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World War II Daily: DDay to VEDay

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Tidewater

Tidewater

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

crimsonaudio said:
FYI, I generally include these - this map was posted on the August 1st update.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I noticed that in your earlier posts. I wanted to post the link for the others, if they wanted to get a map to follow the action.
One of my pet peeves in military history is when a book does not provide a map that shows spatial relationships as it describes the action. When a book says, "The 17th Infantry marched from Bumville to Perduville in only eight hours," I ask myself, "Really? So what? Is that 2 miles or 40 miles?" If you can't see the two places on the map, it doesn't mean much.
As you continue toward Falaise, the spatial relationships will become very important.
 
Tidewater

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

This is the German perspective on the Mortain Counterattack. I found this extraordinary:

Breakout and Pursuit said:
The assembly of the counterattack forces had been made in great haste, at night, and with great difficulty. Units had assembled while in almost constant contact with Allied forces. In some instances, they had been compelled to fight their way to assembly points while in danger of being encircled. There was no distinct boundary between moving into position and jumping off in attack. Many units had already taken heavy losses before the attack started. In contrast with the usual daily personnel losses that averaged about 3 percent of those units in contact, German casualty reports for 6 August inexplicably attained heights of 30 and 40 percent.
Click to expand...
For those who don't know, an assembly area is the place an attacking unit holds up, checks radios, disseminates the plan to the troops, loads magazines, and does all of those last things before delivering an attack. It is normally a secure location behind friendly lines so you can do these things in peace. Having to fight your way into an assembly area is extraordinary. Having to occupy it in the dark, and then leave in the dark makes things enormously more difficult. (Anyone who has done this knows how badly Murphy can mess with you when you try this.)
These were the dire straights to which the Wehrmacht was reduced by August 1944.
 
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Tidewater

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

crimsonaudio said:
All that while being massively outmanned and outgunned - and the enemy has almost total air superiority...
Click to expand...
Yeah. The Germans got used to moving only at night or when the weather limited Allied air forces.
The Luftwaffe promised air support for the Mortain Counterattack, and, in the end, delivered nothing.
 
TIDE-HSV

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

crimsonaudio said:
All that while being massively outmanned and outgunned - and the enemy has almost total air superiority...
Click to expand...
TW beat me to it. Nighttime assembly was the only possible. Otherwise, unless the weather were bad, they would be basically sitting ducks...
 
bamachile

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

Tidewater said:
Yeah. The Germans got used to moving only at night or when the weather limited Allied air forces.
The Luftwaffe promised air support for the Mortain Counterattack, and, in the end, delivered nothing.
Click to expand...
If we do not give you air support, you can call me Meyer. :wink:
 
crimsonaudio

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

August 9, 1944: While the 8th corps of General Patton’s 3rd Army surrounds the town of Brest, the great encircling of the German forces in Normandy begins. While the American forces of General Collins’ 7th Corps move once again towards the town of Mortain, which is bitterly defended by the survivors of the SS Panzer and the Wehrmacht divisions, the 15th and 20th Corps of the U.S 3rd Army move towards Le Mans, which is now liberated and under control of the 5th Infantry division.

The British continue Operation Totalize. For three consecutive days, the Canadian 4th Armored division has progressed impressively, liberating the villages of Gouvix and Urville. Today it reaches Hill 195 and the village of Estrees-la-campagne, defended respectively by the 89th Infantry division and the 12nd SS Panzer Division. Violent tanks battles ensue and the advantage goes to the 5th SS Panzer Army, led by General Eberbach - the Canadians lose 47 of their 52 tanks engaged in the area of Urville. The Polish 1st Armored division (led by General Maczek) moves toward the northern area of Rouvres while the 49th and 51st Infantry divisions attack to the southeast of the area of Caen, between Vimont and Saint-Sylvain, battling the soldiers of the 272nd German Infantry division.

Pictured: Strike photo of the Lisel-Adam bridge taken on August 9, 1944. It was Lindsey’s last mission and the one for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Read more about this hero, who gave his own life saving his crew, here: http://www.b26.com/marauderman/darrell_lindsey.htm

 
Tidewater

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

bamachile said:
If we do not give you air support, you can call me Meyer. :wink:
Click to expand...
A friend of mine, Carl Zetmeyer (which means "Tithe Farmer" in German), was a fluent German speaker. He was seconded to the Bundeswehr in the 1990s. He had a project that a German general had directed him to deliver by a certain date. He looked at the general and, in German, said, "I'll provide the support, sir, or my name is Zetmeyer." All the Germans were impressed, with his moxie, his command of German and his familiarity with German history.
He met the deadline.
 
