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Fictional Figures and the Real Historic People Behind Them

Khalid Elhassan October 25, 2021 35 min

Fictional vs Real - Preston Niland — Preston Niland. 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment Org

27. A Day After His Brother Was Killed in Normandy, Preston Niland Was Killed Just a Few Miles Away

On the same morning that Robert Niland was killed, his brother Preston, a lieutenant in the 4^th Infantry Division, led his men ashore on Utah Beach. Unlike the neighboring Omaha Beach where US attackers suffered horrific losses, the casualties on Utah Beach were relatively light. However, they began to mount once the GIs moved inland and came under fire from numerous German artillery positions. Lieutenant Preston Niland and his platoon were ordered to take out a particularly troublesome artillery position at Crisbeck.

The German battery at Crisbeck had already sunk an American destroyer, the USS Corry, so it was vital that it be taken out as soon as possible. On June 7^th, 1944, Lieutenant Niland led his men in an attack against that artillery position, and amidst heavy fighting, he fell, mortally wounded. Within a mere three weeks, tragedy had befallen three Niland brothers, and Michael and Augusta Niland received the terrible news about three of their sons within a brief span of time.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.