Operation OVERLORD (1944)

577

Wolfert: Going slowly past fallen comrades, infantry trudges into jaws of death

Each of them knows somebody in crowd will get it, but not him
By Ira Wolfert

With the U.S. infantry west of Saint-Lô, France – (delayed)
The infantry they still say is Queen of Battles. When the infantry wants to cross a road here, it goes like this:

Airplanes and artillery take them by the hand, a big, dull upheaving thump of bombs gets in its way among the bat-like crack of shells, then the infantry grunts itself up onto its two legs and the fellows put their legs in front of them, one after the other and they walk, dragging behind them a train weightier than a train on a queen’s dress. Radio stud and telephone wires, wire layers and spreaders, lance poles, heavier guns, vehicles for all this and for ammunition, rations, ambulances, blood plasma, bulldozers, trucks full of crushed rocks and cots of officers and the typewriters of war correspondents.

The road the fellows went across today was the main road running east from Périers down to Saint-Lô, a hard surfaced country road, twisting and narrow, but first class all the same and the kind a country boy could really spank his auto along. There is a lump of high ground just north of it that the Germans held this morning and then a few miles southeast of it down in that part of the Cherbourg Peninsula they call French Switzerland, there is commanding ground that the Germans hold in force with plenty of howitzers there that can go into the deepest hole after a man and blow him out of there in pieces.

Gray morning at front

It was gray this morning at the front. The infantry and artillery had taken some of the murder out of their promenade and it didn’t look as if the airplanes could work today. Rain which had been dripping down greasily from the skies for days had stopped finally but the sky still hung low and wet-looking over the countryside.

Then the sky began to lift, very slowly, but all in one piece like the curtain of a show and the infantry watched it go up and watched the sun wear at it with its light and heat and wear it thinner and thinner until at last the gray was the color of threadbare cloth and they could see the pale-yellow overlay of the sun through it.

There were miles of people watching in silence the slow inch by inch lift of their ceiling of sky, from 6 o’clock in the morning on. At 6 o’clock, the sky’s ceiling seemed to lay on your face, then at 7 o’clock your face was clear of it and was clinging like with gray fingers to trees and so on and on, lifting higher and higher until at 11:40 the first airplanes came over and the infantry knew for sure that its legs were going to get a workout.

Artillery gets answer

The artillery was pounding good by this time and there was some answer from the Germans. The Nazis were searching the roads and back areas. Searching is a word artillery people like to use but it’s more like clawing. Four of five shells come down on you like a paw and rake you. Then a swift clawing paw rakes alongside of you and in back. It’s a flurry of swift-clawing paws like an animal striking out because you’ve come too close and you hug where you are and stay still and then when its quiet crawl closer. You can’t see the animal and he can’t see you, but there is the feeling in you that you can hear his frightened, dangerous breathing as you crawl closer.

The bombers ran across the sky like girls and vapor blew behind them as if there were skirts blowing in the wind. Then they swooped down and the sound of their bombs dropping all in a packet drummed across the fields and drummed beating wildly up and down the silent country lanes.

Bombs take long time to fall

Flying Fortresses came after them, they sailed with the silvery, gleaming like ships in line each formation of 12 shooting a white smoke flare that dropped the rough skies of foaming yarn. Their bombs took a long time to fall. They came from very high up and the sound of them took a long time to reach us. When it came it was like drumming again, a very wild, drunken, unmusical drumming with an upheaving effect to it like a buried multitude beating up against the surface of the earth. The blasts were ironed out by the two or three miles between us and the bombs so that all they did was to fill our ears a little bit and flap out trousers against our legs.

The infantry now stepped off against the German hedges. They walked erect and they went about a hundred yards every three minutes. There were some fellows killed, a few more wounded but not many.

Pulled our when planes came

Most of the Germans had pulled out when the airplanes came over. They knew we meant business and that arithmetic was against them. They knew that if they stayed, they must inevitably be killed and that was the arithmetic of it. The only thing they could gain by dying was time.

The German command had to decide whether that time was worth buying with the lives of their men there or wherever it would be more useful to pull them out and open a little hole in the line, then ring the hole with big guns and blow men down who ventured into it.

Decide to open hole

The German command decided to open the hole. They made it like a giant maw there and the infantry, knowing exactly what it was, walked steadily into it, going at about 100 yards every three minutes, standing erect and pausing to fire only when fired upon by small arms, not stopping for howitzer shells or mortars but going through the dust and pelting dirt of that opening with white faces and eyes running from side to side as though gripped in their sockets and bodies standing straight up. That part of it at least was the way men would walk.

The queen of battles pulled its train along through the muddy, dirty country lands. You couldn’t see anything of it before the battle, it was hidden in all the fields.

Slowly comes out

Then slowly it began coming out into the lanes, big snorting trucks, spewing squelches of mud from their massive wheels and skittering little jeeps, motorcycles and columns of men stopped under the loads of radios and bundles of wire and heavy mortars and bazookas all covered with green flowering twigs, filling the lanes, coming like a ghost army out of their invisible hiding and going slowly past the dead, looking slowly at the silent wounded coming back, wrinkling their noses over the stink of killed cattle rotting in the fields, watching a wounded cow limp past a herd that had fallen in a row, followed in his limping by a calf that nuzzled her mutely and going along, going along all this time past the broken teeth of the mouth the Germans had opened for them.

Weren’t firing much

Everybody knew he was going into the German mouth. The Germans weren’t firing much today, they were afraid to give away their positions to our artillery planes circling as slowly as falling leaves overhead. But planes come down at night and then the German guns rimming the mouth like jaws will try to clamp down.

The job is to break off those jaws from inside the mouth. The infantry filled the mouth by late this afternoon. They crossed the road and got in beyond in it, then they waited for the jaws to clamp down so that they could break them off there. In the outpost line beyond the infantry those fellows knew that tonight, while the German artillery was firing, German patrols would come out and try to capture some of them so that their intelligence could find out just what kind of an attack this was.

Some will wind up dead

In the moonless darkness tonight, the attempt will surely have some success, some of those fellows out there tonight are going to wind up dead and some are going to become prisoners. There will be German dead too. The outpost sit very quietly in their holes. Each of them knows someone or two or a half dozen of them are not going to be there by the time you read this. Each thinks it’s the other fellow who is going to get it and the Germans assembling for their patrol now somewhere behind the hedges think the same thing. Somebody in the crowd is going to get it but not him.

578

Völkischer Beobachter (July 28, 1944)

Seibert: Wir schaffen es!

Es hat keinen Deutschen, der diesen Namen verdient, in den letzten Wochen und Tagen gegeben, der nicht von schweren Sorgen erfüllt gewesen ist. Ernste Nachrichten von allen Seiten: In der Normandie die Landung der westlichen Invasionsmassen – die Landung als solche geglückt. In Italien ein verhältnismäßig rasches, wenn auch weit hinter den feindlichen Erwartungen bleibendes Zurückfallen. Im Osten ein titanisches, auch für uns verlustreiches Ringen mit umfangreichen Gebietsaufgaben. Und schließlich am 20. Juli jener heimtückische Schlag aus dem Dunkel, der uns um Haaresbreite des Führers beraubt hätte. Sprechen wir es offen und klar aus: Niemals seit Beginn dieses Krieges sind unsere Nerven und Herzen einer schwereren Belastungsprobe ausgesetzt gewesen wie in diesem Juli 1944.

Nichts zeugt stärker von der unverwüstlichen Lebenskraft, die der Nationalsozialismus in der geschichtlich so kurzen Ära seines Wirkens der Nation der Deutschen eingeimpft hat, als die heute schon weithin sichtbare Tatsache, daß der Stoß vom 20. Juli nicht zum „Gnadenstoß“ für unsere Sache geworden ist, sondern neue Kräfte aus uns geboren und neue Energien in uns wachgerüttelt hat. Erst in der größten Not zeigt sich, was wirklich in einem Menschen steckt. Mit Völkern, nationalen Bewegungen und Revolutionen ist es nicht anders. Der Feind selbst hat seine hohe, durch bittere Erfahrung gewonnene Meinung vom Reich und der Wehrmacht Adolf Hitlers unfreiwillig bekundet, als er am Tage nach dem Anschlag seine Völker davor warnte, nun auf einen raschen Zusammenbruch der deutschen Front und der deutschen Heimat zu rechnen.

