![]() ![]() ![]() In his diary, Arnold recounted rushing to cover: “I don’t think any of the group landing with me were hit during the disembarking, but shell bursts were too damned close. ![]() After standing by for a coastal bombardment and the first waves of landing craft, Arnold himself disembarked and made for the beach alongside a group of soldiers with direly needed medical supplies for the wounded. The Utah Beach landings were successful despite Captain Arnold’s fleet having been blown off course to the south. On June 6th, 1944, after multiple postponements, the Allied invasion of France began. His job was to direct “the orderly movement of ships and craft destined to land thousands of men and tons of equipment on UTAH beach.” Thereafter, he would coordinate these operations on the beach in collaboration with the Army. Captain Arnold was designated NOIC UTAH: Naval Officer In Charge for port operations on Utah Beach. Months of strategic and logistical planning were spent in preparation for this operation. Operation Neptune was the codename for the naval invasion phase of the Battle of Normandy, the operation which would spearhead the Allied offensive to wrestle control of France back from Germany. He spent a few years assigned to the oversight of US Navy shipbuilding operations at Bethlehem Steel in Quincy, and was then shipped over to Europe for the preparation of Operation Neptune. ![]() A Navy veteran of the First World War, Arnold had stayed in the ranks since and was called back to active duty in 1940. What may have been a peaceful civilian life for Arnold was disrupted at the coming of World War II. He worked as a salesman and engineer in Boston for the Leland-Gifford Company, and even served a term representing Natick in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. James Earl Arnold lived in Natick from 1931 to 1947. A little known fact about this invasion, however, is that the first naval officer on the shore of Utah Beach was a man from Natick. The D-Day invasion of Normandy, France is remembered today as one of the most complex and ambitious military undertakings in human history. ![]()
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