Operation OVERLORD (1944)

283

Battle for Cherbourg

Time as well as harbor is at stake, for defense lets foe prepare for next blow
By Hanson W. Baldwin

London, England – (June 25)
The battle for Cherbourg, which was reaching its climax tonight, is a battle for time as well as conquest.

The eventual issue, as far as Cherbourg is concerned, is not in doubt; U.S. patrols have pushed into the streets of the city and at least one German propaganda agency has written the city off. There has never been much doubt, since our rapid penetration of the Atlantic Wall and our severance of the approaches to the Cotentin Peninsula, that Cherbourg would fall. What has been in doubt is how long the battle would take.

Cherbourg is naturally defensible by either land or sea; stouthearted defenders with the will to die might hold it for a long time. Obviously, it is to the German interest to make a protracted and vicious defense. The longer the facilities of the port can be denied to us by combat and by demolition, the better it will be from the German point of view. For the Germans know as well as we do the difficulties of unloading over open beaches; they know that the larger our armies grow in Normandy, the harder will be the task of supplying and reinforcing them unless we have a port.

Allies hampered by weather

They know, too, that our building to date has been made more difficult by unfavorable weather; gales and low overcasts have hampered our landing craft and reduced the margin of our air superiority. A long defense of Cherbourg, therefore, would give the enemy time. He might have the opportunity to overtake us in the supply and reinforcement race and he would be able to strengthen his positions along the high ground south and east of the Cotentin Peninsula.

The fierce fighting in Cherbourg and the bitter enemy resistance on the eastern flank of the Allied beachhead reveal something of the enemy’s intended strategy. The Germans have not yet committed the bulk of the strength of the rest of their divisions to Normandy. There are some 60 enemy divisions in France and the Low Countries and at least half of these could be thrown against us. But today there are not more than elements of 14-17 divisions facing our troops in Normandy, including those units hopelessly encircled in Cherbourg.

In a considerable part, this slow German buildup is the result of our interference by air with the enemy’s communications lines. But in part the slow rate of German reinforcement is deliberate; the enemy has not “shot the works” in Normandy because he fears another Allied landing elsewhere.

British offer threat

Such a strategy of cautious waiting would explain the fierce resistance offered on the British sector of our beachhead, the enemy has been constantly and consistently trying to whittle down the British bridgeheads across the Orne River and has so far strongly opposed with the majority of his tank forces the inland expansion of the British flank. It is the British flank that is outside the Cotentin Peninsula proper; it is the British flank that offers the eventual threat to Le Havre, to Rouen or to Paris.

The containing of our Normandy beachheads within the Cotentin Peninsula, therefore, seems to be the enemy’s strategy. Meanwhile, he appears to be trying to build up a mobile reserve to meet any other landing.

The enemy knows as well as we do that the Cherbourg Peninsula along will not be a sufficiently large base for an operation as huge as the conquest of France. He fears the great numbers of U.S. divisions that have never yet been in action but are trained and ready. The enemy is not likely to commit his full strength to battle either in the air or on the ground until he is certain that we shall not strike again against the coast of Western Europe.

Such a strategy explains the furious defense of Cherbourg, the holding and bitter delaying resistance south of the Cotentin Peninsula and the counterattacks against the British flank. The triumph of such a strategy would be to rob us gradually of the initiative that the Allies have not yielded since June 6 and to halt slowly the momentum and impetus of our Normandy drive. The failure of such a strategy would mean the rapid conquest of Cherbourg by the Allies and the expansion of the British flank southward and possibly eastward.

That is why the news tonight is encouraging. But time is still an important element in the victory.

Normandy wounded evacuated swiftly

Navy ‘overprepared’ because estimates exceed casualties

Aboard a U.S. cruiser, off the French coast (UP) – (June 24, delayed)
The task of moving thousands of wounded men from the Normandy beachhead to Great Britain by sea has almost been completed and was accomplished with complete success, Navy Capt. George Dowling said today.

Of the total wounded, slightly more than 5,500 were Germans or members of the polyglot forces making up the enemy armies in the invasion area.

Capt. Dowling said that his medical forces had been 50-75 percent overprepared for their task in the invasion. “We got ready for the worst – which of course didn’t happen,” he said.

Capt. Dowling used his experience in the Mediterranean, gleaned from handling the casualty evacuation in Sicily, to estimate what he needed in the invasion. In the early stages, the handling of all casualties fell entirely to naval transports and LSTs, which were rigged to take care of at least 200 wounded each after depositing their cargoes ashore.

Then practically every small craft which went to the beach, including the comparatively commodious, if flat-bottomed, types such as Tank Landing Craft (LCTs) were pressed into service to keep the lines of wounded moving.

The greatest percentage of the wounded have only minor injuries to arms and legs.

284

French cut hair off girls who were kindly to Nazis

Bricquebec, Normandy, France – (June 25)
With the goose-stepping enemy cleared from this village, Frenchmen are having their revenge on those who collaborated or fraternized with the Nazis and the hair has been sheared from the head of many a woman who was friendly to Nazi troops during the four-year occupation.

Lt. Francis Carpenter of 117-01 Park Lane South, Kew Gardens, Queens, reported that he was in the main square when he saw a crowd around a young girl.

He said:

Someone had the girl by the hair. Then I saw the flash of scissors and great chunks of black hair fell from her head. I asked a Frenchman the reason and he said she had been a friend of the Germans.

An American MP and I made an effort to keep the crowd moving, but without success. They soon had her bald, and she ran away sobbing.

Previously, Alfred Grey Jr. of 529 Crown Street, Brooklyn, New York, while driving through Bricquebec, had seen another girl completely baldheaded “running away from a crowd.”

Grey said he had also seen a buxom middle-aged woman “operating” on another girl with a pair of barbers’ clippers.

285

Editorial: Americans in Cherbourg

Cherbourg has been entered, and the first great prize of the invasion is virtually in Allied hands after a great final assault that began with the war’s mightiest combined barrage from land, from the sea and from the air, and is ending in bitter hand-to-hand fighting from house to house and from street to street. Some mopping-up of individual sections of the town still remains to be done; for the Germans converted many of its houses into forts, and German officers forced their weary troops to continue a hopeless struggle at the point of a gun in conformity with an order issued by their commander to fight or be shot. But these last desperate tactics were of no avail. Berlin was the first to announce the fall of the city, which means the loss of between 25,000 and 50,000 men, with the explanation that they had fought to the “last bullet.”

This is a splendid, heartwarming victory, won less than three weeks after D-Day and only five days after the actual attack on Cherbourg was launched. It completes the Allied break through the German “Atlantic Wall” and clinches our hold upon French soil. There is glory enough here for both the American and British armies: the Americans, who gained the city by assault; the British, who made the assault possible by holding against strong German counterattack the pivotal eastern end of the line.

Cherbourg will now become for the European war what Naples became for the Italian campaign and what Brest was in the last war – the great disembarkation port and supply base for the Allied armies which must break the deadlock in Europe. It is the third greatest port of France, amply able to take care of all Allied requirements until other ports are opened up by further Allied advances or invasions. And though German demolition squads have been reported active for some time, and the Germans have undoubtedly done their best to blow up the port’s facilities, Allied ability for restoration thus far has always exceeded the German power of destruction.