Wir sind nie beliebt gewesen in der Welt, aber man hat uns immer Außerordentliches zugetraut, im Guten wie im Bösen. Seit das Reich nationalsozialistisch geworden ist, hat sich diese Einschätzung unserer Fähigkeiten so gesteigert, daß selbst die rosigsten Prophezeiungen der Gegenseite stets mit dem warnenden Nachsatz versehen wurden: „Aber hütet euch vor der Illusion, daß die Deutschen bereits am Ende ihres Lateins seien!“ Selbst die unbestreitbaren Erfolge des Sowjetfeindes im Osten und das lange Ausbleiben deutscher Gegenschläge auf den übrigen Fronten, einschließlich des Luftkriegsgebietes, haben Bolschewismus und Plutokratie bis auf den Tag nicht von dem Druck der Angst zu befreien vermocht, so laut aus durchsichtigen taktischen Gründen dann und wann auch die Siegesglocken geläutet wurden. „V1“ ist denn auch prompt und mit sichtlicher Verstörung als der erste neue Prankenschlag des deutschen Löwen gebucht worden.

In seiner inhaltsreichen, von kalt beherrschter Leidenschaft getragenen Rede hat der neue Reichsbevollmächtigte für den totalen Kriegseinsatz uns nüchtern die materielle Voraussetzung für den Sieg geschildert. Er hat den Vorsprung angedeutet, den unsere Waffentechnik durch gänzlich neuartige Gedanken in den letzten beiden Jahren hinter den verschwiegenen Mauern der Laboratorien und Werkstätten erarbeitet hat – in diesen beiden Jahren, in denen das Rüstungsvolumen des Feindes uns mehr und mehr zu erdrücken schien. Dr. Goebbels hat ausdrücklich hinzugefügt, daß nüchterne Tatsachen ihn zu einer solchen Sprache berechtigen.

Der Führer hat uns durch seinen Erlass vom 25. Juli aufgefordert, das Höchstmaß von Kräften für Wehrmacht und Rüstung freizumachen. Er hat uns, in die Sprache des praktischen Alltags übersetzt, aufgefordert, noch mehr zu leisten als bisher. Er hat aufs Neue eine totale Mobilmachung befohlen.

Kann man eine totale Mobilmachung zweimal durchführen? Ist es möglich, das Heldentum der Front, die Leistung des Arbeitenden und die Beharrung der Heimat noch mehr zu steigern? Wir sind uns ganz klar bewusst, lass viele dies im ersten Augenblick verneinen werden. Und doch: jeder, der sich in seinem eigenen Arbeits- und Kameradenkreis aufmerksam umsieht, wird ohne weiteres Punkte finden, an denen personell und materiell noch mehr eingespart werden kann. Jeder, der mit einem Funken Selbstkritik begabt ist, wird bei genauem Zusehen die überraschende Feststellung machen, daß auch er selbst dieses oder jenes noch zusätzlich zu leisten und auf das eine oder andere noch zu verzichten vermag. Opfer und Leistungen sind relative Begriffe: vieles, was uns 1939 als eine außerordentliche Zumutung erschienen wäre, empfanden wir 1942 als etwas beinahe Selbstverständliches, und mancher Verzicht, der uns 1942 noch beinahe das Herz gebrochen hatte, erscheint uns heute nach den Erfahrungen des Bombenterrors als eine durchaus erträgliche Sache. Wenn wir von diesen persönlichen Erfahrungen an uns selbst und unseren Beobachtungen an der eigenen Arbeitsstätte auf das große Gesamtgefüge der kämpfenden Nation schließen, so werden wir die Frage nach der Möglichkeit weiterer Mehrleistung, nach der Durchführbarkeit einer neuen totalen Mobilmachung ohne weiteres, ohne Phrase und Selbsttäuschung bejahen können und müssen.

Wir sprachen unmittelbar nach dem 20. Juli hier von den unerquicklichen Zuständen, die da und dort in den Schreibstuben des Ersatzheeres eingerissen sind. Die Schuld daran trugen in starkem Maße jene Verbrecher an wichtigen Stellen des Ersatzheeres, die nun entlarvt und ausgemerzt worden sind. Aber vergessen wir nicht, daß das Nachlassen der kämpferischen Energie und des Einsatzwillens nicht nur durch Bösartigkeit einiger weniger verursacht wird: Jeder Mensch, von wenigen Ausnahmenaturen abgesehen, läßt mit der Zeit in seiner Leistung nach, wenn er ständig die gleiche Arbeit verrichtet und durch keine neuen Antriebe aufgerüttelt wird. Jedem Sportsmann ist diese Tatsache ebenso bekannt wie jedem Betriebsführer und jedem soldatischen Kommandeur. Der Stoß vom 20. Juli aber hat die ganze Nation erschüttert und jedem einzelnen die Größe der drohenden Gefahren, die er vorher nur halb bewusst um sich herum wachsen sah, enthüllt. Dieses grausame Erwachen hat unser Volk aber nicht gelähmt, sondern seinen beleidigten Stolz aufs Neue geweckt und es seiner Kraft wieder voll bewusstwerden lassen. Es fühlt das eiserne Muß, es erkennt mit festem Blick die großen Möglichkeiten und es antwortet deshalb auf den Anruf seines Führers mit dem Wort: Wir schaffen es!

THEODOR SEIBERT

579

Cherbourger Hafen macht Sorgen

Vico, 27. Juli –
Zu einem der schwierigsten Probleme der zuständigen Dienststellen gehört die Aufräumung des Hafens von Cherbourg, meldet der Marinefachmann der Sunday Times. Vor allem hätten die Deutschen in umfassendster Weise den Hafen von Cherbourg vermint.

In jedem nur denkbaren Teil der Gewässer einschließlich des äußeren und inneren Hafens sowie innerhalb der geschlossenen Hafenbecken fänden sich Minen, sei es in tiefem oder flachem Wasser, in toten Ecken oder auch auf den Hauptankerplätzen. Viele Minen standen irgendwie mit den Bojen in Verbindung, so daß jedes Schiff, das an einer solchen Boje festmache, in die Luft fliegen müsse. Minen seien auch im gesamten Strandgebiet verstreut. Die Säuberung des Hafens sei durch die vielen versenkten Schiffe noch erschwert worden. Besonders die toten Winkel der Molen und Wellenbrecher seien schwer von den Minen zu säubern.

580

Die wachen Augen

SS-pk. Langsam neigen sich zwei Hügel zueinander, deren Hänge mit dichten, grünen Getreidefeldern bestanden sind. Das Tal ist von einem schmalen Pappelwäldchen durchzogen, in dessen Schatten ein Bach dem Talausgang klickernd und hell zufließt. Auf dem Hügel nach Norden haben die ersten Linien der SS-Grenadiere sich eingegraben. Ihre Schützenlöcher fügen sich ebenso unmerklich dem Gelände ein wie die des Gegners. Allein das Wrack eines englischen Panzers, das links ab am Rande einer zerschossenen Straße gegen den Horizont steht, bietet ein deutliches Mal, wo der Kampf in den vergangenen Tagen hin und her gewogt ist. Im Schatten des vordersten Höhenzuges ist ein eiliges Kommen und Gehen, denn dort werden Verwundete verladen, Bereitstellungen bezogen, und dorthin auch schafft der Nachschub das zur Front, was in den Kämpfen verbraucht werden wird.

Wenn Kampfpause ist, herrscht im Tal idyllische Ruhe und ein Frieden, den man ungestört glauben könnte, wenn nicht die zerborstenen Stämme am Bach eine allzu deutliche Warnung aussprächen. Die Granattrichter werden von den Getreidefeldern unsichtbar in den Schoss der Erde aufgenommen.

Das Tal und die beiden Hügel liegen ständig unter gezieltem Beschuss, der spüren läßt, daß der Gegner von irgendeinem Punkt aus Einblick in das Gelände hat. Seit 24 Stunden sind unsere Grenadiere dabei, den englischen Artilleriebeobachter ausfindig zu machen. Vergeblich!

Dem alten Rottenführer, der vom Feldzug in Polen bis in die Tiefen der östlichen Steppen alles erlebt hat, was dieser Krieg dem Soldaten an Aufgaben überhaupt stellen konnte, will das nicht in den Kopf. Sein „Eigensinn“ ist in der Kompanie nicht als die störrische Willkür eines Widerspenstigen bekannt, seine Sturheit gilt vielmehr als das Zeichen eines erfahrenen Soldaten, der bisher noch mit jeder auch noch so schwierigen Lage fertig zu werden verstand.

Er nimmt sein Gewehr, macht sich aus dem schmalen Bunker der vordersten Linie davon und springt gebückt längs eines Grabens, der die Höhe des ersten. Hügels erreicht bergan. Die Pausen des Artilleriebeschusses muß er schnell und geistesgegenwärtig nutzen, wenn er nicht in den Feuerschlägen untergehen will. Nun liegt er oben und vor ihm breiten sich die beiden Hänge und das Tal, deren Lieblichkeit für ihn vollkommen versunken ist in jener besonderen Landschaftsbetrachtung des Krieges, in der es nur nach rein militärischen Gesetzen zu sehen gilt. Er späht das Gelände hinauf und hinab, doch kann er nichts entdecken. Er gibt es später selbst zu, daß es nichts Bestimmtes war, was er gesucht hat, sondern daß er sich allein von seinem Instinkt führen ließ, der ihn nun schon durch fünf Kriegsjahre begleitet hat. Er zupft sich einen Getreidehalm ab und nimmt ihn zwischen die Lippen. Er liegt, kaut und schaut.

