l

IT,III

'Red Devib' in the Ome bndEehead, Nomandy 1 .

coasral batteries along the Normedy coastline. Th€irtask had to becompleted by 21,00 houn D- l. in order to clear the area ready for theincoming vanguard airbome lroops.

w}len the bombers had finished. large fomations of Dakotatranspon aircraft and glid€rs began to app.oach two areas just behindthe Normandy coasr. The Pathfinde6 had taken off Nith about 23.000

THE BATTLE FOR NORMANDYby Anthony R. Tucker

Op€mrior 'OYERLORD'

The preliminary stages of O\4RLORD commenced laie on 5 June1944, with the steady drone of aircraft making their wny across theEnglish Channel towards the French co6t. The first formationsconsisted of bombers, some 1.056 aircraft of Allied BomberCommand, ed they we.e dnected in panicular at the ten strongest

0) Bftish Shennan tan*J lEadhg fot enbarkation pints in so,tthemEnghd. (Potunouth Nees)

gliderbome and parachute troops, consistins of two US Divisionswhose job was to cut otr the Cherbourg Peninsola, and one BritishDMsion to s€cure the eastem flank south-east of the coastal town ofOuistreham. Timing was essential, the 101st md 82nd US AirbomeDivilions had to b€ dropp€d at the base of the Cherboug Peninsula at0130 od 0230 houls respectively on D-Day. The 6th Bntish AirbomeDivision was to land soudrcast of Ouistreham at 0020 hou6. to Firevital communication links to the crast and nedby Caen.

By June 1944 the Gernan Wehmacht uder Field-Marshal vonRundstedt Command€r-in-Chief West. had wen over half a millionmen gudding the Europ€an coastline, with about fifty-eightDivnions stationed in France and the Low Countries. Thev weredrvided inro t$o Army Groups. B (North) and G (Sou$);rh aPaizer Grcup of about ten Armoured and.Mechanized Divisionsstationed in Belgiu md France. Army croup B crnpnsed theFifteenth Anny consnting of twenty,five Divisions stationed inBelgiuin and north-eastem France, and the Seventh Anny consistingof sixt€en Divisions stationed in nodh-westem Franc€.Dredoninandv Nommdv.-

At 0020 hoilr, D-Day 6 June 1944, the quietness of the night wasshattered by loud crashing sounds, as the gliden of th€ 6th BntishAnbome Division came dosn by the Caen Cdal bndge atBenouvile bd $e Ome River bddge near Rdville. Thepamtroopers leapt Irom their glideN and after a short, sharpexchange with th€ stanled Gernan guards, both bridges weresuc.e$tuIy secured. Other uib of the pdatroopc also succeeded indestroying the Mervile battery and seizd the four bridges over theRiver Dives and its tributaries. The left fldk of the British invasionbeach 'SWORD' was now secrred.

(2) The RN loaditg Chulchin bnks and bicycles! onto LCTS pnor bDDay- (Potunoufi News)

(3) Bedlord lonies awaitine embarkation to Notundy Note thebanage bauoon' (Ponnouth News)

Unfortunately the Americans came to grief due to the $,eather andGernan flak. As a result nany of them were scattered for miles. The101st were to seclre the westem ed of lh€ causewavs ov€r theflooded ground ne,ar Viervile, which was behind the Ameriminvasion be-ach 'UTAH', they were then to s€ize Carentan. The 82ndwere to land north-west of the 101st, to s€ize Ste-Mere-Eglise and thebridgeheads across the River Merderet. Despile numerous probl€msthe Am€ricin.par. aEoops enjoyed reasonable su@s, eEi.g great

Rather surprisingly the Germans were not unftly almed by allth; adivity. Most inconing infornation was to a l&ge enentignored. Also many of then radm stations were blind. Alons thecoast, out of ninety'two radar stations only eighteen weleoperational, and they were to be tunher misled by dunny invasionfl€€ts, operations 'GLIMMER' and 'TAXABLE.

