World War II Daily: DDay to VEDay
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Re: Normandy daily - 1944
Thanks, CA. Like most others, I had relatives there. We don't need to forget.
Thanks, CA. Like most others, I had relatives there. We don't need to forget.
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
Once the 9th ID cut the Cotentin Peninsula on the evening of 17/18 June, the Germans established a front all the way across the peninsula to Carteret. As the Germans left fell back from Carteret all the way to Avranches, they suffered losses and received reinforcements, but the front remained the same general length. Once the German left fell back to Avranches, the geography changed radically, The northern coast of Brittany veered sharply to the west. If the Germans fell back from Avranches, the frontage they had to cover rose geometrically. Worse, if the German front broke at Avranches, and Patton's Third Army go out into the open Brittany countryside, the mostly foot-mobile Wehrmacht could not hope to keep up. That is why Hitler ordered the counterattack at Mortain. He was desperate to stop the Americans before they got past Avranches. Ironically, that was simply thrusting what Panzers he had west of Vire (i.e. 2nd Panzer Div, 1st & 2nd SS Panzer Divs.) further into the trap as the Third Army swung around and headed to Falaise.
Once the 9th ID cut the Cotentin Peninsula on the evening of 17/18 June, the Germans established a front all the way across the peninsula to Carteret. As the Germans left fell back from Carteret all the way to Avranches, they suffered losses and received reinforcements, but the front remained the same general length. Once the German left fell back to Avranches, the geography changed radically, The northern coast of Brittany veered sharply to the west. If the Germans fell back from Avranches, the frontage they had to cover rose geometrically. Worse, if the German front broke at Avranches, and Patton's Third Army go out into the open Brittany countryside, the mostly foot-mobile Wehrmacht could not hope to keep up. That is why Hitler ordered the counterattack at Mortain. He was desperate to stop the Americans before they got past Avranches. Ironically, that was simply thrusting what Panzers he had west of Vire (i.e. 2nd Panzer Div, 1st & 2nd SS Panzer Divs.) further into the trap as the Third Army swung around and headed to Falaise.
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
The reality is Montgomery was a genius 'big picture' guy - his meticulous planning sometimes meant he KNEW he was sending men into a no-win situation, but if that meant allowing other parts of the front to be more successful, it was a sacrifice worth making. For example, without Operation Spring tying up Rommel and his Panzer divisions in the eastern side of Normandy, Operation Cobra likely would have been far less successful. And Caen was not only the largest city in Normandy, but was the only wall the Germans had to keep the Allied's from driving straight into Paris.
That's an easy pattern to recognize, though most military historians feel differently. Remember, he defeated Rommel in North Africa - Rommel has been quoted saying, "The war in the desert ceased to be a game when Montgomery took over."
The reality is Montgomery was a genius 'big picture' guy - his meticulous planning sometimes meant he KNEW he was sending men into a no-win situation, but if that meant allowing other parts of the front to be more successful, it was a sacrifice worth making. For example, without Operation Spring tying up Rommel and his Panzer divisions in the eastern side of Normandy, Operation Cobra likely would have been far less successful. And Caen was not only the largest city in Normandy, but was the only wall the Germans had to keep the Allied's from driving straight into Paris.
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
This thread brings back memories that have been suppressed for many decades. That's because many of the pics above remind me of the pics my dad showed me and my sibs when we were young. He was in the Ardennes campaigns (Battle of the Bulge), and the pics he brought home and showed us were quite gruesome, to say the least.
This thread brings back memories that have been suppressed for many decades. That's because many of the pics above remind me of the pics my dad showed me and my sibs when we were young. He was in the Ardennes campaigns (Battle of the Bulge), and the pics he brought home and showed us were quite gruesome, to say the least.
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
August 4, 1944: To the east of Avranches (in the Cotentin peninsula), the American forces attack and move towards the area around Vire, the last bona fide German stronghold in the Cotentin. In an attempt to minimize losses, the Americans mercilessly bombard the German positions near Vire. The morale of the German defenders drops dramatically and many soldiers of the Wehrmacht and the SS troops surrender without a fight.
In Brittany, the 5th and 14th Corps of the American 1st Army continues to progress and the 8th Corps (belonging to the 3rd Army of general Patton) advances along to two major axes; one moving towards Vannes, the other to the south towards Nantes. The German divisions are overwhelmed by the Allied firepower, and the bombardments of the harbors and strategic cities like Brest, Lorient and Saint-Malo hinder the retreat of the Wehrmacht divisions.
