The Normandy town of Sainte-Mère-Église was a key target for the Allied forces landing on June 6th, 1944, because it lay astride an important road that the Germans could have used in any counterattack. As a result, elements of both the 82nd and the 101st US Airborne Divisions parachuted over the town early on D-Day and captured it, holding it until relieved by forces that had landed on 'Utah' beach the following day. It was the very first French town to be liberated from the Germans during the war.
Those who are familiar with the range of Italeri battlesets will have no difficulty in predicting what figures are included in this one:
In addition to the figures, the following plastic kits are also included in the set:
- 1 of Italeri Sd.Kfz. 251/1 (7009)
- 1 of Italeri Urban Accessories (6146)
Both these sets are quite appropriate for the action, although as always the uniforms of the old Esci German Infantry are more from the early war rather than 1944, though not entirely unreasonable. The German vehicle is a reasonable choice, and the urban accessories make perfect sense in this particular set.
As usual there is also a large MDF laser-cut building accessory, and since the battle was over a Normandy town, all manner of buildings could have been chosen with perfect authenticity. However Italeri have gone with a church, perhaps inevitably given the name of the town, although another famous incident during the battle also makes the church a solid choice. In the event, the Allied paratroopers had considerable difficulties in landing where they were supposed to, and landing near buildings or trees always presents many hazards. In this particular battle one paratrooper, John Steele of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, landed on the church and got his chute caught on the tower. Unable to free himself and terribly exposed, he played dead until released by the Germans, and since 2011 a replica of him has hung from a parachute on the church in the town. The model is a pretty faithful copy of this church, and looks really good.
Italeri have kept to their usual formula when presenting this set, including a detailed breakdown of the components and an example of how it might look when put together, but as always many liberties have been taken with this last item. The completed diorama is indeed fabulous, but of course all the elements have been painted and set in a complex environment with many more materials like trees and trenches, which are not included in the set (though there is some guidance as to how to scratch-build these yourself). It is inspirational stuff, and great eye candy, but it also takes one more liberty, as seen in the last Italeri image seen above. It shows the unfortunate dangling paratrooper John Steele, caught on the tower and watching the fighting below. The parachute of course is not included in the set (the instructions suggest making one from tin foil), and the figure itself is a conversion of one of the Paratrooper figures, so much work would be required to produce this complete diorama. Of course were you to embark on such a project, this set would be a great start, and the lovely church model makes a great centre-piece, giving new life to two sets of figures that are both over four decades old, yet have stood the test of time pretty well.