Page 43 - History of War - Issue 05-14

by 3rd Armoured and 30th Infantry American soldiers during the
Divisions to exploit a gap in the German bitter fighting for Saint-Lô.
defences ended with the divisions Omar Bradley decided that
capturing this position was
mistaking one another for Germans vital to kickstarting the
and engaging in furious combat. Both breakout from Normandy
divisions called in fighter-bombers,
which strafed both of them without
discrimination. Casualties were heavy; by
the time the divisions were disentangled,
the Germans had plugged the gap.
Pre-emptive strike
On 10 July, Bradley decided that, in
order to unhinge the German defences,
he would have to capture Saint-Lô,
which formed the eastern anchor of
the German line. The town had been
pulverised by successive waves of Allied
bombers on 6 June, which had killed
more than 800 of the inhabitants and
reduced it to a heap of rubble. Saint-Lô
itself was important only in a symbolic
sense. Of paramount importance were
the hills and ridges that ringed it to the
north and the west. Here, the Germans
had dug in some formidable formations. THE REGIMENT behind hedgerows, and bombard them
Directly north of Saint-Lô, there loomed with rifle grenades. During the afternoon,
a hill. It appeared on Allied maps as TOOK THE BODY, the defenders began to withdraw, leaving
Hill 122 and appeared to American the Americans on Hill 192, looking south
observers to be the key to the defence. DRAPED IT IN A US to an even more formidable feature,
Two US corps faced this complex of Hill 101. Meanwhile, the 29th Division
defences – Major General Leonard T FLAG, AND LAID IT had been supposed to attack along the
Gerow’s V Corps, and Major General Martinville Ridge, but a pre-emptive
Charles (Cowboy Pete) Corlett’s XIX BEFORE THE SHELL strike by German paratroopers during the
Corps – but the commanders of both night inflicted 150 casualties, thereby
formations decided that a direct attack OF A CHURCH delaying the assault. The 29th began to
against Hill 122 would be prohibitively advance late in the morning, but quickly
expensive. They decided instead on an came under fire from Hill 101, which
alternative strategy, an outflanking move slowed the Americans down. The attack
from the east that involved taking the to avoid their own bombs and, when the finally petered out on 13 July.
Martinville Ridge and a nearby 150-foot aerial onslaught failed to materialise, The American commanders now
eminence, codenamed Hill 192. had a much longer way to advance under decided that there was no alternative
The Americans were under no illusions heavy German fire. Enemy defensive to an assault on Hill 122. Over the next
as to how difficult attacks on these positions – bunkers dug into the base of four days, fighting swayed to and fro on
features would be. US 2nd Infantry the hedgerows – were difficult to detect, the hills around Saint-Lô, US firepower
Division, tasked to take Hill 192, was and the first American assault crumbled eventually wearing the Germans down.
allocated elaborate support for its with some 200 casualties and the loss On 16 July, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions
attack after dawn on 11 July, but initially of six tanks. Later in the morning, 2nd of the 116th Regiment of the 29th
everything went wrong. A morning mist Division resumed the attack, supported Division managed to break into the town,
limited visibility to such an extent that by 20,000 rounds fired by the division’s but intense German shellfire cut them
an airstrike, planned to proceed the own artillery. This time, infantry were off from the rest of the division. The
advance, was cancelled. The Americans able to get close to Germans sheltering commander of 3rd Battalion, Thomas D
had moved back several hundred metres Howie, tried to continue the advance but
was killed the moment he broke cover.
The rest of the 116th attacked the town
on the night of 17 July, linked up with the
isolated battalions and by mid-morning
were fighting their way into the centre of
the town. That afternoon, the regiment
took the body of Howie, draped in an
This feature is an edited American flag, to the centre of Saint-Lô,
extract from the book and laid it before the shell of a church
The Downfall Of The – a poignant symbol of the death and
Third Reich by Dr Duncan destruction the Americans had both
Anderson. It is available endured and inflicted to take this little
from Amber Books:
www.amberbooks.co.uk town. That night, morale in Saint-Lô
was very low. It was scarcely higher
anywhere else among the Allied armies
in northern France. The campaign was
entering its seventh week and, already,
the Allies had suffered around 122,000
casualties and devastated the once-
peaceful province of Normandy, killing or
US troops in action in the bocage. maiming tens of thousands of innocent
They faced formidable opposition French civilians along the way. The
from battle-hardened German units break-out seemed as far away as ever. w

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