Operation Bluecoat continues to the southwest of Caen. The progression to the east of the Americans (along the Vire river) is slowed dramatically by the determined defense of the German parachutists of the 3rd Division and the survivors of the 10th SS Panzer Division. But further to the east, to the south of Caen, the British finally seem to take the advantage, capturing the strategic villages of Villers-Bocage and Evrecy. Because on the fall of the German forces, the British and Canadian forces begin planning a new offensive meant to cut off the retreat of the Germans as they begin to retreat beyond the Seine river.
Pictured: A company of M3A1 half tracks of the US 4th Armored Division, passing through the liberated town of Avranches
August 4, 1944: To the east of Avranches (in the Cotentin peninsula), the American forces attack and move towards the area around Vire, the last bona fide German stronghold in the Cotentin. In an attempt to minimize losses, the Americans mercilessly bombard the German positions near Vire. The morale of the German defenders drops dramatically and many soldiers of the Wehrmacht and the SS troops surrender without a fight.
In Brittany, the 5th and 14th Corps of the American 1st Army continues to progress and the 8th Corps (belonging to the 3rd Army of general Patton) advances along to two major axes; one moving towards Vannes, the other to the south towards Nantes. The German divisions are overwhelmed by the Allied firepower, and the bombardments of the harbors and strategic cities like Brest, Lorient and Saint-Malo hinder the retreat of the Wehrmacht divisions.
Operation Bluecoat continues to the southwest of Caen. The progression to the east of the Americans (along the Vire river) is slowed dramatically by the determined defense of the German parachutists of the 3rd Division and the survivors of the 10th SS Panzer Division. But further to the east, to the south of Caen, the British finally seem to take the advantage, capturing the strategic villages of Villers-Bocage and Evrecy. Because on the fall of the German forces, the British and Canadian forces begin planning a new offensive meant to cut off the retreat of the Germans as they begin to retreat beyond the Seine river.
Pictured: A company of M3A1 half tracks of the US 4th Armored Division, passing through the liberated town of Avranches
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
Note: 70 years ago today 15-year-old diarist Anne Frank was arrested with her sister, parents and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. Anne and her sister, Margot, died the following year in a concentration camp.
Note: 70 years ago today 15-year-old diarist Anne Frank was arrested with her sister, parents and four others by the Gestapo after hiding for two years inside a building in Amsterdam. Anne and her sister, Margot, died the following year in a concentration camp.
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
CA, if you haven't done so, you should head to the museum in NOLA next June 6. A buddy & I did that on the 65th anniversary, & there were a couple hundred DDay Vets there. This year, we went back, & there were VERY few. Got to visit w/ a guy from the 82nd & 101st airborne Divs, plus a Higgins boat driver among others. Awesome in the truest sense of the word.
This same buddy visited Normandy & brought me a small baggie of dirt from Utah & Omaha beaches (1 baggie each), which is easily one of the coolest gifts anyone has ever given me.
CA, if you haven't done so, you should head to the museum in NOLA next June 6. A buddy & I did that on the 65th anniversary, & there were a couple hundred DDay Vets there. This year, we went back, & there were VERY few. Got to visit w/ a guy from the 82nd & 101st airborne Divs, plus a Higgins boat driver among others. Awesome in the truest sense of the word.
This same buddy visited Normandy & brought me a small baggie of dirt from Utah & Omaha beaches (1 baggie each), which is easily one of the coolest gifts anyone has ever given me.
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
Yah, I wanted to be there this year for the 70th (was in Normandy last year for there 69th) - will definitely make it soon, likely next year.
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
I appreciate the effort it's taking to post this. I pray our country never forgets the sacrifice, bravery, and commitment to a cause that it took to win this war. Going to Normandy is on my bucket list, for sure. On a trip to London, I was moved to tears when I toured St. Paul's Cathedral and discovered the American Memorial Chapel honoring fallen American soldiers. http://www.303rdbg.com/news/2011-01-23.html
I appreciate the effort it's taking to post this. I pray our country never forgets the sacrifice, bravery, and commitment to a cause that it took to win this war. Going to Normandy is on my bucket list, for sure. On a trip to London, I was moved to tears when I toured St. Paul's Cathedral and discovered the American Memorial Chapel honoring fallen American soldiers. http://www.303rdbg.com/news/2011-01-23.html
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
Normandy is worth a visit. Caen is a modern city (because it had to be almost completely rebuilt), Omaha Beach is awe-inspiring and the American cemetery. Sainte-Mère-Église has the American Airborne Museum (and they still have a paratrooper mannequin hanging from the church steeple). Pegasus Bridge is interesting. The British Airborne Museum is there. Utah, Sword, Juneau and Gold are all appropriately commemorated. The Mulberries are still there at Gold. Normandy is just different from the rest of the Frenchmen. Normandy is cleaner and more orderly than other parts of France.
