Cover,  Utah Beach to Cherbourg
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UTAH BEACH TO CHERBOURG
(6 June-27 June 1944)

 

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CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 1990


First printed by the Historical Division, War Department, for the American Forces in Action series, 1948

CMH Pub 100-12

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C., 20402


 


Department of the Army
Historical Division

Washington 25, D.C.
1 October 1947

Utah Beach to Cherbourg, thirteenth in the series called AMERICAN FORCES IN ACTION, is the last of three narratives dealing with the U.S. military operations in Normandy. Intended as a companion volume to OMAHA BEACHHEAD, published in 1946, the present study rounds out the account of the landings at corps-level and below and relates the course of VII Corps combat operations which resulted in the capture of Cherbourg on 27 June 1944. The third volume, ST-LO, relates the operations of a single corps in the First Army's offensive during the first three weeks in July, designed to deepen the lodgment area preparatory to the great breakthrough from Normandy.

Utah Beach to Cherbourg is the work of Maj. Roland G. Ruppenthal, member of the 2d Information and Historical Service, attached to the First Army. The manuscript was edited under the supervision of Lt. Gordon Harrison of the Historical Section, European Theater of Operations, and in the Historical Division, War Department Special Staff. Although as published this book contains no documentation, the original manuscript, fully documented, is on file in the Department of the Army. The sources on which the narrative is based consist primarily of the official records of the units involved and of data collected by the writer and other historical officers in the field through interviews with participants in the action. Material on the enemy was derived chiefly from the War Diary of the German Seventh Army, which was captured in August 1944 by Polish forces at Falaise; from interviews with high- ranking German commanders; and from the war diaries of divisional units encountered in the Cotentin Peninsula. Of the American division records, only those of the 9th and 4th Divisions constitute adequate historical evidence. Only the barest outline of the 79th Division's operations was obtainable from official documents, and there were only scattered official records of the two airborne divisions. The gap in the records of the airborne division was largely filled by voluminous material gathered in interviews by Col. S.L.A. Marshall in the field shortly after the action. Supplementary data on the 9th and 4th Divisions were gathered by the author in the field, and additional material on the 4th Division made available by its historian, Lt. Col. William T. Gayle. No interviews were held in the 90th Division, and in the 79th Division a first-hand account of one regiment's action was not obtained until 1947. The paucity of material on these two division was keenly felt because of the inadequacy of their official records.

vi

The maps were prepared in the Cartographic Section of the Historical Division, under the supervision of Mr. Wsevolod Aglaimoff. Photographs were selected by Capt. Robert Bodell from the following sources: Army Signal Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, Acme News Pictures, The Associated Press, and Life.

vii


CONTENTS
(NB: Click on Thumbnail Images of Maps for Full Size Resolution
Photographs have been omitted from this internet edition)

 
Page
Foreword to CMH Edition (1990)
iii
   
Foreword from 1948 Edition
v
   
LAUNCHING THE INVASION
1
  Tactical Aspects of the Terrain
Enemy Defenses
The VII Corps Plan
Mounting the Operation
3
4
7
12
   
THE AIRBORNE ASSAULT
14
  The 101st Airborne Division Lands
Fighting for the Northern Beach Exits
Capture of the Southern Beach Exits
Securing the Southern Flank
The 82d Airborne Division Astride the Merderet
The Capture of Ste. Mere-Eglise
Along the Merderet
The Airborne Divisions at the End of D Day
14
17
20
23
30
31
34
41
   
THE SEABORNE ASSAULT
43
  Task Force U Moves In
Clearing the Beaches
The 4th Division Pushes Inland
The Landing in Retrospect
German Reaction to the Landings
43
47
50
55
57
   
SECURING THE BEACHHEAD (D PLUS 1)
61
  The 82nd Division at Ste. Mire-Eglise
The 12th and 22d Infantry Regiments Pursue Their D-Day Objectives
The Southern Flank on D Plus 1
The Beachhead at the End of D Plus 1
61
65
71
74
   
THE BATTLE FOR CARENTAN (8-15 JUNE)
77
  St. Come-du-Mont
The Causeway Attack
The Left-Win, Attack on Carentan
Securing Carentan
77
78
87
90
   
ix
   

BREAKING THE GERMAN LINE IN THE NORTH

95
  The Penetration at Ecausseville
The Montebourg-le Ham Highway
The Advance Toward Montebourg
Crisbecq and Azeville
Ozeville
The Capture of Quineville
The Enemy Situation
95
100
103
104
107
110
115
   
