86 MAY/JUNE 2019
HEDGED IN
American troops
advance slowly
through the lanes
of Normandy in
summer 1944
(above). The thick,
high hedgerows
provided cover for
German forces, and
greatly impeded
progress in the
days following
D-Day.
NEIL KAGAN AND STEPHEN G. HYSLOP HAVE PARTNERED ON
MANY HISTORY BOOKS, INCLUDING EYEWITNESS TO THE CIVIL
WAR, ATLAS OF THE CIVIL WAR, EYEWITNESS TO WORLD WAR II,
AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF WORLD WAR II.as Montgomery tried to punch
through their defenses. Al-
though held in check, his forc-
es kept several German armored
divisions tied down while
American troops prepared to
launch Operation Cobra from
Saint-Lô, west of Caen, and
break out of the beachhead.Beginning of the End
Although the landings on
D-Day were less costly than Al-
lied leaders feared, American
forces destined for Omaha
Beach paid a dreadful price be-
fore securing that sector. Casualties mounted
as invasion forces advanced inland and met with
fierce resistance. Not until late July did they
break out, aided by devastating air raids that
gouged holes in enemy lines through which ar-
mor advanced, including tanks of Patton’s U.S.
Third Army. On August 15, a second Allied in-
vasion designated Operation Dragoon unfold-
ed on the French Mediterranean coast. Resis-
tance groups took up arms, and some began
liberating Paris before Allied troops entered the
city in late August.The offensive in France and the
Low Countries coincided with a
massive onslaught by the Red Ar-
my, whose troops advanced into
German-occupied Poland before
invading Germany proper by en-
tering East Prussia. Hitler refused
to concede defeat and launched a
desperate counterattack at year’s
end against the Western Allies,
whose advance had stalled as they
ran short of supplies and came up
against the formidable West Wall
(Siegfried Line) along the Ger-
man border. The resulting Battle
of the Bulge, won in January 1945,
delayed their advance across the Rhine until
March while vengeful Soviets closed on Berlin.
“We may be destroyed,” Hitler had remarked
earlier, “but if we are, we shall drag a world with
us—a world in flames.” On April 30, with Ber-
lin in flames and about to fall to the Russians,
he committed suicide. A week later, Germany
surrendered unconditionally.PHOTO 12/ALAMY/ACI
This article is excerpted from
Atlas of World War II, published by
National Geographic Books.
Copyright 2018 © National
Geographic.