D-Day +49

The 24th and 25th of July, 1944 witnessed one of the most reckless Allied acts of WWII, but one which certainly contributed to the ultimate demise of the German 7th army in France.

Operation Cobra, was a plan hatched in desperation and frustration. The architect, Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, wanted a dramatic end to the stalemate in the hedgerows, where gains were often measured in lives lost for yards taken. His plan required unbalancing his opponents, while punching a hole in their stout defenses, through which his Divisions could pour, begin the dash to Brittany and complete the ultimate encirclement of their forces.

A strip of land some 7000 yards long was chosen for the action. This zone bordered the main highway between Perriers, still in German hands, and the newly liberated town of St Lo.

Section from German view

Section from American view

The attack was to be proceeded by an aerial bombardment and a ferocious artillery barrage. The aerial bombardment required a preliminary attack by fighter bombers, which had better visibility, to hit a belt of German defenses 250 yards deep, while medium and heavy bombers flying at altitude would carpet bomb to a depth of 2,500 yards. The demarcation line was to be the highway.

North of the highway the American Divisions were amassed and South was the target area. For fear of alerting the Germans, civilians were not warned. Civilian deaths and the destruction of their homes was considered inescapable collateral damage by Bradley. After the bombardment the 9th and 30th Divisions would jump off, punch through the dazed Germans and hold the flanks while the US 1st Infantry Division, the 2nd Armored Division,and 4th Infantry Division would drive deep into the Germans and collapse their resistance. In overall command on the ground was General 'Lightening Joe' Collins, who time and time again had proven his worth. He was just the right man to exploit this bold maneuver.

Map of advance, taken from monument by start of bombardment

From the beginning there had been friction between Bradley and 8th Air Force General Carl Spaatz, who derided the use of air support for ground attacks. He felt that using his bombers to plow up ground in front of an infantry advance and bomb a few half baked German Divisions was a waste of his precious resources. He was made to tow the line and after delays due to bad weather the bombardment was scheduled for July 24th.

Unbeknown to Army command, the air force had decided to bomb perpendicular to the main highway and not parallel, as had been agreed. At 15 minutes prior to the scheduled attack, the 30th Infantry Division fired red smoke shells into the area south of the highway to further define the bombing line, but a slight breeze began to blow the smoke back over the road and on to the American positions.

View from the air, minus the smoke

Normally troops would be at least 4000 yards behind such a bombardment, but Bradley did not want to give the enemy time to gather his wits. He insisted that troops be prepared to jump off from a line only 1,200 yards away from the bombs raining down. The results were disastrous.

Soldiers climbed out of their foxholes to watch the aerial armada overhead, only to be horrified as they watched the aircraft disgorge their deadly cargoes on top of them. Although all the Divisions suffered, it was the 30th right in the center of the advance who received the full effect of this calamitous miscalculation. Hundreds of men were killed, wounded or listed as missing. Morale was decimated, soldiers wandered around as if punch drunk. Many were unable to speak.

"They just looked like ghosts," one officer reported.

Eisenhower who had arrived in France to watch the results of this spectacular assault, returned to England vowing he would never allow such a thing to happen again. Bradley's credibility was on the line.

General McNair

A second run was planned for July 25th, even though the dazed troops had barely had time to recover, get to grips with the loss of colleagues and friends, and re-supply. Second in command, General Lesley J. McNair, who had protested strongly to his boss Bradley, came up to see for himself. He took up a position in a foxhole close to the front line as the flights of bombers made for the target area. As was the day before, the 30th fired their red smoke and yet again the breeze forced it back over the American positions. Calamity was about to strike a second time.

Bradley's aide Major Hansen, who had also witnessed the first days debacle, said:

"the ground grunted and heaved as the first cascade of bombs came down and angry black spirals of dirt bolied out of the ground."

General McNair took a direct hit, tossing his body sixty feet into the air. His remains were unrecognizable, only his shoulder boards and stars gave any clue as to his identity. Men were blown to bits, vehicles were burning and some soldiers threw down their equipment and tried to stumble away from this awful death.

Shrapnel found in the area July 24, 2011

Remains of the church today

The lush Normandy countryside had been turned into a cratered wasteland as bombs exploded spewing out deadly, molten shrapnel. Even today, 69 years later, the craters are still visible and rusted lumps of metal still litter the area.

All front line divisions took casualties, but as the day before, it was the 30th who came off worst. In the village of Le Mesnil Durand, the regimental combat post was bombed causing 40 casualties. Even the tiny village church took a direct hit.

View from a bomb crater behind memorial chapel that stands in the church ruins

How does a commanding officer rally his men after such experiences? To get the trembling survivors out of their slit trenches and foxholes, have them pass the mangled remains of friends and push them into battle, is a real tribute to these great leaders. General Leland Hobbs of the 30th Division and General Raymond Barton of the 4th Division, two tough and experienced men, could not allow the Germans to recover, nor could they allow the apocalyptic actions of the Air Force to destroy the fighting spirit of their surviving troops. With the aid of their loyal and determined staff officers, they rallied the dazed GI's and urged them forward into what was now a lunar landscape.

Only a small percentage of the ordnance designated for 'Operation Cobra' had fallen on the Americans, the remainder had found important targets, but further behind the German lines. The front line Germans were still able to put up a fight until they were flanked and annihilated. The 'jump off' had not gone according to plan. In some places the Germans had crept back into 'no man's land' as the Americans pulled back to the safe distance line, and scattered mines and anti personnel devices. Like everything else in the Normandy campaign, territorial gains were made at a great price.

The Panzer Lehr Division had been decimated and although some stubborn pockets of Germans remained, it was not long before the enemy was in headlong retreat. The entire village of Le Chapelle en Juger, at the center of the aerial bombardment, was virtually wiped off the map.

This costly action would signal the start of a complete rout of German forces: although there were many tough battles still to be fought.