Der Himmel in der Normandie ist in diesen Tagen wechselnd. Graue Wolken ziehen niedrig und zerfetzt über die Täler und Hügel des Landes. Jetzt braust von Norden her ein Windstoß das Tal hinauf und fährt in die Getreidefelder, daß die Halme wie die Wellen eines Meeres sich senken und wieder steigen. Gelb treten dabei die Granattrichter aus den grünen Wogen hervor, und dort – ein einziger Blick hat genügt – erspäht sein scharfes Auge zwischen dem Grün und Braun einen Fleck grauer Farbe, der nicht in die Landschaft zu gehören scheint. Langsam arbeitet er sich durch das Getreidefeld den Hang hinab. Immer wieder pfeifen, während er sich vorsichtig voranarbeitet, die Granaten des Feindes heran, um mit spitzem und bösem Knall vernichtend zu detonieren. Längst ist ihm wieder der graue Fleck im dichten Grün des Getreides entschwunden, aber er weiß, wo er ihn zu suchen und zu finden hat. Er durchläuft das Wäldchen und überspringt den Bach. Nun geht es wieder hügelan. Und plötzlich zeichnet sich vor ihm im Getreidefeld eine dunkle Stelle ab, die er lange beobachtet. Er hört leise Geräusche, die er nicht zu deuten vermag, deren Natur aber sein empfindliches Ohr als feindlich empfindet. Längst hat er das Gewehr zu sich herangezogen und den Sicherungsflügel herumgelegt.

Wieder nähert sich ein Windstoß dem Getreidefeld. Der Rottenführer geht langsam hoch, und jetzt, wo die große Woge des Sturmes die Halme beugt, erspäht er die Uniform eines Gegners. In der gleichen Sekunde bricht ein Schuss. Wieder hält die Erde den Soldaten in ihrem bergenden Arm, und er wartet, was nun geschieht. Doch das Getreidefeld bleibt still bis auf ein leises Stöhnen, das aus der Richtung des dunklen Fleckes zu ihm dringt. Mit wenigen Sätzen pirscht er sich heran. Der Feind hat seinen artilleristischen Beobachter mit einem kleinen Gerät in der Nacht vorgeschickt. Aus der Verborgenheit des Getreidefeldes hat der Beobachter das Feuer ins Ziel gelenkt. Fast in der gleichen Sekunde trommelt der Gegner ein wahlloses Störungsfeuer über das Tal und die beiden Hügel. Dann erlischt das Feuer, als wäre einer Lunge das Atmen vergangen.

Nach einer Stunde kehrt der Rottenführer aufrecht in seinen Bunker zu den Kameraden zurück.

SS-Kriegsberichter Dr. ROLF BONGS

581

Innsbrucker Nachrichten (July 28, 1944)

Steigende Heftigkeit der Abwehrschlacht im Osten

Erbitterte Kämpfe bei Saint-Lô – Im Zuge einer Frontbegradigung Lemberg, Brest-Litowsk, Bialystok und Dünaburg geräumt

dnb. Aus dem Führerhauptquartier, 28. Juli –
Das Oberkommando der Wehrmacht gibt bekannt:

Im Kampfraum beiderseits Saint-Lô setzten die Nordamerikaner ihren Großangriff den ganzen Tag über fort. Während ihnen östlich Saint-Lô einige unwesentliche Einbrüche gelangen, wurden unsere Truppen südwestlich der Stadt in erbitterten und beiderseits verlustreichen Kämpfen weiter nach Süden und Südwesten zurückgedrängt. Die Gegenangriffe zur Schließung der an einigen Stellen aufgerissenen Front sind im Gange. 75 Panzer wurden abgeschossen. Im Abschnitt von Caen führte der Gegner nur erfolglose Angriffe geringen Umfangs.

Jagd- und Schlachtfliegerverbände schossen in Luftkämpfen zehn feindliche Flugzeuge ab.

Torpedoflieger versenkten in der Nacht zum 27. Juli in der Seinebucht einen feindlichen Tanker von 4.000 BRT und beschädigten vier Transportschiffe mit 25.000 BRT und einen Zerstörer schwer.

Im Ostteil der Seinebucht erzielte eine Heeresküstenbatterie mehrere Treffer auf einem feindlichen Schlachtschiff.

Sicherungsfahrzeuge eines deutschen Geleits schossen vor der Loiremündung von acht angreifenden feindlichen Jagdbombern sechs ab.

Im französischen Raum wurden 42 Terroristen im Kampf niedergemacht.

Schweres „V1“-Vergeltungsfeuer liegt fast ununterbrochen auf dem Großraum von London.

In Italien tastete der Feind unsere gesamte Front durch zahlreiche örtliche Angriffe ab. Der Schwerpunkt der feindlichen Aufklärungsvorstöße lag im Abschnitt südlich Florenz und an der adriatischen Küste. Alle Angriffe wurden vor unseren Stellungen abgewiesen.

Seit den frühen Morgenstunden ist der Feind in breiter Front südlich Florenz erneut zum Großangriff angetreten. Heftige Kämpfe sind entbrannt.

An der Ostfront hat die große Abwehrschlacht zwischen den Karpaten und dem Finnischen Meerbusen an Heftigkeit noch zugenommen. Nachdem es dem Feind an verschiedenen Abschnitten gelungen war, zum Teil in unsere Front einzubrechen, wurden zur Kräfteeinsparung in einigen Abschnitten vorspringende Frontbogen zurückgenommen. Im Zuge dieser Frontbegradigung wurden nach Zerstörung aller militärisch wichtigen Anlagen die Städte Lemberg, Brest-Litowsk, Bialystok und Dünaburg geräumt.

In Galizien setzten sich unsere Truppen befehlsmäßig auf neue Stellungen im Karpatenvorland ab und schlugen dann alle Angriffe der scharf nachdrängenden Sowjets ab.

Westlich des San sind wechselvolle Kämpfe mit vordringenden feindlichen Angriffsspitzen im Gange.

Zwischen dem oberen Bug und der Weichsel wurden von Panzern unterstützte Angriffe der Sowjets in erbittertem Ringen nach Abschuß zahlreicher feindlicher Panzer abgewiesen.

Im Abschnitt Bialystok und Kauen scheiterten örtliche Angriffe der Bolschewisten. Nördlich Kauen sind heftige Kämpfe mit feindlichen Panzer- und Aufklärungskräften im Gange.

An der Front zwischen Dünaburg und dem Finnischen Meerbusen brachen wiederum zahlreiche schwere Angriffe verlustreich für den Feind zusammen.

Starke Schlachtfliegerverbände unterstützten die Abwehrkämpfe des Heeres und vernichteten in Tiefangriffen 71 feindliche Panzer und über 400 Fahrzeuge. In der Nacht waren der Bahnhof von Wilna und sowjetische Truppenansammlungen westlich Lublin das Angriffsziel schwerer deutscher Kampfflugzeuge.

Nordamerikanische Bomber führten einen Terrorangriff gegen Budapest. Durch deutsche und ungarische Luftverteidigungskräfte wurden 29 feindliche Flugzeuge, darunter 26 viermotorige Bomber, zum Absturz gebracht.

In der vergangenen Nacht warfen feindliche Flugzeuge Bomben auf einige Orte in Westdeutschland und in Ostpreußen. In der Stadt Insterburg entstanden Schäden und Personenverluste. Drei Flugzeuge wurden abgeschossen.

582

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (July 28, 1944)

Communiqué No. 105

In the western sector, Allied forces have maintained their rapid advances.

Our troops have pushed forward west of MARIGNY to the vicinity of CAMPROND and south-west to the vicinity of CERISY-LA-SALLE.

Other formations have advanced south of PÉRIERS.

Ground has also been gained west of CAUMONT.

South of CAEN, our positions remain firm.

A number of attempts by the enemy to develop counterattacks have been broken up by our artillery and supporting aircraft which were active throughout yesterday on both sectors.

In the western sector, fighter-bombers patrolled ahead of the advancing armored columns, attacking tank units, gun positions, defended hedgerows and observation posts as far as COUTANCES and southward to VILLEBAUDON.

In the eastern battle sector, rocket-firing aircraft scored hits on tanks and motorized infantry targets.

