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The American capture of Cherbourg placed the first important French port in Allied control (June 27). While the Germans held in Normandy, a huge logistical enterprise was building up a huge army with emense capabilities. The Allies in the first 100 days after D-Day landed an incredible 2.2 million men, 450,000 vehicles, and 4 million tons of supplies. This was a force that the Germans could not begin to match and their situation was rendered untenable by the virtual complete lack of air support. The Allied offensive broke the badly streachedGermans in July. British and Canadian troops under Montgomery finally captured Caen (July 9). The major break through came further south. Patton's Third Army after a concentrated bombing pierced the German lines with armoured thrusts near St. Lô and rapidly fanned out behind German lines. While American Sherman tanks were inferior to the German tanks, they were fastr and more numerous. Allied air power made it impossible for the Germans to contain the American offensive. German units were foirced to abandon their tanks and flee east. Efforts to surround an entire German army failed when SS units held an escape rour open at Falaise, allowing a substantial part of the Germany forces to escape. American airpower, however, wreked havoc on the retreating Germans. I The Americans landed another force on the French Mediterranean coast between Marseilles and Nice (August 15). The German hold on France was broken. The Paris Ressistance rose up against the German occupation forces as Allied armour divisions raced toward the capital and crossed the Seine. French Forces of the Interior (FFI)attacked Germans retreating through the city. Hitler ordered the city to be destroyed. The German commander refused to carry out the orders. Allied forces entred the city (August 25). The Allies pressed north into Belgium and liberated Brussels (September 2).
An critical aspect of the liberation of France began in 1942 nearly 2 years before the D-Day landings in Normandy. Soon after Pear Harbor the United states began building up the 8th Air Force in Briain (early 1942). The Americans by late 1942 had begun raids into occupied France. And after the Casablanca Conference (January 1943) the Americans and British began around the clock attacks into the Reich. Targets in Germany resulted in unsustaniavle casualties during 1943. There were also extensive raids on France. A priority target was U-boat facilities. Several port coties were hard hit. There were also attacks in French industrial sites supporting the German war effort. Another major target were Luftwaffe bases. The Allies had by 1944 gained air superority over France as the Luftwaffe pulled back to defend the Reich. As D-Day approached attacks on beach defenses increased and a major effort was made to destroy the French rail sytem making it difficult for the Germans to supply and reinforce the beach defenses when the invasion came. This campaign aided by the Resistance proved highly effective. An unfortunate consequence was substantial civilian casualties. Many of the French World War II civilian casualties resulted from the air campaign.
The invasion of Normandy, code named D-Day, was the single most important battle fought by the Western Allies in World War II. On the outcome of the battle hinged no less than the future of democracy and Western civilization in Europe. Failure at Normandy would have meant that the future of Europe would have been settled by the titantic struggle in the East between Hitler and Stalin, cerainly the two most evil men in European history. An invasion of France had been the primary goal of American military planners and President Roosevely since the entry of America into the War in December 1941. Churchill was less convinced. And largely at urging, the first joint Allied offensive was n the Meditteranean. The invasion was an enormous risk. All Allied victories in Europe were achieved by the weight of overwealing superority of men and material to badly over streached German forces. In France, the Allies faced some of the strongest units in the Gernany Army who would until several weeks into the battle be able to amass far superior forces. The Allies had to plan on naval and air superiority to protect the inital beach lodgements until powerful land forces could be landed and deployed. For over two years the Allies had been building a massive force in England which on June 6 was unleased on Hitler's Fortress Europe. The Allies struck with the largest armada ever assembled. First paratroop landings inland and then at after dawn came British, Canadian, and American landings on five Normandy beaches. It was a complete surprise, an incredible accomplishment for an operation of this size
The American capture of Cherbourg placed the first important French port in Allied control (June 27).
While the Germans held in Normandy, a huge logistical enterprise was building up a huge army with emense capabilities. The Allies in the first 100 days after D-Day landed an incredible 2.2 million men, 450,000 vehicles, and 4 million tons of supplies. This was a force that the Germans could not begin to match and their situation was rendered untenable by the virtual complete lack of air support.
