Normandy
On July 1, 1944, a convoy of four troop ships and twelve motor transports steamed out of Belfast Harbor, carrying the 8th Division to the continent of Europe. On July 4, twenty-eight days after D-Day of the Normandy invasion, the Division began debarking at Omaha Beach on the Cherbourg peninsula. Two days later, it had assembled in the vicinity of Monteburg, where final preparations for battle were completed.
Allied invasion armies, at this time, held only a few square miles of the territory of France. The city of Cherbourg had recently fallen, and the Germans were driven from the northern tip of the peninsula to a point a few hundred yards north of La Haye du Puits. From there, the enemy line stretched westward through Carentan and St. Lo to Caen and the Orne River estuary. German resistance in most sectors was heavy, even against already achieved air superiority.
The plan for the VIII Corps, to which the 8th Division was assigned, was to attack to the south toward La Haye du Puits. The 8th Division was to pass through the 82nd Airborne Division, taking over the center of the Corps front. The main effort of the drive was to be made in this sector.
First Attack
Early on the morning of July 8, the Division jumped off on its first attack in the Battle of France. The 28th and 121st Regiments were on line, the 13th in reserve. A last-minute change in the VIII Corps order made it necessary for the men of the 121st Infantry to make an eight-hour march and go into the attack without rest. The first objective, the Ay River, was strongly defended by the Germans, and progress was slow. The Division had only advanced 1,000 yards, when enemy resistance stiffened. A counter-attack hit the 121st Infantry, but was repulsed with a night attack by the reserve battalion without loss of ground.
The attack began again the next morning. Again the enemy counter-attacked. During the afternoon of the third day the advance tempo quickened. There were indications of local withdrawals by the enemy. Troops of the 8th were quick to take advantage of this opportunity. Infantry elements isolated small pockets of Germans, by-passed them and forged ahead. Corps Cavalry then cleaned up the disorganized enemy elements.
During the following three days, however, the enemy continued to resist all attempts to break through his lines. German machine gun fire was heavy, and mortars were accurate. During a break in communications, the 3rd Battalion, 28th Infantry, advanced approximately 1,000 yards beyond its adjacent units, thereby exposing its flanks. Before contact could be re-established, the enemy counterattacked in strength and badly mauled Company L. On the morning of July 13, the 28th Infantry was placed in Division reserve. The 13th Infantry passed through that zone of action and went into the attack for the first time. Progress was still slow, but on the following day, both assaulting regiments reached the north bank of the Ay River. Here, under instructions from VIII Corps, they held their positions.
Battle-Tried
The 8th Division had been through its first action of World War II. It had reached its first objective and suffered its first casualties. The territory it had taken was slight; the advance had been slow. The lessons learned, however, were many. Commanders and troops had become battle-wise to the enemy's tactics. Hedgerows had become as familiar as the hills of Missouri and Northern Ireland.
When the Division first went into action, artillery laid down a heavy barrage immediately before each day's attack. Soon it was discovered that this fire only alerted the enemy. The barrage was omitted, artillery laying down heavier harassing fires until the time of attack, and then continuing its support by neutralizing and knocking out strongpoints uncovered by attacking infantry. It was also learned that contact between adjacent units was frequently lost; flanks were exposed; and enemy counterattacks took a heavy toll in men and material.
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French residents flock to streets of Sartilly, in Normandy, to welcome 8th Division doughboys moving through in pursuit of fleeing Germans. |
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Casualties throughout the action were heavy, as might be expected among troops in combat for the first time. The Assistant Division Commander, Brigadier General Nelson Walker, was seriously wounded while at the front, during the second day of action. He died early the following morning. Maj. James P. Mallory assumed command of the 2nd Bn. 121st Infantry that spearheaded the attack of that regiment until he was killed in action. Lt. Colonel Augustine D. Dugan, battalion commander of the 121st infantry, though seriously wounded, refused to be evacuated until the action had ended. On July 11, the Division Commander, Maj. General William C. McMahon was succeeded by Brig. General Donald A. Stroh. Shortly after this, Colonel John R. Jeter and Kenneth B. Anderson succeeded Colonels Albert H. Peyton and Lester A. Webb as regimental commanders of the 121st and 28th Infantry respectively.
During the following eleven days, the Division continued to hold its position, waiting for the VIII Corps under which would begin a new general offensive. Artillery continued to shell enemy positions across the Ay River. Air bombardment leveled numerous German strongpoints. At night, Division Artillery lifted its fire to allow patrols to reconnoiter south of the River and to clear gaps in enemy mine fields. The 709th Tank Battalion and the 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion were attached to the Division. Members of the 8th Division Band became combatants, serving as military police or signal company linesman during the period of fighting.