East and south of the battle area, fighter-bombers in strength attacked rail targets. In the AMIENS–SAINT-QUENTIN area in an ammunition train was blown up. Other rolling stock was attacked and rails cut in many places.

During yesterday, at least 23 enemy planes were destroyed in the air. Twenty-one of our aircraft are missing from all operations.

Communiqué No. 106

In the western sector, there has been some progress south of LESSAY where Allied troops have advanced down the LESSAY–COUTANCES road to the vicinity of MARGUERIN.

Further east, our forces have advanced up both banks of the river AY to the area of CORBUCHON.

On the PÉRIERS–COUTANCES road, a strong armored thrust has joined the westward drive from MARIGNY in the outskirts of COUTANCES. Our forces have passed through NOTRE-DAME-DE-CENILLY and are continuing down the road to the southwest. Another force has passed through MAUPERTUS, north of PERCY. Our forces have taken TESSY-SUR-VIRE and have continued along the road southwest of the town. We are eleven kilometers from GAVRAY.

South of SAINT-LÔ and CAUMONT, we have improved our positions.

Our aircraft continued their support of the ground forces, concentrating on road and rail targets, as weather permitted. Light and medium bombers cut rail lines radiating from PARIS to MONTARGIS, DIJON, MOULINS, TOURS, and ROUEN. Supply stores near BRÉCEY and CAILLOUET were hit. Fighter-bombers later destroyed rolling stock in railyards at BUEIL and near MAINTENON.

583

The Pittsburgh Press (July 28, 1944)

Yanks race to trap Germans

Two U.S. columns drive into Coutances, another takes Tessy
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

map.072844.up
New sweeping advances were made by U.S. forces in Normandy, scoring gains in the following places: (1) a drive south of Lessay and across the Ay River; (2) an advance to the outskirts of Coutances, linking up with another column (3) driving down the road from Saint-Lô; (4) a smash south of Maupertus, and (5) the capture of Tessy-sur-Vire. In addition, other U.S. troops captured high ground south of Saint-Lô (6) and advanced between Saint-Lô and Caumont. On the eastern end of the front, around Caen, the stalemate continued.

SHAEF, London, England –
Two U.S. armored columns closed in today from the north and east on Coutances, Normandy transport hub commanding the escape corridor of seven German divisions, and drove into its outskirts after making a junction.

Capitalizing swiftly on the American armored breakthrough, which shattered the German defenses in western Normandy, 1st Army spearheads struck into the edge of Coutances and completed the encirclement of Nazi troops northeast of the imminently threatened town.

The other remnants of the seven Nazi divisions north of Coutances were falling back in disorderly retreat in a panicky effort to escape southward before the Americans captured the town and cut the last practical escape routes out of the fast-shrinking pocket.

United Press correspondent Henry T. Gorrell reported from 1st Army headquarters that the columns advancing southward from Périers and westward along the road from Saint-Lô joined at Coutances and struck into the outskirts.

Another takes Tessy

Still another column of U.S. armor plunged forward five miles to capture Tessy-sur-Vire, 10 miles due south of Saint-Lô, after a duel with retiring German tanks.

Slightly to the west, a spearhead was driven two miles south-southwest of Maupertus and within less than a mile of Percy, a road town 15 miles southeast of Coutances and seven miles southwest of Tessy.

Mr. Gorrell rode up with the armored forces extending the American breakthrough to a depth of 15 miles in the Coutances area, and reported while the main force was still a little over two miles from the town that its fall appeared imminent.

Another village falls

One U.S. column struck down Lessay Road, 2½ miles below the fallen western anchor of the crumpled German defenses and captured the village of Marguerite. Slightly to the east, another moved down the Ay Valley about four miles and seized Corbuchon, seven miles north of Coutances and five southeast of Lessay.

A headquarters spokesman said the Germans were withdrawing as fast as possible along the main road down the west coast, with various degrees of confusion in their ranks.

Stronghold is outflanked

Coutances was already outflanked on the southeast by armored units which captured the eight-way highway junction of Cerisy-la-Salle, 11 miles southwest of Saint-Lô, and Notre-Dame-de-Cenilly, two and three-quarter miles southeast of Cerisy.

On the east wing of the American front, Gen. Bradley’s forces advanced two miles south of Le Mesnil-Herman, cutting a lateral road, and struck out southeast and southwest down other roads leading inland to the heart of Normandy.

U.S. infantry moved forward to improve their positions west of Caumont at the extreme eastern end of the American line, while a new attack a little over a mile southeast of Saint-Lô overran Hill 101. This assault was apparently aimed at ironing out the hump in the line immediately east of Saint-Lô.

Although the weather held down air activity in support of the American breakthrough drive, fighter-bombers based in France blasted German tanks and horse-drawn artillery a mile ahead of the American armor. Pilots reported that the advanced ground elements were beyond Saint-Martin-de-Cenilly, a mile southeast of Notre-Dame-de-Cenilly.

Supreme Headquarters did not expect to know for several days how many Germans will be rounded up as a result of the breakthrough. The seven divisions in the pocket below Coutances had taken a bad beating and were far below normal strength.

British sector quiet

The British end of the Normandy front was quiet after guns and planes broke up another German attempt to form for an attack in the Verrières area late yesterday.

United Press correspondent James McGlincy reported that one U.S. armored column advanced 3½ miles to within 1½ miles of Tessy-sur-Vire, 10 miles south of Saint-Lô. Reconnaissance airmen said the town appeared to have been abandoned by the Germans.

The Germans appeared to be in panicky retreat all along the 40-mile western half of the Normandy front as the greatest tank offensive ever mounted in Western Europe went into its fourth day. Allied Supreme Headquarters said there was no longer “any question of a line on the U.S. front.”

Slashing forward at will under a mighty umbrella of dive bombers, fighter-bombers and fighters, Gen. Bradley’s tank columns engulfed dozens of roadside hamlets and villages and appeared well on the way toward breaking completely out of the Normandy bottleneck, paving the way for a drive on Paris.

The proportions of the German rout were mounting almost hourly. More than 3,000 prisoners were taken in the first three days of the offensive and Mr. Gorrell said he counted at least 700 more streaming back from the front in trucks this morning.

Tank units self-sufficient

Considerable amounts of enemy material have been destroyed, front dispatches said. The Germans were known to have gambled all available strength on containing the Allies in the Normandy Peninsula, and a breakthrough to the interior of France probably would result in an Allied advance to the west at a pace rivalling that of the German push to the French coast in 1940.

Mr. Gorrell said:

What happens next is likely to influence the entire course of the war. We have hundreds of armored vehicles operating within enemy country right now.

He also revealed that the tank columns were self-sufficient carrying their own gasoline, ammunition and food supplies.

The stalemate continued on the British part of the front southwest and south of Caen, with British and Canadian artillery fire and supporting fighters and fighter-bombers breaking up a number of German counterattacks before they could get fully underway.

The American command was ramming at least five main armored prongs through the retreating Germans west, southwest and south of Saint-Lô, with resistance slight along the whole line. German planes heavily bombed the American lines at 3:00 a.m. today, but the advance went ahead on schedule.

584

MacGowan: Yanks fire from ditches, hedgerows near Marigny

Town strategically captured, but tactically it was still in German hands
By Gault MacGowan, North American Newspaper Alliance

With U.S. forces in Normandy, France –
Though strategically ours, Marigny, a pretty Normandy town, was still tactically in enemy hands when I approached. A battalion had the job of clearing the enemy out, while our flying columns pushed ahead on either side.

Street fighting was in progress and the enemy was shipping us from houses in the town or straggling out of it and shooting from woods just beyond, which commanded the road as we came down the valley. We, on one side, and they, on the other, could look down into the town – really little more than a village – and “see down each other’s throats,” as someone graphically described it.

Runs into orchard

It wasn’t too comfortable on our side of the road and my jeep driver from Illinois ran the vehicle into a little apple orchard, while I talked with the infantry boys shooting from ditches and from sheltering hedgerows.

This street and village fighting isn’t exactly a movie cameraman’s dream. Nor does it move with the pace you might think. It’ s more like evicting a band of gangsters out of a city dwelling in which they have barricaded themselves. There’s a lot of lying around to do, keeping the bandits engaged with your fire while the police get around at them over the rooftops.

Takes time

It takes time to locate the exact building from which their fire comes and a good deal more time than just attacking a gang of bandits, because there is not just one gang, but several, each keeping you covered lest you attempt to isolate them.

So, it’s your supporting fire against the enemy’s and it takes old hands to do the job with a minimum of delay.

It is just another variation of hedge warfare which you don’t learn on drill ground or on Hollywood sets. This is a pocket-handkerchief country with hedges wound around every one- or two-acre lot and villages that are laid out in a snakelike fashion and not on the square.

