On This Day In History

July 25, 1944 - Almost two months after the successful landings at Normandy, allied troops remained bottled-up in the mud and misery of the Bocage.  Norman hedgerow country where advances and retreats were measured in yards.   

Then and now.

 

Operation Cobra was conceived as a bold attempt at breaking-out and making it to open country and room for maneuver.  Key to the break-out called for a massive aerial bombardment of a narrow sector west of the battered town of Saint-Lô.  With more than 3000 planes this would be largest, concentrated bombing attempt in history.  Ninth Division troops - including dad's unit - had retreated from their forward positions to a bomb-safety line.  Shortly before 10 AM the bombardment commenced.  Middle-weight fighter bombers were followed by heavy bombers - carpet bombing an area 6000 yards wide along the Saint-Lô–Periers road.

Photo - US Army

Immediately things went awry.  Smoke from the bombing began to drift back towards the bomb-safety line obscuring the marker panels.  Flying crews released their clusters right into the smoke, missing their mark and falling short among friendly troops.  

The 47th Infantry of the 9th and the 120th Infantry of the 30th Division suffered more than six hundred casualties from friendly fire.  All but two individuals of Howard's 3rd battalion command group were killed.  The largest aerial bombardment in history also become one of the largest incidents of fratricide in US Army history.

Here's the bomb line...

^{On the Saint-Lô–Periers road - east is the town of Saint-Lô}

 

^{On the Saint-Lô–Periers road facing west - follow the D29 to the German cemetery}

From the memoirs of Howard Gaertner.

July 25th our bombers and fighters, over 3000 aircraft, hit the area about Saint-Lo.  This is still clearly imprinted in my mind.  Even though we were pulled back a good distance from the front - shock waves caused by the exploding bombs denuded many trees and bushes of their foliage.  Our trousers and jackets flapped as if we were caught in a hurricane.  We lost several of our comrades because ground panels we displayed to indicate our positions became obscured by the dust.  It was here that Art Draeving was killed.  Art and I trained together at Butner.  We were in the same platoon.  Art was a farm boy from central Wisconsin.  After the bombardment we moved out only to be greeted by the now-familiar sound of burp guns.

After advancing perhaps a quarter of a mile we came upon a deserted German aid station.  Much to our surprise we found six or seven dead German soldiers.  They obviously had been treated for their wounds.  One in particular was encased in a partial cast.  Apparently they died from their wounds and were left behind because of a hasty withdrawal and or lack of transport.

Lozon - liberated by the 47th's 3rd Battalion by nightfall on the 25th of July, 1944

Later we went into reserve.  This comes to mind for several reasons.  First, we were bivouacked just ahead of our artillery.  Second, a bloated, foul-smelling, dead cow graced our area.  I believe the entire company got together and buried the carcass in record time.  Also, it seems that during this brief respite the Mess Sergeant slaughtered a cow.  This was to be our first warm meal in some time.

Contented Norman cows today

A day or two later we were returned to action.  We made a forced march at night.  We became so dog tired that some of our group fell asleep while marching.  A tumble in the roadside ditch did wonders in providing a second wind.  Later that night, as we were crossing an open field, we got caught by the light of a parachute flare.  We froze and waited for the worse.  After a few seconds (that seemed like an eternity) we dashed for cover.

Against fierce resistance Howard's 3rd Battalion led the 47th's attack supported by artillery and fire from the 1st and 2nd Battalions.

Photo - US Army