Figure 1.--The Normandy population welcomed the Allies, but the landings meant that for the first time they were in the middle of the fighting. Normandy until June 4 had been a backwater of the War. It had not been affected by the fighting in 1940. The figting during June and July, however, had caused considerable damage throught out the areas. Many villiages and even cities like Caen were destroyed. Here we see a farm family cheering the advancing Allied soldiers, in this case British. I'm not sure precisely when the photograph was taken, but it was shortly after the D-Day landings. Botice the elderly lady wearing black, meaning she was in mourning. Someone in her family had just died. Also notice that there are no young men. Note the barefoot boy. Scenes like that were not common before the German invasion. During the occuption, large quantities of French consumer goods were shipped to the Reich as war reparations. Source: Imperial War Museum.

Fighting for several weeks after D-Day was confined to the Normandy area. The most important inland objedtive for the D-Day invasion was Caen. This it was because Caen was a road junction with the most direct highway to Paris. Caen was the onjective of the British troops landing at Sword Beach. The Germans were well aware of the importance of Caen and it was well defended. The powerful German 21st Panzer Division was located near Caen. This division because of German confusion was not immeiately deployed against the landings and in the afternoon when it received orders to move toward the beeches it was engaged by Allied fighters. The division, however, played a key role in the defense of Caen, resisting repeated British and Canadians attacks. Thus the Allies under Montgomery in the east were heald up for weeks. Cherbourg at the tip of the Conteneau Peninsula was a key objective because of its important port. The Americans from Utah Beach cut off the Peninsula. The Germans in Cherbourg held out for a few weeks and did their best to destroy the port. The Germany thought that without a deepwater port that the Allies could not ammount a decisive military force in France. The Germans did not anticipate Mulberry. They also expected the German garrison to hold out longer than it did. General Sattler, deputy German commander, surendered June 27 bringing the end to directed German resistance on the Cotentin Peninsula, although some isolated German units around the city continued to hold out for a few days. Hitler ordered the garison to hold out to the last man. Few of the soldiers involved chose to do so. By July 1 all organized resistenced was ended. The Germans held the Allies at Normandy for several weeks, effectively using the hedgerows in the Bockage country to twart the American advances. After the fall of Cherbourg (June 27), the Normandy Bridgehead was complete. With Montgomery still stopped at Caen, Bradley began to focus on breaking out at the western end of the bridgehead on a line Carentan and Portbail. Bradley launched his offensive at the beginning of July with torrential rain in the middle of the Bockage country. Allied planners had failed to appreciate the potential tactical use of the fortress-like hedgerows in Normandy. The American offensive, however, soon bogged down.

Normandy

Normandy until June 4 had been a backwater of the War. It had not been affected by the fighting in 1940 which took place in the north. Normandy was a largely rural area, was not targetted heavily by the Allied bombing, except for ports like Cherborg. The location of the invasion was the best kept secret of the War. The Germans with Allied help, convinced themselves that the invasion was coming further nofth at Pal de Calais. Thus Normandy for the Germans continued to be a backwater even as they braced for the invasion in May-June 1944.

German Occupation

Pétain and his Vichy regime sought to collaborate with the Germans to receive referentional trearment. This worked to the extent that the occupation was not genocidal as it was in the East. It did not stop the NAZIs, however, from looting the country. During the occuption, large quantities of French consumer goods were shipped to the Reich as war preparations. This included not only clothes and other manufactured goods, but raw materials and food as well. A French reader writes, "Food in France began to become difficult to obtain in 1941, largely because the Germans were shipping so much back to the Reich. France unlike Germany was self-suffient in food production. Thus food shipments to Germany were an important part of the occupation. One could buy some in Black market but was very expensive. As the occupation continued food became more and more difficult for most families to obtain. Rationing prevented actual starvation, but most families suffered, especially in the cities. The rural areas like Normandy fared better because the peasants were able to keep food back from the Germans. This did not, however, help the French urban population. During the inter-war period, some regions in France were poor, such as Bretagne (Britany). It was much worse during the occupation, especially for the families of the POWs held by the Germans. By the time of the D-Day invasion, the Germans had thorougly pillaged France. Note the barefoot boy (figure 1). Scenes like that were not common before the German invasion.