585

20 Nazis surrender to Negro signalman

With U.S. troops near Marigny, France (UP) –
A Negro signalman was stringing wire along the road near Marigny last night when a German suddenly approached him in the darkness.

He jumped and shouted: “Who dat?”

At the same time, he reached for his rifle and started firing. That brought 20 more Germans tumbling from the hedges. They had been waiting all around him and debating whether to surrender. His random shots convinced them.

The Negro shouted for help and got it.

586

Mistake bombing kills U.S. troops

U.S. 9th Air Force HQ, Normandy, France (UP) – (July 26, delayed)
About 50 Flying Fortresses and medium bombers dropped bombs shot of their assigned area and killed and wounded American soldiers during yesterday’s record 3,000-plane bombardment of enemy lines west of Saint-Lô, Maj. Gen. Lewis Brereton acknowledged today.

Gen. Brereton, commander of the 9th Air Force, told correspondents that the American casualties were much fewer than had been feared and added that:

You are practically certain to have some shorts when you have that many planes in the air and resulting smoke obscures the ground.

In the case of one group of Havoc bombers, he said, the bombing release mechanism on the lead plane went wrong and bombs plummeted down 10,000 yards short of the scheduled area. Other planes in the group immediately released their explosives.

Though practically the entire mass of bombs fell in the assigned area 9,000 yards long and 2,000 yards wide, Gen. Brereton admitted that the Army was not satisfied with the results of the mass bombardment, presumably because of its failure to bring a quick breakthrough by tanks and infantry.

The breakthrough was achieved late Wednesday and Thursday, however.

He said the bombardment was planned at the request of the Army commander, who indicated the area to be hit.

587

British claim –
Monty plays Caen battle like a champ

Some think war is almost over
By L. S. B. Shapiro, North American Newspaper Alliance

With British and Canadian forces below Caen, France – (July 26, delayed)
Despite the disappointing pace of our advance south of Caen and the violence of German resistance to every thrust made in this sector, feeling grows among all tanks in this portion of Normandy that the war in Europe may fold up quickly. The notion that the war has reached the stage comparable to August 1918 becomes more firmly fixed even as the German defensive reaction becomes more stubborn and effective.

This seemingly is an incongruous observation and yet it is an honest one. Yesterday was not a particularly good day for British and Canadian troops on this front; progress was limited to about one mile. Today there has been practically no forward movement against the screen of guns and dug-in tanks the Germans have thrown up along the ridge which dominates the Laize Valley.

Yet all along our line, I have heard officers speak in the same breath of the doggedness of the German resistance and of the expectation that the war in Europe is almost finished.

Rommel lacks reserves

Events inside Germany, the phenomenal Russian advance, and Prime Minister Churchill’s pointed observation while he was in Normandy last Sunday – all these helped to make firm this expectation. But the real explanation may be found in the battle situation on the Normandy front.

Men fighting on this front base their calculation on three points. The first is that the whole line from southeast Caen to the western shore of the Cherbourg Peninsula contains a single battle which is now in process of being fought. The second is that Marshal Rommel has brought almost everything he has into line for a last-ditch stand and has very little else to back him. The third is that Gen. Sir B. L. Montgomery is holding the initiative firmly and is fighting the sort of battle of which he is an undoubted master. The actions fought here and there along the line are still jigsaw pieces in Gen. Montgomery’s main gain which is yet to be revealed.

Like champion boxer

As one officer put it to me this morning:

Monty is playing this like a champion boxer. He knows he’s got Rommel beat. If he wanted to, he could wade in and slug to a victory. But he wants to play it nicely – to jockey Rommel into position and then let him have the haymaker.

588

Eyewitness story –
Gorrell: Yanks to try bold maneuver to trap Nazis

Germans rushing up men to stop us
By Henry T. Gorrell, United Press staff writer

Five miles from Coutances, France (UP) –
Guns are booming a prelude to the next big battle of the Normandy campaign – a bold attempt by Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s armored army to trap the German 84th Army Corps north of Coutances.

The Germans already know what we are up to and our spotters report they have rushed up reinforcements of artillery, anti-tank guns and mortars during the last few hours in an attempt to protect the bottleneck at Coutances until the 84th Corps can slip out.

Resistance is stiff

On arrival at this armored command post, I was informed that our tank spearheads had probed to within 2½ miles of the vital road junction and that other tank units, supported by motorized infantry, were dashing north and northwest of the Marigny–Coutances highway in an attempt to cut roads north of the town.

They were meeting stiff German resistance centered on Hill 176, located on one of the highways running into Coutances just south of Mont Houchon, off to our right.

Great convoy moves

A great convoy of multi-wheeled vehicles and halftracks is bringing the infantry down from Marigny to join the battle. Giant bulldozers are clearing a path for them through roads littered with burned and blasted Nazi Panther and Tiger tanks. I saw many of these scorched monsters lying overturned in shell holes at the roadside where the bulldozers had shoved them.

The countryside west of Marigny is infested with German troops bypassed in our rapid advance. That they did not fire on my jeep as I motored toward the front, I attribute to the fleet of Piper Cub spotter planes which patrols the roads at treetop height looking for signs of the enemy.

Prisoners brought in

When these Cubs spot an enemy concentration, they radio a report to batteries which at once open up. Hundreds of German prisoners are coming in from such bypassed points, including paratroops wearing camouflaged helmets and fatigue uniforms.

I watched a long line of them being herded toward prisoner pens. They were young and cocky and they walked with a spry step. There was nothing beaten about them. They merely had been outmaneuvered and had quit when they saw resistance was futile. Some of them complained that if our tanks hadn’t broken through behind them, they never would have been beaten.

589

Editorial: Gen. McNair

When the Army Chief of Staff last month inspected the Normandy beachhead, he was asked what impressed him most. Gen. Marshall replied that American troops never before under fire had fought like veterans. This was the highest tribute to the bravery and skill of America’s citizen-soldiers. It was also praise – as every soldier and officer knew – for the man who had organized and trained them.

Lt. Gen. McNair was not as well known to the public as such famous front commanders as Gens. Eisenhower, MacArthur, Stilwell and Bradley. But without his work and achievement theirs would have been impossible, as they have always said. He expanded an American Army of 1,500,000 into a team of 7,700,000. They came to him amateurs; they left him professionals. He even followed them to the fighting fronts to check on their training and perfect it, as he did last year in Tunisia where he was wounded.

It was not accident that made Gen. McNair chief of the Army Ground Forces. He had long been known as “the GHQ sparkplug.” Gen. Marshall had called him “the brains of the Army.”

So, Gen. McNair trained the G.I.s, believing that “the infantryman is our foremost soldier.” He was forever reminding his associates that other arms of the service could prepare the way, but the ground soldier must take and hold positions. When the tank loomed large, he, an old artilleryman, helped to bring up the anti-tank weapons and tactics.

He even matched the morale of more glamorous services. When the humble mud-slogging G.I. seemed neglected for the more publicized airmen, paratroopers, tankmen and others, he set up a unit to educate press and public in the Army truism that “the infantry is the Queen of Battles.”

Two weeks ago, the big training job almost done, the War Department announced that the chief of the Army Ground Forces had been given another important assignment overseas. Yesterday the Department announced that he had been “killed by enemy fire while observing the action of our frontline units in the recent offensive” in Normandy.

Americans everywhere, indebted to this great and gallant officer, join in Gen. Marshall’s tribute to him: “Had he the choice, he probably would have elected to die as he did, in the forefront of the attack.”

590

Völkischer Beobachter (July 29, 1944)

Britisch Normandie-Illusionen geplatzt –
Die Deutschen sind zu stark

Genf, 28. Juli –
Diesmal ist es ein ununterbrochenes, hartes Ringen, schreibt der Korrespondent der Daily Mail zum Kampf in der Normandie. Es lasse sich nicht mehr länger verschweigen, daß Engländer und Nordamerikaner Verluste haben, denn gegen die deutschen Bunkerstellungen und Maschinengewehrnester müsse einzeln vorgegangen werden, von einer englisch-kanadischen Kompanie sei kein einziger Offizier übriggeblieben. Langsam und gequält rollten die Kämpfe ab; es sei daher unklug, vorzeitig beurteilen zu wollen, wohin diese Offensive die Engländer und Kanadier führe.

Niemand solle zu Hause so leichtfertig sein, anzunehmen, daß das offene Gelände südlich Caen für die Alliierten ideal sei. Es wäre ideal, wenn sie bessere Tanks als die Deutschen besäßen. Das aber sei nicht der Fall. Für die alliierte Kriegführung bedeute jeder Deutsche Tankverband etwas sehr Furchtbares.

