Marston was the son of Thomas William & Annie Laura Nichols Stokes. Before entering the Army Marston worked on the family farm.
Marston was in the battle of St. Lo France, he died of wounds on July 27th in France from wounds suffered the day before.
Pvt Marston J. Stokes was the first serviceman listed killed in action from Bothwell, Utah
St. Lô, once a part of the grand designs of the French rulers Charlemagne and Napoleon, has a powerful and direct link 20th-century America, and especially to Western Virginia. The medieval Norman town, approximately 175 miles west of Paris, was the scene of a violent, decisive battle between American GIs and the entrenched German forces shortly after the Allied landings on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The American-led air force and ground troops of the 29th Division's 116th Infantry Regiment (which comprised many Virginians) liberated St. Lô on July 19, 1944.
The campaign left 95 percent of the town demolished, including much of the gorgeous Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame. St. Lô suffered more than any community in Normandy during WWII, but its people truly love Americans, whom they regard as their liberators.
THE JULY OFFENSIVE
ST-LO, capital of the department of Manche, can be used as one symbol for First U. S. Army's victory in a most difficult and bloody phase of the Campaign of Normandy: the "Battle of the Hedgerows," during the first three weeks of July I944. Other names figure in this battle. First Army soldiers will remember la Haye-du-Puits, Periers, Hill 192, like St-Lo, from a background of stubborn struggle for gains too often measured in terms of a few hundred yards, or of two or three fields, conquered against a bitterly resisting enemy.
Much more was at stake in the Battle of the Hedgerows than possession of a communications center on the Vire River. In June, First Army and British Second Army had won their beachheads and had captured Cherbourg (26 June). Supplies and reinforcements were building up for a powerful offensive, designed to break out of the Normandy pocket and scheduled to be mounted in the First Army zone. But more room and better jump-off positions for the crucial offensive were needed before this blow could be delivered. The attack that began in early July was planned to gain this ground, on a front of 25 miles. Four corps, employing ultimately 12 divisions, were involved in the effort. All these units faced similar problems of advance, and all contributed to the measure of success achieved. Therefore, in the larger tactical sense it would be unfair to identify the Battle of the Hedgerows with St-Lo and later military studies, treating the Campaign of Normandy in different scope, will give the operation in truer proportions. Here, one phase of the hedgerow battle can be used to illustrate, in tactical detail, the character of the larger action.
The advance which reached St-Lo is the story of XIX Corps, aided by the action of the 2d Division of V Corps on its left flank.
Marston was in the battle of St. Lo France, he died of wounds on July 27th in France from wounds suffered the day before.
Pvt Marston J. Stokes was the first serviceman listed killed in action from Bothwell, Utah
St. Lô, once a part of the grand designs of the French rulers Charlemagne and Napoleon, has a powerful and direct link 20th-century America, and especially to Western Virginia. The medieval Norman town, approximately 175 miles west of Paris, was the scene of a violent, decisive battle between American GIs and the entrenched German forces shortly after the Allied landings on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The American-led air force and ground troops of the 29th Division's 116th Infantry Regiment (which comprised many Virginians) liberated St. Lô on July 19, 1944.
The campaign left 95 percent of the town demolished, including much of the gorgeous Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame. St. Lô suffered more than any community in Normandy during WWII, but its people truly love Americans, whom they regard as their liberators.
THE JULY OFFENSIVE
ST-LO, capital of the department of Manche, can be used as one symbol for First U. S. Army's victory in a most difficult and bloody phase of the Campaign of Normandy: the "Battle of the Hedgerows," during the first three weeks of July I944. Other names figure in this battle. First Army soldiers will remember la Haye-du-Puits, Periers, Hill 192, like St-Lo, from a background of stubborn struggle for gains too often measured in terms of a few hundred yards, or of two or three fields, conquered against a bitterly resisting enemy.
Much more was at stake in the Battle of the Hedgerows than possession of a communications center on the Vire River. In June, First Army and British Second Army had won their beachheads and had captured Cherbourg (26 June). Supplies and reinforcements were building up for a powerful offensive, designed to break out of the Normandy pocket and scheduled to be mounted in the First Army zone. But more room and better jump-off positions for the crucial offensive were needed before this blow could be delivered. The attack that began in early July was planned to gain this ground, on a front of 25 miles. Four corps, employing ultimately 12 divisions, were involved in the effort. All these units faced similar problems of advance, and all contributed to the measure of success achieved. Therefore, in the larger tactical sense it would be unfair to identify the Battle of the Hedgerows with St-Lo and later military studies, treating the Campaign of Normandy in different scope, will give the operation in truer proportions. Here, one phase of the hedgerow battle can be used to illustrate, in tactical detail, the character of the larger action.
The advance which reached St-Lo is the story of XIX Corps, aided by the action of the 2d Division of V Corps on its left flank.