By now gathered otr the Normandy coast was the largest s€abomeinvasion fl€€t in history, conprising; 1,213 warships, 4,126 landingcraft and 1.600 other vess€ls. a1mo6t 7.0m caaft. Due to the differenttide times and bombardment lengtbs the invasion beaches, stretchingftom La Madeleine in the west to Ouistreham in the east. were tohave their assaults staggered. 'LTTAH'and OMAHA'were to b€assaulted at 0630 houls, 'GOLD' and 'SWORD' at 0?25 hours mdlastly 'IINO' at 0745 hours. At about 0530 hours on the nomins of 6Jur€ a massive naval and aerial bombardment op€ned up alons thevdous mva$on pom6.

U t hUTAH to the west, ceDtred roughly on La Madeleine. was assaultedby General Collins' US 7th Corp6, led by the 4th US hfantryDivision. Their job was to link up with the 82nd and 101st AnbomeDivisions, establishing a bridgehead over the River Vire and thene&by qnal ready to liDk up with OMAHA to the e?st.

Due to the tide the Aflerican Gh went ashore 1,000 yards south ofthen lmding zone. Twenty-nine Sherman DD tanks (Duplex Driveamphibious) spedheaded the assault and were launched 5,0m yedsfrom the shore. But ody a little resistance was encountered,consisting nainly of sna -ams fire- By 0800 houls Pouppevile wasa.tacked, and the 4th US Infantry Division managed to push foumiles inland brushinE aside most of the resistance ftom the 91stGeman Infantry Division. By the end of the day the Americans hadsuccesstuIy put ashore 23,0m men, 1.7m vehicles dd 1,700 tons of

The US 5th Corps led by the 1st US InJantry Division, wa! to attackthis beach, bordered by Vierville-sur-Mer dd Ste-Honorine. Theprelininary bombardm€nt lasted only forty mirutes mdconsequendy mey of the German defences were still intact. Also,the shingle beach w6 bordered by maNhland a:d a high blutr,making it an ideal fire zone.

Becaus€ of the rough seas dd enemy nre. out of thirty,twovanguard DD tanks only five cleeed the beach. while out of thefifty-one lanks landed "dry-shod" eidt were knocked out b€foreeven clearing the s€a. The Gls rd up the shingle b€ach into thewithering fire of the Gernans' 352nd Divilion, which jusl happ€nedto be on manoeures in th€ area. and unirs of the 716th coastalDefence Division. Under heary machin€,gun, nortar and arril€ryfire the Americs were ot to pieces as they staggered fiom the s€a idenied amour suppon they were mable to clear the b€ach. The

@ Shemu DD (Duplex Dn\r'e) tank afloat, pot ibty in the Solqt.No'c the steeEM operating the tiller Tactical surprie wd achievedon D Day be.al.je it the watet they wete not iMediateiy recDgtizable3 tark. (RAC Tank Mwean)

Americans had declined the offer of the Bntrsh 79th AmouredDivision's Funnies' Gpecialised AFVS) and German fire was soinrense thar out of the Engineers' sixteen bulldozeN put ashore on theright sid€ of the beach, only two were sewicable. The wreckage began

To make matten wone the GIs were under obsered artillery freftom the bluff. It seemed the assault was tbreatened witb disaster as itstalled on the shoreline. Mmy surivoE of the fiEt wave were pinneddoM at the sea\ edge, some vainly seeking shelter in the shingle orsurf. Then suddenly a group of eleven destroy€rs closed on lhe codtand begin to giv€ dnect 6re suppon. By 0900 a few Americans hadreached the top of the blutr and were beginning to move inlmdto$ards the villases. The Gls suffered an appalling 2,500 casualiiesmd had onlr mdaged to get two miles inland. but by nightfall 33,000m€n eere readv for the otrensive.