Am deutlichsten wird Allan Moorhead, der Frontberichter des Daily Express. Die britische Öffentlichkeit frage mit Recht, so schreibt er, was eigentlich der Sinn dieser Kämpfe sei, da man doch überhaupt nicht vorwärtskomme. Er könne hierauf antworten, die Deutschen hätten einige der besten Truppen an der normannischen Front. Sie besäßen die ausgezeichnetsten „Panther“- und „Tiger“- Panzer und noch schwerere Waffen.

Wie Reuters am Donnerstag meldete, ist der US-Generalleutnant Lesley J. McNair in der Normandie gefallen. Er war bis vor kurzer Zeit Oberkommandierender der US-Bodenstreitkräfte. Der US-Generalstabschef Marshal nannte ihn einmal „Das Hirn der Armee.“

Die Ankunft einer sowjetischen Militärkommission an der Normandiefront, die aus London gemeldet wird, bedeutet nach Ansicht unterrichteter Kreise, daß die Sowjets sich persönlich von dem Stand der Operationen an der Normandiefront zu überzeugen suchen. In Moskau ist man mit dem bisherigen Verlauf der Invasion in keiner Weise zufrieden. Man erklärt, die Fortschritte der alliierten Truppen seien enttäuschend. Man habe etwas ganz anderes erwartet. In Moskau wurde angedeutet, die britische Generalität scheue offenbar allzu große Blutopfer und suche einen „billigen Sieg“ davonzutragen. Diese Taktik stehe aber in keinem Verhältnis zu den ungeheuerlichen Opfern an Menschen und Material, die die Sowjets erlitten. Moskau drängt auf Beschleunigung der Operationen unter rücksichtslosem Einsatz der zur Verfügung stehenden Truppenbestände der Engländer und Amerikaner.

591

Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (July 29, 1944)

Communiqué No. 107

COUTANCES is now clear of the enemy and Allied armored forces have reached the sea south of the estuary of the SIENNE River. Areas of enemy resistance north of the town are being rapidly cleared.

Further progress has been made by the thrust southwest from NOTRE-DAME-DE-CENTILLY.

In support of ground operations, yesterday, fighter-bombers attacked an ammunition distribution point, enemy gun positions, enemy reserves and vehicles. Other fighter-bombers and long-range fighters, on armed reconnaissance over northwest FRANCE attacked locomotives, rolling stock, and road transport.

Targets for our medium and light bombers were eight rail bridges northwest of PARIS, an important ammunition dump in the FORÊT DE SENONCHES near CHARTRES, and rail centers north of BERNAY. Last night, light bombers attacked 18 trains and many road targets in northern FRANCE.

Coastal aircraft attacked small enemy vessels off SAINT-MALO yesterday. One boat, carrying troops, was sunk.

Five enemy aircraft were shot down over the beachhead last night.

Communiqué No. 108

Allied armored columns in the western sector continue to advance against stiffening resistance. One column has reached the coast west of COUTANCES and has taken the town of PONT DE LA ROQUE. Another column has reached HYENVILLE south of COUTANCES. Pockets of resistance at CERISY-LA-SALLE and MONTPINCHON have been mopped up.

The salient between VILLEBAUDON and SAINT-DENIS-LE-GAST has been cleared of the enemy. The town of HAMBYE has been taken.

Enemy forces are astride the VIRE south of TESSY. Southeast of SAINT-LÔ, the Allied forces have advanced several kilometers.

German military buildings near MORLAIX were attacked by fighter-bombers this morning.

592

The Pittsburgh Press (July 29, 1944)

Yanks win big tank battle

Nazi force trapped in Normandy by U.S. drive to west coast
By Virgil Pinkley, United Press staff writer

map.072944.up
New U.S. breakthrough was scored by troops who drove through to the west coast of the Normandy Peninsula and trapped a large German force above Coutances. U.S. troops drove on from captured Coutances to within three miles north of Bréhal (1), smashed down to the west to a point less than nine miles east-northeast of Bréhal (2), surged to within four miles of the Granville–Vire road (3) and advanced to within 10 miles northwest of Vire (4).

SHAEF, London, England –
U.S. armor defeated the Germans in a big tank battle in western Normandy today and resumed the powerful drive which had captured Coutances and carried to the sea, trapping thousands of Nazi troops in a pocket to the north.

The first major German counteraction against the 1st Army offensive fanning out through Normandy was crushed decisively in a hours-long battle of U.S. Shermans and German Tigers and Panthers some 11 miles south of Saint-Lô near the east bank of the Vire River in the vicinity of Tessy-sur-Vire.

Other U.S. forces sped down the highway below Coutances, rolling up a gain of nearly eight miles in the first few hours and approaching the Bréhal road junction.

United Press writer Henry T. Gorrell reported from the front that U.S. armor, in its first big tank engagement since the Sicilian campaign, broke up a concentration of Nazi panzers and put the remnants to flight.

After German planes plastered the entire area of the tank battle, a German armored column struck in the darkness at 3:00 a.m. (local time) in an attempt to break up a parade of Shermans southward into the heart of Normandy.

After hours of savage fighting, the panzers pulled out, and when Mr. Gorrell filed the dispatch at 2:40 p.m., were retreating under a hail of bombs dropped by U.S. planes as the interrupted sweep picked up new momentum.

The setting for the tank battle was dramatic. A large number of Germans were trying to escape from the area north of the Tessy–Bréhal highway, and their chances depended on the battle.

“No doubt there will be plenty of disillusioned Germans among those captured in the next few hours,” Mr. Gorrell said.

The famous Norman hedges upon which the Germans had relied to hold back the U.S. armor boomeranged on the Nazis. This time it was the giant Tigers and Panthers, instead of U.S. forces, that were at a disadvantage, “for it is the attacking side that holds the short end of the stick in this kind of country,” Mr. Gorrell reported.

The German tanks were supported by 88mm guns, U.S. anti-tank guns also played a major role in the battle. there were casualties on both sides, Mr. Gorrell said, without estimating their extent. One U.S. command post was overrun in the first phase of the fight.

Tank and tank destroyers weaved in and out of the hedgerows, firing fast, and blasted the obstacles from the American path. A “good number” of German Tigers and Panthers were knocked out, and some Shermans were disabled.

Employing the famous leapfrog tactics used and perfected by Lt. Gen. George S. “Blood and Guts” Patton Jr. in Sicily, the west coast armored column and at least three others inland swept across the Sienne and Soulle Rivers – previously mentioned as possible enemy defense lines – and engulfed or bypassed scores of towns and villages in what was developing into one of the great American victories of the war.

The reference to the tactics used by Gen. Patton recalled recent German claims that he has taken a command in Normandy.

Though the early stages of their retreat were chaotic, the Germans now appeared to be conducting an orderly withdrawal along the entire western half of the front so rapidly that indications were they may not halt for a stand short of Avranches, at the hinge of the Normandy and Brittany Peninsulas 25 miles south of Coutances.

The German-controlled Scandinavian Telegraph Bureau said the Americans were attacking with 10 or 12 tank divisions – an estimated 2,500 tanks – in an offensive apparently designed to smash into the heart of France in an attempt to split the German armies in two and clear the southern flank for a drive on Paris.

While the coastal column bypassed Le Mesnil-Aubert in a push down the road from Coutances to within three miles of Bréhal and eight miles above the port of Granville, a second force rolled down a lateral road to within nine miles east-northeast of Bréhal, a third pounded to within four miles of Granville–Vire lateral highway and a fourth reached a point 10 miles northwest of Vire.

A front dispatch reported that Gavray, seven miles east of Bréhal and one of the focal points of the enemy retreat, was within range of U.S. mobile artillery from the north.

The Americans entered Coutances late yesterday and found it deserted, then plunged on to the west coast south of the Sienne estuary to complete the encirclement of an estimated several thousand German troops isolated in a pocket to the north.

Nazis escape

Front dispatches said the bulk of the German LXXXIV Army Corps of seven badly-battered divisions assigned to the Lessay–Périers sector before the breakthrough escaped through the Coutances bottleneck before U.S. tanks cut across to the sea.

The thousands caught in the trap, however, were expected to boost the bag for the first five days of the offensive to well over 8,000. Five thousand prisoners had been taken through yesterday, Supreme Headquarters said.

The Americans were estimated to have liberated some 400 square miles of France between Saint-Lô and the west coast since they began their offensive in the wake of a 8,000-plane bombardment of enemy lines Tuesday.

At least two of the three enemy panzer, one paratroop and five infantry divisions arrayed along the western half of the front were believed to have been destroyed as fighting units. They were the Lehr Panzer and the 5th Paratroop Divisions. In addition, virtually all tanks of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division were believed to have been knocked out.

Cross Sienne River

The Americans crossed the Sienne River at several points and reached the west coast at Regneville, 5½ miles southwest of Coutances, and at last reports were sweeping down both sides of the Coutances–Bréhal–Granville highway.

