Battle of Ramelle
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| Battle of Ramelle | |||||||||||||||||
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| Conflict | World War II | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | June 13, 1944 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Ramelle, France | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Allied pyrrhic victory | ||||||||||||||||
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The Battle of Ramelle was a climatic, fictional battle fought at the conclusion of the movie Saving Private Ryan, which was set during World War II. The battle occurred soon after the Battle of Normandy, with Allied troops sweeping across France, moving through towns and cities previously under German control. After the Battle of Normandy, the planes of the 82nd Airborne Division destroyed all of the bridges along the Merderet River except for two, one at Valognes and the other at Ramelle. After landing behind enemy lines on June 6, 1944 it was the task of the 101st Airborne Division to hold the bridge at Ramelle until reinforcements arrived, and at all costs prevent the Germans from crossing the bridge. However, the vast majority of drops within the 101st and 82nd left the men badly scattered, and as a result those assigned to guard the bridge at Ramelle were severely undermanned, to the point where the highest ranking personnel amongst the men was a corporal.
It was the decision by Captain John Miller to deviate from his original mission and assist the 101st that ultimately resulted in the mission's success. Miller's leadership and insight(not to mention extra men) surely increased the effectiveness of the Allied troops defense to a level that surely would not have been possible without him. Despite this, the Battle of Ramelle can be at best be considered a pyrrhic victory for the Allied forces. Miller and his men sustained a large number of casualties for their relatively small force, and Miller himself, along with 3 of the 5 men who came to Ramelle with him as part of the mission to "Save Private Ryan" perished in the battle.
[edit] A "Public Relations" Mission
After the Normandy invasion, a group of US Army Rangers and a translator, led by Capt. John Miller, were given the task of finding Pvt. James Francis Ryan of the 101st Airborne Division and bringing him back so he could be sent home. All of Ryan's brothers had been killed in combat and bringing Ryan home was seen as a good public relations move. Ryan happened to be apart of the group of paratroopers charged with protecting the bridge at Ramelle, and after finding Ryan, Miller realized how desperate the situation really was. Ryan's reluctance to leave "the only brothers he had left", and a hope that the defense of Ramelle along with the successful completion of the mission (the safe return of Ryan), would earn him and the men the right to go home, were reason enough in Miller's mind to deviate from the Rangers' original mission and assist the 101st in the defense of Ramelle until reinforcements arrived.
[edit] Defensive Preparations
Knowing that they would likely be severely outnumbered and outgunned in a German attack, Captain Miller organised the defences around a bottleneck in the rubble-filled remains of the main road. The plan was to have the German armour forced into a position where it would be easier to attack on foot, and harder for the tanks to retreat or manoeuvre. The Germans would be baited to drive down the street by Private Reiben and a paratrooper operating a Kettenkrad.
As a last resort, the town's bridge was wired with TNT, and the last man alive was to destroy the bridge to prevent it falling into German hands. Surplus TNT was then distributed amongst the troops as makeshift bombs with which to attack the German armour.
To combat infantry, Miller had two .30 calibre machine guns available, and a small number of mines. One machine gun was to be placed in Ramelle's church bell tower with Miller's sniper, Private Jackson where it could attack the Germans from above. The other machine gun was on the ground with Private Mellish and Corporal Henderson to be used in a mobile defensive role, with Corporal Upham supplying ammunition. Private Ryan was to remain no further than two feet from Captain Miller.
A series of mines were also placed in the main street to be detonated when the German infantry were alongside them, following behind their tanks. The American forces would hide in craters and amongst the rubble to wait.
[edit] The battle
The Germans were spotted approaching by Private Jackson, who gave approximations of their numbers to Miller.
As planned, Private Reiben attacked the advancing Germans and retreated to the main road. The Germans proceeded to enter Ramelle, but approximately half of their force went past the main road and into other areas of the town, including a half-track and the Panzer IVs and Mardens.