Cherbourg will permit the Allies to land troops and heavy equipment in protected waters. It will permit America in particular to ship men and supplies directly to the European continent and close to the battlefront without first unloading and transferring them at British ports. Finally, it will give the Allies a naval base from which whatever remains of the German submarine menace can be met far more effectively than at present. A safe base, safe communication lines and speed in the handling of equipment and supplies are of the essence of victory, and all these elements are now provided by the capture of Cherbourg.

Beyond that, the capture of Cherbourg means first the capture of the Cherbourg Peninsula. And this peninsula, together with the Allied bridgeheads captured in the first onslaught, provides the first really adequate marshaling ground and springboard for large-scale Allied attacks on the German armies in the West.

It may be assumed that one of the first Allied moves will be in a southwesterly direction toward the Loire to cut off the Brittany Peninsula as well and thereby secure the Allied rear., but the Germans have been forced ti tie down so much of their strength in the west to guard king coastlines still exposed to new invasions that they may have little left for mobile armies with which to counter Allied thrusts. And this opens up the chance for an even mire daring strategy than might have appeared possible at the start of the invasion when the Allies still counted on a mighty German counteroffensive – a strategy which would reduce the capture of the Brittany Peninsula to a secondary operation and wheel the Allied armies toward the southeast for a drive toward the Seine and Paris. The resumption of the American offensive southeast of Carentan, the new British-Canadian drive which led to the capture of Tilly-sur-Seulles, the continued German attacks at Caen, all point in that direction. Cherbourg is still 200 miles from Paris, but its capture has put the Allies definitely on the road to the capital of France. And beyond Paris lies Berlin.

286

Glider pilot tells of French landing

Flown here wounded, officer says craft hit tree – Nazi tanks did not fire

Washington (UP) – (June 25)
The first two wounded soldiers to arrive in this country from the invasion beachhead in France were identified today by the War Department as Lt. Col. Michael C. Murphy, 37, of Lafayette, Indiana, and Pfc. James A. Lester, 21, of Route 3, Clio, Michigan.

The two arrived last night at Mitchel Field, Long Island, on an Air Transport Command hospital plane and were taken to a nearby hospital. Their names were withheld overnight until the next of kin could be notified.

Lt. Col. Murphy said in New York yesterday, according to the Associated Press, that he landed his glider at Sainte-Mère-Église within 15 feet of a German tank column without being fired upon.

He recalled:

We were caught in a pretty heavy crossfire while still in the air. The pilot of the plane leading us was Col. Whitaker. I called him and told him that they were making a sieve of us back there. He said, “What in blazes do you think they are doing to me up here?”

I received my injury because my glider didn’t stop when I applied the brakes. It skidded on the tall grass and coasted into a tree.

When my glider came to rest, I was within 15 feet of an enemy reconnaissance tank column. I was pinned in and couldn’t move. I told the passengers what was in front of us. In about 15 seconds, the enemy started up the motors on their tanks and moved off. They moved past the other parked gliders and didn’t fire a shot.

Because snipers and machine-gunners were firing on then, Murphy said, the troops took cover in ditches at the edge of the field. He said a Medical Corps doctor risked the fire to reach the gliders and treat the injured.

Lt. Col. Murphy said the trip back to England from Normandy required three days because of snipers and artillery firing on the beach, as well as mines offshore.

He said:

It is interesting that it took twice as long to evacuate us across the Channel to England by boat as it took us to fly across the ocean.

The glider pilot, who formerly operated his own flying service at Findlay, Ohio, trained flight nurses at Bowman Field, Kentucky, before going overseas.

Four months ago, he married the former Mary Louise Neville of Lafayette.

287

LIFE (June 26, 1944)

Bayeux Tapestry reports old invasion

When the English-speaking allies fought their way into Bayeux June 7, they had returned to one of the great sources of English culture. That is the place from which Normans came in 1066 to conquer England. There, until the Germans came, hung the great Bayeux Tapestry which depicted the Battle of Hastings only a few years after it had been fought. Key examples of the 72 surviving scenes are reproduced here from the 230-foot embroidery on white linen, which used to be hung around the nave of Bayeux Cathedral. Today, three German scholars are studying it for Hitler in some “safe place,” said to be Linz, Austria. They have already described it as “a sort of German royal saga.”

By more respectable scholars, the Bayeux Tapestry has been called “the noblest monument in the world relating to English history” and “the most famous and most remarkable of medieval embroideries.” So factual is the work that the Bayeux Tapestry is one of our chief historical sources on the decisive Battle of Hastings. The borders are decorated with the Romanesque conceits then in fashion” griffins, phoenixes, fables, hunts, monsters, real animals.

The Battle of Hastings was the last great flare of infantry against armored cavalry for several centuries. The battle was won, however, not by mounted knights but by the Norman archers who pitched their arrows high and finally dropped one into Harold’s eye, killing him and demoralizing his army.


Harold, carrying a falcon (left), sets sail in Channel in 1064. Normans claim that he was going to pay a call on William of Normandy.


Landing in Normandy, Harold’s Saxons drop anchor in a calm sea. This contradicts Saxon story that Harold was shipwrecked in a storm. Saxons wear mustaches.


The seizure of Harold, by anchor, is effected by Count Guy. He surrendered him to Duke William, who released him after oath.


Harold sails home, having given oath to support William’s claim to throne of England on death of King Edward the Confessor.


Edward dies in 1066 and is hastily buried in St. Peter’s on site of Westminster Abbey. Harold is crowned King, violating his oath, a sacred thing in those times.


William’s fleet of about 700 open boats is built in the mouths of the Norman rivers. Each one carried about 20 men and three horses.


With a south wind setting out at midnight, Sept. 27, 1066, William’s fleet reaches Pevensey, England, by 9:00 a.m. The following four pictures are panorama of fleet.


Sailing swiftly by night, William carried “a great lantern” on mast of his own ship, the* Mora, as well as a brass Cupid on the prow.


The fleet carries not only Norman barons but also Breton and French adventurers to a total of perhaps 13,000 men, 2,000 horses.


A crusade was what Pope had called William’s expedition, for Harold had broken his word. Furthermore, William’s great-aunt was Edward the Confessor’s mother.


Landing at Pevensey on southeast coast of England is shown above. The horses are led ashore. Notice that Normans are clean-shaven.


In mail armor, Norman barons head for Hastings. Their weapons were the lance, sword, mace and kite-shaped shields. Duke William carried a mace in battle.


Normans dig entrenchments around camp at the town of Hastings and build a timber castle. They had won complete surprise.


The countryside is burned by Duke William’s men. His objective is to force Harold to fight quickly, before Normans supplies run out.


William (left) has his fine Spanish stallion, given him by King Alfonso of Spain, led up, to lead his army into battle. He has already caught two of Harold’s spies.


The Norman barons head for Hastings. Decorations at the top of the strip may include Harold’s personal insignia, The Fighting Man.


Harold’s spy, caught by the Normans, is shown the Norman host and in turn tells Duke William which way Harold is coming. William is left center, the spy at right.


The spy is released after having been wined, dined and impressed by Norman power, Decorations of strip include griffins, donkey.


Spy tells King Harold that the Normans are coming. Harold has formed strong shield wall on a ridge after marching 30 miles a day.


The battle begins with a volley of Norman arrows, then the charge by the heavily-armed Norman knights, here shown all across the bottom row of these two pages.