Mr. Gorrell reported the Germans were fighting bitter rearguard actions along some sectors of the arc below Coutances, with cooks and supply units joining in, but they were no match for the overwhelming American strength.

One U.S. column alone took 1,500 prisoners yesterday, including 50 officers. An entire medical company of the 17th SS Panzer Division was captured.

The American advance from the east-northeast toward Bréhal carried through Saint-Denis-le-Gast, 10 miles away, while the forces driving due south toward the Granville–Vire highway were south of Percy, where German Marshal Erwin Rommel held a military conference only a few days ago.

Outdated by reports

Normandy information at Supreme Headquarters late today was outdated by front reports of the big tank battle and U.S. advances beyond the points mentioned by a spokesman here.

The spokesman said the Americans captured Saint-Malo-de-la-Lande, 3½ miles northwest of Coutances, and reached the coast in that area. They reached the area of Lengronne, 2½ miles west of Saint-Denis-le-Gast, and southeast of Saint-Lô advanced a mile in the area of Saint-Jean-des-Baisants.

Push toward Vire

Vire was under long-range threat from a column that had driven through Tessy-sur-Vire, 10 miles south of Saint-Lô.

Gorrell reported in another front dispatch that the German Air Force appeared in strength last night for probably the first time since D-Day and heavily bombed the advancing Americans, but Allied anti-aircraft guns put up a heavy barrage.

British Mosquitoes struck back at the Germans with attacks on 18 trains over a wide area extending from Granville to Paris, the lines over which the enemy would move up reinforcements to the threatened front.

The rest of the Normandy front continued quiet, with only artillery and patrol action reported from Saint-Lô west to Caen.

Bad weather hampered air support this morning, but the skies cleared just before noon and fighters and fighter-bombers again went out in strength in an effort to better their record of yesterday – 70 German tanks destroyed south of Coutances, nine probably destroyed and 25 damaged; 884 enemy motor transport vehicles destroyed, 12 probably destroyed and 116 damaged.

Bradley’s dawdling fooled Nazi commander

U.S. 1st Army HQ, Normandy, France – (July 28, delayed)
Gen. Omar N. Bradley’s deliberately dawdling tactics during the first phase of the American drive through the hedge country here deceived Gen. Hauser, commanding the Nazi troops, into thinking that he had plenty of time to reorganize his forces after the aerial bombardment Tuesday. But tonight, German troops are racing for their lives before it is too late.

With only three southbound roads of escape open, Gen. Hauser has issued orders to his rearguard battalions to allow the troops freedom from air attack as they retreat.

593

Wolfert: Nazi divisions demoralized as American trap closes

Germans travel in disjointed units trying to hook up with main force
By Ira Wolfert

With U.S. forces, south of Coutances, France – (July 128, delayed)
A string 18 miles long has been drawn around the throats of remnants of perhaps seven German divisions trapped in a triangle whose southernmost point was below Notre-Dame-de-Cenilly when I left the front after 6 o’clock tonight. This string is expected to be the hangman’s rope in another few hours. U.S. armored forces fought through these 18 miles of Germans in exactly 56 hours, once they were shaken loose by the infantry.

The fighting is going on sporadically almost all along the roads running southwest from Canisy to the sea. And the fighting indicates demoralization among the German divisions caught in the triangle

Broken from divisions

The Germans are traveling in disjointed units, some equipped with mobile artillery and mortars and others being merely medical companies or rifle platoons. They seemed to have been broken from their divisions and to be wandering generally in a southeast direction from Coutances trying to join up with the main German forces in the southeastern corner of the Cherbourg Peninsula. The dead of seven German divisions was identified by their insignia in the fighting along the edges of the triangle today.

The only fighting I saw today came when bands of Germans tried to sneak across our line running southwest of Canisy. They were an odd mixture of troops, but were commanded by canny Nazi officers who waited until our column, rumbling past them, offered a soft spot; then they hir with all they had to break through and scoot southeast to safety.

Lie in hiding

These bands of desperate, very frightened men lay in hiding until a segment of our column arrived which offered them the chance of local superiority, then they turned loose their mortars, mobile artillery, machine guns and whatever else they had and tried to force their way through.

As a result, the part of the front I toured, making a circle within view of twin church spires that dominate Coutances, was a series of briefly flaring hotspots, with large, tranquil spaces in between with nobody of lesser rank that of general exactly sure what lay to the right or left or ahead or behind.

The Germans are sharing this confusion. The demoralization of German troops was illustrated by one encounter when howitzers, moving up to support our armor, were attacked by the Germans in force. Rifle fire killed an American riding on the top of a truck and as he fell sideways to the ground Nazi machine guns opened up.

Wreck two tanks

Lt. John Staples of Ardmore, Pennsylvania, led a reconnaissance party down a county lane, saw a German suddenly pop up from behind a hedge and open fire on his party with a bazooka. More Germans with bazookas then opened up, destroying two or three Yank tanks in the party and clipping the rack off the back of the third tank; it wads very fine and very firm-nerved shooting. Lt. Staples cut loose with all his machine guns, while those who could dismount from their vehicles and deployed as infantry and destroyed the bazooka positions.

Then German mortars and machine guns started their brisk fire. Our artillerymen took up rifles and ducked through the fields looking for the Nazis. Florentino Castillo of Hatch, New Mexico; Clayton Long of Niles, Michigan, and Edgar Hess of St. Mary’s West Virginia, were looking along cautiously together. Pvt. Castillo saw a little white dog frisking down the road from a chateau, then saw a German officer strolling casually along behind it, as if out for an afternoon walk. He and the German pointed rifles at each other simultaneously, by Pvt. Castillo shot first and the German was dead before he could pull the trigger, one bullet piercing his heart and two going in his stomach.

Before the echo of Pvt. Castillo’s shots died out, 11 Nazi soldiers climbed out of holes on the chateau grounds and came forward waving upraised arms and shouting, “Kamerad!” They were all that were left of a platoon that had been forced to continue the fighting by the officer holding a gun to their backs. When the officer was killed, they jumped at the chance to surrender.

Nazis demoralized

These German troops were demoralized completely. When I asked one of them what effect the bombing of July 25 had on him, he began to cry. He cried in a broken, helpless fashion, and it was impossible for him to answer my question with words.

For several hours after that, the area was quiet. Then suddenly the firing began again with American cars having to run a gantlet of bullets on high ground just beyond the village. Among the cars manning the gantlet was one bearing senior officers who huddled down low in their jeep and let the bullets clip the hedges alongside them as they passed about their duties. Two lieutenants in a car with a senior officer took up rifles and wanted to go after the German machine guns, and they had to be shouted down by the senior officer.

The officer told me after he finished shouting:

I know exactly how they feel. They had to shout me back to my maps when I took up a Tommy gun to chase some Heinies this morning.

The Luftwaffe made a brief appearance overhead while I was talking with the officer. Eighteen Messerschmitts started strafing but four of our Thunderbolts got on their tails and chased them out of sight. I saw one Messerschmitt nose-diving toward the earth from a thousand feet, with glycol streaming from it.

594

Shapiro: Fanatical Nazi resistance below Caen puzzles Allies

British and Canadians stopped cold by fiercest enemy opposition since D-Day
By L. S. B. Shapiro, North American Newspaper Alliance

With British and Canadian forces below Caen, France – (July 27, delayed)
Out of the tortured, rubble-strewn terrain that marks the rolling battlefield between the Orne River and the town of Bourguébus, one dominating fact emerges. It is that the German formations opposing the British and Canadian troops are fighting more effectively now than at any other time since D-Day.

Whether or not this is merely a coincidence, they have retaliated with a new degree of frenzied violence since the attempted coup within Germany. They have, temporarily at least, stopped our advance and there was only one reply when an Allied officer in the line was asked for an explanation.

“Jerry is throwing everything he’s got into this fight,” he said, “and that’s plenty.”

Fighting like madmen

There is no tendency to blame the weather or the artillery fire or the air support or any of the many facets of a modern battle that can be used to concoct an excuse for failure to move forward. The only possible story is that the Germans are fighting like madmen and are using superbly the weapons they have at their disposal.

Sullen, exhausted prisoners coming into our lines can give few clues to explain this development, but several explanations are put forward. One is that, since last Friday, young, fanatical Nazi officers have been promoted to take charge of formations on this front and have imbued their men with or bullied them into new powers of resistance.

Another is that they have a special plea from Hitler to hold on pending the arrival at the front of so-called new victory weapons. A third explanation is that the full extent of the German crisis has been revealed to the troops and they have been exhorted to make the supreme effort to stabilize the front on the theory that retreat means collapse everywhere.

