Breakout from Normandy

The Allied invasion of Normandy marked a watershed moment in military history. As the largest amphibious assault to date and the first successful cross-channel attack in eight centuries, it was nonetheless just the initial step toward liberating France and pushing into Germany.

Following the landings, Allied progress stalled. German defenders held Montgomery’s forces at bay near Caen until 10 July 1944. Operation Goodwood was conceived to capture the Bourguebus Ridge while decimating German tank forces. On 18 July, over 1,000 Halifax and Lancaster bombers unleashed their payloads on the 21st Panzer Division’s positions at Colombelles and Cagny. An hour later, British artillery joined the fray, followed by American bombers striking the 16th Luftwaffe Division as fighter-bombers engaged German strongholds.

The British 11th Armoured Division advanced under a rolling barrage from artillery and aircraft. Despite this overwhelming force, German defenders rallied, leading to two days of intense combat with the Germans maintaining many key positions.

Concurrent with Goodwood, the Canadians launched Operation Atlantic. This offensive aimed to advance along the Orne River near Saint-Andre-sure-Orne and Verrieres Ridge, diverting German resources. Atlantic initially succeeded, but as the Canadians reached Verrieres Ridge, torrential rain eliminated air support and hindered armored movements. German forces battered the exposed Canadian infantry, inflicting heavy casualties on the South Saskatchewan Regiment. The Germans counterattacked, pushing back the Canadians and dealing significant losses to the Essex Scottish Regiment. The next day, July 21, the Black Watch and Calgary Highlanders, backed by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, halted the German counteroffensive.

While Goodwood and Atlantic failed to achieve a breakthrough, they succeeded in drawing German resources. The Germans committed 6 1/2 Panzer divisions to secure these areas, leaving only one and a half to counter the impending US Operation Cobra – a situation General Bernard Montgomery had anticipated and planned for.

With German attention fixed on Commonwealth forces, Omar Bradley’s First United States Army prepared to break out of the bocage south of St. Lo. Their objective: turn west toward Avranches, advance on the vital Brittany ports, and encircle a substantial portion of the German Seventh Army.

The operation commenced at 13:00 on 24 July 1944, but immediately encountered problems. The initial aerial bombardment went awry when Air Force commanders, fearing heavy flak, opted to fly perpendicular to the ground forces instead of parallel as Bradley had insisted. A premature bomb drop by one group’s lead bombardier resulted in the death of 25 Americans soldiers and wounding a further 131 men.

Adverse weather postponed the ground assault, but the air strikes of the 24th had already occurred due to communication failures. Fritz Bayerlein, commander of the Panzer Lehr Division, misinterpreted the air strike and moved his forces south, inadvertently placing them squarely in the target zone for the following day’s bombing.

On the morning of July 25th, a massive air raid commenced. P-47 Thunderbolts struck first, followed by nearly 1,500 B-17 and B-24 bombers dropping over 3,300 tons of bombs. This was followed by 380 B-26 Marauders with an additional 1,000 tons of ordnance.

Bayerlein lost a quarter of his troops and numerous tanks in these strikes. However, the Americans again paid a heavy price when bombs falling short killed 111 and wounded 490 of their own, including Lt. General Lesley McNair.

The ground assault began at 11 a.m., advancing toward St. Gilles and Marigny. Despite the ferocious aerial bombardment, U.S. troops encountered unexpectedly stiff resistance, gaining only 1 mile that day. Unbeknownst to the Americans, Bayerlein was in dire straits, reporting to Colonel General Paul Hausser that his division was on the brink of collapse.

On the 26th, forces under Major General Lawton “Lightin’ Joe” Collins lived up to his moniker, advancing 7 miles into German lines at the cost of just three tanks. Collins pressed the attack through the night. In the early hours of the 27th, a company of Sherman tanks encountered a 2nd SS Panzer Division Panther commanded by Ernst Barkman, who knocked out three Shermans in the Germans’ only notable success that day. Despite this, Collins’s Combat Command “B” (CCB), 3rd Armored Division tanks pushed forward another 4 miles in four hours.

By late afternoon on the 28th, it was clear the German 84th Corps was trapped. Disagreement within German command over the best retreat route led to confusion. Hausser ordered a retreat to the southeast, while field commanders favored a southern route. Hausser’s orders were followed initially, but when Generalfeldmarschall Guenther Hans von Kluge countermanded with orders for a southern retreat, it was too late – troops were already moving and communication lines were severed.

U.S. forces managed to contain the Germans until dawn the next day, when 405th Fighter Group P-47 Thunderbolts began a relentless assault on the remnants of German forces, destroying 122 tanks, 11 artillery pieces, and 259 other vehicles.

The following night, Germans made another desperate escape attempt under cover of darkness via St. Denis-le-Gast. One thousand German infantry supported by armor tried to break out, costing US forces 12 vehicles and 100 men, including Lt. Col Wilson Coleman, commander of the 41st Armored Infantry. The Germans lost 7 tanks, 25 armored vehicles, 130 dead, 124 wounded, and 500 captured.

Eleven vehicles that managed to escape from St. Denis-le-Gast ran into the 78th Armored Artillery, whose M7 Priest 105mm howitzers, supported by an M10 tank destroyer, annihilated the German column at point-blank range, killing 90 and capturing 200.

Near Cambry, 2,500 retreating Germans with vehicles encountered a US roadblock consisting of infantry and a Sherman tank. The Americans held their ground and called for artillery support. By morning, the six-hour engagement had cost the Germans 100 vehicles, 450 dead, and 1000 prisoners.

On the evening of the 30th, units of the 4th Armored Division under Major General John Wood entered Avranches. The following day, they captured the crucial bridge over the Selun River at Pontaubault.

By the end of July, the US First Army had captured 20,000 German troops. Indeed, by the 29th, one of the main challenges facing US forces was managing the flood of surrendering Germans.

On 1 August, the First US Army transformed into the 12th Army Group. Simultaneously, Patton’s Third Army was activated and took command of the divisions approaching Brittany. That same day, the 4th Armored Division’s advance toward Rennes was halted by stiff Luftwaffe defense of the airport, where FlaK 88s were effectively employed as antitank guns.

Recognizing his armored division was ill-suited for urban combat, Wood opted to encircle Rennes. On the night of the third, Colonel General Paul Hausser permitted his besieged troops to abandon the city, with 2,000 Germans slipping away under cover of darkness.

Combat Command A of the 4th Armored Division reached Vannes on the fifth and Lorient on the 7th. Once again, the limitations of armored divisions in urban warfare led to the decision to surround Lorient, rather than assault it directly.

Meanwhile, the 6th Armored Division advanced toward Brest, with scouts reaching the outskirts on 6 August. The unit’s 200-mile penetration to reach the heavily defended port city was a remarkable feat. Major General Robert Grow, the 6th’s commander, hoped for the city’s surrender, but this was not to be. Brest would not fall until September 19, by which time its coveted port facilities lay in ruins.

Between Mortain and Avranches, the Germans launched a counterattack code-named Operation Luttich on August 7. Hampered by terrain, the German forces were first hammered by U.S. and British fighters and U.S. antitank teams, then by pinpoint artillery fire.

The Germans’ plight worsened with the launch of the Canadian offensive operation “Totalize” the next day, forcing them to split their dwindling resources between their offensive and the defense of Falaise. That day, U.S. forces captured Le Mans — the breakout from Normandy and the push across France was now in full swing.