Chapter IV: Introduction

During the Northern France Campaign the expanding Allied forces reorganized. The Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force, moved to the Continent of Europe. The 21 Army Group was made up of the British Second and the Canadian First Armies. The 12th Army Group, composed of the First and Third U. S. Armies, became operational. In August 1944 Allied forces invaded southern France and moved northward to join those in northern France. This force, made up of the U. S. Seventh and French First Armies, made a junction with the northern group on 11 September. Also during this period the U. S. Ninth Army became operational and took over the reduction of the Brittany fortresses.

MEDIUM TANK M4A1, equipped with a hedgerow cutter, breaking
through a hedgerow. The build-up was continuing generally as
anticipated and the destruction of the enemy forces progressed.
On 23 July 1944 the Canadian First Army became operational
on the left flank of the Allied line. The Third U. S. Army
had begun moving to the Cotentin Peninsula on 5 July and was
proceeding on the right flank of the Allied line.]

75-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGES M8, partially concealed by a
hedgerow, preparing to fire on enemy positions near Marigny
(top). M5 light tanks pass through the streets of Coutances
(bottom). The first attack was launched on a narrow front across
the Périers road west of Saint-Lô. This attack was supported
by heavy artillery and aerial bombardment. While the spearhead
units advanced in the direction of Coutances, the rest of the
First U. S. Army was to exert strong pressure and harass any
attempted enemy withdrawal. Marigny was taken on 26 July and,
though the enemy resisted stubbornly while trying to keep a
corridor open for the withdrawing German forces, Coutances fell
on 28 July.]

ENGINEERS WEARING CAMOUFLAGE SUITS clean out a street in Canisy
(top). Infantry troops set up a 57-mm. antitank gun M1 (bottom).
Advances south from Saint-Lô reached Tessy-sur-Vire on 28 July,
while another attack farther east met with severe resistance in
the vicinity of Forêt de Cerisy. In the British-Canadian sector
the advance had been halted by a strong enemy belt of antitank
guns, dug-in tanks, and mortars.]

MAIL CALL AT THE FRONT (top). The receiving of mail was always
an important morale factor and every effort was made to get it
to the men as quickly as possible. Infantrymen reading German
propaganda leaflets during a rest period (bottom). German planes
dropped propaganda leaflets in an attempt to discourage the
Allies in their advances. These had little effect on the troops
and the advances continued with all possible speed.]

PRISONERS TAKEN BY THE ALLIES during the early part of August.
Many of the men of the enemy forces were non-Germanic, some
were Russians or members of Russian units who had been captured
by the Germans on the eastern front and sent to Normandy as
part of the enemy defense units. As the enemy retreat began to
degenerate into a disorderly rout many prisoners were taken, and
on 28 July 4,500 were captured.]

FRENCH WOMAN, returning to her home after the German withdrawal,
passes a knocked out self-propelled antitank gun (Pz. Jaeg. 38
with 7.5-cm. Pak. 40/3). Many of the civilians left their homes
and towns during the fighting and returned afterwards, often
to find that they had lost their homes during the artillery
shelling and aerial bombing. However, in some cases the civilian
population stayed in the towns during the fighting.]

MOTOR COLUMN ADVANCING ALONG A ROAD near Coutances. On 29 July
U. S. armored divisions trapped an enemy column about seven
miles southeast of Coutances. Fighter bombers came in and
attacked the closely jammed columns of vehicles destroying 137
tanks and over 500 other vehicles.]

AN ARMORED COLUMN led by a light armored car M8 stops for a few
minutes during its advance to Avranches (top). An M4 medium tank
moving through a street in Avranches (bottom). On 30 July an
armored division closely followed by an infantry division closed
in on Cranville. Another armored division entered Avranches and
secured two bridges across the Sée River. The break-through was
completed by 31 July, the area between Granville and Avranches
was cleared of enemy pockets of resistance, and the U. S. forces
struck southward in the direction of Villedieu.]

ARMORED VEHICLES FIRING ON ENEMY TROOPS during the advance
southward (top). Tanks and trucks of a French armored division
in the assembly area after landing and before starting south to
join the U. S. forces (bottom). On 1 August 1944, as the U. S.
forces poured around the crumpled German flank at Avranches, a
major revision was effected in the organization of the Allied
forces. The Third U. S. Army became operational and at the same
time the 12th Army Group headquarters also became operational
and assumed command of the First and Third U. S. Armies. The 21
Army Group was at this time made up of the British Second and
the Canadian First Armies.]