Poles, Russians fight well

Any one or all of these explanations may fit the situation, but none explains the sturdy resistance of Russian, Yugoslav and Polish elements which form probably 20 percent of the German formations.

Whatever form of bribery or compulsion has been practiced on them, they are fighting effectively enough to point up the power of discipline and training upon the peasant mind. They desert when they have the opportunity, but their German noncoms see to it that they have precious little opportunity, and so long as they are in the line, they do their work like automatons.

Whether this is the beginning of unforeseen German strength on this front or a last superhuman effort before they collapse remains a very lively question.

595

The Afro-American (July 29, 1944)

ARTILLERYMEN IN FRANCE CORRECT OFFICER WHO THOUGHT THEM QUARTERMASTERS
Tan gun crew stuns Germans; Nazis call artillery ‘whispering death’

Part of mixed unit; boys with long toms called Army’s best
By Ollie Stewart, AFRO war correspondent

With advanced U.S. forces, France –
We were about three miles from the German lines. Heavy gunfire was continuous and German ack-ack was spattering mushroom bursts of flak as our planes dived over their lines and our observation grasshopper planes sailed placidly along, spotting the German guns and radioing back their positions.

When a white colonel saw colored troops in the midst of all this, he said: “This is the first time that I have ever seen quartermasters up so close to the front line.”

Staff Sgt. Eugene W. Jones of 1611 W Butler St., Philadelphia, replied:

Sir, we are not quartermasters, we are field artillery and we have just been given a firing mission. Want to watch us lay one on the target?

One of best in Army

That was my introduction to the first colored 155mm howitzer outfit in France, one of the best groups of artillerymen in the Army, white or colored. Two battalions have been in action for weeks and had a big part in the taking of La Haye-du-Puits. Another unit operating 155mm Long Toms has just arrived.

These hardworking gunners will tell you frankly that they know they are good. Their officers told me that they are good. White infantrymen who won’t budge unless these guys are laying down a barrage say that they are good and German prisoners ask to see our automatic artillery that comes so fast and so accurate.

Late in the afternoon, I was conducted to a cleverly concealed gun of one battery engaged in shelling a target miles away by 1st Sgt. John Clay of Louise, Mississippi.

As we arrived, Staff Sgt. W. G. Gaiter of Seaside Heights, New Jersey, had a field phone in his hand and said quietly “fire mission” and all twelve men jumped to alert. “Base deflection so and so,” said Gaiter, and the men automatically twisted dials causing the big gun to swerve to the described position. “Load with charge so and so and fire.” Gaiter snapped.

It happened so quickly that I had no time to put my fingers to my ears. Boom, went the gun, and you could hear the heavy projectile whispering on its way. “Cease firing, end of mission,” said Gaiter, and the men had the gun open and clean even as he spoke. End of mission means that the target has been demolished, which usually comes after one shot from these boys.

New Jersey lad ace gunner

Gunner at this post was baby-faced Donald Morre, 21, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was at Rutgers when drafted. The kid is known as one of the best gunners in the Army. The boys tell a story of another outfit firing at a German observation post in a church steeple during the fight for La Haye-du-Puits. They missed several rounds, but Moore and his gang blasted the steeple at first shot. I saw what was left of the church.

Others in the gun crew are: Cpl. Ozzie Jones of Birmingham, Alabama; Cpl. George Hood, Pvt. Perry Cockrell and Pvt. Eseasy Redmand, all of Lexington, Mississippi; Pvt. Willie Allison of Columbus, Georgia; Pvt. Isaac Rolle of West Palm Beach, Florida; Pfc. Lester Dobson of Patterson, Georgia; Pfc. Allan Davis of New York City; and Pvts. Jefferson Stockard of Oxford, Mississippi; Nathaniel Davis of Chula, Mississippi; and Eddie Scott of Reddick, Mississippi.

Artillery whispering death

The Germans call our artillery whispering death because the shells don’t whine and the lads sit at the guns day and night, ready for the phone to ring. Before arrival of the Long Tom the group had two white and two colored battalions, but now it has three colored and one white battalion, with white officers except two chaplains, Capt. H. C. Terrel of Birmingham, and Lt. Carranza Holliday of Longview, Texas.

On the roads nearby and all around the gun crews are signs of bitter fighting. Our boys entered the area before the mine detector crews and found dead Germans and Yanks and many cattle. I saw dead swollen livestock all around that perfumed the neighborhood; also much discarded equipment, German and American. I saw one American helmet, still full of clotted blood, where a sniper had scored a direct hit on the helmet.

Snipers were still around and I approached each hedgerow cautiously. That first night, I wrapped a blanket around me and slept in a foxhole without undressing. The gun crews had their shoes on for five days. There was no laughter or loud talk as every man realized that this is serious business, with death stalking all day and hovering in the air at night.

Save thousands of lives

Unmindful of this, however, these men take pride in taking the lead in every big push and they will have performed a memorable service for the Allied cause. Their accurate fire preceding advancing infantry columns has saved thousands of lives and softened many targets the gunners never see.

As I crawled through the brush to a camouflaged position, a message came over the field phone that enemy planes were approaching the area. I was already nervous and dived into a foxhole dug by the Germans, but these men stayed at their posts, some manning machine guns, others cursing Jerry as they calmly scanned the sky overhead.

Stewart describes work of artillery unit in Normandy

By Ollie Stewart, AFRO war correspondent

With advanced U.S. forces, France – (by cable)
Every member of our field artillery unit that I have talked to in this sector has expressed nothing but contempt for the German 88s when compared to the 155mm howitzers they operate.

This unit, a part of a four-unit artillery group including a battalion of 105’s and two 155mm Long Toms, has been termed “one of our best units” by the colonel at corps headquarters.

All are specialists

Every man in the unit is a specialist with a definite job to do for which he has had intensive training. To fire one shell requires the use of precision instruments and the latest equipment known to modern warfare.

The headquarters or command post is the nerve center which directs the fire of all battalions under its command. The battalion headquarters likewise has a fire direction network of phones to direct the fire of three firing batteries under its control, and finally the battery commander directs the fire of his four guns.

Experts in unit

All along the line are radio experts, observation post experts, surveyors, computors, gun crew chiefs, machine-gunners, recorders and dispatchers. Dug in the ground, the draftsmen chart the exact position and elevation of the gun necessary to score a hit on the target, and also the power charge to be used.

The guns are dispersed but the fire of all of them can be directed on any given area.

When the big push begins and a heavy barrage is called for, the corps commander may order “serenade,” which means that perhaps the battalion will aim to fire all guns simultaneously so that the target is completed blanketed by fire. The effect is frightfully devastating and a wide area is pulverized.

Usually, however, the artillery is used to knock out gun positions, tanks, or ammunition dumps. The muzzle of the howitzer is covered except when firing to keep the enemy from spotting the position. After firing, the barrel is lowered and hidden.

The battalions have their own mine detector squads and signal section for stringing wires.

Our troops 9% of invasion force

SHAEF, England –
Colored soldiers, now constituting nine percent of U.S. troops in Normandy, are contributing generously to the Allied effort, the War Department recently announced.

Maj. Gen. Cecil R. Moore, chief engineer, in this theater, recently praised their accomplishment of engineer tasks. He said that one battalion volunteered its free time for six weeks to expedite special programs of construction.

An engineer firefighting company is credited with saving millions of dollars’ worth of such vital supplies as gasoline, paint, lumber, and other stocks in depot of the United Kingdom.

Two colored signal construction battalions in Normandy have earned praise for signal installations there. They rehabilitated German communication lines and instruments for our use and captured a number of prisoners.

1 Like
596

Troops in France perform many tasks amid hazards

By Master Sgt. W. A. Johnson

Somewhere in France –
Since D-Day, colored soldiers here have been making vital contributions to the fight for victory as they perform their manifold jobs amid dangers from artillery and shellfire, bombs and exploding mines.

Along the shorelines, DUKWs (2½-ton amphibian trucks), manned by a driver and his assistant, shuttle supplies between the cargo vessels and the central point ashore where the cargo is transferred to waiting trucks.

The convoys of trucks, loaded with men, food, ammunition and equipment, protected by anti-aircraft artillery units, proceed along the road to the ordnance depots which receive, sort, store and issue supplies to the units.

Ammunition protected

The ammunition depot, operated by Tech. Sgt. M. C. Darkins, whose wife, Mrs. Beulah Darkins, is a Baltimore schoolteacher, is carefully concealed and protected by the barrage balloons which prevent strafing and precision bombing.

Also seen along the road are Signal Corps members repairing disrupted lines of communication and establishing new ones. A Red Cross flag indicates the location of a dispensary operated by members of the Medical Corps.

All of these men, the engineers who repair the bridges in record time, and others, when questioned, declare one thought foremost in their minds: the end of the conflict and a speedy return home.

1 Like