By Jul, it was apparent that despite a generally successful campaign in Normandy thus far, Allied progress had been excruciatingly slow. By mid-Jul the front lines were what the Allied high command planned to be five days after a successful landing. The first attempt at a breakout, Operation Goodwood, was a failure; the predominantly British attempt utilized a large armor formation to, unsuccessfully, create a gap. On 25 Jul Omar Bradley launched Operation Cobra, using VII Corps infantry divisions to create and hold a gap in the German lines while sending three divisions of men through the gap, bring the war beyond the hedgerow country that had frustrated the Allied troops so much. Preceding this massive breakout operation was an even larger air bombardment. American artillery officer Donald Bennett recalled the morning of 25 Jul when the bombing by 1,500 aircraft started: Across three hours nearly every combat-capable plane in western Europe came in, starting with medium B-25s and B-26s, followed by the lumbering B-17s and B-24s, while a thousand or more fighters circled around the edge of the action, pouncing on any target of opportunity. The ground rolled from the concussion, smacking through the soles of our feet, pillars of smoke and dirt rising thousands of feet into the air. A total of 600 tons of bombs was released. The earlier waves of bombs were dropped on top of Germans as planned, but as the smoke and fire blurred boundaries, bombardiers of the final few waves had a tough time figuring out where the Germans were. As a result, some of the bombs landed on top of American units. US Army Lieutenant Charles Scheffel and his unit was among those bracketed by friendly fire. On my left, a crashing boom slammed me against the side of my foxhole and bounced me off the quaking ground. Pain knifed into my ears and squeezed air out of my lungs. I sucked in dirt and choked trying to breathe. Spitting, I opened my mouth against the deafening roar. Mother of God, they were going to kill us all.... I prayed somebody somewhere was on the horn telling these guys what they were doing to us down here. 150 Americans were killed by accident by these bombs. The highest ranking fatality of this massive friendly fire incident was a three-star general of the US Army, blown out of his slit trench some two miles behind where I had been hole up, recalled Scheffel. Immediately after the bombings, the American 4th, 9th, and 30th Infantry Divisions charged into German lines even as smaller bombers and fighters continued to attack German positions further beyond the line. [T]he few Germans who were encountered were out of their heads with shock, recalled Bennett as his M-7 artillery pieces went in. Indeed, the elite Panzer Lehr Division lost much effectiveness with some of their tanks overturned and two thirds of personnel becoming casualties of the bombing. The advancing infantry divisions gained 12,000 yards on 25 and 26 Jul, supplying the mobile breakthrough to occur on 27 Jul. The American 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Armored Divisions, supported by the 1st Infantry Division, charged through the gap created. The German forces, already ill-equipped due to the Allied air superiority and now struck in daze by the bombardment, fell back 12 miles by the end of 28 Jul. The German troops were now on a general retreat in attempt to regroup. The defeat of the German forces during Operation Cobra cost Germany over 400,000 men and 1,500 tanks and self-propelled guns, while key positions such as Avranches and openings to Brittany were now in Allied hands. Operation Lüttich 7 Aug On 7 Aug 1944, Operation Lüttich was launched by German forces, a counterattack with the goal to halt the Allied momentum. While achieving some surprise, Field Marshal von Kluge was not able to break the Allied defense. The southern approaches to Mortain, the German objective, were breached, however at a heavy cost of fourteen tanks. Allied air superiority played an important role in stopping this German counterattack, with American medium bombers bombing German movements and British Typhoon fighters attacking targets on the ground with rockets. We could do nothing against them, said General von Luttwitz, reporting his frustration in his inability to counter the Allied air raids. Within the day, the German counterattack was foiled. George Pattons troops reclaimed the town of Mortain by the evening. Full History Here>>ww2db/battle_spec.php?battle_id=112 ww2db/
Posted on: Tue, 26 Aug 2014 01:58:56 +0000
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