The Allied after weeks of costly fighting in the Bokage countty finally broke out from the Normandy beachhead at the end of July. The offensive named Operation Cobra broke the badly streached Germans. British and Canadian troops under Montgomery finally captured Caen after a major air attack (July 9). They were unable to break the German lines, however, in part because the rubble created by the air attack in Caen slowed the advance and the Germans were able to regroup west of the city. The major break through came further south. Patton's Third Army after a concentrated carpet bombing shattered the vaunted Panzer Lehr Division. The Americans pierced the German lines with armoured thrusts near St. Lô and rapidly fanned out behind German lines. While American Sherman tanks were inferior to the German tanks, they were faster and more numerous. Perfect for rapid maneur. Allied air power made it impossible for the Germans to contain the American offensive. The Wehrmacht was devestated and the Americanss moved to trap the Germans in a pocket forming around Falaise. German units were forced to abandon their tanks and flee east.
American units as part of Operation Cobra drove out of the Normany south into Brittany. Hitler determined to maintain his hold on France ordered a counter-attack--the Mortain offensive (Operation "Luttich"). He ordered General Hausser's 7th Army to drive west and cut off the Americans. Hausser was ordered to drive from Mortain in Brittany toward Avranches and the Atlantic. Hausser struck (August 7). The Germany Army, however, was no longer an overpowering force. They did have very effective tanks, but not very many. Nor did they have air support. The Germans advanced west, but within hours were stopped far short of the coast. The German commitment of force to the far west of their position put them into a very vulnerable position and kled directly to the battle for Falaise.
The final battle of the Normandy campaign occurred at Falaise. There the Allies attempted to surround an entire German army. Hitler's counter to Operation Cobra was an iladvise counter-attack at Mortain. Bradley and Montgomery agreed this presented an opportunity to capture an entire German field army. The objective was the German 7th Army and the Fifth Panzer Army. This was the principal German force in France and numbered about 150,000 men. Montgomery was to drive south from Calais and the Bradley was to execute a sweeping encirclement to bag the Germans who Hitler had demanded drive east just as the Allies were breaking out from the Normandy pocket. The goal was to isolate the Americans whowhad broken out. In the end the Germans no longer had the strength to accomplish this, in part beause of the total kack of Luftwaffe support to stave off aggressive Allied air attacks. Montgomery organized the northern Allied pincer. He organized an offensive south of Caen. There the German defensives had been weakened by Hitler's deployment of much of the German armor for the disatrous Mortain offensive. Thus Montgomery finally broke out, but the fighting was very difficult. Canadian armor received a shock at Estrées-la-Campagne. Montgomery relentlessly drove south, launching a series of offensives (Operations Totalize 1 and II, and Tractable) using mostly Canadian units. The Canadians were reinforced with General Maczeck’s 1st Polish Armored Division. Bradley entrusted the southern pincer to the American XV Army Corps which had just entered Le Mans (August 9). They were order to change their course and drive north toward Falaise. The southern pincer was led by General Leclerc’s 2nd French Armoured Division. The French took Alençon (August 12) and then attacked toward Ecouché and Argentan. Even after the reversal at Mortain, Hitler demanded that the Wehrmahct stand and fight, although many units had begun to retreat (August 14). They were trying to reach the Seine which was a potential defensive line for the Germans. As a result of Hitler's orders, the Allies had almost completed their encirlement maneuver. Hitler finally realizing the futility of further resistance south of the Seine, order a general retreat (August 16). The next day Montgomery took Falaise (August 17). The Wehrmacht wanted to save what remained of their armor. German infantry units were by now largely disorganized, but attempted to eascape through the narrowing gap between Faliaise and Argentan. Closing the Falaise pocket was a truly Allied effort. British units attacked from the west. The Canadians and Poles attacked from the north. The French and Americans attacked from the south. Vicious fighting occurred between Argentan and Trun. SS units managed to hold a narrow corridor open, but the fleeing Germans were pounded by both artillery and air attacks.
