American Forces in Action Series

St-Lô
(7 July--19 July 1944)

Historical Division
War Department

CONTENTS

Foreword iii
The July Offensive 1
  First Army's Problem 1
  XIX Corps' Problem 5
  The Enemy Side 7
XIX Corps Attacks West of the Vire (7-11 July) 9
  The Opening Assault (7 July) 9
  The 113th Cavalry Group Enters the Bridgehead (7-8 July) 19
  Coordination Troubles (8 July) 20
  More Coordination Troubles (9 July) 25
  Effort Toward Hauts-Vents (10 July) 35
  The Counterattack of Panzer Lehr (11 July) 37
  Hauts-Vents is Taken (11 July) 42
  Action West of the Taute (7-11 July) 46
Opening Attack on St-Lô (11 July) 51
  The 29th Division Starts Well 54
  The 2d Division Takes Hill 192 58
  The 35th Division Enters the Fight 69
  II Parachute Corps, 11 July 70
XIX Corps Has Slow Going (12-14 July) 72
  Limited Gains East of St-Lô (29th Division) 75
  Stalemate North of St-Lô (35th Division) 80
  The Salient West of the Vire (30th Division) 86
  First Army Progress, 11-14 July 91
Last Phase of the Battle (15-20 July) 95
  Progress West of the Vire (15-19 July) 95
  East of the Vire: the Attack of 15 July 102
  The Battle on Martinville Ridge (16-17 July) 107
  Capture of St-Lô (18-19 July) 115
Conclusion 128
Abbreviations  

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Illustrations

  Page
Fifth Army's Leader 1
Field Intersection 3
Group of Commanders 5
Assault Crossing Site 12
The Bridge at St-Fromond 13
Vire-Taute Canal 16
Commanding General, 3d Armored Division 17
Tangled Traffic 21
Hedgerow Gaps 26
Close Country Favored the Defense 27
After the Counterattack 30
Route of Task Force Y 30
The Highway to Pont-Hébert 34
Poor Country for Tanks 39
A Pair of Panther Tanks 40
The Hauts-Vents Crossroad 43
View West From Hauts-Vents 45
German Mark V (Panther) Tank 46
Hedgerow Battlefield 47
Railway Station in St-Lô 49
Looking North Across St-Lô 52
29th Division Commander 54
Prongs for Hedgerow Work 56
Coming Through the Gap 56
Fixing Demolitions 57
View North From Hill 192 61
German Shelter 64
A Mine-field Casualty 66
35th Division Commander 69
German Antitank Guns 71
An Individual Firing Position 73
Martinville Ridge 77
Communications Problems 80
Machine-Gun Position 81
Hedgerow Defenses 83
German Macahine-Gun Position 83
Sunken Road 84
View From a German OP 85
The Pont-Hébert Bridge 90
Jump-Off Ground for COBRA 92
VII Corps Commander 96
German Mark IV Tank 99
A Defended Lane 101
The Martinville Ridge 104
Village of Emélie 105
La Madeleine Crossroads 112
Every Hedgerow was Defended 113
Going After Snipers 116
Entry Into St-Lô 118
Action in St-Lô 119
Ruins of St-Lô 120
Honor to a Leader 121
The Shell of a Norman City 122
Communications Through St-Lô 127

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Maps

No.   Page
1. Plan of Attack, 30th Division, 7 July 1944 10
2. Vire Crossing, 117th Inf., Positions at noon, 7 July 1944 11
3. The First Day's Bridgehead, Night positions, 7 July 1944 14
4. The Bridgehead, 8 July, Positions at the end of the day 18
5. Attack of 9 July, 30th Division 24
6. German Counterattack, Afternoon of 9 July 1944 28
7. Panzer Lehr Counterattack, 10-11 July 1944 32
8. Capture of Hauts-Vents, 11 July 1944 44
9. 29th Division Attack, 11 July 1944 55
10. The Attack on Hill 192, 2d Division, 11 July 1944 59
11. 23d Infantry at Hill 192, 11 July 1944 60
12. 35th Division, Attack, 11 July 1944 68
13. 29th Division, 12 July 1944 74
14. 29th Division, 13 July 1944 78
15. 35th Division, 12-14 July 82
16. German Positions on la Mare-le Carillon Nose 85
17. West of the Vire, 12-14 July 1944 88
18. West of the Vire, 30th Division, 15-16 July 1944 94
19. Final Gains, 30th Division, 17-19 July 1944 98
20. Battle East of St-Lô, 15-16 July 1944 103
21. 35th Division, 15-18 July 106
22. Fall of St-Lô, 17 -18 July 1944 111
  Maps I-VII are inside back cover  
I. Normandy Front, 2 July 1944  
II. First Army Zone, 2 July 1944  
III. XIX Corps Zone, 6 July 1944  
IV. First Army Zone, 3-11 July 1944  
V. XIX Corps, 11-14 July  
VI. XIX Corps, 15-20 July  
VII. First Army Zone, 11-20 July  

--vii--

Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Jerry Holden for the HyperWar Foundation