THE US FIRST ARMY THE FORGOTTEN HEROES OF WW2; THE BREAK OUT FROM ST LO : CHAPTER 5

The soldiers from the XIX Corps started the push to St Lo from Carentan on July 3 pushing past the German east flank over the bridge at Ariel, ten miles north of St Lo. Repeated German efforts to destroy the bridge and halt the advance of the Americans were thwarted by the superb combat skills of the 3^rd armored division, particularly the combat engineers who fought tenaciously to keep the advance route open to the American tanks of the 3^rd Armored Division.

With the road junction in the village of St Jean du Hayes secured, the tanks of the 3^rd Armored Division were able to turn left to start the push south while the US VIII Corps advanced down the western flank to secure the Armored advance. The 29^th infantry division was now able to advance on the town itself especially as the dominant height of hill 192 was securely in American hands. St Lo finally fell on July 16, 1944.

OPERATION COBRA

In mid July, the US First Army under Lieu Gen Omar N Bradley began preparations towards Operation Cobra, a planned break out of the hedgerow country of Normandy focused on a three mile stretch of the frontlines close to St Lo. Cobra was an adaptation of the British plan, operation Epsom and Good wood which involved a heavy carpet bombing of German front lines on a narrow stretch followed by close armor and infantry exploitation of the breach caused by the heavy bombardment.

Against fortified and entrenched German positions, it was realized that the Allies could successfully employ their massive air power to carpet bomb a narrow stretch of the German frontline positions through which a concentrated thrust by armor, infantry and artillery closely following can exploit, resulting in a decisive break through the German lines and rapid advance into the open country beyond the hedgerow area into Brittany.

 The Allies knew the concentrated force of 3,000 bombers within a three mile stretch of the frontlines would pulverize every German unit within the vicinity and the overwhelmed and traumatized defenders could easily be overcome before they have a chance to recover and return to their positions.

For Operation Cobra, the second armored division’s combat command A and the 22^nd infantry Division practiced close combat co-ordinate assaults and drilled thoroughly in preparation for the attack with the infantry force projected to ride on the rapidly moving tanks into battle to speed up the advance and secure the tanks in their flank and rear, while protecting them from grazing fire.

First army whose troops were to handle the attack began extensive preparations for the operation which was tentatively scheduled for the 18^th of July but was rescheduled due to weather problems in the United Kingdom which fore stalled movement of aircraft and reduced visibility which was vital for accurate bombing runs. On July 24 the weather had cleared sufficiently for the attacks to begin but as the first wave of planes took off, the overcast returned resulting in the cancellation of the operation.

However a squadron of planes unaware of the cancellation orders proceeded to bomb and ended up dropping their bomb loads on American positions resulting in 25 American fatalities and over 130 soldiers injured including Lieutenant General Lesley Mc Nair Junior, the highest ranking American officer to be killed in the fighting in the European theatre of operation.

0n July 25^th the weather finally cleared and over 3,000 American bombers and fighters of the Eight air force dropped a combination of fragmentation, napalm and high explosive bombs on the German positions devastating the Panzer Lehr Division while General Collins VII Corps subsequently led an advance into the gap thus created, meeting sporadic but determined resistance from the remnants of Panzer Lehr and the German 5^th Parachute division to the West that had escaped the bombing relatively unscathed.

In spite of the intense resistance on the first day that held VII Corps to an advance of only two miles, the next day the attack was pressed and the Americans noticed the resistance was stymied not organized. That same day the US 1^st infantry division and the 2^nd Armored joined in the attack as planned with a view to widening the breach and seeking a deeper penetration of the breach in the German lines. The commitment of General Troy H Middleton’s VIII Corps after a slow start turned the tide as the Germans began to withdraw seeing that their flanks were collapsing, and the tempo of the American advance increased.

The American advance was helped by the fact that the bulk of the German armor had been deployed to stave off any advance on the British /Canadian front where the Germans felt a breakthrough, would be more dangerous to their position in Normandy and had consequently deployed the bulk of their armor and reserves. Whereas the British were confronting seven German armored divisions, the Americans faced just one and a half division, without any depth of defense or reserves.

First Army therefore resolutely pursued the break through with vigor against just over 177 German tanks standing in the way against over 2,500 tanks leading the American advance with most of them equipped with the Rhino tooth designed to cut through the hedgerows headlong.

 Brushing past pockets of determined German resistance led by 88mm gun emplacements, the advance continued relentlessly until the 28th^th of July when the German defenses finally gave way under the combined pressure of VII and VIII Corps attacks. As the Americans approached the breakthrough point, German resistance mounted in the form of counter offensives by the 2^nd SS Panzer division, 17^th SS Panzer grenadiers and the 352^nd division all seeking to escape the American entrapment.

 The desperate bid launched against the 2^nd armored division failed and the disheartened Germans fled on foot abandoning their vehicles and equipments. In fact Panzer Lehr was completely put out of action as a coherent unit after the fighting as reported by its commander General Bayerlain ‘with its armor wiped out, personnel missing or captured, and all headquarters records missing’.

Meanwhile the newly appointed German supreme commander in the West Field Marshal Von Kluge rushed forward re- enforcements in the form of the elements of the 2^nd and 116^th panzer divisions that caught up with the XIX Corps led by Maj Gen Charles H Corlett which had just joined in the fighting on the left flank of VII Corps resulting in the fiercest fighting since operation Cobra started between 28 and 31^st July. Other desperate attacks on the 2^nd armored by elements of the German 2^nd SS Panzer and 17^th SS Panzer grenadier divisions were repelled by the Americans as their confidence grew in the knowledge of the fact that the initiative now lay with them.

On the 30^th of July the US VIII Corps seized Avranches described as the gateway to Brittany and the next day 31^st July, XIX Corps threw back the last of the German counter offensives finally freeing the way for US forces to advance into Brittany and beyond the Boca’ge country.

Picture courtesy of HERE and HERE