SÉE RIVER

AVRANCHES AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY. After the fall of the
city the Allied drive gained momentum and the advancing troops
swept out of Normandy. Turning toward the east and the west in
two attacks, the Allies drove to the German frontier and the tip
of the Brittany Peninsula.]

AMMUNITION BEING UNLOADED at an Ordnance dump after it had
been brought inland from the beach (top). During the advance
of the Allies south following the breakout from Normandy a
maximum effort was required to keep all the using units supplied
with ammunition. Tankers of an armored unit reloading their
.30-caliber ammunition belts during the drive southward (bottom).]

A BULLDOZER (tractor, earth moving crawler, diesel) pulling
a jeep from a crater (top). Engineers using a truck-mounted
revolving crane swing a section of a treadway bridge into place
over the Vire River near Pontfarcy (bottom).]

INFANTRYMEN TAKING A BREAK, their M1’s leaning against the wall
of a destroyed building. The Third U. S. Army drove southward
from Avranches on 1 August with the mission of clearing the
Brittany Peninsula and securing the ports. The attacks were
spearheaded by armored divisions against only scattered
opposition and by 3 August Loudéac was reached, infantrymen were
closing in on the fortress of Saint-Malo, armored units were
striking toward Vannes and Nantes, and Rennes had been captured.
The 21st Army Group and First U. S. Army met dogged enemy
resistance, but Mortain was occupied by the latter.]

AN INFANTRYMAN USING HIS HELMET AS A BASIN while washing at
a town pump. The weather during this period was hot and dry;
inland from the coast there was little fog. The advancing men
took every opportunity during the rapid advances to stop for a
quick wash.]

AN M4A1 MEDIUM TANK rolls through a battered French village.
After the rapid advances through the Brittany Peninsula, U. S.
forces were left in front of the main port cities to contain the
enemy. The Third U. S. Army turned eastward driving with strong
armored forces on the general axis of Laval-Le Mans-Chartres.
The terrain that would be encountered in a drive to the Seine
would be favorable for the use of armor, and the weather was
expected to be good. On 4 August Mayenne was captured and
contact with First U. S. Army units was established. During the
next five days the drive to the east continued for a distance of
85 miles and the cities of Angers and Le Mans were taken.]

INFANTRYMEN FIGHTING IN HEDGEROWS near Mortain. Shortly after
midnight on 7 August a German counterattack struck the U. S.
infantry division in the area of Mortain. By morning, when the
enemy had penetrated the First Army line some three or four
miles, Allied aircraft equipped with rockets attacked the enemy.
Three U. S. divisions were quickly shifted to the area and for
the next three days a fierce battle raged as the Germans tried
to cut the corridor through which the Third Army was advancing
onto the plains of western France. On 11 August, Mortain was
re-entered by the First Army.]

U. S. ARTILLERY OBSERVATION POST near Barenton, between Mortain
and Domfront. After the failure of the German counterattack in
the vicinity of Mortain the only alternative for the enemy was
to retreat, and a gradual withdrawal was made toward the Seine
River. During this period two simultaneous battles were fought:
one by First Army troops and those of 21 Army Group around the
Falaise-Argentan pocket, the other by the Third Army which was
driving hard to the Seine River.]

INFANTRYMEN OF THE FIRST ARMY advancing in the vicinity of
Sourdeval against the withdrawing enemy forces. The Canadian
First Army advancing southward along the Caen-Falaise road
was to join forces with the U. S. troops advancing eastward.
The Germans put up a strong defense against the Allied troops
advancing to encircle them.]

AN M 4 MEDIUM TANK, rolling into Dreux, passes a German
antitank gun (7.5-cm. Pak. 40). On 14 August the Third Army was
ordered to leave sufficient forces to hold Argentan and to take
advantage of the enemy’s disorganization by continuing the main
advance to the east. Advances were made against Dreux, Chartres,
and Orléans. On 15 August Dreux was captured and on 17 August
the First Army took over at Argentan. On 18 August the Third
Army forces swung north to seize crossings of the Seine River
below Paris and to begin the deep encirclement of the German
troops south of the river.]

TWO TYPES OF U. S. TRACKED VEHICLES, each mounting a 105-mm.
howitzer. 105-mm. howitzer motor carriage M7 (top); medium tank
M4A3 with 105-mm. howitzer (bottom).]

