The Battle for Sainte-Mère-Église took place at the French town of Sainte-Mère-Église just inland from the Normandy coast. The 82nd Airborne and 101st Airborne divisions both parachuted into Sainte-Mère-Église during the opening hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944. As a result, Sainte-Mère-Église became one of the first towns in Europe liberated from Nazi control.
In-Game
The Battle for Sainte-Mère-Église is featured in several missions in the first Call of Duty game. The player assumes the role of Pvt. Martin, a member of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment which is attached to the 101st Airborne. The battle begins with Pvt. Martin landing just outside the town of Sainte-Mère-Église as a pathfinder to lay a drop zone beacon for other paratroopers. The paratrooper drops end up being scattered, leaving Pvt. Martin to lead a unit formed from multiple companies. Pvt. Martin's unit clears nearby farmhouses of German soldiers. The group then fights through the streets of Sainte-Mère-Église, destroying several Flakpanzers on their way. Pvt. Martin and the rest of the parachutists manage to capture the town and hold it until early morning when the German's counter attack with mortar fire, infantry and a Panzer IV tank. Pvt. Martin destroys the tank with a Panzerfaust 60 before he and several other parachutists are ordered to reinforce the northern approach to the village, where another Panzer IV appears. Pvt. Martin destroys this tank to and then leads an assault on German mortar crews in the area. After repelling the German assault, Captain Foley decides to call for reinforcements. Captain Foley assigns Pvt. Martin, along with Pvt. Elder and Sgt. Moody, to drive from Sainte-Mère-Église to Sainte-Marie-du-Mont in a captured vehicle. Along Highway N13, they meet fierce German opposition, and are eventually disabled by a German Panzer IV. Taking refuge from the tank's fire in a nearby garage, Moody discovers an operational Kubelwagen, which he commandeers. They hurriedly drive away and arrive safely at the battalion headquarters where reinforcements are brought up and sent to Sainte-Mère-Église.
