryan who was researching a book called “The Longest Day”. Ryan used twenty lines to describe Steele’s misadventure and from that day he became a minor celebrity. This was enhanced when the book was turned into a film by Darryl Zanuck and Steele, being snagged on the bell tower, was allotted 140 seconds.
Above; the parachutist always draws a crowd, many of whom will go on to visit the amazing Airborne Museum next door.
Above; going inside the church gives the visitor the opportunity to see two beautiful stained glass windows commemorating these events. The one above, unusually for a church, is full of parachutes and paratroopers.
Above; this window was installed in 1969 to mark the 25th anniversary of D Day. At the bottom of the window in French and English is the phrase; “They have come back.” In the centre of the window is St Michael, the patron saint of paratroopers.
Below a closeup of the top of the window showing numerous parachutes in honour of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
Above; the left hand side of the window with the words ; “To the memory of those who through their sacrifice liberated Sainte-Mère-Église.”
Essential information.
Getting there;
To get to St Mere Eglise you approach it from the north or south along the N13 and take signs to the village. There are several car parks but use your Sat Nav to take you to one close to the church.
There is a fee to park your car but the church is free.
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All Saints has been described as a “charming jewel of a church adjacent to the beautiful Chilterns’ countryside”. Once inside, one look at the walls demonstrates why it has been given this description. Star of the paintings is a virtually complete St George, St John the Evangelist and St James. Others are not quite so clear but with a little effort and time, various features from the stories of other saints can be interpreted can be recognised. An example of this is St Francis of Assisi, who can be identified by the presence of birds. There are also six medieval tiles and clues that show that the Church was built in two distinct phases.