Higgins Boat Monument Plaque
Details:
At
the left side near the Higgins sculpture, beside the Columbus, Nebraska plaque.
A
large plaque with single bronze border and bronze text inscription mounted on a
semi-triangular stone block facing sideways. The plaque narrates the creation
and usage of the Higgins boat on the D-Day.
Monument Text:
HIGGINS BOAT MONUMENT
On June 6, 1944
the majority of Allied troops initially arriving on the
Normandy
Beaches landed in one of two craft: the British Landing Craft
Assault
(LCA) or the American Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP).
In fact,
some 1,089 LCVPs took part in D-Day.
Developed by Andrew Jackson Higgins in 1941,
the LCVP was built by
Higgins
Industries in New Orleans. The Higgins Boat carried up to 36 troops,
was capable
of up to 12 knots and could be outfitted with a pair of Browning
M1919
machine guns. The boats were crewed by four personnel.
By the time of the Normandy landings the
LCVP had been used in every
theatre of
operations including Operation Torch in North Africa, landings
in Italy,
and in southern France. It was also used in the Pacific theatre.
This memorial to Higgins, his boats, and the
men who rode ashore in them
has been
given to the people of France by the citizens of Columbus, Nebraska,
the
birthplace of Andrew Jackson Higgins. The memorial here is a replica of
a memorial
built in Columbus in 2001, and is also a celebration of partnership
between
Columbus and Sainte Marie du Mont ... two communities tied together
by history
and a heritage of freedom.