“Dex aie!,”cried Normans, meaning “God’s aid!” Replied Saxons, “Out! Out!” Another favorite Saxon cry: “Godemite” (God Almighty).


**The shield wall of housecarls of Harold is impregnable against charges of the Norman knights, and volley of javelins, casting axes and stones throws Normans back.


Norman allies were routed by Saxon levies, who pursued but were themselves cut to pieces on the open plain by the Norman knights.


The Norman horses, including William’s, are decimated by the Saxons.


At cry he is dead, William raises his helmet (left) and rallies his men.


In hand-to-hand fighting, King Harold’s two brothers are cut down.


Harold is killed (center), an unaimed arrow had pierced his eye.


The Norman knights harry the remnants of the Saxon shield wall.

288

Our worldwide war

American armed might engages enemy from France to the Far Pacific

…

289

Incident in Normandy

Some U.S. infantrymen move the battle ahead by eliminating a German sniper in a barnyard

…

The High Command visits beachhead

…

290

First casualties were lower than had been expected

…

291

Sea power wins on Normandy coast

…

292

Plane rockets

They are part of invasion arsenal

…

293

Völkischer Beobachter (June 27, 1944)

Der letzte Funkspruch des Seekommandanten –
Die große Stunde der Marinebatterie ‚Hamburg‘

pk. Bei der Kriegsmarine, im Juni 1944 –
In der Geschichte der Kriegsmarine gehört das Datum des 25. Juni 1944 den Batterien von Cherbourg, so wie der Name der Marinebatterie „Marcouf“ mit dem ersten Tag der Invasion verbunden bleiben wird. Was sich im Einzelnen an Taten soldatischer Größe und aufopfernder Tapferkeit in Batterien und Funkstellen, in Widerstandsnestern und Stützpunkten der Kriegsmarine abgespielt hat, liegt heute noch jenseits unseres Wissens. Die knappen Funksprüche, die der Seekommandant von Cherbourg gab, sagen nichts, was über die kargen operativen Tatsachen hinausginge, klar und mit einer fast grausamen Nüchternheit. Und doch liegt in den schicksalsschweren Meldungen, die in den letzten Stunden des Kampfes in den Äther gingen, eines Ahnen um die opfervolle Größe der Verteidiger. „An alle – Heil Hitler – hier Cherbourg – Sk.“ Das war der letzte Spruch, den der Seekommandant Konteradmiral Hennecke im offenen Text absetzen ließ. Das war am 25. Juni 1944, 19,05 Uhr.

Aber bis zu dieser Stunde waren aus seinem Gefechtsstand kurz und knapp die Meldungen gekommen, die mit Blitzlichtern den Kampf der tapferen Batterien der Seefestung beleuchteten und ihre stolzen Erfolge. Sie haben in dem Endkampf um Cherbourg der feindlichen Flotte noch schwere Wunden geschlagen, als endlich einmal die schweren Schiffe in die Greifweite ihrer Rohre kamen. Schon in den Morgenstunden des 24. Juni hatten die Batterien „Hamburg“ und „Brommy“ einen Verband feindlicher Kreuzer und Zerstörer unter Feuer genommen, der – um Batterien und Leitstände treffsicherer beschießen zu können – näher an die Küste herangestaffelt hatte. In diesem Artillerieduell zwischen Küste und Seestreitkräften wurden ein Kreuzer und ein Zerstörer mehrfach getroffen, so daß beide Schiffe abdrehen mußten und sich hinter einer Nebelwand in Sicherheit brachten.

An diesem Tage lag bereits seit Hellwerden stärkstes Feuer auf den Stellungen, dass sich im Laufe des Tages, vor allem in den Nachmittagsstunden zu einem ununterbrochenen Inferno von Bombenserien, Einschlägen der schweren Schiffartillerie und der von Land herüberreichenden Feldartillerie der Amerikaner steigerte. Dennoch hielten die tapferen Kanoniere der Batterien, die auch nach Land hinschießen konnten, die Anmarschstraßen des Gegners, seine Transport- und Bereitstellungsräume unter Feuer und brachten so der schwerkämpfenden deutschen Infanterie fühlbare Entlastung. Am späten Nachmittag gegen 18 Uhr hatte das Trommelfeuer eine Intensität erreicht, die keinen Zweifel mehr über den äußersten Ernst der Lage zuließ.

Als nach einer Nacht voll Störungsfeuer der Morgen des 25. Juni dämmerte, setzten die Angriffe in fast noch gesteigerter Stärke wieder ein. Zu den schweren Kalibern der Schiffsartillerie kamen die Einschläge von Granatwerfern, die der Feind im Vorgelände der Batterien in Stellung brachte. Dabei bekamen die Verteidiger in ihren Löchern und Bunkern kaum jemals einen Feind zu Gesicht, nur immer wieder das Brüllen und Bersten des Materials, das Schüttern und Beben der Erde unter dem Trommeln der Einschläge aller Kaliber, die vor dem Sturm der feindlichen Infanterie bereits jeden Widerstand ersticken sollten.

Eine halbe Stunde nach Mittag kam etwa 13 Kilometer vor der Küste wieder ein feindlicher Kreuzerverband in Sicht. Aus den schweren Rohren der Batterie „York“ rauschte Salve auf Salve herüber, während um die Batterie selbst nahezu ununterbrochen die Erdfontänen der Einschläge standen. 13,05 Uhr: Salven von „York“ liegen deckend! Treffer auf einem der schweren Kreuzer, bei dem auch leichte Kreuzer standen.

Etwa eine Stunde später steht die Silhouette eines Schlachtschiffes in den Okularen der Entfernungsmesser: zwei Drillingstürme vorn und achtern, zwei Gittermasten – California-Klasse. Vorn und achtern blitzen die Mündungsfeuer, sechs Einschläge wirbeln im Vorgelände in die Höhe. Salventakt. Sie schießen sich heran. Und dann: Jetzt schießen alle vier Türme Vollsalve.

Die Küstenbatterien antworten. „York“ hat einen der Kreuzer erneut eingedeckt, auf dem deutlich starke Rauchentwicklung beobachtet wurde. Und wieder pfeifen und bersten Bomben um die Batterien, greifen die Tiefflieger mit ihren Geschoßgarben nach den Scharten der Geschütze.

Dann wächst wieder ein Schlachtschiff über die Kimm, es muß Prince of Wales-Klasse sein. Viererturm vorn und Achtern. Aber es bleibt unser Feuerbereich. 15,15 Uhr meldete „York“: Erneut Treffer in den Aufbauten eines Kreuzers, der hart abdreht. Indessen mannen ungeachtet des schweren Beschusses die Kanoniere Munition an die Geschütze. Schließlich läßt der Feind Nebelbomben in das Blickfeld der Batterien werfen, um die Feuerleitung zu erschweren.

