MILFORD, Mass. (WWLP) – Thursday marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy that led to the liberation of Europe and the defeat of Nazi Germany. 22News introduces you to Alfred Consigli, 100, of Milford, Massachusetts, who traveled in a tank from Normandy to Germany.
How Massachusetts played a pivotal role in D-Day
This is an incredible story about an extraordinary man. Alfred Consigli is still with us at the age of 100 and 80 years after D-Day. He was a sniper in General George Patton’s “Blackcat” tank battalion and has the photographs and memories to prove it.
Consigli is a survivor. One of Milford’s nine brothers and seven of them served during World War II. He enlisted at the age of 18 and remembers the first time the US military discovered his incredible abilities.
“And an officer said to me, ‘Do you like guns?’ And I said yes, I like guns. I was 22 when I was 15 years old. General Patton…they wanted a tank battalion to fight for their armies and they chose us, the Black Cat tank battalion. I hit all the targets, they took one plane out of the sky with another, I destroyed that one. Then have the Captain take the soldier to the stands. I went there and he said to the captain, ‘He hasn’t even shaved yet!’ They said, “We’ve never seen anything like this.” Now he’s a sniper and a corporal,’” Consigli said.
Consigli rode that tank to Utah Beach on D-Day and started shooting.
“So we landed on Utah Beach, Tank Platoon #6. Fire when ready… I fired one round and he said ten… so I go up ten… a ceasefire machine gun nest. Two rounds… I knocked him out,” Consigli said.
American Heritage Museum in Massachusetts honors D-Day heroes
While marching through Europe, Alfred found some cameras and took these incredible photographs. He was an eyewitness to history.
“There are some Germans. Look at them, oh yeah. I took them all with my camera. Look at them all smiling, those are the happy ones. Of course, the war is over for them,” said Consigli.
He spent so many days and nights in that tank that one night he decided that enough was enough and looked for another place to rest.
“I said I’ll go to the barn to sleep with the cows, you guys can keep the tank. Suddenly I hear a noise from upstairs. An infantryman enters with two German soldiers. He looks around and says, ‘Hey, tankers…look who was sleeping upstairs.’ They also had big guns… that means they had machine guns, but he had to say, ‘Hey, tankers,'” Consigli said.
Those tankers led the way through Europe through the Battle of the Bulge and eventually crossed the Rhine River, crossed the Remagen Bridge and entered Germany. The seven Consigli brothers served around the world, but all seven survived the war and returned home. Alfred is the only one left today from that group of brothers.
“They never talked about their service… what a shame, I still miss them. I dream about them all the time,” Alfred said.
What a story Alfred shared with 22News. He is one of the last of his kind, a true American hero, and it was an honor and a privilege to know him.
Don’t forget, Wednesday night at 7:00 pm on 22News we will have a special one-hour broadcast called “D-Day, the Greatest Victory.”
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22News, an KeynoteUSA affiliate, began broadcasting local news, network, syndicated and local programming in Western Massachusetts in March 1953. Watch the digital edition of 22News weekdays at 4 p.m.
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