bigpigeon.us webpage WW II - Germany > ETO  > Normandy Campaign > Normandy after D-Day, updated by RAC 6 Sep 2020.
bigpigeon.us webpage WW II - Germany > ETO  > Normandy Campaign > Normandy after D-Day, updated by RAC 6 Sep 2020.

This webpage outlines some major events between the D-Day invasion of 6 June and the beginning of the Normandy Breakout on 25 July.
Brief Normandy Campaign Timeline
  • 6 Jun 1944 - Operation Overloard - D-Day invasion by the Allies on five Normandy beaches and by air on the western and eastern extremities.
  • 7 Jul '44 - Bayeux liberated.
  • 18 Jun '44 - Free French leader Charles DeGaulle returns to Bayeux after four years in exile.
  • 19 Jul '44 - Artificial Mulberry Harbor off  Omaha Beach destroyed by storm. Mulberry off Arromanches heavily used through November.
  • 30 Jun '44 - Cherbourg, the first large port, siezed.
  • 7 Jul '44 - Allies bomb Caen and British and Canadians occupy north part of city.
  • 18 Jul '44 - British and Canadians begin Operation Goodwood, capturing remainder of Caen.
  • 19 Jul '44 - St. Lo, by now a destroyed city, siezed by U.S. First Army.​
  • 25 Jul 1944 - Operation Cobra begins the Normandy breakout.
Normandy Jun-Jul 1944
Normandy - Jun-Jul 1944
Elements of two Allied armies landed on D-Day:
  • Omar Bradley's First US Army on Utah and Omaha Beaches and from the air.
  • Miles Dempsey's Second British Army on Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches and from the air.
These two armies comprised the Army Group, commanded by British General Bernard Montgomery, which fought in Normandy.

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 Alllied front. The German 7th Army and elements of the 15th Army resisted their advance.
Growing the Beachhead - The Advance Through the Hedgerows
The American advance was hindered by the bocage country through which they fought. This rural landscape consisted of open fields, largely pastures, enclosed by ancient hedgerows, often with sunken lanes between the fields. As the German Army retreated hedgerow by hedgerow, American casualties grew.

Meanwhile British and Canadian forces moved south in largely open country, losing large numbers of tanks in several battles with German armor.
Normandy Hedgerow
Normandy Hedgerow
Sources for the WW II - Normandy Campaign webpage:
  • The webpage header photo St. Lo 1944 is
  • The Normandy - June-July 1944  map was produced by Infobase Publishing, infobase.com, a major producer of on-line learning materials.
  • The Normandy Hedgerow diagram 
  • I found the Infobase Publishing maps mentioned above, as well as many more-detaied maps of the ETO, in the inflab area of medium.com, namely ​medium.com/@Inflab/western-front-maps-of-world-war-ii-58798ee9d792. 

​Pottawattamie County, Iowa Area WW II Dead - Normandy Campaign after D-Day
(taken from the bigpigeon.us WW II Dead webarea)

​03-01- Normandy Campaign after D-Day: (eight dead, updated 10 Aug 2020)
† Aultz, Dorsey Everett, SN 37-189-141, US Army, Pott. Co.
Co. I, 359th Inf. Regt., 90th Inf. Div.; KIA 13 Jun 1944 near Picauville, SW of St. Mere Eglise, Normandy.
† Deitchler, Edgar Kay, SN 37-118-985, US Army, Mills Co.
357th Inf. Regt., 90th Inf. Div.; KIA 17 Jun 1944, near Gourbesville, W. of St. Mere Eglise, Normandy.
† Holst, Oscar, aka Pedersen, Oscar Holst, SN 37-126-291, US Army, Pott. Co.
Battery B, 320th Glider Field Artillery Bn., 82nd Airborne Div.; KIA 18 Jun 1944, near Douve River, Normandy.
† Plagge, Harold W., SN O-1006609, US Army, Lake Co., IL
746th Tank Bn.; DOW; 9 Jun 1944, near Utah Beach, Normandy; posthumous Silver Star.
† Pratt, Leonard Earl, SN 37-465-244, US Army, Pott. Co.
8th Inf. Regt., 4th Inf. Div.; KIA 10 Jul 1944, Normandy.
† Schickner, Donald, SN 37-219-544, US Army, Pott. Co.
Co. E, 134th Infantry Regt., 35th Inf. Div.; KIA 17 Jul 1944 near St. Lo, Normandy.
† Shadden, Everett Willard, O-496183, US Army, Pott. Co. & Los Angeles Co., CA
Detachment 7, 166th Signal Photo. Co.; combat photographer; KIA 22 Jul 1944, near La Haye, Normandy; mortar burst while with 90th Inf. Div.; posthumous Silver Star.
† Wells, Lester Earl, SN 37-465-227, US Army, Pott. Co..
39th Inf. Regt., 9th Inf. Div.; KIA 13 Jul 1944 NW of St. Lo, Normandy.