However, a Tiger tank and several troops decided to move down the main road and into the bottleneck. As they approached Miller and his men, the Hawkins mines were detonated and the machine guns began firing, cutting down a number of German soldiers. Private Mellish and Corporal Henderson were forced to relocate as the Tiger fired at their position. Miller ordered them to attack the Germans moving in on the right flank. Mellish and Henderson moved to the upper storer of a house and fired on the Germans, but knew that the flank would eventually collapse. Upham was told to inform Captain Miller, and he left the building to do so.
Meanwhile the tank continued to move down the street, firing at buildings in an attempt to drive off the attacking American soldiers. The first attempt to sabotage the tracks was unsuccessful, with a Paratrooper's bomb detonating prematurely, but two other Paratroopers managed to place bombs on the Tiger's tracks. The tank was disabled, and the Americans managed to kill or wound enough crewmembers to put the tank out of action. One of the tank hunters was also rendered inoperable after molotov cocktails were thrown into the open crew compartment.
Suddenly a German 2cm Flak 38 was moved forward and opened fire on the Americans attacking the Tiger. All the troops attacking the tank were cut down by the Flak gun, and even Private Jackson could not get a clear shot. Miller, Ryan and Reiben fired on the Flak gun but were forced to displace when the Flak crew turned their fire on them.
As Miller and his men fell back, Jackson and Parker in the bell tower continued to fire on the Germans. As Parker used up the last of the .30 calibre's ammunition, they caught the attention of a Marder tank hunter on the ground. Jackson continued to pick off targets, but the Marder fired and destroyed the bell tower, killing Jackson and Parker.
On the ground, Reiben volunteered to try and flank the Flak 38 to stop it from wiping out Miller's entire force. At the same time, Mellish and Henderson were calling out for Upham to bring them more ammunition, as they had run out and were being attacked by German troops with grenades and small arms fire. Upham was almost paralysed with fear, but finally ran to Mellish and Henderson's position. He hesitated at the bottom of the building, allowing a number of German soldiers to enter the position first. In vicious close-quarters fighting, Henderson and Mellish were killed. Upham was too terrified to intervene, despite the calls for help from Mellish, and crouched on the staircase. One German soldier emerged and rejoined the battle, leaving a sobbing Upham helpless on the staircase.
The battle by now had turned well against the Americans. A second Tiger tank was now entering the main road. Most of Miller's men were dead, and they were now falling back to the 'Alamo'. Miller and Ryan were still in a crater without ammunition, forced to use mortar rounds as unorthodox grenades to continue fighting. Eventually, the second Tiger and more German infantry overran their position, and the men retreated back to the 'Alamo'.
Sergeant Horvath managed to find Upham, and together they proceeded towards the Alamo. Upham, however, was separated from Horvath and forced to hide in a crater and feign death as the Germans took up firing positions around him. Horvath and Reiben began attacking the Tiger with a bazooka while Ryan and Miller prepared the explosives on the bridge. A shot from the other side of the river wounded Miller, while Horvath and other paratroopers were cut down by rifle fire trying to cross the bridge. Horvath was wounded severely, but was dragged back to the 'Alamo'.
A shot fired from the Tiger tank stunned Miller, and he watched helplessly as his men were gunned down or bludgeoned to death. In a daze he tried to reach the detonator, but was mortally wounded by a shot fired from a German soldier that the patrol had previously released. As Miller lay dying, he fired on the advancing Tiger with his Colt pistol. As he fired, the Tank exploded from a bomb dropped by a P-51 Mustang. The Germans were forced to retreat as the Mustangs continued their bombing run.
Corporal Upham, having seen Miller shot by the German whom he had previously saved from execution, rose from his hiding place in anger and forced a number of German troops to drop their weapons and surrender. The German soldier pleaded with Upham, but Upham ordered him in German to shut his mouth and fired. Upham allowed the remaining Germans to flee.
Back on the bridge, Ryan and Reiben tried to help Miller as American reinforcements arrived. As Reiben searched frantically for a medic, Miller told Ryan to earn the sacrifices that Miller and his squad had made on Ryan's behalf but died before a medic could reach him.