The Germans fled through “corridor of death” between the villages of Chambois, Saint-Lambert, Trun and Tournai-sur-Dives. American airpower wreked havoc on the retreating Germans. Finally the northern and southern pincer closed (August 21). The Allies failed to capture the entire German force. About two-thirds of the Germans or about 100,000 men escaped the Falaise pocket between August 12-20. They had, however, to abandon their heavy equipment. About 6,000 Germans were killed and 50,000 taken prisoner. The battle for Falaise was an enormous Allied victory leading to the liberation of France. While much of the German force escaped, without their armor and heavy weapons and the Germans were no longer capable of even attempting a stand at the Seine. Much recrimination, however, followed the failure to capture the entire German force. Had they done so, the Allies might have been able to enter Germany in 1944. The Americans in particularl blamed Montgomery, charging a lack of aggressiveness. The British countered that ghey faced the toughest German resistance. This debate has never been resolved by military historians.
Before the battle at Falaise was over, the Allies struck in southern France. The Americans and British disagreed over the invsion of southern France, oiginally called Operation Anvil. It was renamed Dragoon--reportedly because the Americans dragooned Churchill into it. The final decession was made after the fall of Rome (June 4) and then the success of Oeration Cobra (July 25-26), the the successful Allied breakout from the Normandy bridgehead. The The U.S. 6th Army Group (variously known as the Southern Group of Armies and Dragoon Force) was established in Corsica and activated August 1, 1944. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers and included both American and Free French units. The Allies landed on the French Mediterranean coast between Marseilles and Nice (August 15). The German hold on France was broken. The southern campaign is sometimes referred to as the Champaign campaign because they did not meet the tenanous resistance encountered at Normandy. The Germans by August were withdrawing back to the Reich.
The Allies after closing the Falaise pocket were intent on persuing the retreating Wehrmacht. The major Allied concern was to ensure that the Wehrmacht was unable to resestablish a defensive line at the Seine. Her the German Mortain Offensive and the defeat at Falaise had caused considerable losses and stripped the Germans of nuch of their armor. The Germans were no longer capable of resisting the Allies in France, even at the Seine. Paris at the time was not a major target for the Allies. The U.S. 4th Infantry Divsion was, however, just to the West of Paris and the Resistance in Paris decided to rise against the Germans. The Germans had left only a small force in Pris, wihout heavy weapons. Even so, the Resistance fighters although numerous were outgunned and had little amunition. They broadcasted pleas for assistance. General DeGualle and Leclerec pleaded with Gereral Bradely who finally authorized the drive on Paris.
Hitler had ordered the German commander in Paris to destroy the city rather than surrender it. Charges were placed on bridges, major buildings, and historic monuments. The Paris Ressistance rose up against the German occupation forces as Allied armour divisions raced to cross the Seine. French Forces of the Interior (FFI) attacked Germans retreating through the city. The Germans were pulling out of the city, but still had heavy weapons. There was intense fighting in the city. About 2,000 civiliands were killed, mostly the result of snipers. At first the Allies were going to bypass the city. Plees from out-gunned resistance fighters caused Eisenhower to change his mind. General Bradley gave the Free French Division commnded by Leclerec the honor of liberating the city. Leclerec raced north to join the resistance fighting in the city. Hitler as the Allies approached ordered the city to be destroyed. The German commander refused to carry out the orders. He was concerned that the SS might arrest him before he could surrender to the Allies. Allied forces entered the city (August 25). The city was in chaos. Celebrations were occuring on one corner and a block away fighting was raging.
There were a variety of summnary actions in the heat of Liberation. In improvisated local actions during the first mounths after the Liberation. About 1,000 persons were executed, mostly by the Communists. Many women had their hair shaved publically, primarily for liasons with German soldiers. A French Provision Government was formed (August) and took action to prevent such summary executions. Many were arrested and tried for collaboration after the War. Admiral Darlan was sentenced to death. Officers of the Vichy Government were some of targets of these procecutions. Marshall Petain was sentenced to a long jail term.
Unlike the situation in Eastern Europe there were no widespread actions taken against German civilans in France. For the most part citizens of the Reich succeeded in fleeing with the retreating Wegrmacht. There were, however, many German speakers in Alsace.