Während „York“ im Westteil der Seefront kämpft, erlebt am äußersten Ostrand der Batteriefront die schwere Marinebatterie „Hamburg“ ihre große Stunde. 14,32 Uhr sinkt draußen auf der grauen See ein britischer Kreuzer im Feuer ihrer schweren Granaten. Vom Leitstand aus sehen sie deutlich, wie sich das schwere Schiff überlegt, kentert, sich langsam noch einmal aufrichtet und dann schnell auf Tiefe geht. Aber es gibt keine Pause: jetzt liegen die Salven in einem neuen Ziel. Ebenfalls ein Kreuzer, der bald nach den Treffern auf qualmt. In einer Feuerpause geht unter den Kanonieren der Batterie ein Wort um, das der Seekommandant ihnen durchgegeben hatte. „Vorbildlich!“ Indessen beobachten die Männer am Entfernungsmesser, wie der schwere beschädigte Kreuzer achtern mehr und mehr wegsackt und schließlich mit schwerer Schlagseite sinkend außer Sicht kommt. Auch der kam nicht mehr bis Portsmouth!

Und wieder brüllen die Geschütze, donnert in das Krachen der Einschläge das polternde Bersten von Flächenwürfen feindlicher Bombergeschwader, ein paar Rohre gegen die hundertfache Feuerkraft des Gegners. Sie wissen, daß sie hier ihren letzten Kampf kämpfen. Vielleicht wissen sie auch, daß sie, die vielen unbekannten Soldaten der Marineartillerie, an diesen Tagen in die Geschichte des letzten schweren Kampfes der Seefestung Cherbourg unauslöschlich den Namen ihrer Batterien geschrieben haben.

Seitdem der Seekommandant seinen letzten Funkspruch abgesetzt hatte, wenige Sekunden bevor die eingebaute Wasserbombe die ganze Funkanlage zerriss, haben die Batterien der Kriegsmarine keine Verbindung mehr. Und in der schweren Nacht zum 26. Juni, in der diese Zeilen geschrieben werden, wissen wir nicht, an welchen Stellen des Festungsbereichs noch im letzten Opfergang Marineartilleristen kämpfen und wo sich schon das große Schweigen über die Batteriestellungen gesenkt hat.

Kriegsberichter HANNS H. REINHARDT

294

Innsbrucker Nachrichten (June 27, 1944)

Beispielhafte Tapferkeit der Verteidiger von Cherbourg

Heftiger Abwehrkampf unserer Truppen gegen massierte Sowjetkräfte – 54 Feindflugzeuge beim Terrorangriff auf Wien abgeschossen

dnb. Aus dem Führerhauptquartier, 27. Juni –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

In Cherbourg wurde den ganzen Tag über in einzelnen Stützpunkten mit größter Erbitterung gekämpft. Erst gegen Abend gelang es dem Gegner, der in den blutigen Straßenkämpfen schwere Verluste erlitt, sich in den Besitz eines großen Teiles der Stadt zu setzen. Einige unserer Widerstandsnester kämpfen dort immer noch mit beispielhafter Tapferkeit. Im Arsenal und in einer Anzahl von Marine- und Luftwaffenstützpunkten halten die tapferen Besatzungen allen feindlichen Sturmangriffen stand. Auch hier hatte der Gegner schwere Verluste. Land- und Küstenbatterien der auf der Halbinsel nordwestlich Cherbourg befindlichen eigenen Kampfgruppe unterstützen die Verteidiger der Stadt mit gutliegendem Artilleriefeuer.

Marinetruppen der Küstenbatterien, der Nachrichten- und Landdienststellen sowie an Land eingesetzte Schiffsbesatzungen haben sich bei den Kämpfen um Cherbourg unter dem Oberbefehl des Seekommandanten der Normandie, Konteradmiral Hennecke und unter Führung des Hafenkommandanten von Cherbourg, Fregattenkapitän Witt, besonders ausgezeichnet.

Die Marineküstenbatterie „Yorck“ versenkte vor Cherbourg einen leichten Kreuzer.

Im Raum von Tilly dehnte der Feind seine Angriffe auf weitere Abschnitte aus. Den ganzen Tag über hielten schwerste Infanterie- und Panzerkämpfe an. Der Feind, der durch Gegenangriffe zum Stehen gebracht wurde, konnte nur wenig Boden gewinnen.

Vor der Ornemündung zwangen unsere Küstenbatterien mehrere Transporter zum Abdrehen. In der letzten Zeit wurden zahlreiche mit Fallschirm abgesetzte feindliche Sabotagetrupps im französischen Raum im Kampf niedergemacht.

Schweres „V. 1“-Störungsfeuer lag weiterhin auf dem Stadtgebiet von London.

In Italien setzte der Gegner seine starken Durchbruchsangriffe fort. Trotz starker Artillerie- und Panzerunterstützung konnte er nur an einigen Stellen am äußersten Westflügel wenige Kilometer nach Norden Vordringen. An der gesamten übrigen Front bis zum Trasimenischen See erzielten unsere Truppen bei tropischer Hitze einen vollen Abwehrerfolg.

Bei den Kämpfen nördlich Grosseto hat sich eine Kampfgruppe unter Oberstleutnant Ziegler besonders bewährt. Der tapfere Kommandeur fand hierbei den Heldentod.

Im Mittelabschnitt der Ostfront stehen unsere tapferen Divisionen in den Abschnitten Bobruisk, Mogilew und Orscha in heftigem Abwehrkampf gegen die mit massierten Kräften angreifenden Sowjets. Westlich und südwestlich Witebsk kämpfen sie sich auf neue Stellungen zurück, östlich Polozk brachen zahlreiche von Panzern unterstützte Angriffe der Bolschewisten zusammen. Südöstlich Pleskau beseitigten unsere Grenadiere einen Einbruch vom Vortag und wiesen wiederholte Gegenangriffe der Bolschewisten ab.

An der finnischen Front vernichteten deutsche Schlachtflugzeuge 23 feindliche Panzer.

Schwere deutsche Kampfflugzeuge führten in der vergangenen Nacht zusammengefasste Angriffe gegen die Bahnhöfe Brjansk und Klinzy, die ausgedehnte Brände und Explosionen verursachten.

Ein nordamerikanischer Bomberverband griff in den gestrigen Vormittagsstunden Außenbezirke der Stadt Wien an. Es entstanden Gebäudeschäden und Verluste unter der Bevölkerung. Deutsche und ungarische Luftverteidigungskräfte vernichteten 54 feindliche Flugzeuge, darunter 46 viermotorige Bomber.

In der vergangenen Nacht warfen einzelne britische Flugzeuge Bomben auf Landgemeinden im Raum von Göttingen.

295

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (June 27, 1944)

Communiqué No. 43

The fall of CHERBOURG ends the second phase in the campaign on liberation. Twenty days after the initial assault, Allied Forces have established a firm beachhead which includes almost the whole of the COTENTIN PENINSULA and a major port.

CHERBOURG’S liberation came after a final day of fierce fighting in the northwestern part of the city.

In the battle, the enemy has lost the greater part of four Infantry Divisions, numerous naval and marine units and line of communication troops.

Lt. Gen. KARL-WILHELM VON SCHLIEBEN, commander of the CHERBOURG Garrison, and KONTERADMIRAL HENNECKE, sea defense commander of NORMANDY, have been captured.

A strong attack toward the VILLERS-BOCAGE-CAEN main road has secured CHEUX and FONTENAY and has advanced several miles in the face of heavy German armor and infantry. Progress continues.

Storms and defense clouds minimized air activity yesterday and throughout the night.

Special Communiqué No. 3

CHERBOURG WAS LIBERATED BY ALLIED TROOPS LAST NIGHT.