GoldThe Briiish and Canadian eastem taik force was to go in on a broadtwenty-five mile front, b€tween Port-en'Bessin and Ouistreham.GOLD beach centred on Le Hamel and La Riviere was assaulted bythe Bntish 30th Corps led by the 50tb Infantry Division. Their taskwastotake Pon-en-Bessin in order to link up with the US 5th Corps,thrust for St Leger on the Caen'Baf'eux road and seize Bayeux.

At 0725 assauh unils of the 79th Armoured Division. consisling ofSheman Crabs (flail tanks) and churchill AVRES (AmouredVehicle Royal Engineen) went in. Once again due to the rough seathe DD tflks had to be landed dry{hod, also to increase problensthe tide rose thiry mioules edly. The AVRES were late and LeHmel proved to be heavily defended. the sanatorium had b€enconverted into a Cerman strongpoinl and Gema artilery was

Three Crabs driving for t€ Hamel were kncked out by mti-tanktue, but a fourtb sped inland allowing o infmtry battalion to reachAsnel€s south-east of tf, Hamel. When the AVRES arrived thevproceeded !o clear the beach, and then using their 290mm Petddspigot monars shattered the l, Hamel sanatorium- By the anemoonPort-en-Bessin had been taten.

At k Riviere a Cerman strongpoint succeeded in knocking out

-- . . . l l ' , .* -?, .--

- -,- - -5.].645-

i "i'u-* lot"tt* d.'ro" 1d6,.i I(5) AshemanDD th the canv8 fl@t ereen folded, Iike thit n eas afituy opentional tuite tdk. (RAC Tdnk Musellm)

45

(6) Another 'Fu'ny' the Sheman Cnb Ma* I, llzilitE w h ia tuffetrcrEned. Maxinw speed *a only 1% nph. (RAC Tan* Mufun|

tso A\aREs. but it wa silened by a Crab and the lown eventuallyfell. By 2100 hours Aromanches had fallen, but the drive on Bayeuhad stopped short. even thoud it had been largely abandoned by theG€rmans. AIso the route west fiom Caen had been captured, but atthe end of the day a si{ mile gap existed b€nleen GOLD ddOMAHA. About 25.m0 men were Dut ashoie and 50th Division hadpunched six miles inldd.

JTINOThe assaulting fonation was the 3rd Canadid lnfantry Divisionunder the British lst Corys. JTINO beach wd ce.tred on Courseullesand Bemieres. The Cnnadians were to seize the two towns and divefor Camiouet airfield west of Caen. In order to ensu€ tbe sea caniedthe troops over the reefs, the assault was timed for 0745, bu! becaus€of the rough sea the assault went in at about 08m hours. The tidecaried the loding claft over the reefs and most of the beachobstacles, but the retum trips were buddously disasterous. Onlytwenty nine DD ranks were launched, twenty-one reaching theshore, the rest had to be landed dry'shod.

Arnvi.g before th€ir armour the Canadid infotry found many ofthe German positionsintact. Under gallingsmall-mfirelheycouldnot get off the beach md nany were mown down tryi.g to reachshelter behind a defence wall at the rear of the beach. Lacking armoursupport the Cuadian infantry faltered, but o AVRE managed toblow a hol€ in the twelve fooi high seawall, andthey began to move

The French-Canadians drove through Bemjeres, but sere held upat Beny-suFMer. In rhe meantime a traffic jam developed on thebeach, turther slowing down the Ce:dian armour. Even so theymanaged to punch seven miles ioland. halting only four miles ftomC'rprquer arfield. By rhe end ol rhe ddv 21.5m men had beenlan.le.l /n.l rhe bedch linked wrLh the Bntish 50th Division dl LaRiviere.

