"Lightning Joe" Collins had counted on the 90th Infantry Division to secure the Douve River line and block German access to the Cotentin Peninsula. The "Eight Ball Division" failed to advance thanks to poor training and even weaker leadership, with two commanders fired in its first week of combat. Frustrated, Collins inserted the battered 82nd Airborne Division back into the line and ordered the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, then at about half strength, to accomplish what the "Tough Ombres" of the 90th could not. Reinforced with artillery, tanks and engineers, the 508th (now a Regimental Combat Team) would cross the Douve River under cover of darkness and secure Cretteville. From there the plan evolved into a push to occupy Coigny and Baupte. Cretteville fell by 0800, and the paratroopers pushed southward toward their next two objectives.

The 1st Battalion pressed on and enjoyed their dinner in Coigny that evening. The 2nd Battalion's day didn't go as well as they faced a determined counterattack a mile-and-a-half short of Baupte. Eventually they sent the Germans there packing as well and entered Baupte successfully. There the paratroopers captured a motor park full of vehicles, a substantial cache of food, and most importantly, a safe full of money — quite the bonus prize. To make the day complete the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions finally joined up just south of town. The lackluster performance of the German 265th Infantry Division was not surprising considering the foreign conscripts of its two "Ost" battalions (one-third of its infantry) spoke three different languages and their heavy weapons were almost exclusively of foreign manufacture.