General DeGualle was almost unknown to the French public when the Germans defeated the French Army. They came to know him as a result of empassioned radio broadcasts from London. At first there was relatively little interest in ressistance. Most French people felt the Germans had won the War and they had to ajust to the new realities. This began to change when the Germans began conscripting forced labor in France and the fortunes of war began to change. The Allies (America and Britain) would have preferred some control over the Provisional Government. Both Roosevelt and Churchill not to mention Eisenhower were frustrated with DeGualle. In the end, they were able to exercise little control over the political situation in the liberated areas. DeGualle had touched a cord in the French soul. The French people quiickly organized a Provisional Government on their own and the overwealming choice to lead it was General Charles de Gualle. This was also frustrating to the Communists who had played such an important role in the Resistance.
Allied Armies with Operation Cobra (July 25-26) began the sweep through France, followed closely by the defeat of the German 7th Army at Falaise, the Operation Dragoon landngs in southern France (August 15), and the liberation of Paris (August 25). Hitler's insistance on launching an offensive at Mortain doomed the 7th Army. While many Germans escaped from the Falaise pocket, they had to abandon their heavy weapons. This meant that the Germans no longer had the strength to even attempt to establish a defensine line on the Seine. German resistance only began to stiffen as the Aliies began to approach the borrders of the Reich. One of these areas was the Vosges mountains in northeastern France. The Vosges was assaulted by the Anercan VI Corps of the United States Seventh Army commanded by Lieutenant General Alexander Patch. The Germans were deeply-entrenched in the Vosges Mountains. No longer retreating, the Germans were reinfrced with full strength units like the German 708th Volks-Grenadier Division. The American offensive was the first successful military penetration of the Vosges.. Other armies such as the Romans and Huns had failed. Conditions during the late fall were terrible, including rain, snow, mud, and ice. The most notable incident of the campaign was the rescue crried out by the 442nd Regimental Team of Japanese Americans. A unit of the 36th Texas Division was cut off and surrounded by the Germans. The Germans in the Vosges had not expected to be attacked by Japanese-looking soldiers. The ferocity of the fightinging is shown by an entry in the 100th Batalion's diary, "Very few prisioners were taken." [Asahina] The rescue was prominently reported by the New York Times. The accompanying picture showed one of the 442nd white officers with a rescued Texan.
Montgomery was the best known British general of World War II. He was the only British general to deliver a victory over the Germans before joint operations with the Americans began, although huge quantities of American equipment were key to the victory ar El Alemain (October 1942). Montgomery also played a key role in the D-Day planning. He was emensely popular in Britain and absolutely detested by the American commanders he worked with. That Patton and him would quarely is understandable, they were both primadonnas. But he also had trouble with American commanders like Omar Bradley who was much more professional in his conduct. Problems began in Tunisia as soon as Montgomey came in contact with the Amerians, but it was after D-Day during the fighting in France that matters came to a boil. Bradley refused to speak to him unless it was absolutely essential offical business. Then Monty essentially told Ike that he should turn over command. Ike was the consumate master of running a war with allies. The Anglo-American Alliance was probably the grestest alliance in miliktary history. Much of the success of making the alliance work was due to Eisenhower political skills. He is said to have explained to an American officer he retirned to the states that he was not fired for calling a British officer a bastard, but for valling him a "British" bastard. Even so by the end of the War the alliance had frayed considerably. Ike while the fighting was still going on in France was prepared to ask that Montgomery be relieved. Montgomery who finally seems to have realized that Churchill probably would have complied, applogized to Eisenhower.
The Allies after Paris pressed north into Belgium. The British reached d Brussels (September 2) and Antwerp (September 3). They were met by jubilant civilans realizing that the dark years of NAZIdom were finally over. There was hope in the Allied camp that with the German collapse in France that the NAZIs could be defeated in 1944. Antwep was the key to the Allied thrust on into Germany. The Allies reqired a deep water port in Belgium. Supplies were still being landed in
Normandy and trucked through France via the Red Ball Express. This was creating enormous logistical problems and the Allies needed to shorten its supply lines. While the Allies after taking Brussels reached Antwerp the next day. Opening the port proved to be a much more difficult undertaking. The Germans had fortified islands in the Scheldt estuary. Montgomery did not initially grasp the importance. The Germans evem though cut off by the advancing Allies held out recognizing the
importance of keeping the port closed. The Belgian Resistance played an important role in the costly effort to clear the Scheldt. [Moulton] Once in Allied hands, Antwerp and its harbor became a target for NAZI V-2 attacks.
