Bill Andrews

The Road from Caledonia to Canisy

By Bill Andrews 

One Man’s journey from home through World War II and back

This is a story about my Father, David Andrews, which he could not bring himself to tell. The story follows his entry into the 22nd Infantry Regiment in early 1940 at the time the regiment began to build up for a key role in the D-Day Invasion of Europe as a member of the 4th Infantry Division. The first and last chapters are devoted to David’s enlistment and discharge from the US Army. 

The intervening 26 chapters contain the history and training of the 22nd Infantry Regiment, the day-to-day and hour-to hour details of the action generated by the Regiment, its battalions and its companies as they forced their way off the Utah Landing Beaches on D-Day throught the capture of Cherbourg on June 27 and their leading role in the Breakthrough at St. Lo on July 26, 1944. The names of many officers and enlisted men from across the 4th Infantry Division, the VII Corps and the Regiment are contained in these chapters as they led and fought their way across the Normandy Peninsula. Maps are used to pinpoint their daily locations as they moved against the German defenders. The Regiment’s Daily Action Journal was a key resource used to formulate this story.

Quotes and stories from D-Day veterans are used to demonstrate the daily rigors and horrors subjected to the members of the Regiment. Boys and young men from all across America were changed forever as they fought to survive the beaches and hedgerows of Normandy. Most of these men came back, scared emotionally and physically, to quietly rebuild their lives and families. Many did not return as they gave their lives as a reminder that Freedom is Not Free. They should always be remembered for the contributions and sacrifices they all made for their country and for the lives of all Americans.