Dead Horses - Falaise Gap

France Liberated

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII - Germany > ETO > France Liberated > Normandy  Breakout, updated by RAC15 May 2022.

This webpage outlines Allied military operations in Normandy starting 25 July 1944. This is considered by the US Army as part of the Northern France Campaign, but is treated within my website as part of the Liberation of France. 

Brief Normandy Breakout Timeline

• 25 Jul 1944 - Operation Cobra, breakout from Normandy, begins with massive American carpet bombing west of St. Lo.
• 1 Aug 1944 - US Third Army activated at western end of Allied line in Normandy and begins rapid advance southwest, south, and southeast.
• 7 Aug 1944 - German 7th Army begins abortive Mortain counterattack attacking west in effort to reach Avranches and cut off U.S. 3rd Army.
• 12 Aug 1944 - Battle begins to close Falaise Pocket and trap German 7th Army - much of 7th Army escapes.
• 21 Aug 1944 - Falaise Pocket finally closed. Most Allied forces are already moving to the east pursuing retreating German units.

Normandy Area Index Map

Operation Cobra - The Normandy Breakthrough

Operation Cobra included two infamous incidents of friendly fire. Preliminary carpet bombing by the Air Force killed 25 Americans on July 25, and the major carpet bombing the following day killed 111 more. The dead included a three-star general and a former reporter for the Des Moines Register.

However, the carpet bombing achieved its goal of shattering the German defenses in the area, and in the following few days the U.S. First Army made substantial advances to the south as shown on the accompanying map.

Operation Cobra - The Allied Breakout

Operation Lüttich, the German counterattack at Mortain

Operation Lüttich was a hail-mary attempt by the German Army to advance to the coast near Avranches, thus cutting off the US Third Army. 

Undertaken by several under-strength Panzer (armored) divisions and several infantry divisions, it was soon beaten back after intense fighting.

Operation Lüttich - The German Counterattack

Eliminating the Falaise Pocket

The Falaise Pocket was a bulge in the German lines that in southern Normandy that developed in the first part of August 1944. Germany's 7th Army and part of the 5th Panzer Army confronted Montgomery's forces on the north and Bradley's forces on the south.

Unfortunately, some of the weaker Allied divisions were used to close the pocket, and communications between British-led forces on the north and Americans on the south was poor.
 
​Too many Germans escaped through the gap to the east, where they made their way eastward, crossed the lower Seine river, and returned to the German border. There the German 7th Army was reconstituted and in December participated in the Ardennes Counteroffensive, better known as the Battle of the Bulge.

The Falaise Pocket

Sources for the Normandy Breakout webpage:

• The header photo demonstrates both the heavy use of horses by the German Army during World War II and the Allied destruction of most of the German 7th Army's heavy equipment during the closing of the Falaise Pocket around August 20, 1944. Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/354869645615189261/.
• The Normandy Area Index Map is courtesy of Cartographic Concepts Inc. at http://www.mapmanusa.com/cci-print-11.html.
• The Operation Cobra - The Allied Breakout map was produced by Infobase Publishing, infobase.com, a major producer of on-line learning materials.
• The German Attack at Mortain and Falaise Pocket maps were created by Gene Thorp for The Guns at Last Light, the third volume of Rick Atkinson's Pulitzer Prize winning series, The Liberation Triology. One can view these maps at liberationtrilogy.com/books/guns-at-last-light/maps-from-the-guns-at-last-light/images-for-maps-from-the-guns-at-last-light/.
• 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 Area WWII Dead - Normandy Breakout:

• Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Roster module.

03-02 - France Liberated > Normandy Breakout: (eleven dead, updated 10 Jan 2022)
† Bailey, Jack Carl, SN 37-356-705, US Army, Pott Co. & Cheyenne Co., NE

• Co. E, 60th Inf. Regt., 9th Inf. Div. (part of 2nd Bn. attached to 4th Inf. Div.); KIA 8 Aug 1944 NE of Avranches, Normandy, France; France Liberated > Normandy Breakout.

† Baylor, Charles William, SN 37-001-796, US Army, Cass Co.

• 134th Inf. Regt., 35th Inf. Div.; KIA 4 Aug 1944 La Metairie, near Vire, France; France Liberated > Normandy Breakout.

† Block, Ernest August Sylvester "Sam", SN 37-120-000, US Army, Shelby Co.

• 32nd Armored Regt., 3rd Armored Div.; KIA 29 Jul 1944 E of Coutances, Normandy; Operation Cobra - France Liberated > Normandy Breakout.

† Heilig, Kenneth Otto, SN O-1311299, US Army, Pierce Co., WA

• 41st Inf. Bn., 2nd Armored Div., XIX Corps, First Army; DOW 13 Aug 1944 SW of Falaise in NW France; France Liberated > Normandy Breakout.

† Kakac, Victor Otto Jr., SN 37-476-218, US Army, Harrison Co.

• Co. M, 137th Inf. Regt., 35th Inf. Div.; KIA 1 Aug 1945 SE of St. Lo., Normandy, France; France Liberated > Normandy Breakout.

† Moss, Herman Albert, SN 37-141-303, US Army, Harrison Co.

• Co. L, 38th Inf. Regt., 2nd Inf. Div.; KIA 13 Aug 1944 SE of St. Lo, near Tinchebray, Orne, Normandy, France; France Liberated > Northern France.

† Paulsen, Laverne Henry, SN 37-445-364, US Army, Pott. Co.

• Recon. Co., 66th Armored Regt., 2nd Armored Div.; KIA 29 Jul 1944 S of St. Lo, Normandy, France; France Liberated > Normandy Breakout.

​† Peterson, Harry Earl, SN 37-138-626, US Army, Pott. Co.

• 357th Inf. Regt., 90th Inf. Div.; KIA 3 Aug 1944 near Avranches, Normandy, France; France Liberated > Normandy Breakout.

† Renteria, Martin, SN 37-261-777, US Army, Pott. Co.

• Co. I, 120th Inf. Regt., 30th Inf. Div.; WIA 1 Aug 1944 near St. Lo, Normandy, France; DOW 17 Aug 1944 in hospital, England; France Liberated > Normandy Breakout.

† Smith, Garland, Forsythe, SN 37-679-021, US Army, Cass Co.

• 115th Inf. Regt., 29th Inf. Div; KIA 11 Aug 1944 near Vire, SE of St. Lo, Normandy, France; France Liberated > Normandy Breakout.

† Smith, Norman Franklin, SN 37-071-817, US Army, Shelby Co.

• 46th Armored Inf. Bn., 5th Armored Div., XV Corps, Third Army; KIA 10 Aug 1944 near Le Mans, France; France Liberated > Normandy Breakout.