SWORD beach centred on Lion4urMer. was assaulted by theBritish 1st Corps. led by the British 3rd Infantry Division. Their main

IO) Anencai kndi'e

Icraft heading for the

(2) Gemm Patze Wenadie^ di\noutingcurier, Nonatdy 1944.

obj€.tive was to s€ize Caen. th€ Gennans' regional HQ, dd link upwith the bridgehead over the River Ome. H-Hou was 0725, Md thespedhad DD tarls we.e launched 5,000 yards ftom the shore, out offiirty-fou successfully launched ooiy tkee were lost. DespiteGerman resistanc€, by 0930 houls Hermanville one and a haiJ nilesinland had been @Dtued. but el€menti of the German 21st ParerDivision halted tht adve@ at PeneE.

By 1330 hours a Special Senice Bngade had push€d inland to li'r*up with the exhausted paratroops, who had beaten off r€p€aredcounter-attack by Cermd Panzer Crenadiers. Fonunately for fi€paratroopd most of the Germd armour had been divert€d nonh ofCaen.

MajoFceneral Feuchtinger, commander of the 21st PMerDivision, had been ieduc€d to nin€ty tanks out of an original 124, anddid not start noving northwdd! uril l6m hour!. His counter-a$acktowards Bievile failed and bi! troops were driven eastwards. By theend of the day Feuchting€r's mour was tunher reduc€d io sevenry

The British in tum were halted at Lebisey a mere two miles f,onh ofCaen. In the nedtime by 1400 the German mobile r€s€rve, the 12thSS Panzer Division dd the Pder khr Division had at last beenreleas€d for action. The 12th SS headed for Caen, but was subjectedto continual Allied air strikes. By rh€ €vening 29,m0 nen were ashorein the SWORD area-

At the end of D-Day about 150,000 men had been pul ashore. andthe Allies had occupied a front of some thirty miles. There werethough, despite all this suc.ess, grounds for concem. Tbe gainsoutlin€d in the O\ERLORD plan for D-Day had nor been achieved.The thr€e nain bridg€heads were not linked; OMAHA was only adangerously small to€hold and ;t was s€paraled by about ten miles ofcoast from UTAH. The Second British Army was separated from rh€First US Army by about s€ven niles, and there was a severe dangerthat the 2lst Panzer Division would drive a wedge into this gap.Casualty fig'rres for the day tend to vary, but roughly the Americanslost about 4,104 men, th€ B.itish and Canadians 2.796 (AlliedAirbome losses accounted for another 3,149 men). while thcGermans losl between 4,m0 and 9,000 men.

What of the Geman respons€? So far it had been painfuly slowdue to command probleins and conmunication dela's. Hitler in the'Wolfs lair' at Rastenburg in East Prussia, was convinced thatNomandy was not ihe nain Allied invasion, He wd aided in thisdelnsion by Allied dec€ption plans, the bonbing of Glais and thedisruption of the northem French rail system. Lieutenant,ceneralPatton in mllhem Englmd had convinced the Gemds rhar he wasgoing to land nodr of the Seine- As a result nurnerous cermanDivisions, esp€cially Arnoured, remained north of ihe Seine for upto a week aJter D-Day.

The Gemds' position nust not be understimated. Duing MayNornandy had b€en .einforced with the 91st, 3A and 352ndDivisions. Arny Group B under Field,Manhal Roinmel couldmuster an extra three Infantry Divisiors, with d available ten PanzerDivisions, although only tbe 21st was in action on D'Day. ft was noluntil7 ed 9 June that the 12rh SS Panzer DMsion dd the Pa@rl€hr Division had been successtully brcught into action. But due tothe Gemds' logistical and comnand problems they had only eightDivisions engaged during the first six weeks of the Nornandycampaign. The Alli€s had anticipated they would b€ fighting hlenrylNone the less it still took until 12 June just to li* up the b€aches in acontinuous fifty mile long ftont.

Momentum could not be sustained during the build up. Theweather began to deteriorate ard on 19 June a stom halted allshipping in the Channel for th€ next tbree days. The two Mulberryartitrcial barbours wer€ beginning to disintegrate by 21 June. The oneoff OMAHA was sritten off and used ro repair the British one alArromanches. The build up vinually ground to a halt, delaying 20,000vehicl€s and 140,000 tons of stores. A breathing space was graDted tothe Germans, who were able lo reorganise and move *ithout Alliedair interdiction. It would have been an ideal time to launch acounter'attack, but the opportunity was lost.

