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 67 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 were 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.

D-Day +42

Saint-Lo is the capital of the Manche region of Normandy and a vital traffic hub. In 1944, it had been a key strategic objective for American forces . Sitting at the center of a major road and rail network which connects Normandy and Brittany, it was to form a pivotal role in the American attempt to swing into Brittany and begin the encirclement of the enemy. 

The Germans also had an important command and control centre in St. Lo. The Germans had been prepared for The Americans. As early as July1st, German High Command had dictated that a fight to the death policy would be adopted, ground was to be yielded only when overrun and harassing counterattacks were to be effectively utilized against the advancing Americans. Every field, lane and approach to St Lo had been prepared by the Germans. 

Territorial gains in the weeks leading up to the taking of ST-LO, could often be measured in terms of yards taken, for men killed.

Germans dug in, American casualty in foreground

The terrain even benefited the Germans. They were able to dig in, camouflage and lay in wait. They only had to knock out the lead tank in a column to bring an armored advance to a complete halt in the narrow country lanes, then their well sighted artillery could go about the job of picking of the remaining tanks at will. Every time a GI raised his head above a hedgerow, he was likely to get it blown off.

 German propaganda film - Germans capture Allied troops

The advance on St. Lo had been a miserable affair for the American soldiers, but on July 18^th 1944, the 29^th Division finally entered what was left of the ancient market town.

The taking of the town has always been credited to the 29^th as it was they who had fought their way in, but stout and costly support had been provided by the 30^th Division. Without the soldiers of ‘Old Hickory’, engaging the fanatical groups of German paratroopers and SS grenadiers, tightly holding on, the 29^th Division  casualties, already significant, would have been catastrophic.

 St. Lo had played a pivotal role in Normandy battles through the ages, and has a history dating back to the 8th century. From the Vikings to the Germans, it had been taken and occupied many times,
but no war had ever come close to punishing the inhabitants and obliterating their homes, like this one.
Thousands of civilians had perished in Allied bombing and artillery strikes and barely a building was left standing, when Lt. Edward G. Jones, Jr of the 29^th Recon troop entered the town. The people of St. Lo had paid a heavy price for their freedom.

Saint Lo, modern day, from http://christopheferey.over-blog.net/

Since 1999 St Lo has been twinned with Roanoke, Virginia, USA.

Tank Warfare

The American Road to Victory series is airing this Saturday on WETA HD, starting at 1:30 with The Americans on D-Day,  followed by The Americans on Hell's Highway, and finally, The Americans in the Bulge. We contacted American Legion DC Post #1 and asked if we could feature a local veteran that fought in one of these campaigns on a blog post. They put us in touch with veteran Demetri "Dee" Paris, a tank platoon leader, who recently stepped down as president of Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge association.


For brave actions during the Battle of the Bulge, Paris' unit were awarded two presidential citations, linked to in this article from the Battle of the Bulge Memories site. He describes his experiences in the Bulge in an excellent interview on the It Took a War site. You can also watch an interview with Dee Paris on the BBC news page.

Demetri "Dee" Paris

Like many young men at the time, Paris wanted to enlist immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor. But, his boss did not want him to go, and got a deferment to keep him Stateside. Paris, desperate to join the fight, spent months working his way around the deferment, and finally was allowed to join up.


He wanted to work with heavy armor - tanks - a cutting edge form of new warfare at the time. A place in the Cavalry meant scoring well on tests, school and training at  Ft. Riley. Paris excelled, and his dream to fight came true as he headed to England in October of 1944. He jumped into action during the Battle of the Bulge.


We often hear about the bitter cold in the Ardennes campain, and tanks were no exception. Imagine sitting in a metal ice box day after day. Paris had to watch his men closely for frozen feet and frostbite. To help fight off the cold, tank crews heated up their rations on their exhaust pipes.

We asked Paris to describe communications in an Allied tank,

"We had excellent communication, intercom to talk to my crew and radio to speak with the  other tanks I commanded. I could even communicate with headquarters if the need arose." 

Panzer commander uniform used in filming

Paris wore a plastic helmet with built in head phones and microphone under his tanker's helmet, enabling him to hear over the deafening noise of the tank and artillery and command the 24 men in his charge. His German counterpart would have worn a throat mic and large head phones (see photo to left).

Five men worked in a Sherman tank, the driver, assistant driver, gunner, loader, and the commander. The commander stood up in the turret, his head sticking up out of the tank, so he could direct, because visibility within the tank was minimal. Directions were given to the driver using clock references, "Enemy tanker, 2 'oclock!"

The commander also called for the type of ammo to be fired. Types varied, depending on the objective. Paris explained that high explosives were used against small buildings and infantry, smoke for camoflauge and steel balls in canisters against ground troops. Amour peircing, or AP rounds, were utilized against other tanks and vehicles. Unfortunately, Allied AP rounds could not actually pierce much of the armor on the German Tiger tank because, unlike the German 88mm gun, the velocity at which the rounds left the smaller Allied guns was not fast enough, and the rounds were at least 12mm smaller than their German counterparts. It can be safely said that most German tanks were superior to Allied tanks.

"The Germans had better tanks, better guns, better ammunition and even better hand arms. Whenever we could, we took German weapons and ammunition for ourselves. I carried a German P38 pistol and German binoculars" - Dee Paris

Many soldiers bemoaned their weapons. But, others don't entirely agree with Dee, citing the M1 Garand rifle, described by George Patton as a "War Winner" because it could loose a whole clip while Fritz was still working his bolt action Mauser after each shot. We've also heard claims that the Colt 45 was a better weapon because it's heavier round had real stopping power, whereas the lighter P 38 rounds high velocity meant they could pass right through someone with minor injury.