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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

crimsonaudio said:
August 9, 1944: While the 8th corps of General Patton’s 3rd Army surrounds the town of Brest, the great encircling of the German forces in Normandy begins. While the American forces of General Collins’ 7th Corps move once again towards the town of Mortain, which is bitterly defended by the survivors of the SS Panzer and the Wehrmacht divisions, the 15th and 20th Corps of the U.S 3rd Army move towards Le Mans, which is now liberated and under control of the 5th Infantry division.

The British continue Operation Totalize. For three consecutive days, the Canadian 4th Armored division has progressed impressively, liberating the villages of Gouvix and Urville. Today it reaches Hill 195 and the village of Estrees-la-campagne, defended respectively by the 89th Infantry division and the 12nd SS Panzer Division. Violent tanks battles ensue and the advantage goes to the 5th SS Panzer Army, led by General Eberbach - the Canadians lose 47 of their 52 tanks engaged in the area of Urville. The Polish 1st Armored division (led by General Maczek) moves toward the northern area of Rouvres while the 49th and 51st Infantry divisions attack to the southeast of the area of Caen, between Vimont and Saint-Sylvain, battling the soldiers of the 272nd German Infantry division.

Pictured: Strike photo of the Lisel-Adam bridge taken on August 9, 1944. It was Lindsey’s last mission and the one for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Read more about this hero, who gave his own life saving his crew, here: http://www.b26.com/marauderman/darrell_lindsey.htm

Click to expand...
My pop took off at midnight after this in his B-26 t to bomb an ammo dump at Caudebec, it was his 54th mission.
 
crimsonaudio

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

August 10, 1944: the Americans of the 15th Corps, which liberated the town of Le Mans yesterday, advance towards Alençon in an attempt to close the pocket where the German troops are, trapping them. Despite very fast progression, it remains difficult due to the 9th Panzer Division’s fierce defense. The 2nd French Armored Division, among the divisions attached to the 15th corps, is actively involved in the mission. The 20th Corps of the American 3rd Army attacks towards the Loire river and is close to Angers. In Brittany, the 8th corps of the 3rd Army’s siege of Brest continues, while the battles around Saint-Malo increase.

Fighting continues in the region of Mortain, but operation Lüttich has been stopped and the are Americans counterattacking in an effort to take control of the city. The soldiers of the German SS Panzer divisions are being pushed back, but they continue fighting.

The Canadian 1st Army (led by General Crerar) continues Operation Totalize and keeps pushing towards the small town of Falaise, a distance of about 6 miles from the front at the end of the day. Northeast of Caen, the Belgian troops led by Colonel Jean Piron makes its first reconnaissance mission in the Ranville area.

Pictured: A Cromwell tank and jeep pass an abandoned German PaK 43/41 anti-tank gun during Operation Totalize, Canadian troops searching German prisoners during Operation Totalize



 
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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

August 11, 1944: The U.S. 3rd Army’s XV Corps progresses toward Argentan. Heavy fighting takes place in the area around the town of Alençon, attacked in the evening by General Leclerc’s French 2nd Armored Division. French soldiers enter the city but it will take a few hours to cleanse the city of German snipers. Since yesterday, almost 16 miles have been covered by General Haislip’s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_H._Haislip) XV corps - the situation is dire for the German forces.

The German officers are convinced that only a rapid retreat behind the Seine river can save a large portion of their troops and vehicles engaged in Normandy, but Hitler refuses to listen and orders his generals to dig in to their positions and fight until death if necessary. However, the German officers, realizing the urgency of the situation, decide to evacuate their troops behind the Seine river anyway.

Meanwhile, the Canadian 1st Army (led by General Crerar) reaches the city of Falaise in an attempt to cut off the German retreat (as part of Operation Totalize). By nightfall the Canadians have advanced nearly 7 miles in the five days of the operation. The Canadian 4th Armored Division approaches the village of Potigny, located northeast of Falaise, where heavy fighting takes place against the 12th SS Panzer Division and the 89th Infantry Division. The Polish 1st Armored Division also moves southeast of the village of Saint-Sylvain and counters the attacks of the 85th German Infantry Division.

Pictured: Twelfth Army Group situation map from August 11, 1944

 
bamachile

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News from other fronts:
- The BBC received a full report today of the Majdanek death camp, which had been been captured on the Eastern front in late July. At this point, disbelief is still too strong to publish it.
- Guam falls in the Pacific; Japanese Gen. Hideyoshi Obata commits ritual suicide.
- After successful support operations around Guam, USS Alabama, BB-60, arrives in Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, to prepare for operations in the Caroline and Phillipine Islands later this year.
 
crimsonaudio

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

August 12, 1944: Southwest of Falaise, the U.S. 3rd Army’s XV Corps moves to the north, facing numerous skirmishes with the SS Panzer divisions. The French 2nd Armored Division now controls the town of Alençon, after heavy fighting in the streets yesterday. The French then enter Ecouché on the road to Argentan. The XV Corps manages to reach the same region near Argentan by the end of the day: the American 1st and 3rd armies have now pushed the German forces back over 30 miles in a week.