Marston was the son of Thomas William & Annie Laura Nichols Stokes. Before entering the Army Marston worked on the family farm.
Marston was in the battle of St. Lo France, he died of wounds on July 27th in France from wounds suffered the day before.
Pvt Marston J. Stokes was the first serviceman listed killed in action from Bothwell, Utah
St. Lô, once a part of the grand designs of the French rulers Charlemagne and Napoleon, has a powerful and direct link 20th-century America, and especially to Western Virginia. The medieval Norman town, approximately 175 miles west of Paris, was the scene of a violent, decisive battle between American GIs and the entrenched German forces shortly after the Allied landings on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The American-led air force and ground troops of the 29th Division's 116th Infantry Regiment (which comprised many Virginians) liberated St. Lô on July 19, 1944.
The campaign left 95 percent of the town demolished, including much of the gorgeous Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame. St. Lô suffered more than any community in Normandy during WWII, but its people truly love Americans, whom they regard as their liberators.
THE JULY OFFENSIVE
ST-LO, capital of the department of Manche, can be used as one symbol for First U. S. Army's victory in a most difficult and bloody phase of the Campaign of Normandy: the "Battle of the Hedgerows," during the first three weeks of July I944. Other names figure in this battle. First Army soldiers will remember la Haye-du-Puits, Periers, Hill 192, like St-Lo, from a background of stubborn struggle for gains too often measured in terms of a few hundred yards, or of two or three fields, conquered against a bitterly resisting enemy.
Much more was at stake in the Battle of the Hedgerows than possession of a communications center on the Vire River. In June, First Army and British Second Army had won their beachheads and had captured Cherbourg (26 June). Supplies and reinforcements were building up for a powerful offensive, designed to break out of the Normandy pocket and scheduled to be mounted in the First Army zone. But more room and better jump-off positions for the crucial offensive were needed before this blow could be delivered. The attack that began in early July was planned to gain this ground, on a front of 25 miles. Four corps, employing ultimately 12 divisions, were involved in the effort. All these units faced similar problems of advance, and all contributed to the measure of success achieved. Therefore, in the larger tactical sense it would be unfair to identify the Battle of the Hedgerows with St-Lo and later military studies, treating the Campaign of Normandy in different scope, will give the operation in truer proportions. Here, one phase of the hedgerow battle can be used to illustrate, in tactical detail, the character of the larger action.
The advance which reached St-Lo is the story of XIX Corps, aided by the action of the 2d Division of V Corps on its left flank.
Marston was in the battle of St. Lo France, he died of wounds on July 27th in France from wounds suffered the day before.
Pvt Marston J. Stokes was the first serviceman listed killed in action from Bothwell, Utah
St. Lô, once a part of the grand designs of the French rulers Charlemagne and Napoleon, has a powerful and direct link 20th-century America, and especially to Western Virginia. The medieval Norman town, approximately 175 miles west of Paris, was the scene of a violent, decisive battle between American GIs and the entrenched German forces shortly after the Allied landings on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The American-led air force and ground troops of the 29th Division's 116th Infantry Regiment (which comprised many Virginians) liberated St. Lô on July 19, 1944.
The campaign left 95 percent of the town demolished, including much of the gorgeous Gothic cathedral of Notre Dame. St. Lô suffered more than any community in Normandy during WWII, but its people truly love Americans, whom they regard as their liberators.
THE JULY OFFENSIVE
ST-LO, capital of the department of Manche, can be used as one symbol for First U. S. Army's victory in a most difficult and bloody phase of the Campaign of Normandy: the "Battle of the Hedgerows," during the first three weeks of July I944. Other names figure in this battle. First Army soldiers will remember la Haye-du-Puits, Periers, Hill 192, like St-Lo, from a background of stubborn struggle for gains too often measured in terms of a few hundred yards, or of two or three fields, conquered against a bitterly resisting enemy.
Much more was at stake in the Battle of the Hedgerows than possession of a communications center on the Vire River. In June, First Army and British Second Army had won their beachheads and had captured Cherbourg (26 June). Supplies and reinforcements were building up for a powerful offensive, designed to break out of the Normandy pocket and scheduled to be mounted in the First Army zone. But more room and better jump-off positions for the crucial offensive were needed before this blow could be delivered. The attack that began in early July was planned to gain this ground, on a front of 25 miles. Four corps, employing ultimately 12 divisions, were involved in the effort. All these units faced similar problems of advance, and all contributed to the measure of success achieved. Therefore, in the larger tactical sense it would be unfair to identify the Battle of the Hedgerows with St-Lo and later military studies, treating the Campaign of Normandy in different scope, will give the operation in truer proportions. Here, one phase of the hedgerow battle can be used to illustrate, in tactical detail, the character of the larger action.
The advance which reached St-Lo is the story of XIX Corps, aided by the action of the 2d Division of V Corps on its left flank.
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