CONVOY CARRYING GASOLINE ALONG RED BALL HIGHWAY. These are
4–5-ton trucks (tractors) towing 2,000-gallon semitrailers
(top). A 12-ton truck towing a 45-ton trailer loaded with
ammunition, stops along Red Ball Highway (bottom). With the
resistance offered by the retreating enemy at a minimum during
this period, fuel was a more vital requisite than ammunition.
Approximately a million gallons of gasoline were needed at the
front every day to enable the armored columns to maintain their
headlong rate of advance.]

MILITARY POLICEMAN DIRECTS TRAFFIC ON RED BALL HIGHWAY. The
three essential supplies were food, ammunition, and gasoline,
and to get these to the armored spearheads as quickly as
possible a system known as the Red Ball Express was instituted.
By this, a circular one-way traffic route was established across
France from the beachheads to the fighting zone and back again.
All civilian and local military traffic was prohibited the use
of the Red Ball Highway, and along it the convoys swept at high
speed day and night.]

RAILROAD EQUIPMENT BEING UNLOADED FROM A SEATRAIN at Cherbourg.
Motor convoys could not handle the vast quantities of supplies
needed to maintain the Allied fighting forces and it was
necessary to supplement these convoys with rail transportation.
The first scheduled run was made between Cherbourg and Carentan
on 11 July 1944, using mostly salvaged French equipment. As soon
as the Cherbourg port facilities were sufficiently restored,
equipment was brought over from England and put into service.]

DESTROYED RAILROAD EQUIPMENT. So greatly had the French
railroads suffered that over 900 locomotives and a third of
the rolling stock used had to be supplied from Allied sources
in England. In addition to replacing locomotives and cars,
bridges had to be constructed, wrecked trains had to be cleared,
and tracks had to be replaced. Damage by Allied bombings at
every major junction and marshalling yard had to be repaired.
These tasks fell to men of the Corps of Engineers and the
Transportation Corps.]

AN INFANTRYMAN ARMED WITH AN M 1 RIFLE looks at two
German rocket launchers left behind by the enemy (8.8-cm.
Racketenpanzerbuchse). The German weapon was of larger caliber
and was heavier than the U. S. rocket launcher but similar in
appearance and operation.]

SIGNAL CORPS MAN OPERATING A SWITCHBOARD BD71. This small
switchboard weighed approximately fifty pounds, had six
lines, and was used with headset HS30, ear plugs, and chest
set microphone. The set was generally used by regiments and
smaller units. When the break-through came at the end of July
1944 the speed of the advances imposed a heavy strain on the
communications personnel. Spearhead units relied mostly on radio
communications, but a line net of great complexity was required
in the rear areas to cope with the amount of traffic involved.
Civilian communications were of limited value because of the
lack of maintenance during the years of war destruction, and
within four months of D Day the Allies laid over 100,000 circuit
miles of telephone line.]

A PORTION OF THE CITY OF FALAISE which was occupied on 17
August by Canadian First Army troops who had pushed down the
Caen-Falaise road. This city on the northeast corner of the
Falaise pocket was on the north corner of the encirclement in
which the German troops were trapped.]

A PORTION OF THE CITY OF ARGENTAN, the southeast corner of the
Falaise pocket. On 12 August the Third Army armored divisions
were at Argentan and Ecouché with infantry divisions in support.
The enemy struggled to escape from the pocket through the gap
between Falaise and Argentan and concentrated on removing his
armored units, leaving the infantry to hold off the Allies.
A considerable part of eight armored divisions managed to
escape from the closing Allied pincers but left behind a great
proportion of their equipment. On 20 August the trap was closed
on more than seven infantry divisions and parts of two armored
divisions. By 22 August the enemy in the pocket had been
eliminated.]

INFANTRYMEN PICKING THEIR WAY THROUGH DEBRIS and rubble
in Domfront in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. When the
Falaise-Argentan pocket was closed, Allied divisions inside the
pocket pressed in on the remnants of the German divisions.]

INFANTRYMEN FIRING ON THE ENEMY during the house-to-house
fighting in Saint-Malo (top). Infantrymen prepare to fire on
enemy positions in Saint-Malo with their .30-caliber Browning
machine gun M1917A1 (bottom). During the rapid advances to the
east, the fighting on the Brittany Peninsula was still going on.
On 17 August the last Germans in the citadel of Saint-Malo had
been captured, and the U. S. division taking the city was moved
to the southeast to cover the Loire flank west of Tours.]

THE HARBOR AT SAINT-MALO. In the strongly defended forts in and
around the harbor stubborn groups of Germans held out against
the U. S. attacking forces.]