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
And I can't tell you the number of times people in Normandy actually thanked me when they found out I was American - as if I had something to do with their liberation! They (generally speaking) genuinely love Americans and still appreciate what our fathers and grandfathers did for them 70 years ago...
And I can't tell you the number of times people in Normandy actually thanked me when they found out I was American - as if I had something to do with their liberation! They (generally speaking) genuinely love Americans and still appreciate what our fathers and grandfathers did for them 70 years ago...
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
My dad's oldest brother was with the 457th Bomb Group before, during, and after the Normandy Invasion. Their website has a wealth of photographs, along with the crew lists for each mission, results, and casualties. The WWII buffs here may be interested.
457th Bomb Group
My uncle Elihue is on the bottom row, second from the left:
My dad's oldest brother was with the 457th Bomb Group before, during, and after the Normandy Invasion. Their website has a wealth of photographs, along with the crew lists for each mission, results, and casualties. The WWII buffs here may be interested.
457th Bomb Group
My uncle Elihue is on the bottom row, second from the left:
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
August 5, 1944: The Chiefs of Staff of the German Army are informed by their generals in Normandy that the British and Canadian troops have attacked to the south of Caen. Also, in the East of Avranches (in the Cotentin peninsula), the Americans continue to progress towards Mortain, south of Vire, despite being defended by the 7th German Army (led by General Hausser). In Brittany, a part of General Patton’s 3rd Army (two of the three Corps of the 3rd Army) attacks to the east - Patton received the order to attack towards Laval, Sainte-Suzanne and Mayenne and he immediately gets to work.
The German troops located between Thury-Harcourt in the east and Mortain in the southwest fear being surrounded (in the north by the British and Canadian troops and the south by the American troops). The High German Headquarters decides they need a massive counterattack before being completely overtaken in Normandy and begins planning an operation (which will have to begin in the next few days).
The British, aware of the poor German defensive line between Mortain and Thury-Harcourt, continue Operation Bluecoat for a time before concentrating the offensive in the south of Caen in an attempt to surround it. However, if progression is even possible to the west of the capital of the Calvados, the German defenses there mean it is limited to the area close to Caen.
Pictured: Four 1,000-lb bombs from a US Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder bomber fall towards their target, the railway bridge over the Loire at Les Ponts-de-Ce, Angers, France. The attack was part of the Allied plan to disrupt the Germans’ ability to reinforce their forces in Normandy.
August 5, 1944: The Chiefs of Staff of the German Army are informed by their generals in Normandy that the British and Canadian troops have attacked to the south of Caen. Also, in the East of Avranches (in the Cotentin peninsula), the Americans continue to progress towards Mortain, south of Vire, despite being defended by the 7th German Army (led by General Hausser). In Brittany, a part of General Patton’s 3rd Army (two of the three Corps of the 3rd Army) attacks to the east - Patton received the order to attack towards Laval, Sainte-Suzanne and Mayenne and he immediately gets to work.
The German troops located between Thury-Harcourt in the east and Mortain in the southwest fear being surrounded (in the north by the British and Canadian troops and the south by the American troops). The High German Headquarters decides they need a massive counterattack before being completely overtaken in Normandy and begins planning an operation (which will have to begin in the next few days).
The British, aware of the poor German defensive line between Mortain and Thury-Harcourt, continue Operation Bluecoat for a time before concentrating the offensive in the south of Caen in an attempt to surround it. However, if progression is even possible to the west of the capital of the Calvados, the German defenses there mean it is limited to the area close to Caen.
Pictured: Four 1,000-lb bombs from a US Ninth Air Force B-26 Marauder bomber fall towards their target, the railway bridge over the Loire at Les Ponts-de-Ce, Angers, France. The attack was part of the Allied plan to disrupt the Germans’ ability to reinforce their forces in Normandy.