SECURING THE DOUVE LINE
119
  Crossing the Merderet
The 90th Takes Over the Attack
The 9th Division Is Committed
Attack Along the Douve River Line
119
125
131
136
   
SEALING OFF THE PENINSULA
141
  The 9th Division Cuts the Escape Routes
The Enemy Gamble
142
145
   
THE DRIVE ON CHERBOURG
150
  The First Day
Advance to the Fortified Line
German Defenses in the Hilly North
The Corps Front on 21 June
151
158
164
165
   
THE FORTRESS IS BREACHED
171
  The Final Drive Begins
The Right Flank
The Center
The Left Flank
172
173
177
179
   
THE FALL OF CHERBOURG
183
  The City Is Reached
The Drive Into the City
Organized Resistance Ends
183
187
193
   
APPENDIX A:
Clearing the Cap Levy and Cap de la Hague Areas
201
   
APPENDIX B:
Battle Casualties Sustained by VII Corps, 6 June-1 July 1944
209
   
APPENDIX C: Allied Chain of Command and Order of Battle
211
   
APPENDIX D: Enemy Chain of Command and Order of Battle
213
   
x
   
   
 
Maps
No.
 
Page
 
1.
Enemy Forces in Cotentin Peninsula as Estimated Prior to D Day
2
2.
Allied Assault Routes, 6 June 1944
13
3.
502d Parachute Infantry on D-Day, 1st and 3d Battalions
16
4.
506th Parachute Infantry and 3d Battalion, 501st, on D Day
23
5.
501st Parachute Infantry on D Day, 1st and 2d Battalions
26
6.
505th at Ste. Mere-Eglise, 6 June 1944
32
7.
D Day Along the Merderet, 82d Airborne Division
36
8.
4th Infantry Division on D Day
49
9.
VII Corps Beachhead, End of D Day
57
10.
Enemy Forces in Cotentin Peninsula as They Actually Were on D Day
58
11.
Securing Ste. Mere-Eglise, D + 1, 7 June 1944
62
12.
12th and 22d Infantry, D + 1, June 1944
64
13.
101st Airborne Division on D + 1, 7 June 1944
70
14.
VII Corps Beachhead, End of D + 1
73
15.
Attack on St. Come-du-Mont, 8 June 1944
76
16.
Attack on Carentan: The Causeway Fight, 10--11 June 1944
80
17.
Attack on Carentan: The Left Flank, 10-11 June 1944
86
18.
The Fall of Carentan, 12 June 1944
88
19.
German Counterattack on Carentan, 13 June 1944
90
20.
Ecausseville and le Ham, 8-11 June 1944
94
21.
The Normandy Beachhead, 14 June 1944
112
22.
508th at Chef-du-Pont, 8-9 June 1944
120
23.
The la Fiere Bridgehead, 9 June 1944
122
24.
90th Division West of the Merderet, 10-13 June 1944
127
25.
VII Corps Front, Night 18/19 June 1944
148
26.
4th Division Attack, 19 June 1944
152
27.
Clearing Cap de la Hague Peninsula, 28 June--1 July 1944
202
 

Maps I - XIV, plus maps 2,4,8,9,14, and 24, were distributed
in an attached envelope

 
I.
Cotentin Peninsula
II.
Airborne Plan, 6 June 1944
III.
VII Corps Objective, D Day
IV.
4th Division Plan, 6 June 1944
V.
101st Airborne Division Drop Pattern
VI.
82d Airborne Drop Pattern, 6 June 1944
VII.
Utah Beach: 8th Infantry Landing Plan
VIII.
Drive to Quineville Ridge: First Phase, 8-11 June 1944
IX.
Drive to Quineville Ridge: Second Phase, 12-14 June 1944
X.
Securing the Douve Line, 14-16 June 1944
XI.
Cutting the Peninsula, 9th Division, 17-18 June 1944
XII.
VII Corps Objectives, 19 June 1944
XIII.
The Advance North, 19-21 June 1944
XIV.
The Final Drive on Cherbourg, 22-26 June 1944
 
xiii

 


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