SWABBING OUT THE BARREL OF AN 81-MM. MORTAR M 1 before firing.
During the battle of the Falaise-Argentan pocket U. S. artillery
poured shells of all calibers into the pocket, and Allied
aircraft hammered the Germans relentlessly.]

PREPARING TO FIRE A 60-MM. MORTAR M2. The intense artillery
fire and aerial bombing littered the countryside with all types
of German vehicles and equipment. German commanders were able
to control only small groups of their troops, so great was the
confusion.]

INFANTRYMEN, ARMED WITH CARBINES M1 AND RIFLE M1, discuss the
action in which they have taken part (top). Engineers of an
armored division relax in a French town during the advance of
the U. S. troops (bottom). In the battle of the Falaise-Argentan
pocket the Allies did not accomplish the utter destruction of
the German forces in Normandy, but the enemy troops were broken
as an effective fighting force and the way across France was
open. During this period enemy losses included 70,000 killed and
captured.]

MEN AND VEHICLES ADVANCING TOWARD PARIS (3-inch gun motor
carriage M10). Mopping-up the Falaise-Argentan pocket was
assigned to troops of the 21 Army Group, while the First Army
forces moved eastward. The Third Army was again moving eastward,
and by the evening of 25 August the Allies held most of the
Seine River west of Paris. On 15 August the Seventh U. S. Army
invaded southern France and moved northward to join forces with
the Allies in northern France.]

240-MM. HOWITZER M1 FIRING on one of the Brittany fortresses
(top). Cannoneers sight their 105-mm. howitzer M3, from a
camouflaged position, during the seige of Brest (bottom). By
25 August only the three fortresses of Brest, Lorient, and
Saint-Nazaire still offered resistance. A co-ordinated attack
was launched on Brest by three infantry divisions supported by
artillery of all calibers.]

INFANTRYMEN AND AID MEN ADVANCE ON BREST. In this area the
Germans blew up pillboxes to avoid their capture and some of the
U. S. attackers were killed or wounded in the blasts.]

A PORTION OF THE HARBOR AT BREST. This city on the Atlantic
Ocean, with its good docks and harbors, was desirable as a
supply port of entry. The enemy forces held out here until 18
September 1944, at which time the Allies had moved so far to
the east that the distance from Brest to the front lines was
too great to make Brest an important landing point. Also the
port was so badly damaged during the fighting that it became
practically useless.]

MEMBERS OF THE FRENCH RESISTANCE FIGHTING in the streets of
Paris. The Allies had originally intended to bypass Paris so
as to avoid its destruction in an assault. On 19 August 1944
fighting between the Germans and the French Forces of the
Interior broke out in the city. The French were soon in need of
relief, because of the shortage of ammunition, and Allied forces
were shifted to take the city. Meeting with little resistance,
a French armored division and a U. S. infantry division entered
the city and by noon on 25 August the German commander formally
surrendered.]

PARISIANS SCATTER as a German sniper fires at them during the
celebration of the Allied entry into Paris (top). U. S. troops
march down the Champs Elysées during a victory parade in Paris
(bottom). The last German resistance ceased in Paris on 27
August, and the next day the city was turned over to a French
general who was to be the military governor.]

AN 8-INCH GUN M1 BEING TOWED INTO POSITION by a high-speed
18-ton M4 tractor (top). The crew of an 8-inch howitzer fires
on the enemy across the Seine River (bottom). The Canadian
First Army cleaned up the enemy pockets west of the Seine by 31
August, and the U. S. forces regrouped to pursue the enemy east
of the river and begin their drive toward Germany.]

TOWED 155-MM. GUNS M 1 CROSS A BAILEY BRIDGE over the Seine. U.
S. troops advanced northeast from the Seine River bridgeheads to
take Reims and Châlons-sur-Marne.]

3-INCH GUN AND .50-CALIBER MACHINE GUN of an M10 tank destroyer
fire on enemy troops trying to destroy a Marne River bridge.
On 26 August Château-Thierry was captured. On 28 August
Châlons-sur-Marne was taken and the following day Reims fell.]

AN M4A1 TANK passes a burning German vehicle. By 30 August
Saint-Dizier was reached and on 31 August the ground east of the
Meuse River near Commercy was seized while Verdun was captured
and the Meuse River crossed in that area. At the end of August
the drives of the First and Third U. S. Armies were slowed down
by lack of fuel.]

