THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY 191
The D-Day landings (see pp.186–187) put Allied troops ashore on the
Normandy coast, but their progress inland stalled as elite panzer
divisions rushed to Normandy, blocking their movement out of the
bridgehead. The terrain favored the defenders, and bad weather
reduced the effectiveness of Allied air power. According to Allied
plans, the city of Caen, which is about 9 miles (14 km) from the coast,
should have been swiftly captured by British and Canadian troops of
the 2nd Army while the US 1st Army advanced west up the Cotentin
Peninsula to seize the port of Cherbourg. In reality, the Americans
did not take Cherbourg until three weeks after the landings and Caen
was still firmly in German hands at the end of June. British general
Bernard Montgomery, in command of Allied ground forces, was
criticized by some US generals for the failure to make progress. A
sense of crisis was also mounting on the German side; Hitler fired
Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt as Commander-in-Chief West
(headquartered with Army Group D in Paris) on July 1 after he called
for a withdrawal from Normandy and an end to the war.The Allied breakout
On July 18, after carpet-bombing by Allied air forces destroyed Caen
and flattened much of its surrounding area, Montgomery launched
Operation Goodwood, an offensive by three armored divisions east
of the city. The British lost 300 tanks in the fighting and failed to
break through the German lines. However, it drew the best German
divisions away from the sector facing the US 1st Army. On July 25, the
Americans launched Operation Cobra, overcoming much-weakened
German resistance to break out toward Avranches. The US 3rd Army
under General George Patton joined in the offensive, pouring through
the gap opened in the enemy line. German tanks counterattacking on
August 7 were destroyed by
Allied ground-attack aircraft
and US artillery. Much of
the German army fleeing
from Normandy escaped
encirclement in the Falaise
Pocket (see p.194–95), but
the Allied path into France
was now open.THE BATTLE
OF NORMANDY
Some of the hardest fighting of the war took place in the
two months after the D-Day landings. The Allies suffered
around 100,000 casualties in a grueling struggle to break
out of their bridgehead in Normandy.
▷ Heavy artillery
US soldiers fire howitzer shells at German
soldiers near the town of Carentan, on the
Cotentin Peninsula.US_190-191_The_Battle_of_Normandy.indd 191 19/03/19 5:40 PM