Inch by Bloody Inch

Aug 2, 2024 | D-Day 80 Years On, World War II

A little girl is rescued from the ruins of her home in Normandy

D Day

After the success of the initial landings on D Day—150,000 men were landed in one day and were not thrown back into the sea—the Allies found themselves engaged in a long and bitter battle against Hitler’s defensive armies and it was not until twelve endless weeks later, on August 21st, that German resistance in Normandy collapsed.

It was a battle fought inch by bloody inch.

In the first hours of the invasion the German reaction was slow. Several of the senior commanders were not in Normandy and Rommel was in Germany. Hitler retained personal control over almost all the vital Panzer tank forces, complicating and slowing the chain of command.

It was not until the afternoon of D Day that German armor counterattacked the Allies, 18 hours after the first paratroopers landed. The 192nd Panzergrenadiers of the 21st Panzer Division reached the coast between Sword and Juno beaches, splitting the beaches. However, rather than isolating the vulnerable Sword beach, 192’s commander, Josef Rauch, mistakenly thought 192 was in danger of being surrounded and withdrew—a tactical error with potentially huge implications.

Panzergrenadiers on the move
The American 1st Army, starting from the Utah and Omaha beaches and with the 82nd and 101st Airborne on their western flank, had the objectives of capturing the port city of Cherbourg and the market town of St. Lo. The British and Canadian 2nd Army, with the British 6th Airborne to their east, landed at Gold, Juno and Sword beaches, with the objective of capturing the important regional city of Caen.

None of these objectives were realized in the first few days. It was not until June 12th (D + 6) that the Allies were able to link all their beaches and establish a secure lodgment. The American flank was particularly challenging, in part because of the difficult ‘bocage’ terrain and in part because the German 709th defenders proved to be much stronger than expected.

After a week of fighting the beaches are secure but the Allies have advanced less than 10 miles

It is reasonable to speculate that had Rommel been in Normandy on D Day, and if he had been given full operational control, the Allies might have been thrown back into the sea. Once he was back, and more Panzers were released to him, he was able to set up a fierce defensive wall, including three Panzer divisions facing the British and Canadians near Caen.

Cherbourg

The remainder of June was devoted to trying to achieve the Allies’ original objectives, Cherbourg and Caen. The US 9th Division succeeded in crossing the Cherbourg peninsular on June 17th (D+11,) isolating the port. Remnants of the German 709th Static Division and a variety of Kriegsmarine naval units put on a stubborn resistance in the port, surrendering 2 weeks later, on June 30th, (D+24.)

It proved to be a Pyrrhic victory for the Allies; the port had been so damaged by Allied bombing and German demolition that it could not be reopened until after the war, forcing the Allies to rely on their newly constructed Mulberry floating temporary harbor off Sword beach.

The US 9th Division captures Cherbourg while the Allies are held before Caen

Caen

Meanwhile, 50 miles to the east, a ferocious battle of attrition was taking place around Caen. Rommel did not send additional reserves to defend the Cherbourg peninsular because he feared that the British and Canadians might break out from the beaches at Caen, opening the roads eastward to Paris in the heartland of France, and northward up the Channel coast toward Belgium. He therefore kept three armored divisions in the Caen vicinity, holding four British, two American and one Canadian Division pinned behind Caen.

The British and Canadians were able to make limited progress to the west of Caen (Operation Epsom,) but costs were high, and the streets and country roads of northern Normandy were littered with the carcasses of burnt-out tanks.

Roadkill
It took the rest of June and most of July to capture Caen. The northern half of the city was reduced to rubble in a massive bombing attack on July 7th, (D +31.) British and Canadian troops reached and crossed the Orne in Operation Charnwood July 8th and 9th and secured the river by July 11th, (D+36.)
Controversy surrounds the next push, codenamed Operation Goodwood, July 18th to 20th (D + 41 to 43.) Montgomery’s original intent was announced as a decisive blow against Rommel’s remaining German armor and breaking through his lines, with the objective of reaching Falaise, 25 miles to the south.

In fact, Goodwood pushed the Germans out of the southern part of Caen and 5 miles south but did not defeat them. Whether Montgomery ever intended to reach Falaise, (he subsequently claimed he did not,) and whether Goodwood therefore failed, remains controversial. Certainly, Eisenhower considered the operation disappointing, to say the least.

Welcome to Caen
Regardless, Goodwood was the largest tank battle in the western European theater, pitching 1,100 Allied tanks, mostly Shermans, against 400 German panzers. The Germans had three armored divisions present, the battle-hardened 21st Panzer, the notoriously brutal 2nd SS Panzer, and the well-equipped Panzer Lehr.

The odds were more balanced than the raw numbers suggest, because the Panzers were (in general) significantly more heavily armored and more heavily gunned than the Allies’ Shermans.

Tiger Panzers before and after Goodwood
The Goodwood ground assault was preceded by another massive 1,000 bomber raid against German positions and an extensive artillery barrage.

Whether or not Goodwood succeeded, it weakened German armored reserves and kept them tied down south of Caen. (Hitler still believed that Normandy was a diversion, and another invasion would take place in northern France.) Goodwood also enabled the US 29th Corps to take the strategically important town of St. Lo, some 20 miles to the east, on July 19th (D + 44.)

The Allies are finally poised for breakout
Thus, the Allies were grinding forward, step by bloody step, leaving utter destruction in their wake. By July 25th, the combatants had lost an estimated 6,000 tanks—an average of 140 tanks per day—and sustained the following casualties (all figures approximate.)
Excluding the lightly populated and thinly defended Cherbourg peninsular, by July 25th the Allies controlled an area approximately 50 miles wide and 15 miles deep, or 750 square miles. Each square mile had cost the combatants approximately 140 killed and 330 injured, as well as 8 tanks and 8 aircraft per square mile.
One wonders if this elderly lady thinks the price of liberation is worth it
With St. Lo and Caen finally in Allied hands, the stage was set for a decisive Allied breakout. Operation Cobra began on July 25th, (D + 50,) and we’ll pick up the story in my next blog.

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