🔗====================>> The WWII Germany > ETO > Liberation Submodule <<====================🔗
 prior ETO section:  Normandy, Jun–Jul 1944                                     next ETO section:  War of Attrition, Fall 1944
Liberation subpages:  Operation Cobra     Order of Battle, 1 Aug '44     Brittany, Aug–Sep 1944    
Normandy, Aug 1944     Order of Battle, 25 Aug '44     Northern France & Belgium     Southern France
     ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Operation Cobra ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

WWII Hub

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The ETO > Liberation > Operation Cobra, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 30 Jun 2025

US penetration of German defenses in Normandy began with carpet bombing of German lines west of St. Lo, followed by VII Corps advance through the bombed area. In the next few days,VIII Corps, with two armored divisions, raced along the coast to the base of the Brittany Peninsula.

Operation Cobra, 25-31 July 1944 - US First Army penetrates German defenses in Normandy

Operation Cobra Timeline:

• 25 July - Operation Cobra, breakout from the Normandy invasion area, begins with massive American carpet bombing west of St. Lo.
• 28 July - 4th Armored Division enters Coutances.
• 30 July - VIII Corps enters Avranches.
• 31 July - VIII Corps seizes Selune River crossings.

Operation Cobra - The Allied Breakout

Operation Cobra included two infamous incidents of friendly fire:

• On 24 July, preliminary carpet bombing by the Air Force killed 25 Americans.
• On 25 July, the massive carpet bombing by 1,500 aircraft 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. In the following few days, VII Corps made substantial advances to the south as shown on the above map.

Note that VIII Corps advanced even further, ending July at the gateway to the Brittany peninsula. On 1 August, Patton's Third Army was activated, VIII Corps was assigned to the Third Army, and VIII Corps entered Brittany.

​During Operation Cobra:

• VII Corps consisted of the 2nd & 3rd Armored Divisions and the 1st, 9th, & 30th Infantry Divisions.
• VIII Corps consisted of the 4th & 6th Armored Divisions.

Sources for Big Pigeon's The ETO > Liberation > Operation Cobra webpage:
​Major Sources:

• Breakout and Pursuit, by Martin Blumenson, 1961, ~702 pp. [CMH #7-5]

Sources for webpage images:

• Operation Cobra - The Allied Breakout, map, 

Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - WWII Germany  > The ETO > Liberation > Operation Cobra:

• Access full individual records through bigpigeon.us > WWII Dead > Roster Records.

03-02  - WWII Germany > The ETO > Liberation > Operation Cobra: (three dead, updated 18 Jun 2025)
† Block, Ernest August Sylvester "Sam", SN 37-120-000, US Army, Shelby Co.

• 32nd Armored Regt., 3rd Armored Div., VII Corps, First Army; KIA 29 Jul 1944 east of Coutances, Manche Dept., Normandy, France.
• WWII Germany > The ETO > Liberation > Operation Cobra

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

• Recon. Co., 66th Armored Regt., 2nd Armored Div., VII Corps, First Army; KIA 29 Jul 1944 south of St. Lo, Manche Dept., Normandy, France.
• WWII Germany > The ETO > Liberation > Operation Cobra

† Young, Robert Edson, SN 37-676-788, US Army, Audubon Co.

• 137th Inf. Regt., 35th Inf. Div., V Corps, First Army; KIA 30 Jul 1944 SE of St. Lo, Manche Dept., Normandy.
• WWII Germany > The ETO > Liberation > Operation Cobra