ENDS SPECIAL COMMUNIQUE NUMBER 3
27 June 44

Communiqué No. 44

Allied forces in the TILLY-CAEN area have crossed the CAEN-VILLERS-BOCAGE railway near MOUEN. Our advance has been made in torrential rain and against determined resistance by enemy infantry and armor.

In the CHERBOURG PENINSULA, we are continuing our attacks against the last remnants of organized opposition. Elements of the enemy’s forces are holding out in the MAUPERTUS airfield east of the CHERBOURG, and in the northwest tip of the peninsula.

Prisoners taken in the peninsula total at least 20,000 and more are being brought in.

Bad weather during this morning severely curtailed air activity but fighter-bombers attacked a train at PARENNES (east of LAVAL) and road transport in the LAVAL and ALENÇON areas.

Early this morning light coastal forces intercepted and engaged a force of enemy trawlers and minesweepers off JERSEY.

Considerable damage was inflicted on the enemy in a gun action in which coastal batteries from the island joined, and one minesweeper was hit by a torpedo. It is considered that this enemy ship may have sunk.

296

The New York Times (June 27, 1944)

CHERBOURG FALLS TO U.S. TROOPS
Victory in France; capture of port seals first phase of Allied liberation of Europe

Fight sharp to end; British reported near main enemy highway at base of peninsula
By Drew Middleton

Cherbourg’s capture accompanied by new drive in the east

map.62744.ap
Before Cherbourg fell, pockets of Nazi resistance were being rooted out by U.S. troops who controlled the waterfront west of Querqueville and east to Bretteville (1). Our units reached Beaumont-Hague (2) as they pushed toward Cap de la Hague (3), whence the enemy was lobbing shells into Cherbourg. Germans had held out at Hardinvast (4), at Carneville (5) and, just to the southwest, at the Maupertus Airfield. To the east, Gen. Montgomery, with forces apparently built up while the Americans were active in the west, thrust southeast of Tilly-sur-Seulles to occupy the towns of Tessel-Bretteville and Brettevillette (6).

SHAEF, England –
Cherbourg, France’s third greatest port, has fallen to U.S. troops in the first outstanding victory of the Allied campaign to liberate France.

The fall of Cherbourg, after a siege that lasted a week from the moment the first shells from U.S. field guns began to pound its defenses, was officially announced here this morning just after 7:00 a.m. BDST (1:00 a.m. ET).

With the taking of the city, the first phase of the campaign in which the Allies were forced to build up their armies without the use of a large port came to an end. It was estimated here recently that supplies for two divisions could be moved through Cherbourg within 48 hours after its fall.

Captives may total 30,000

Last night, U.S. patrols mopped up the remaining German resistance in the vicinity of the naval base and arsenal and cleaned out snipers from buildings along the waterfront, where individual Germans held out until the last.

Although there has been no official estimate of the number of prisoners yet, it is probable the city’s fall will bring more than 30,000 German soldiers and sailors into the Allied cages.

Cherbourg was the second French port and naval base to fall to Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley. Bizerte in Tunisia was taken by the U.S. Army II Corps under his command on May 7, 1943.

The struggle for Cherbourg drew to its victorious close yesterday when in the rain and chill wind doughboys mopped up the port. By nightfall, more than one-third of the port had been occupied and, by midnight, two-thirds of the city was in Allied hands.

At dawn Monday, 3,400 German prisoners had been taken and it is probable that twice that number was captured in the mopping-up operations yesterday.

The Germans were driven from five remaining strongholds during the early evening by grenade, bayonet and flamethrower and tank units that had driven to the waterfront.

By nightfall, the remaining German resistance centered around the naval base and arsenal, planned and constructed by Vauban and improved by Napoleon. Snipers along the waterfront and little knots of German troops at roadblocks fought to their last cartridge.

The battle had been sharp and costly. Pillboxes around the shattered bastion of Fort du Roule had to be taken with bazookas, Bangalore torpedoes and a final scientific rush by doughboys, dashing through rain in the face of sharp rifle and machine-gun fire.

Other bastions barring entrances to the port were bypassed by U.S. infantry, who rushed into Cherbourg all day yesterday despite flanking fire.

The Germans reported “terrific” U.S. losses. This report was unfounded, but our casualties in the fierce fighting of the last four and a half days cannot have been light for assaults on strongly held prepared positions are one of the costliest forms of warfare. But if the price was high, the prize was great.

British push on in east

As the Cherbourg battle drew to its close, the new operation to the east was pressed. British tanks and infantry smashed forward from Tilly-sur-Seulles, penetrating to a depth of two and a half to four miles and driving the enemy from the villages of Tessel-Bretteville and Brettevillette, southeast of the starting point of this limited offensive.

An Associated Press report said British troops in the Fontenay area had driven to a point one mile from the main highway across the base of the peninsula.

Yesterday, for the first time in nearly two weeks, there was violent action at both ends of the Allied front. To the east, where the Germans are strongest, the British Army was advancing against the best German troops in France.

The occupation of Cherbourg was accomplished almost exactly three weeks after the first landings. During that time, the Allies had established a beachhead of more than 1,000 square miles, had taken more than 20,000 prisoners up to last night and had completed the destruction of four German garrisons.

These successes should not obscure the fact that the Germans are still numerically strong. Their Cherbourg defense is proof that even the discounted second-line infantry divisions of the German Army fight with a resolution and ability not often met in first-class troops of any nation.

With the opening of Cherbourg to Allied transports, the stage will be set for the growth of the great Anglo-American army in France. But events of the last three weeks have shown the path to victory will be hard going.

Strongpoint bypassed

Some time yesterday morning, Gen. Bradley evidently decided to leave the remaining German strongpoints to be mopped up later, and threw the majority of his battalions into the town. Under the rush of the new troops, the Germans fighting in the streets gave way. Those who could dashed for the shelter of the old stone fortifications around the naval port where they resisted to the end.

The main position at Fort du Roule was taken Sunday afternoon, according to dispatches from the front. Since then, our infantry has had to knock out a succession of smaller forts, each of them girt with mines and protected by enfilading fire from another position.

Four German positions on the Cherbourg Peninsula front survived yesterday’s attacks, according to reports from the 21st Army Group that reached here at 9:00 p.m. last night. Three of these are to the east of Cherbourg at the Maupertus Airfield and at Bretteville and Carneville. The fourth is at Hardinvast, four miles southwest of the port.

The penetration to the sea was accomplished without much fighting. To the east, a position near Bretteville had been established, while to the west, the sea had been reached around Querqueville, which had been taken.

U.S. infantrymen fought a brisk battle with four enemy pillboxes established on a road running parallel with the harbor yesterday. The pillboxes gave each other supporting fire and had to be knocked out one by one in savage and costly fighting. Here, as at Fort du Roule, the doughboys rushed up to the pillboxes and dropped grenades down the ventilators after the reinforced concrete had withstood direct hits from field guns.

Large stores of food and liquor were found in some of the underground fortifications.

U.S. units pushing toward the western tip of the peninsula encountered some opposition at Beaumont-Hague in the Cape de la Hague area. To the east, there was none to speak of in the Barfleur–Saint-Pierre-Église area.

Warships aid British

Allied naval forces were supporting the British advances on the eastern end of the beachhead. The Luftwaffe continued to assault these warships, but RAdm. Sir Philip Vian, commander of the invasion naval forces, said 10% of all attacking aircraft had been shot down by anti-aircraft fire from his ships.