The Alli€s had seized the initiative and if they could rnaintain itlh€y$otrld have rne key to the entne campaign. ceneral Montgomerydeclar€d he would hold the German Panzen occupied on the edtemflank in the Caen-Caumont sector. and wear them doM in a series ofoffensives that would look like an attempted break-out. In fie

meantime the Amedcars would secure the Cherbouc Penirsulaready for lhe r€al bieal-out.

Opentid EIEonThe British plamed to pivot at Rauay dd swing over the RiverOdon, driving south+ast in an attempt to isolate Caen. The otrensivebegan on 25 June, 8th Corys managed to s€€1re a bridge ftar Barondd by 30 June they had a bndgehead two and a har miles wide andone nile deep. But tough resistanc€ was coming ftom elen€nts ofthe1st SS, 2nd SS and 10th SS Panzer Divisions.

More md more German units were being draqn into the area, bythe end of Jue there were almost eidt PMer Divisions on a twentynile ftont, facing the S€.ond British Army betwen Caen andCaumont. The 12th SS, znd and zlst Panzei Divisiotrs, rle PaserIrhr Division and the 716th Infantry Division $,ere aI tied up in tneCaen ea. In the British sector there were 725 Gernan tank, whitein the Ameritu sector there were only 140; Caen had become the keyto the whole batde. The desperately n€eded cerrnan InfantryDivisions were stitt f,orth of the Seine.

Meanwbile the US 7th Corps fought its way up the CherbourgPeninsula and attacked the city on 22 June. Aiter four da's of fiercsfighnng the Cherboug ganison. about 21,0m men (the rennants offou Divisiors), sunendered on % June. By 1 July the Pedtrula hadb€€n mopped up, but the port was not servi@able until mid-Augllsr.

A major problen wd that the Normandy coutryside was ideal forin depth German defen@. Consisting of snal fields bordered by higheanh banls topp€d by thick hedgerows. this feature was ofcoule rhenow famous Noimandy bocrAe. The main danger occlrred whenAlied tank drove over the banLs, exposing rheir thiDly arnouredundemeaths. A Sergeant Cun; C. Cutlin, of the US 79th Division,solved the problem. He developed the CuliD Prong or Rtu;ro. Meralfork or tusks were welded ro the ftont ofthe tants'hul, the tank th€nsinply uprooted the bdk and hedge instead of driving over it. Thisinvennon was to greatly id the break-out.

By the second week of July Cerman DivisioDs fton rhe Calais areawere diving in Nornandy. In order to ke€p then in the Caen sectorand to avoid then gaining Dy son of initiative that coutd distodge theBridsh dd Canadians, the Second Bdtish Army was to attacknonhem Caen. On 7 July, 460 bombers flatten€d the Ciry in d dea4,0m yards long by 1,500 yards deep wirh 2,560 tons of bomb6. TheDat 0420 hours the following day three Divisions rhrust into northemCaen, but the GemaIls held on in the south dd south-east of theCity. From 10-15 July the Britisb launched a series of atrack! bothwest and east of Caen in order to k€€p the Germans tied doM. By 15

Continued next month

July the nmber of Gernan ta*s in the American sector had o.ly

ffilltky,1fJt"*.*'facinstheBritishandcanadianshad Jn the aftermath of World'".i,H1f"Tsili&".iffi's3Jif'fi"llli1lilHi war rrr, wilt you lead yourtaten Sr to and ! eacbed rhe Sr tn. Periers ' oad, havirs adv;cd odys€ven ml€ in s€venteen day. "t tt'" *"t or ao,om E*,rt"i. ar,.', countfy to dominatiOn, 111. tOthe b'eak-out ould not be launched betore 20 Julv b€caus€ of rheDec€ssary buld up or suppries. AfmageddOn ?

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