Battle of Normandy

battle_name=Battle of Normandy

After the landings

Once the beachhead was established, two artificial Mulberry Harbours were towed across the English Channel in segments and made operational around D+3. One was constructed at Arromanches by British forces, the other at Omaha Beach by American forces. The Omaha harbour was destroyed in severe storms around D+13. Around 9,000 tons of material was landed daily at the Arromanches harbour until the end of August 1944, by which time the ports of Antwerp and Cherbourg had been secured by the Allies, and had begun to return to service.

Related Topics:
Mulberry Harbour - English Channel - Arromanches - Omaha Beach - Material - Antwerp - Cherbourg

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The German defenders positioned on the beaches put up relatively light resistance, being ill-trained and short on transport and equipment, and having been subject to a week of intense bombardment. An exception was the 352nd Infantry division, moved earlier by Rommel from St. Lo, which defended Omaha beach. The tenacity of the 352nd's defence, and perhaps also the indication by Allied intelligence that there would be only two 2 battalions of the 716th Division there, was responsible for Omaha's high casualty rate. Other German commanders took several hours to be sure that the reports they were receiving indicated a landing in force, rather than a series of raids. Their communication difficulties were made worse by the absence of several key commanders. The scattering of the American parachutists also added to the confusion, as reports were coming in of Allied troops all over northern Normandy.

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Despite this the 21st Panzer division mounted a concerted counter-attack, between Sword and Juno beaches, and succeeded in reaching the sea. Stiff resistance by anti-tank gunners, and fear lest they be cut off, caused them to withdraw before the end of 6 June. According to some reports the sighting of a wave of airborne troops flying over them was instrumental in the decision to retreat.

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The Allied invasion plans had called for the capture of Carentan, St. Lo, Caen and Bayeux on the first day, with all the beaches linked except Utah, and Sword (the last linked with paratroopers) and a front line six to ten miles (10 to 16 km) from the beaches. In practice none of these had been achieved. However, overall the casualties had not been as heavy as some had feared (around 10,000 compared to the 20,000 Churchill feared), and the bridgeheads had withstood the expected counter-attacks.

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Priorities in the days following the landing for the Allies were: to link the bridgeheads; to take Caen; and to capture the port of Cherbourg to provide a secure supply line.

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The German 12th SS (Hitler Youth) Panzer division assaulted the Canadians on June 7 and June 8, and inflicted heavy losses, but were unable to break through. Meanwhile, the beaches were being linked—Sword on June 7, Omaha June 10, Utah by June 13. The Allies were actually reinforcing the front faster than the Germans. Although the Allies had to land everything on the beaches, Allied air superiority and the destruction of the French rail system made every German troop movement slow and dangerous.

Related Topics:
June 7 - June 8 - June 10 - June 13 - French rail system

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The country behind Utah and Omaha beaches was characterised by bocage; ancient banks and hedgerows, up to three metres thick, spread one to two hundred metres apart, and so both being impervious to tanks, gunfire, and vision, and making ideal defensive positions. The U.S. infantry made slow progress, and suffered heavy casualties, as they pressed towards Cherbourg. The elite airborne troops were called on again and again to restart a stalled advance. Hitler expected the Cherbourg garrison to resist to the end, and deny the port to the Allies, but the Cherbourg commander surrendered on June 26.

Related Topics:
Bocage - June 26

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Believing Caen to be the "crucible" of the battle, Montgomery made it the target of three separate attacks from June 7 to July 1, before it was surrounded and bombed on July 7 in Operation Charnwood. Seeking a decisive breakout into the open country that led to Paris, between July 18 and July 20 Montgomery launched a major offensive from the Caen area with all three British armoured divisions, codenamed Operation Goodwood. Initially successful, it was eventually stopped by determined and improvised resistance from the 1st and 12th Panzer divisions, supported by German engineers acting as infantry. The British tank casualties were very high; yet the German reserves had been committed to hold the line, and could not now be used to combat the American Operation Cobra, launched on July 24. With the German troops committed to the north, Cobra succeeded, and the advance guard of the U.S. VIII Corps rolled into Coutances at the western end of the Cotentin Peninsula, on July 28, penetrating the German line for Lieutenant General George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army to advance through into northwestern France. The bulk of German resistance in the region was finally eliminated on August 21, with the successful closure of the Falaise Gap by Canadian and Polish troops. The clandestine French Resistance in Paris rose against the Germans on August 19; and a French division under General Jacques Leclerc, pressing forward from Normandy, received the surrender of the German forces there and liberated Paris on August 25.

Related Topics:
July 1 - July 7 - Operation Charnwood - July 18 - July 20 - Operation Goodwood - Operation Cobra - July 24 - Coutances - Cotentin Peninsula - July 28 - George S. Patton - U.S. Third Army - August 21 - Falaise Gap - French Resistance - General Jacques Leclerc - Liberated Paris

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