The Americans after liberating Paris pressed on north to Germany. The American First Army was the first to reach Germany. The First Army crossed the German frontier near Eupen, and American armored forces entered Germany north of Trier (September 12). German resistance stiffened as the Americans entered the Fatherland. As the Allied armies moved further from the coast supply lined becamne streached. German destruction of ports delayed taking advantage of fixed port favilities. Eisenhower acceeds to Montgomery's plan to cross the Rhine through the Netherlands. Available supplies were diverted toward this effort, Operation Markt Garden (September 17-26). The effort failed and the Germans stabilized their Western frint. Meanwhile the American Seventh and the French First Armies moving up the Rhone Valley from southern France joined up with Patton's Third Army at Dijon (September 15). The supplies were, however, not available for a massive drive into Germany.
The Allied offensive swept through France and into Belgium. This was thecshortest route to cross the Rhine and move on to Berlin. The Low Lands were also close enough to Britain that the Germans could still hit London with their new V-2 missles. As a result, Montgomery was given the go ahead to try to cross the Rhine in the Netherlands--Opperation Market Garden. The offensive failed at the final bridge, the one over the Rhine. This focus on the Low Lands meant that the Germans still held on to northeastern France and the Rhineland, the area of Germany west of the Rhine, including Alsace-Loraine which had been annexed by the NAZIS. The problem for the Allies in fall 1944 was supplies. With the supplies allocated to Market Garden, the Allies only slowly were able to advance into northeastern Framnce and the Rhineland. The liberation of France meant that the Free French could recruit a new French Army. As the Allies fought east, the French First Army took its position on the Allied southern flank. The Americans liberated Metz (November 22) and the French completed the liberation of Frnce when they look Strassbourg (December 4). This meant the Allies were on the Rhine in the Netherlands and notyh of Switzerland and moving toward the Rhine in the Rhineland.
An estimated 60,000 Jews were left in Paris, about half of whom had gone into hiding. One of those was Rachel Spreiregen. She remembers the day the Allies arrived very well. She was a 13-year old girl when the NAZIs entered Paris (June 1940). The NAZIs picked up her father (1941) and she never saw him again. She and her little sister had to abandon the family home (1943) and hide as best they could in Paris. Can you imagine what it must hace been like for two girls this age to loose their father and then have to go into hiding on their own. One thing was on her mind, deliverance from the NAZIs. She listen to General DeGualle's Free French broadcasts from London--Les Francais Parlent aux Francais. She noted the increasing volume of cryptic, seemingly nonsence radio messages increase during Spring 1944. Then the maid in the hotel where they were hiding ran down the halls pounding on the room doors and announcing "Ils ont debarqué! Ils ont debarqué!" They have landed! They have landed!" Finally in mid-August Paris rose against the Germans and after several days of fighting General Philippe Leclerc's Free French division finally reached the city. She writes, "The nightmare was over. I was awed at the magnitude of the event I was witnessing. The German war machine was not invincible after all, and for me, it was the men of D-Day who had driven the point home. It was to them that I owed my freedom and my life. .... Sixty years ago they marched down the Champs Elysees in an awesome parade of citizen soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, filling the broad expanse of the avenue." [Spreiregen] These American soldiers were not ceremonial units--they were combat soldiers on the way to the front.
Asahina, Robert. Just Americans: How Japanese Americans Won a War at Home and Abroad (Gotham: 2006), 339p.
Spreiregen, Rachel. "August in Paris, 1944," The Washington Post (August 25, 2004), p. A17. Spreiregen is writing her memoirs. Thy are about her family and their experiences before and during the NAZI occupation. She and her sister were the only survivors from their family.
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