June 4, 2024

Staff Sergeant Richard Hobbs and D-Day

This Thursday marks the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. In this excerpt from the upcoming Summer 2024 issue of Marshall magazine, Director of Library and Archives Melissa Hobbs Davis pays tribute to her father, Staff Sergeant Richard Hobbs, who participated in Operation OVERLORD. SSgt. Hobbs, like so many others, kept his wartime experiences private. Melissa discusses how she utilized digital resources at the Marshall Foundation and other organizations to help fill in the blanks of her father’s history.

Sources

The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany

https://history.army.mil/html/reference/normandy/TS/COE/COE14.htm

The D-Day Story collection

https://theddaystory.com/discover/collection/

Down Ramp! The Story Of The Army Amphibian Engineers

https://archive.org/stream/DownRamp/DownRamp_djvu.txt

Force ‘O’ Landing Table. CT16. 15 May 1944 in ADM 493 B Operation Neptune; from Mike Simpson of WW2 Talk Forum

http://ww2talk.com/index.php

Omaha Beachhead (6 June-13 June 1944)

https://history.army.mil/html/books/100/100-11/index.html

The Transportation Corps: Operations Overseas

https://history.army.mil/html/reference/normandy/TS/TC/TC-6.htm

U.S. Army Divisions

https://www.armydivs.com/29th-infantry-division

The U.S. Army GHQ Maneuvers of 1941

https://www.history.army.mil/html/books/070/70-41-1/CMH_Pub_70-41-1.pdf