Each night, shortly after darkness, the enemy sent over lone aircraft, usually reconnaissance planes, which attempted to detect troop movements by dropping flares. Occasionally there were also strafing attacks. Enemy artillery continued to harass the troops, and on one occasion it became necessary to shift the Division command post to avoid the nightly shelling.
The Ay River
Finally, after several tentative dates for the offensive had been announced and subsequently cancelled, the attack was set for 0530, July 26. The line of the Ay River, from its mouth to the bridge at Lessay, was so swampy and so strongly defended that an advance southward by the 79th Division, which held this sector, was impossible. The Lessay bridge had been destroyed, and the only ford crossing the River was so heavily mined and covered by hostile machine gun fire that it could not be used.
Similarly, along the eastern flank of the line, the sector of the 90th Division, the ground was swampy and strongly held by the Germans. On the entire Corps front, only a segment in the center, approximately two kilometers in width, was practicable for an attack. This was the front of the 8th Division.
The VIII Corps plan of attack was to have the 8th Division push forward, overcome the strong enemy defenses to the south, and established a bridgehead between the south bank of the Ay River and the Lessay Perier railway. The 79th Division was to follow the 8th through this gap, fan out to the southwest, and take out the German defenses along the western sector of the river line from the flank.
Similarly, the 90th Division was to take advantage of the breakthrough by the 8th Division, by-pass the German strongpoints to the east, and continue to attack to the southeast. The success of the entire Corp attack depended on the ability of the 8th Division to break through the German defenses.
Breakthrough
Both assaulting regiments, the 28th and 121st, jumped off as scheduled. The enemy established an observation post in the tower of a church which afforded observation of most of the Division sector of advance. Requests for air bombardment of the church were denied. Corps and Division Artillery fired on the tower for two days before it was finally relinquished by the enemy.
The 28th, attacking with the 1st and 2nd Battalions forward, met resistance immediately. As it advanced, its front lines became irregular, and it was necessary to halt for reorganization. A second attack penetrated the enemy's defensive position, and the 28th reached the Lessay-Periers road, making untenable the entire enemy position across the Corps front.*
* For their part in this action, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 28th Infantry have been recommended for the Presidential Citation. At this writing, recommendation has not yet been acted upon.
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French civilians and men of the 8th Division look at the damage caused during the liberation of Rennes, France from German yoke. |
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The 121st Infantry reported no resistance initially, but in the afternoon it was evident that the report was overly optimistic. One battalion had actually been pushed back across the Ay River to the original line of departure. It was planned that on the following day the 28th Infantry would hold its position until the 121st came abreast. At this time both regiments were to attack again.
The plan was carried out. The 121st, meeting little resistance, came abreast of the 28th at 1400 that afternoon. At 1500, the coordinated attack began, and the only resistance encountered was light artillery and mortar fire, and heavy mine fields. This day was the beginning of the mass retreat of the German Seventh Army.
The mission of the 8th Division had been completely accomplished. The 79th and 90th Divisions followed through the gap in the enemy lines, fanned out to the west and east respectively, and joined in the pursuit of the fleeing enemy. American Armor drove into the breakthrough area created by the infantry elements and began lightning thrusts through Brittany and Eastern France, which were to sweep beyond Paris to the frontiers of Germany.
Pursuit
Resuming the advance on the morning of July 28th, the 8th Division proceeded rapidly against light resistance, until it had taken all objectives. In the days immediately following, pursuit of the enemy continued. The 4th and 6th Armored Divisions had passed through the VIII Corps sector. Closely following them, in route column, was the 8th Division. South through Coutances, and Avranches the march continued, until the Division, less Combat Team 13, reached an assembly area southeast of Avranches. The 445th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battalion, attached to the Division, assisted the advance by protecting the advancing columns from air attack. Combat Team 13, which had been motorized and attached to the 4th Armored Division, was sent ahead to secure the towns of La Jourdaniere and La Mourdraquiere. It rejoined the Division in the assembly area on August 1st.
During the following days, the Division continued to move southward, clearing out small pockets of resistance and securing road nets and vital installations along the route of march. Combat Team 13 was again attached to the 4th Armored Division on August 2nd, and transported south to St. Aubin D'Aubigne, eleven miles north of Rennes. By nightfall of August 3rd, the 8th Division, less Combat Team 13, had reached St. James.