There has been some E-boat action in this area, but British destroyers and light coastal forces have brushed off two recent attacks on the anchorage without loss.

Last week’s gale probably did more damage to Allied convoys than all enemy action thus far, an Associated Press report from Allied headquarters suggested.

There has also been some shelling from mobile batteries to the east of the British beaches.

By 9:15 p.m. yesterday, the British infantry was still smashing ahead southeast of Tilly-sur-Seulles toward the Odon River in the face of small groups of German tanks, heavy machine-gun fire and surprisingly extensive minefields, according to reports from the front. At that time, one staff major believed the British had penetrated the crust of enemy defenses, according to these reports.

The battle has been fought in the Juvigny-Cheux la Gaule-Brettevillette triangle on a considerable scale. The British appear to be striking south for the high ground around Fontenay to forestall a German offensive through Caen.

As four panzer and three infantry divisions hold this sector of the enemy line, it would be unwise to expect any extensive exploitation of yesterday’s advance, which came only after three hours of extremely hard fighting.

Nazis claim they gained time

Comments in Monday night and Tuesday morning editions of German domestic papers “state that the German Command has gained time through the sacrifice of troops at Cherbourg,” the Nazi Transocean News Agency said in a broadcast to the German-controlled press of Europe, as reported by U.S. government monitors.

The German press comment, apparently designed to justify to the public a statement in yesterday’s Nazi High Command communiqué that the Nazi garrison at Cherbourg had rejected two ultimatums to surrender, went on, according to Transocean:

Thus the German Command was able to take effective military countermeasures which will become obvious at the right time.

297

14 warships shell Cherbourg at once

British newsman describes destruction of batteries defending harbor
By Desmond Tighe, Reuters correspondent

Aboard HMS GLASGOW, off Cherbourg Harbor, France – (June 25, delayed)
U.S. battleships and heavy cruisers, supported by two British cruisers and seven destroyers, are firing broadside after broadside into German shore batteries at vital key points on the fringes of Cherbourg Harbor in support of the Army.

The bombardment started at exactly 11 minutes past 12:00 this morning and has lasted for more than three hours with German long-range 450mm shore batteries returning the fire vigorously.

As I watched this bombardment from the bridge of HMS Glasgow, victor of the recent Bay of Biscay battle, we are steaming steadily some 15,000 yards off the breakwater of Cherbourg Harbor.

Air resounds with crashes

Our six-inch guns are blazing away as shells scream into a German fort. The air resounds with the crash of broadsides from the battleships, cruisers and destroyers. The Channel sea is whipped with wicked-looking grey-black splashes as we are straddled time and time by German shore batteries.

The German gunnery is good and although we are plastering their concrete gun emplacements with tons of high explosives some of them keep on firing.

The U.S. bombardment task force is commanded by U.S. Navy RAdm. Morton L. Deyo. Adm. Deyo is flying his flag in the heavy cruiser USS Tuscaloosa. Among the warships in his battle squadron are the battleship USS Texas, USS Nevada, USS Arkansas; the cruiser USS Quincy, and the two British cruisers, HMS Glasgow and HMS Enterprise. We are escorted by a strong force of U.S. destroyers. Minesweepers clear the way for us and overhead Lightnings give us constant cover.

The German shore batteries open first. Great spurts of water ruse up near the foremost minesweeper. She continues to move inshore. Again, the sharp crack of bursting shells as the batteries fire. They are sending over anti-personnel shells which burst in the air in a cloud of white smoke with flaming streamers streaking into the sea.

The Enterprise lying on out starboard beam starts bombarding.

The Nevada passes close to us and lets fly a 14-inch broadside. The air seems to shake as these shells roar away toward the German batteries with the sound of an express train.

Now all ships are firing. Our forward turrets open up with a roar. The sky is now filled with smoke. Visibility is practically nil.

We continue to blaze away with our guns at the shore battery. I watch the gunnery officer calmly giving his orders. There are three ugly cracks and we are straddled close to our stern. The German gunnery is good.

The Nevada, looking magnificent standing out of the smokescreen, her Stars and Stripes battle ensign flying high at her topmast, turns away to starboard to take up another bombardment position. She fires her after 14-inch guns with a roar. We are now being straddled by the shore batteries with alarming regularity.

It is now nearly 1 o’clock. The Nevada reappears out of the smokescreen, and as she passes close on our port beam fires point-blank a broadside of 14-inch shells. The range is so short for her that her guns are depressed to their lowest level. Again and again, she pours high explosives into the shore batteries. Some have now stopped but others still carry on.

We continue to fire away with our six-inch guns.

The Quincy appears out of the smoke. Her guns belch broadsides. The German batteries continue to pepper us. Shrapnel tinkles on the bridge structure and on the side of the ship.

The Enterprise is firing away with all she’s got. She passes close to us and the captain waves cheerfully from the bridge.

Then things get really hot. We have been scheduled to bombard for 90 minutes and the time limit is up. Three shells roar right over the ship to explode in the sea some 50 yards away. They are followed by more.

The batteries seem to have got our range. Adm. Deyo makes us a signal to retire to the swept channel. The Nevada leads us out, her guns blazing away at the shore batteries. For a time, all is quiet.

Twenty minutes later, we are again some 15,000 yards from the shore firing at one stubborn battery to the southeast of Cherbourg. The others seem to be out of action.

Aircraft are spotting for us, wheeling over the target area. We close in on the shore and then let fly with a six-gun broadside. Another and another until the gun position is covered with brown smoke curling into the air. But the German gunners continue to fire.

The captain says rather apologetically: “We are being fired at again. Lie low.” We can see the pinpoints of light from this four-gun battery as it opens fire. Then the shells scream over. The Quincy, Tuscaloosa, Nevada and Enterprise are all firing.

It is now a quarter to 4. We have been in action for three and a half hours.

We steam away from Cherbourg, our bombardment mission completed.

U.S. destroyers are laying a white smokescreen as we head north. The Tuscaloosa, Quincy and Nevada, steaming line ahead, pass us on our starboard beam. As a farewell gesture, they fire broadside after broadside of 14-inch shells into the German positions until we are out of range. The shells scream overhead.

As we steam toward our home port in the light of the setting sun, the commander speaks, “The man brace will be spliced as soon as we are in harbor.”

Byrd’s son is wounded

Is paratrooper serving with invasion forces in France

Washington – (June 26)
Senator Harry F. Byrd (D-VA) received word today that his son, Pvt. W. Beverley Byrd, a paratrooper, had been wounded while serving with the invasion troops in France.

Pvt. Byrd, now in his early 20s, is a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. His injuries were not specified.

All three of Senator Byrd’s sons are in the armed services. Harry F. Byrd Jr., the eldest, is a naval lieutenant in the Pacific area; Beverley is the next oldest; Richard Evelyn, the youngest, is a sergeant in the Armored Infantry.

298

Denny: Pockets of Nazis kept on sniping as Americans overran Cherbourg

By Harold Denny

With U.S. forces at Cherbourg, France – (June 26)
The Germans fought a last-ditch defense in Cherbourg this evening, though the outcome was inescapable. Substantial elements of the U.S. forces got into the city from the south only after a piece-by-piece conquest of succeeding strongpoints and the Germans were still firing on them in the city and from two pillboxes remaining on Fort du Roule with 88mm field pieces and machine guns. The city has been considerably damaged but less than one would have thought. As a whole, it is intact, though many individual buildings have been smashed.