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
August 6, 1944: the city of Vire (to the northeast of Avranches) is finally liberated and the bulk of the American 1st Army moves towards the town of Mortain, which has thus far resisted the bombardments and light skirmishes with US troops. General Patton’s 3rd Army, divided into two parts since yesterday, continues its lightning-fast progress in Brittany where the soldiers of the 8th Corps arrive at the villages of Brest and Nantes. In the south of Normandy the men of 15th and 20th Corps move quickly towards Laval and Le Mans.
For about a week the British front has not moved any more in the southern area of Caen and the Canadian 1st Army suffers tremendously against the defenders of the 1st SS Panzer. To the west of the city, the British 2nd Army moves slowly towards Thury-Harcourt and Conde, facing the 74th German Corps, after having captured the Pincon Mount, the high point dominating the area.
Hitler wishes to counterattack in the Cotentin peninsula, but General von Kluge (commander of the German forces in Normandy) is convinced that attacking under such conditions is useless and that a retreat to behind the Seine river is absolutely necessary. However, von Kluge does not contradict his Fuhrer, who has decided to launch a vast operation overnight (tonight). The Germans join a maximum number of units together in the area of Mortain, including some aircraft taken from the Russian front, and they prepare for the counterattack.
Pictured: detailed layout map of the current front and knowns enemy positions as of August 6, 1944 (hi-res, download to zoom)
August 6, 1944: the city of Vire (to the northeast of Avranches) is finally liberated and the bulk of the American 1st Army moves towards the town of Mortain, which has thus far resisted the bombardments and light skirmishes with US troops. General Patton’s 3rd Army, divided into two parts since yesterday, continues its lightning-fast progress in Brittany where the soldiers of the 8th Corps arrive at the villages of Brest and Nantes. In the south of Normandy the men of 15th and 20th Corps move quickly towards Laval and Le Mans.
For about a week the British front has not moved any more in the southern area of Caen and the Canadian 1st Army suffers tremendously against the defenders of the 1st SS Panzer. To the west of the city, the British 2nd Army moves slowly towards Thury-Harcourt and Conde, facing the 74th German Corps, after having captured the Pincon Mount, the high point dominating the area.
Hitler wishes to counterattack in the Cotentin peninsula, but General von Kluge (commander of the German forces in Normandy) is convinced that attacking under such conditions is useless and that a retreat to behind the Seine river is absolutely necessary. However, von Kluge does not contradict his Fuhrer, who has decided to launch a vast operation overnight (tonight). The Germans join a maximum number of units together in the area of Mortain, including some aircraft taken from the Russian front, and they prepare for the counterattack.
Pictured: detailed layout map of the current front and knowns enemy positions as of August 6, 1944 (hi-res, download to zoom)
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
He released the Panthers and Mark IVs too late to participate in the Mortain counterattack, but early enough to end up mostly being destroyed in the Falaise Pocket.
Looking at your map, Hitler wanted to just ignore Patton's Third Army in the short term to concentrate everything on Mortain. Patton was not going to sit on his hands and Hitler was crazy to ignore Third Army running around Brittany and the Loire Valley. The smart German play (which Kluge recommended) was to start pulling back as fast as they could. The cork was out of the bottle.
Hitler, as was usual late in the war, was micromanaging from the Wolf's Lair.Breakout and Pursuit said:
He released the Panthers and Mark IVs too late to participate in the Mortain counterattack, but early enough to end up mostly being destroyed in the Falaise Pocket.
Looking at your map, Hitler wanted to just ignore Patton's Third Army in the short term to concentrate everything on Mortain. Patton was not going to sit on his hands and Hitler was crazy to ignore Third Army running around Brittany and the Loire Valley. The smart German play (which Kluge recommended) was to start pulling back as fast as they could. The cork was out of the bottle.
Re: Normandy daily - 1944
Yah, Hitler was 'gone' by this point, he had officially lost his grip on reality, imo. It can be argued he lost it before attacking Russia, which I believe everyone knew was a disaster as it unfolded.
The next few days (70 years ago) literally turned the tide of the war. The Russians were absolutely mauling the Germans to the east and Mortain was the beginning of the end in the west for the Nazis...
Yah, Hitler was 'gone' by this point, he had officially lost his grip on reality, imo. It can be argued he lost it before attacking Russia, which I believe everyone knew was a disaster as it unfolded.
The next few days (70 years ago) literally turned the tide of the war. The Russians were absolutely mauling the Germans to the east and Mortain was the beginning of the end in the west for the Nazis...
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