In the video below, Ellwood Von Seibold discusses deficiencies of Allied Sherman tank.

German's thirsty heavy armour needed constant refueling. Allied tanks held an advantage when it came to their higher mileage engines created by Ford and Cadilac. And, what they lacked in armour and fire power, they made up for in numerical superiority and reliability. Thousands upon thousands of Sherman tanks were made and shipped to European battlefields.

So, what do you think? Did the Germans out arm the Allies? What weapons gave Allies an edge? Would you rather carry a Colt 45, or a German, Walther P 38 pistol?

Honorary Rank

Host of 'The American Road to Victory'

invested with honorary rank in U.S Army

'Morning Briefing' Diana von Seibold

Ellwood von Seibold has been notified by The U.S Military Attache to France, that he is to be invested as an honorary captain in the U.S Army.

It appears that these honorary awards are usually reserved for civilians who have distinguished themselves in connection with their support for the military, or their portrayals of historic military events.

Ellwood who works tirelessly year round, touring the D-Day battlefields with American visitors, was delighted and stunned at the news, "This is a tremendous honor. I have always felt I was a custodian of this amazing history and  I look forward daily, to explaining these momentous events to my wonderful tour parties."

In addition to his rigorous touring schedule, over the last three years, Ellwood has found the time to host a trilogy of battlefield tour films, 'The American Road to Victory' which have been airing on PBS stations from coast to coast.

U.S Military Attache to France, Bruce Sweeney, said of Ellwood,



"I decided to offer Elwood an honorary Captaincy in the US Army due to
his service to the DAO, his dedication to telling the accurate story of
US military operations during WWI and WWII (all sides of the story,
including negative ones), and his dedication to truth as a historian.
Ellwood is an interesting, effective story teller, and has forgotten
more about D-Day and WWII than I probably know."

Colonel Sweeney, pins on badges of rank.

Climbing Pointe du Hoq Mike Forster

"Nothing has been too much for our intrepid presenter," said director  Lanni, "Whether hanging off  Pointe du Hoq on a makeshift rope ladder, or freezing in foxholes in Bastogne, he has approached every scene with an enthusiasm and passion. It is fantastic that Ellwood  received this honorary officer rank. He is that crazy history teacher one seldom had, but never forgot."

Ellwood with Ride 2 Recovery vets

Recently Ellwood welcomed the Ride 2 Recovery Challenge veterans to his home town of Ste Mere Eglise. Each one was presented with a copy of 'The Americans on D-Day.'

The ceremony took place at the American Embassy in Paris on July 28th. It was followed by a champagne reception.

Superb tribute to Infantrymen,'Grunts' Now in paperback.

This amazing tribute to the 'Infantryman' is now in paperback. John C. McManus explains, with alarming clarity, how boots on the ground, and not technology, win wars. From WWII to the modern day combat in Iraq, McManus gives the reader a clear insight into the minds of the courageous foot soldiers, who often up close and personal with their adversaries, get the job done. Reading this book is the nearest you want to get to real combat.


Livingbattlefield.org

D-Day +35

The Battle for Mont Castre and Hill 122 mentioned in the previous post had been won, but at a high price. Four thousand Gi's lay dead and many more were severely wounded. Armored support had aided the capture of this strategic area, but the battleground was strewn with the wreckage of Sherman tanks.

La Haye du Puits Nat'l Archives

The capture of these heights enabled the 82nd Airborne to move in with the 79th Infantry Division and take the important town of La Haye du Puits. This would be the 82nd's last engagement in Normandy. They were exhausted and their ranks severely depleted, but they had proved themselves effective shock troops, an inspiration to their infantry counterparts and fierce adversaries to the stubborn Germans. 

The 83rd Infantry Division together with the 4th Infantry Division had finally taken Sainteny and now  continued their inch by inch battle.

On their left flank, the 29th Infantry Division ,who had been mauled on Bloody Omaha, moved forward with the 30th Infantry Division, making progress towards the important objective of St Lo. They had experienced their share of murderous hedgerow fighting and lost many men en-route. 

Airel bridge, modern day

Airel bridge Nat'l Archives

Unfortunately, advancing across the narrow bridge at Airel, they clashed with men from the U.S 3rd Armored division who, in their forward thrust, cast aside the bedraggled soldiers of the 30th. With their heavy tanks and support vehicles, they ran over communication wires and failed at all levels to co-ordinate with soldiers from the 30th. The 3rd was just desperate to get into the fight. Historian John C. McManus, in his book The Americans at Normandy reports 30th Division General, Leland Hobbs, as accusing the 3rd Armored of creating casualties amongst his men by their 'promiscuous fire.' He was so frustrated, he ordered artillery called in by the 30th to be laid down regardless of where 3rd armor that might be in the area. 

 If they do it to us, we do it to them!

KO'd panther tank, Nat'l Archives

Things were about to get worse as more and more reinforcements from the 2nd SS panzer division 'Das Reich' began flooding into the area. By July 11th, the Americans had taken Hauts Vents, inflicting heavy casualties on the Germans, but sustaining high levels as well. 

The Americans were inching ever nearer their objective of St Lo, but hedgerow country and fanatical Germans would cause them to invest heavily for each piece of ground taken.

Friendly fire, a regrettably feature of all warfare, would become a major factor in the bold 'break out' plan being meticulously prepared at the highest level.

Curtis Culin

One ray of light, a much needed solution to the problems of the Allied tanks ability to penetrate the dense bocage, had been developed by a sergeant from New Jersey, Curtis G. Culin. Taking German steel obstacles that littered the beaches, Culin found that they could be shaped and welded to the front of a tank, enabling it to cut through hedgerows. These tanks became known as 'Rhinos'

Rhino Nat'l Archives