On March 31, 1942, the crew of the Standard Oil company's tanker T.C. McCobb would experience a first for the Second World War, and what came next would represent the risks faced by the merchant seamen caught in the middle of the vast Battle of the Atlantic.
By September of 1944, the Western Allies had broken out of the Normandy beachehead, and suddenly and quickly moved across northern France . By September 7th, the 90th division was stretched across the northern sector on Patton’s Third Army’s left, advancing slowly northeast. As they did so the German defenders made a risky attack in an effort to spoil the allied advance, cutting through Allied lines in a surprise action at the small town of Mairy-Mannville.