 |
| A tank pushes through a hedgerow in Normandy. Hedgerows like this surrounded each field and were easily fortified by the defending Germans. |
Chapter 3
While the main American effort was being made to capture Cherbourg and to clear the Cotentin area, German forces assembling south of Carentan were using the period of inactivity in that sector to prepare a strong defensive line across the base of the peninsula. Breaking through this defense was the next phase of our invasion, and on July 2d VII Corps took over a narrow sector between the VIII and XIX Corps in preparation for the drive south.
Major General Robert C. Macon's 83d Infantry Division held the new Corps sector, a narrow front where operations were canalized by the Taute River and the swampy inundations of the Prairies Marecageuses. The 83d's attacks to gain maneuver room for the commitment of more troops met determined resistance, built about the hedgerows characteristic of this area. Dug into the earthen walls that marked each hedge, the German positions presented a defense that could be eliminated only by slow, tedious, and costly attacks.
The 4th Infantry Division joined the struggle, and later the Corps zone was extended eastward to include the area of the 9th. The infantry-artillery duel continued, gains were small, counterattacks were numerous and determined. On July 11th a strong enemy thrust was launched, with elements of a newly arrived panzer division participating in the first large scale tank attack the VII Corps had experienced. Designed to regain Isigny and split the two main American forces, the attempt proved to be an expensive effort for the enemy, as our air and ground units destroyed or damaged 37 of his tanks. Having gained no ground, he resumed the defensive, withdrawing slowly under the pressure of continuing American attacks.
In order to gain a decisive victory and to break through the area of hedgerow defenses, the First U.S. Army planned Operation "Cobra", a coordinated attack by which the Army would drive south into areas more suited for the operation of its armored units. VII Corps was selected to make the main effort, and boundaries and troops were shifted to position the Corps better for the task. The 83d division passed to VIII Corps control, and the 1st and 30th Infantry and 2d and 3d Armored Divisions joined the VII Corps. After a tremendous air bombardment, the attack would be led by the 4th, 9th, and 30th Divisions, with the 1st, 2d, and 3d poised to exploit the attack once the crust of the enemy defenses was broken.
Poor flying weather twice delayed launching this offensive. Once the heavy bombers which were based in England had already taken off, and part of the air fleet bombed before it could be advised that the attack has been postponed another day. July 25th, however, filled the meteorological bill, and the operation was on. To provide a greater bomb safety zone, front line infantry units withdrew as much as 1000 yards northward. Then the planes came.
Over 3000 aircraft took part that day in the saturation bombing of enemy positions in an area five miles wide and two miles deep, just in front of the VII Corps sector. The bomb targets were all south of the St. Lo-Periers highway, and that road had been designated as the bomb safety line, north of which no bombs would be dropped. A tremendous roaring filled the air as 350 fighter-bombers opened the attack, and the earth trembled with the shock of tons of bombs dropped by 1800 heavy and 400 medium bombers, while 500 more fighter planes gave protection from possible German air attack. A great cloud of dust and smoke rose over the area, obscuring the road, and several planes dropped their bombs short of the target area, among the troops waiting to attack. Confusion at this unexpected turn of events partially disorganized those units which were hit, but adjustments were quickly made and the attack went on as planned.
Initially the advancing infantry met the fire of dug-in riflemen, machine guns, and artillery which had withstood the bombing, and gains were stubbornly contested. On July 26th, the Corps "Sunday punch" was committed, and the 2d and 3d Armored Divisions opened the first large scale armored action of the American forces in Europe. Closely supported by fighter-bombers of the IX Tactical Air Command, our armored columns drove eight kilometers to the south, while the infantry divisions widened the penetration and pressed southward to support the tanks. On the following day, the enemy's positions were completely overrun. The days of hedgerow fighting were over.
|
| A tank pushes through a hedgerow in Normandy. Hedgerows like this surrounded each field and were easily fortified by the defending Germans. |
After three weeks of slow advance, VII Corps in one mighty drive had pushed 40 to 50 kilometers and had burst completely clear of the base of the Cotentin Peninsula into more open terrain where increased freedom of movement meant even greater progress. It has paved the way for the VIII Corps drive down the west coast and for the entrance of the Third U.S. Army into the battle.
First Army's plan to break out of the lodgment area was Operation COBRA, a 25 July attack by VII and XIX Corps that shattered the German defenses at the town of St. Lo and passed infantry and armored columns through the gap and out of the Brittany peninsula. Once clear of the Bocage country, the spearheads turned east toward Paris, rapidly encircling portions of two German armies in what became known as the Falaise-Argentan pocket. Later, as part of the First Army attack into the Siegfried Line and Huertgen Forest, attacks began on 14 September 1944. Gen. Hodges, the First Army Commander, directed V Corps to protect the flank of VII Corps, which was leading the First Army attack into Germany. Worse fighting was yet to come, as First Army directed V Corps to support the VII Corps attack deeper in the Huertgen Forest. With the capture of the Roer dams, the way was open for VII Corps to move on into Germany and for the First Army to close on the Rhine.
The drive begun July 25th and was sustained against the rear guard defense of the German forces. Resistance was generally light, but scattered pockets of enemy fought tenaciously. Near Mortain, opposition on the east stiffened and only limited advance was made, although units on the right of the Corps zone met little resistance and continued their advance.
During Operation COBRA, air-ground coordination reached a superior degree of efficiency. Fighting-bomber attacks alone during the period July 26 - 31 accounted for 362 enemy tanks destroyed and over 200 damaged, and 1337 other motor vehicles destroyed. Squadrons on armed reconnaissance in the VII Corps zone of action attacked and destroyed whole columns of enemy vehicles and they attempted to withdraw to the south. The narrow country roads were so blocked with the debris of these columns that they could be used by the advancing Americans only after bulldozers had cleared paths through the ruins.
On August 6th, elements of the 1st Infantry division reached and occupied Mayenne, while the 4th, 9th, and 30th Divisions engaged a stubbornly defending enemy north and south of Mortain.