Dominating all was the arsenal, where the last important holdout group was still firing rifles while large portions of the structure were burning with a red glow and towering black smoke.

Holding out about equally with the arsenal was one last desperate little group of cannoneers at Fort du Roule.

It stands like Gibraltar and should have been impregnable. Its fortifications of reinforced concrete, several stories deep and tunneled into solid rock, behind one of the Maginot Line fortresses, which I visited the first winter of this war. They include an electric light plant, underground barracks, an underground hospital and abundant stores of everything conceivable, including the best wine and brandy. It has been conquered repeatedly in this battle, yet parts of it still continued to fight tonight.

Sunday one of our units overran it and apparently had it all under control. But these fortifications are connected by rock tunnels and in the night, the soldiers crawled back up and manned one formidable system of big guns protected by two lesser pillboxes armed with .30-caliber machine guns and 20mm cannon at the end of the mountain nearest the town. They opened fire both on our soldiers feeling their way through the city below and against our men farther back.

The American commander sent a strong force against it at 6 o’clock this morning and at the same time had heavy artillery and mortar fire laid down. While this barrage kept the enemy’s heads down our infantry crept up and exploded pole charges, threw in grenades and finally leaped into the positions and captured the survivors. They got about 150 there. The same troops then went over the side of “Gibraltar” and fought straight through the city, gathering up machine-gunners and snipers hiding on building tops and drove block by block straight to the waterfront.

They gathered up some hundreds of prisoners on the way and herded them clear to the water’s edge.

General leaves, guns fire

So, Fort du Roule seemed conquered once more. Yet it was believed still more Germans lurked in a gallery still deeper underground and protected by thick steel doors.

They were there when a general visited the fort and inspected the fortifications a few feet above them late this afternoon. Fifteen minutes after the general left, that hidden garrison opened fire again on the city and there ensued a remarkable artillery duel.

Our forces in the town below had brought in tank destroyers and howitzers. They fired back at the fort. Retreating to a safe distance at one side and crouching at the edge of a trench full of dead Germans, I could see the flash of our guns in the town and then a burst of fire and smoke as the shells hit around the fort’s embrasures. The fort would reply with its hard bark and an almost instant burst of a shell down below. Our guns were firing with remarkable accuracy and from my vantage point it seemed certain that some of our missiles must be getting through. After an hour, Fort du Roule was silent again and that was the end for it.

Tanks back up infantry

By Don Whitehead, Associated Press correspondent

With U.S. troops in Cherbourg, France – (June 26, 9:12 p.m.)
Fanatic defenders of Cherbourg made a last desperate effort today to hold out against doughboys closing in to wipe out the last pockets of resistance.

As we walked through the streets of Cherbourg, doughboys moved up to close in on the pillboxes that were still firing from the beach.

The Amiot aircraft plant, or what was once a plant, was a burning, charred ruins, sabotaged by the Germans in their last hours in Cherbourg.

Down the road less than 100 yards, our tanks were sitting on the beach near knocked-out enemy strongpoints, blasting at machine-gun nests still holding out. The rattle of machine-gun fire broke out intermittently.

The tanks helped the doughboys fight their way through tough, scattered knots of resistance to enter the city late yesterday. When the Germans began firing from houses along the route of advance, the tanks rolled up and blasted the positions.

In one house, a German officer and three enlisted men lay dead with bullet holes through their foreheads, neat round holes put there by an expert doughboy rifleman. The officer lay with a champagne bottle in one hand and his rifle in the other. He had decided to fight to the last.

Resistance was disorganized. Defenders, still manning guns, were German fanatics trapped like rats. There was no escape for them.

A United Press report from Cherbourg said some Germans broke most of their rifles and machine guns and had blown off the muzzles of their artillery before surrendering.

The first unit into this section of the city was led by Lt. George Myers of Cincinnati, Ohio. This was the spearhead that sliced off the eastern part of the city.

Few booby traps found

There were surprisingly few mines and booby traps left by the Germans to hamper the U.S. entrance into the city. Most opposition was from machine-gun nests and guns in the forts.

The unit here has found only two booby traps so far and the only mines were those in front of the smashed beach defenses.

Coming into the city, the doughboys hit one tough knot of resistance with a German colonel and 300 troops holed up in a building and armed with machine guns and rifles.

Lt. Benjamin Westervelt of 418 Stockholm Street, Brooklyn, New York:

We just brought up tanks and boys with automatic Browning rifles and poured fire through the windows and doors. That got ‘em. The colonel came out to surrender his men. They poured out of there through the windows and doors in streams.

The unit kept one of the prisoners and when a pillbox strongpoint was encountered, he was sent forward to tell the defenders that unless they surrendered tanks would be brought up and all of them wiped out.

Lt. Westervelt said:

We got 56 out of that bag. We did the same thing at other places, too, and this man convinced more than 100 Germans to surrender.

There were few civilians in the section of the city we visited. But those on the streets were giving a warm welcome to the Americans.

German luxury noted

In a wine shop, Sgt. Harold Shortsleeve of Rutland, Vermont, had his heavy machine-gun squad cleaning their weapons before moving up to take part in the action against the pillboxes still blasting away at our troops.

Sgt. Shortsleeve said with a grin:

We’re waiting for artillery and mortars to get to work and then we’ll go in to clear up the pillboxes.

In the Hôtel Atlantique were cases of wine, cognac and champagne left behind by the Germans when they fled the city.

There the shelves were filled with fine sauternes, burgundies and liqueurs. The Germans has requisitioned the hotel for labor troops of the Todt Organization. They had lived in comfort in the 500-room hostelry.

1 Like
299

Nazi billet found filthy, insanitary

Dirt, grease and insects in German quarters in France arouse U.S. medical officer
By Frederick Graham

Advanced 9th Air Force fighter base, on Cherbourg front, France – (June 25, delayed)
This is just to report another chipped place in that fabulous mosaic that portrays the German as a super soldier.

What we have seen of how German soldiers and officers lived here has led U.S. Army medical officers to conclude he is not like his 1914-15 prototype so far as health and sanitary conditions are concerned. Either he does not know anything about fundamental army sanitation or he us amazingly indifferent.

Headquarters of this outfit are in a lovely old building that has been used by Allied or German troops since 1940. British soldiers occupied it until Dunkerque and then German troops took over. We moved in on Jerry’s heels a few days ago – so fast in fact that he did not have time to cart off a tub of fine French butter he had requisitioned from French farmers.

According to Lt. Col. Stanley Ungar of 2 E 4th Street, New York, medical officer for this fighter wing, the Germans violated just about every rule of army sanitation, and even to a layman it is evident to more than just the eye that they were not very clean or tidy.

The building itself and latrines cannot be excused on the ground the Germans had only temporary quarters there, Col. Ungar believes. Nor can the haste in which they left be given as an excuse. Col. Ungar pointed to the thick crust of dust and grease on the floors and walls and the bed lice.

A 200-year-old stone building was used as an officers’ latrine – and col. Ungar doubts if it was ever cleaned out or even sprinkled with lime.