The American front, which was oriented from north to south on August 5th, is now oriented east to west. Further north, the British 2nd Army and Canadian 1st Army advance southward: the Germans are trapped between the two fronts and there is only one way out - retreating towards Falaise.

The American, British and Canadian troops are now facing each other, which poses potential problems for the allied officers: while the Germans are surrounded (and being heavily bombarded by Allied artillery and air force), the two fronts are getting closer, and in such a situation the Allies may hit each other. General Patton, commanding the 3rd Army, requests permission from General Bradley to close the pocket and to join the Canadians at Falaise, but Bradley is worried about the risks of friendly fire and he asks Patton to remain at the latitude of Argentan, securing the are surrounding the town. This angers Patton: closing the Falaise pocket immediately would mean the end of the German Army in Normandy. But U.S. command stands firm and orders Patton to stop his progress for a few hours - hours that will benefit the thousands of German soldiers, allowing them to reach the Seine river.

Pictured: A map of the formation of the Falaise Pocket, German prisoners taken during the battle are given tea by their captors



 
crimsonaudio

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

August 13, 1944: The situation for the Germans in Normandy is now borderline catastrophic - dozens of divisions are almost completely encircled by the Allies in the Falaise pocket. The Americans attack south of the pocket along three axes: to the east, the XIX Corps of the 1st Army assaults four divisions (including one armored), on its right flank, the VII Corps of the 1st Army, the French 2nd Armored Division and the American XV Corps progress to close the trap.

After Bradley unexpectedly halted the advance of Patton's XV Corps yesterday - stopping just 25 miles south of the Canadian forces to the north - the Allies fail to close the Argentan-Falaise pocket containing the almost-surrounded German forces. The Germans of the 7th Army, led by General Hausser, begin to evacuate a maximum number of divisions outside the pocket, and large units such as SS Panzer divisions take priority (especially the tanks). The Allied air forces tirelessly bomb the pocket, almost like a ‘training ground’ for fighter-bombers pilots who have an impressive number of retreating targets.

Bradley, over-cautious, had incorrectly assumed that most of the the Germans had already escaped, and feared a German counterattack against overextended Americans. Bradley later admitted a mistake had been made, but blamed his superior Montgomery (as did Eisenhower), for moving the Canadians too slowly. Bradley has underestimated the effectiveness of the Allied air forces in stopping all German movements during the daytime, thus making a counterattack highly risky for them. This mistake eventually allows about 240,000 German troops (and 30,000 vehicles) escape through the gap, avoiding encirclement and almost certain destruction.

At the end of the day, more than 10,000 German soldiers belonging to the 12th SS Panzer Division have escaped the pocket and head towards the Seine river.

Pictured: A Hawker Typhoon fighter bomber flying over a destroyed German column attempting to escape the Falaise pocket

 
crimsonaudio

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Re: Normandy daily - 1944

August 14, 1944: The closing of the Falaise pocket is finally ordered. To accomplish this, the Canadians start Operation Tractable (the final offensive conducted by Canadian and Polish Army troops as part of the Battle of Normandy), which aims to control the main exits of the Germans by capturing the strategically important town of Falaise, and following that, the smaller towns of Trun and Chambois. The Allied air force sends 800 Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers to the north and south of Falaise, but as with Totalize, many of the bombers mistakenly dropped their bombs short of their targets, causing 400 Polish and Canadian casualties. After the bombings ceased, three Canadian divisions (2nd and 3rd Infantry, 4th Armored Division), the Polish 1st Armored Division, and the British 53rd Infantry Division start the offensive. Throughout the day, continual attacks by the Canadian 4th and Polish 1st Armored Divisions manage to force a crossing of the Laison River.

The 1st, 12th and 21st SS Panzer divisions start to counter-attack northwest toward Soulangy, but the Allies stop these attacks while the Polish 1st Armored Division progresses to the east of Falaise in order to cut off the retreat of the German divisions.

The German officers continue to receive Hitler's orders prohibiting any retreat to the east, ordering the officers instead to stay where they are.

Pictured: Tanks of the Fort Garry Horse of the Canadian 3rd ready to leave for noon attack from Bretteville-Le-Rabet during Operation Tractable

 
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