Intense Fighting and Civilian Casualties

The Allied invasion transformed Normandy from a backwater of the War to perhaps the Wars most critical focal point. Both the Allies and Germans appreciated this and the fighting was not only intense, but confined to a relatively small area. The Germans knew that retreating from Normandy mean losing the War. The Allies had their backs to the Channel. The intense figting during June and July caused considerable damage throught out the area. This was especially true because the Germans managed to bottleup the Allies in the Normandy beidgehead for several weeks. This meant the fighting on the Western front was confined to Normandy. Many villiages and even cities like Caen were destroyed. There were large numbers of civilian casualties. The French during World War I had evacuated civilians from the Western Front in northern France. In Normandy there was no where to evacuate the civilians.

Caen

The most important inland objective for the D-Day invasion was Caen. This it was because Caen was a road junction with the most direct highway to Paris. Caen was the objective of the British troops landing at Sword Beach. Montgomery was schuelded to take it on the first day. The Germans were well aware of the importance of Caen and it was well defended. The powerful German 21st Panzer Division was located near Caen. This division because of German confusion was not immeiately deployed against the landings. When orders finally came in the afternoon, the Division when it began moving toward the landing beaches was immediately engaged by Allied fighter-bombers. The Division, however, played a key role in the defense of Caen, resisting repeated British and Canadians attacks. Thus the Allies under Montgomery in the east were held up for weeks. Rommel wanted to shift the fous of his attack to the Armerican sector in the Cotentin so as to releave persure on Cherbourg. British and Canadian pressure on Caen made this impossible.

Margival Conference (June 17)

Rommel from the beginning of his work on the Atlantic Wall premised the German strategy on stopping the Allies on the beach. The Germans after the D-Day invasion failed to do this. German reinforcements were slow in reaching Normandy and deployed peace-meal when they did arrive. Allied air power and the Resistance made it difficult to supply the German troops in France. The Allies not only had vastly superior forces, but the Germans one the Allies were established in Normandy had not way of interdicting the flow of supplies. This meant that the result in France was a forgone conclussion. Rundstedt and Rommel and disagreed on the initial stragegy, but both understood that their forces could not hold out in Normandy very long. They asked for a meeting with the Führr to explain this. They met with Hitler at Margival to discuss the campaign. Hitler had fantasized on decisively defeating the Allies so tht the Wehrmacht could focus its strength on the Red Army in the East. He had even claimed on D-Day that he had lured the Allies to invade so they could be destroyed. This was not, however, how the campaign was developing. Margival was located dear Soissons in northeastern France. The Germans had built a bunker there in 1940 from which Hitler was to over see the Operation Sea Lion invasion of England. The session began at 9:00 Am and lasted until 4:00 PM with a lunch break. The Führer sat pouring over maps with colored pencils in his hand. Rundstedt and Rommel briefed the Führer standing up. Rundstedt explained that Allied air power made it impossible to assemble the forces need to mount a major offensive. Rommel was less tactful. He had come from the front with little sleep. He suggested disengaging his panzers from Caen and reorganize a line on the Orner River. As the brifing continued, he became increasingly blunt, finally telling Hitler that the Wehrmacht could not hold in France, Itly and the East and that the Allies were poised to enter the Reich itself. He told the Führer that Germany would have to end the War. This of course was not what the Führer wanted to hear. He ordered Rommel to attend to his duties in France and not concern himself with the conduct of the War. He then explained that German had wonder weapons hat would win the War. Germany had in fact already begun the V-1 attacks which he assured the two field marshalls would devestate Germany. (In fact one V-1 went off course and landed near the bunker n that very day.) He also claimed the new jet ME-190s would enavle the Luftwaffe to regin control of the sky. Nothing had been accomplished. Rundstedt and Rommel returned to their headquarters. Hitler decided against a planned visit with the troops in Normandy.

Carentan (June 10-14)