In the immediate rear of the house was a large decorative pond filled with slimy green water from which swarms of mosquitos flew all day and night.

Most of the Germans, including officers, slept on mattresses made of burlap and filled with straw. Bed lice crawled all over them.

The first thing Col. Ungar and his medicos did when this outfit moved in was to cover the pond with oil, pour lime into the old latrine and then seal it off. All floors were “G.I.’d” which means scrubbed with hot water and soap. New latrines were built some distance away. the straw mattresses were burned and walls and ceilings scrubbed – and as soon as paint is available the rooms are going to get a new coat of paint.

Airborne commanders named

SHAEF, England (AP) – (June 26)
It was disclosed today for the first time that Brig. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor, who was sent secretly to Rome for a pre-surrender discussion with Marshal Pietro Badoglio, now commands the 101st Airborne Division, which landed on D-Day, and that Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway, who commanded the 82nd Airborne Division in Sicily and Italy, led it into Normandy.

1 Like
300

Germans’ strength in Normandy believed far less than Allies’

Uneven complements of divisions, use of foreign troops and variations in armaments are factors

SHAEF, England – (June 26)
The uneven strength of divisions, the wide use of non-German troops and the lack of uniformity in armament contribute to the belief that the German Army facing the Allies in Normandy is a lesser vehicle than the military machine that awed Europe in 1940 and 1941.

The Germans have fought with valor and skill, but a comparison of enemy divisions with U.S. and British divisions leads inevitably to the conclusion that the Allies are stronger. Four years ago, a German division was the measure for military strength the world over. That is no longer true.

The task forces of some regular armored divisions are composed of one battalion of German Mark IV tanks and one battalion of French SOMUA tanks. The latter is a durable machine, but it was evolved in 1937.

Elite Guard armored divisions usually have more troops – up to 20,000 men – and better tanks than the regular armored divisions. The same is true to some extent, of infantry divisions. These are now divided into two categories: field service and limited employment; that is, static service divisions. The former are better equipped and include younger and tougher soldiers than the latter, whose age group is from 35 to 40. Three types of non-German troops are serving in the German Army.

There are Ost battalions of Russians. Frequently one of these makes up the third battalion of an infantry regiment, or three of them form the third regiment of a division. Sometimes they are officered by Russians, sometimes by Germans. When there is a Russian commander, he is accompanied by a watchful German assistant. Many Russians, when captured, are considered normal prisoners of war. The Russian troops have been forced into service.

The second type of “foreign” troops is the Volksdeutsche, who are regarded as Germans though born abroad. They serve in German units and theoretically there is no difference between them and German soldiers. Then there are the Hilfsfreiwilligen – “volunteers” – who serve a ammunition carriers, drivers and cooks with combat units or on lines of supply.

Here is how the divisions appear to the Americans and Britons fighting them in France. Four armored divisions have been identified in Normandy. They consist of a reconnaissance unit, a regiment of tanks, two regiments of armored grenadiers – that is, infantry – three battalions of field artillery and permanently attached battalions of anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery.

A reconnaissance unit is composed of five companies; two companies of armored cars, two companies of infantry in armored trucks and a heavy company of supporting arms. A tank regiment is composed of two battalions: one of three companies of Mark IVs, 18 tanks to a company, and one battalion of SOMUAs.

An ordinary regiment of armored grenadiers has two battalions. In an armored division, there are two regiments of these. One is carried in armored vehicles close behind the tanks. The other follows the trucks a little to the rear. Generally, the armored grenadiers are the best infantry in the German Army.

The field guns of an armored division are the 105mm gun-howitzers, while an anti-aircraft battalion is armored with the 88mm gun, which can also be used against tanks. An anti-tank battalion has both 88mm and 47mm weapons.

Elite Guard armored divisions, instead of a battalion of French tanks, have a battalion of French tanks, have a battalion of Mark Vs. The Mark V is armed with a long-barreled 75mm gun of great hitting power, while the Mark IV has a short-barreled weapon of the same caliber.

301

Germans tricked by D-Day diversion

‘Bluff’ fleet sent against Calais drew off enemy’s planes, British officer says

The German Air Force, absent from the Normandy invasion, went into the air to attack a “diversion” fleet that the Allies sent on D-Day into the Calais-Boulogne area, Cdr. Anthony Kimmins, British naval intelligence officer, said yesterday.

The Germans expected the Allied blow to land in that area, he said in an interview at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. He predicted that:

When the Germans’ final defense plans are found, I think we will discover that they thought we were coming in there.

Cdr. Kimmins came to the United States direct from the Normandy beaches, where he went ashore from one of the leading assault ships on D-Day. That night, he returned to England in a motor torpedo boat to report to the Admiralty and the next day he was back on the beachhead, where he stayed a week. He has been present at almost every landing of the war, including Norway, North Africa, Pantelleria, Sicily and Salerno with British troops. He was with U.S. forces in the Kwajalein landing.

The ships that went on the “bluff” invasion did not suffer much damage, he said. He added, “I think the men had a very good time. They just made a lot of noise.”

The Germans’ behavior was described by the Norman population as “very correct,” he said. Invasion, to the villagers, meant bombardment for the first time, as their agricultural land had not previously suffered from the Allied air blows and they had lived a comparatively comfortable existence during the past four years, the commander said.

The Germans were forced to use the robot planes prematurely, he said. He believed that they had all been aimed for the invasion ports, but the incessant Allied pounding of their bases had forced the Germans to shoot them at any target they could find. The planes could have been “a very serious menace” if used all at once from every site, he said.

Describing the ships in the Channel during the invasion, he said that it had been “just like walking down Broadway with traffic in all directions.” Ships “poured across” the Channel in a steady stream, in long orderly lines, massed from the British coast to the French coast, he said.

302

Sniping by French denied by Allies

Headquarters praises their aid to invasion forces – mine strike begun in north

SHAEF, England (AP) – (June 26)
Investigation has shown that there have been no authenticated instances of French civilian snipers’ firing on Allied troops, a special Supreme Headquarters announced said today.

On the contrary, French resistance to the Germans has been of great assistance to the Allies, it added. The statement said:

It is announced by Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, today that investigations have been made of allegations of French civilian snipers firing on Allied troops. No authenticated use of French snipers has been found.

On the other hand, Supreme Headquarters emphasized that French resistance to the Germans has been a great contribution in support of Allied operations.

Miners strike in north

London, England – (June 26)
France’s army without uniforms was reported today to have been joined in resistance by miners of northern France, who are staging a sit-down strike. This is the first instance of its kind reported from France since the invasion began.

Authoritative French sources here, which announced the strike, also disclosed that 3,000 German troops had been employed in a vain attempt to surround maquisards who have regrouped in the Ardennes. A German attack at Saint-Gervais has been repulsed with heavy losses and a German offensive has been foiled in the Chartreuse district.

French forces have taken control of some districts in Provence, where the Germans are attacking and carrying out reprisals. Twenty Frenchmen have been shot in four days at Annecy. One hundred and forty have been killed at Lambesc. The arrests of hostages are increasing in Lorraine, but railway sabotage continues.

Recent sabotage efforts have included the blowing up of transformers serving German factories in the Lower Seine region and the wrecking of a petroleum refinery in the southwest that was supplying oil fir transformers and railway engines. The Germans have been unable to restore the long-distance telephone lines from Paris that were cut on June 6.