ENGINEERS LAYING A GASOLINE PIPELINE in France. In an effort to
transport fuel to the front-line units of the Allies, three fuel
pipelines were laid across France. This also relieved the road
traffic which became more and more congested as the number of
Allied troops in France increased.]

MEDICAL AID MEN MOVE UP UNDER FIRE to give first aid to a
wounded infantryman (top). A wounded German is given medical aid
by U. S. soldiers (bottom), by 3 September first army troops had
cleared most of the army’s zone south of the Belgian border.
On that day the remnants of twenty disorganized divisions were
trapped before they could reach the Belgian border and 25,000
men were quickly liquidated. The British entered Brussels on 3
September and were also closing in on Le Havre, one of the major
port cities on the coast.]

A LIGHT ARMORED CAR M8 ENTERING BELGIUM. On 1 September 1944,
Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), was
established at Versailles and assumed the active direction of
the 12th and 21 Army Groups. During this period the main problem
was that of supplying the racing armored columns since the only
points of entry were the beaches and Cherbourg, a distance too
far removed from the Allied forces advancing to the German
frontier. By early September supply trucks were traveling 600 to
900 miles in round trips to carry fuel, ammunition, and rations
to the combat units.]

75-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGES M8 in Belgium (top). 155-mm. gun
motor carriage M12 firing in Belgium (bottom). In spite of the
shortage of supplies the pursuit of the enemy continued between
4 and 14 September 1944, with the greatest Allied gains being
made on the northern front. On 4 September the British forces
captured the port city of Antwerp, one of the greatest prizes
of the war. On 12 September the city of Le Havre surrendered.
These two cities were of extreme importance because of their
port facilities and their nearness to the battle front. In both
harbors the enemy had carried out measures to render the ports
useless, but they were not too badly damaged to prevent repair.]

LIGHT ARMORED CAR M8 of a reconnaissance unit stops during its
drive through Belgium toward the border of the Netherlands
(top). Advancing infantrymen ride on a 3-inch gun motor carriage
M10 (bottom). By 14 September 1944 the sustained drive of the
First Army had stopped and the Germans were fighting on their
own soil for the first time in many years.]

INFANTRYMEN MOVING AN ASSAULT BOAT down to the banks of the
Moselle River at Dornot (top); crossing the Moselle (bottom).
Efforts to obtain enough gasoline were generally unavailing and
most of the units of the Third Army were halted at the Moselle.
On 5 September a crossing was made north of Nancy while on 8
September another was made below Metz. The Germans made numerous
counterattacks and occupied the forts around Metz, determined to
hold the line in this area.]

BOEING B-17 FLYING THROUGH HEAVY FLAK over Germany en route to a
target (top). The Heinkel aircraft factory during an air attack
(bottom).]

MARTIN B-26’S RETURNING FROM A MISSION along the German border
in support of the Third Army’s ground attack. The medium bomber
in the upper foreground of the above picture had operated in the
ETO for some time, as is shown by the dark-painted fuselage. The
plane in the lower foreground has an unpainted fuselage which
enabled it to attain higher speeds.]

INFANTRY MEN CROSS THE MOSELLE as a ¼-ton truck carries wounded
men to the rear (top). M4A1 medium tank fording a canal
(bottom). On 10 September an attack was launched to secure
bridgeheads over the Moselle below Epinal, which was reached on
14 September. The city of Nancy fell on 15 September.]

INFANTRYMEN ADVANCING in the outskirts of Brest. While the Third
Army was battling a determined enemy on the Moselle, U. S.
forces were still trying to reduce the fortress of Brest. On 5
September the Ninth U. S. Army became operational in France and
assumed the task of eliminating the remaining fortresses on the
Brittany Peninsula.]

AN 8-INCH GUN M1 FIRING ON GERMAN INSTALLATIONS in Brest.
Artillery units attacking Brest were reinforced, mostly with
medium and heavy caliber guns and, after sufficient ammunition
had been accumulated, a strong attack was launched on 8
September by three infantry divisions.]

90-MM. GUN MOTOR CARRIAGE M36 firing at an enemy pillbox in
Brest (top). 76-mm. gun motor carriage M18 guarding a street
intersection in Brest (bottom). On 14 September the fortress of
Brest was still for the most part in German hands, despite all
efforts to reduce the strongly fortified positions.]

NEWLY CONSTRUCTED TREADWAY PONTOON BRIDGE over the Moselle River.
]

RHINELAND CAMPAIGN

15 September 1944–15 December 1944

The Allied Advance during the Rhineland Campaign 15 September
1944 to 21 March 1945]