Carentan after the Alliees had secured their initial lodgement emerged as a key strategic position. It was asmall town of only about 4,000 people, but it was a crossroads that sat astride the N-13 highway as well as the Cherbourg–Paris railroad. And Cherbourg with its invaluable port was a key onbjective that the Allies desperately needed. Carentan itself was also located between the American beaches--Utah and Omaha. The Germans as well as the Americans could read a map. It would thus be a critical battle fallowing the Ameican landings. The town had existed since Roman days. The Romans were master engineers. The land around Carentan was low-lying, crossed by rivers and extensive marshes. Cnls were built to drain the are for agriculture. Napoleon had once flooded the area, turing Carentan into a fortified island. The Germand did the same, making Carentan a very difficult objective for ground forces to take. The Americans had few options. They had to attack overthe narrow roads, the only dry approaches. The Germans deployed Major Friedrich von der Heydte's 6th Fallschirmjäger Regiment to defend the town. And they had their guns zeroed in on the roads. General Bradley ordered the 101st Airborne, the "Screaming Eagles" to take the town. The lightly armed 101st had been droped on the night preceeding the D-Day landings. The drop had not gone well and the Division was spread all over Normandy. They managed, however to regroup sufficently to protect the access roads onto Utah--th western flank of the D-Day landings. The 101st fought a bruising fight with the Germans, but they made it impossible for the Germand to attack the Utah Beach landing on the critical first day. They were to be evacuated, but Carentan was so important that Bradley ordered them to take the town, setting up one of the most important battles of the Normandy campaign. The 101st was part of VII Corps which had landed at Utah. Taking Carentn would enable VII Corps to link up with the 29th Infantry Division of V Corps driving west from the Omaha Beachhead.

The Bockage (June-July)

The Germans held the Allies at Normandy for several weeks, effectively using the hedgerows in the Bockage country to twart the American advances. After the fall of Cherbourg (June 27), the Normandy Bridgehead was complete. This left Caen the only D-Day objective not achieved. The Germans still held at Caen with a powerful panzer force. This blocked the Allies direct route to Paris. With Montgomery still stopped at Caen, Bradley began to focus on breaking out at the western end of the bridgehead on a line betweenCarentan and Portbail. Bradley launched his offensive at the beginning of July with torrential rain in the middle of the Bockage country. Allied planners had failed to appreciate the potential tactical use of the fortress-like hedgerows in Normandy. The American offensive soon bogged down in the Bockage country. The Germans with the Americans concentrating on Cherbourg had reinforced and resupplied their forces abd had had orgnized entrenched positions within the hedgerows. Grounded parachutists and elements of the Das Reich and Götz von Berlichingen SS Divisions were deployed. These were all experienced, highly motivated units. Normandy’s Bocage country was a maze of small fields enclosed by fortress-like hedgerows and sunken lanes. Here American advantages (mobility, numerical superiority, artillery and air power) were of limited use. The artillery and airpower were not effective unless German targets could be located and hidden in the hedgerows this was difficult. A relatively small German force using snipers and panzerschrecks were able to hold back vastly superior American forces. American advances were meaured in meters at terrible cost. An American seargeant devised an front attachment to Sherman tanks to help them break through the hedgerows.

Cherbourg (June 27)

Cherbourg was the major port located near te Normandy landings. It was situated at the tip of the Cotentin Peninsula and thus could not be taken with the initial assault. It was, however, a key Allied objective. The Americans from Utah Beach cut off the Peninsula. After Carentan fell to te Americans, the Germans were not in a position to defend the Cotentin Peninsula which mean that the Cherbourg garrison was on its own. The Germans in Cherbourg held out for a few weeks and did their best to destroy the port. The Germany thought that without a deepwater port that the Allies could not ammount a decisive military force in France. The Germans did not anticipate Mulberry. They also expected the German garrison to hold out longer than it did. General Sattler, deputy German commander, surendered June 27 bringing the end to directed German resistance on the Cotentin Peninsula, although some isolated German units around the city continued to hold out for a few days. Hitler ordered the garison to hold out to the last man. Few of the soldiers at Cherbourg chose to do so. By July 1 all organized resistenced was ended.

Le Harve (September 12)

Le Harve was after Cherbourg, the next most important port in the Normandy area and thus was of enormous importance. It was, however, located just outside the initial Normandy landing sites. The Allies knew that Le Harve would be strongly fortified and because it was located just north of the Seine, did not go for it on the first day. It was tntalizingly close, but just out of reach. As it worked out, the Le Harve garrison resisted even after the Allies crossed the Seine and the port was surounded. Hitler and the Whermacht OKW believed that wihout ports, the Allies could not support a major offensive. Thus the Germans left gaeisons in the Channel ports with orders to fight to the death. Fighting in th city was very heavy. The city was almost totally destoyed by the Germans to destroy te port and the fighting. The Germans did not surrender until September 12, by that time the Allies had reached Belgium and had liberated most of France. The German surrender was the final chapter of the D-Day campaign. Le Harve was to play a role after the War. It was a major embarcation point for thousands of GIs returning home. The first GIs to return home were those wounded in cobat and then the POWs liberated from German camps.

Created: 2:54 AM 4/7/2006
Last updated: 12:06 AM 3/13/2008