bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The ETO > Normandy Campaign > After D-Day, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 9 Sep 2022.
Content herein will be moved to other webpages.
For the seven weeks after D-Day, the Allies slowly fought their way inland, the Americans on the right (west) and the British and other allies on the left (east) of the Allied front.
Content herein will be moved to other webpages.
For the seven weeks after D-Day, the Allies slowly fought their way inland, the Americans on the right (west) and the British and other allies on the left (east) of the Allied front.
Elements of two Allied armies, comprising the 21st Army Group and commanded by British General Bernard Montgomery, landed on D-Day:
After the June 6 D-Day, thousands of additional personnel, along with many thousand tons of supplies, continued to land each day on the invasion beaches. Two artificial harbors were constructed and eventually the port of Cherbourg became available, but logistics remained a serious issue until the port of Antwerp to the north became operational in late November.
- Omar Bradley's US First Army on Utah and Omaha Beaches and from the air.
- Miles Dempsey's British Second Army on Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches and from the air.
After the June 6 D-Day, thousands of additional personnel, along with many thousand tons of supplies, continued to land each day on the invasion beaches. Two artificial harbors were constructed and eventually the port of Cherbourg became available, but logistics remained a serious issue until the port of Antwerp to the north became operational in late November.
Normandy Campaign Timeline, June - July 1944
The US advance was hindered by the bocage country through which they fought. This rural landscape consisted of open fields, mostly pastures, enclosed by ancient hedgerows, often with sunken lanes between the fields. As the German Army retreated hedgerow by hedgerow, US casualties grew. Meanwhile, British and Canadian forces moved south in largely open country, losing large numbers of tanks in several battles with German armor. |
Growing the Beachhead - The Advance Through the Hedgerows
The Battle of St. Lo
St. Lo, the capital of the Manche Department of France's Normandy Region, is an important road center, and thus was importance to the ETO.
During the Battle of St. Lo, from 7 to 19 July 1944, around 3,000 US troops of the First Army's XIX Corps died, along with hundreds of French civilians. St. Lo was destroyed. XIX Corps consisted of the 29th, 30th, and 35th Infantry Divisions at the time. Operation Cobra, spearheaded by VII Corps began in the St. Lo area on 25 July 1944. |
The official Normandy Campaign ended on 24 July. Remaining combat in Normandy is summarized in the Liberation > Operation Cobra (the remainder of July) and Liberation > Normandy (August) webpages.
Sources for Big Pigeon's The ETO > Normandy Campaign > After D-Day webpage:
General Sources:
General Sources:
- Cross-Channel Attack, by Gordon A. Harrison, 1950, ~495 pp. [CMH #7-4]; see Chapters IX, The V Corps Lodgment & Chapter X, The Capture of Cherbourg.
- Normandy Hedgerows webpage header photo, https://twitter.com/ww2facts/status/980615347530354688.
- Normandy, June - July 1944 map was produced by Infobase Publishing, infobase.com, a major producer of on-line learning materials. The Infobase Publishing map mentioned above, and many other maps of the ETO, are in the inflab area of medium.com, namely medium.com/@Inflab/western-front-maps-of-world-war-ii-58798ee9d792.
- The Bocage Country map, https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Breakout/maps/USA-E-Breakout-1.jpg -
- Normandy Hedgerow diagram, excerpted from http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=502585 - C/O http://theminiaturespage.com.
- The Rhino tank, photo, excerpted from https://www.thenmusa.org/armyinnovations/rhinotank/ - C/O the National Museum of the United States Army, Ft. Belvoir, VA, https://www.thenmusa.org. Sgt. Curtis Cullin, 102nd Cavalry Recon. Sqdn. is credited with inventing the Rhino attachment to a standard Sherman tank.
- St. Lo 1944 photo -