On the morning of August 4th, the Division continued the movement by motor. Combat Team 13, having reached St. Aubin D'Aubigne, and discovering that the enemy had withdrawn from Rennes, passed through that city and occupied the heights south of it. By 1100, the situation was so favorable that the Division Commander ordered the remaining elements of the Division to move to an assembly area near Betten, slightly northeast of Rennes. By 2200, outposts were set up defending all roads and railroads leading into the city.
Until August 13th, the 8th Division, less the 121st Infantry, which remained near St. James under VIII Corps control, continued its mission of holding and defending Rennes. During this period, it maintained road blocks, cleared rubble and obstacles from the streets, and engaged in extensive patrolling. Although some prisoners were taken, no contact was made with organized enemy forces. On August 8th, the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry, was attached to the 6th Armored Division, operating in the direction of Brest.
121st Takes Dinard
The 121st Infantry, under VIII Corps control, was attached, on August 6th, to the 83rd Infantry Division, and immediately began movement by motor to Dinard. Near Tremereuc, on the following day, it encountered determined resistance. Road blocks and heavy machine gun fire forced the Regiment to detruck and fight its way forward. Scarcely was the attack underway when the enemy showed that he was prepared to offer the most determined resistance. From concrete pillboxes, protected by formidable tank obstacles and numerous minefields and barbed wire entanglements, the Germans fought back. Enemy mortar and machine gun fire was severe, and several tanks were encountered.
On August 9th, the 3rd Battalion was cut off from the Regiment. For three days it withstood almost incessant artillery bombardment and repeated attempts by the enemy to annihilate it, suffering many casualties, but throwing the enemy back every time he attacked. Two artillery liaison planes flew over the position, successfully dropping blood plasma, and then collided in mid air, destroying both planes and killing all occupants. Late in the afternoon of August 12th, contact with the "lost Battalion" was regained. The Regiment then drove through the remaining enemy defenses, occupied Dinard on August 14th, mopped it up on the 15th, and reverted again to 8th Division control.
The Division, meanwhile, had moved to an assembly area near Dinan, where it remained until August 17th. On August 14th, a task force, composed mainly of the 3rd Battalion, 28th Infantry, moved to the Cap Frehel peninsula, farther east in Brittany, to take over positions held by French Forces of the Interior, and reduce the enemy. It was joined on August 15th by the remainder of Combat Team 28. Before noon of that day, the enemy surrendered. Three hundred prisoners were taken.
On August 17th, the remaining elements of the Division began movement to an assembly area near Brest. There, for three days, operations were confined to patrolling. Then, on August 21st, the Division closed into its sector and awaited orders to attack.
Brest
At Brest, an estimated 50,000 enemy troops were trapped within an arc drawn tightly around the city and its port, the second largest in France. The German Commander of the port, Lt. General Hermann Bernhard Ramcke, was a ruthless soldier who had previously led the German airborne invasion of the Island of Crete. He was under direct orders from Adolph Hitler to hold out for at least four months, and had already refused two Allied demands for his surrender. The troops under his command included three German divisions, the 266th, 343rd and 2nd Paratroop, and a number of marine units and labor battalions. The defenses of the old city on the top of the Brittany peninsula were as formidable a series of strongpoints and obstacles as were encountered anywhere in France. They were bolstered by numerous heavy coast artillery guns which had been turned around to fire inland.
The three divisions of the American VIII Corps, the 2nd, 29th and 8th, were assigned to the battle for Brest. Tremendous artillery strength was brought in to assist in the attack. The Corps plan of attack was to use all three divisions to close in on the German defenders from three sides. The 2nd Division was to attack from the northeast; the 29th from the northwest; and the 8th was to make the main effort with a frontal attack from the north.
Attack
Shortly before midnight on August 24th, elements of the 13th and 28th Regiments, on line for the 8th, began infiltrating toward preliminary objectives from which the attack was to jump off. The offensive began shortly after noon of the following day. Before nightfall, an advance of 1200 yards had been made against heavy resistance. The next morning, the attack was resumed. In the face of an enemy deeply entrenched and employing intense small arms automatic weapons, mortar and light artillery fire, only slight gains could be achieved.
Enemy resistance increased during the succeeding three days. After slight advances, the 13th and 28th Infantry Regiments consolidated their gains and strengthened their positions. They repulsed numerous counterattacks and sent out patrols to the south. On August 26th, Lt. Colonel Edmund Fry, commander of the 12th Engineer Combat Battalion was captured by the enemy, only to escape by sea and rejoin his battalion on the Crozon peninsula nineteen days later. On the morning of August 29th, the enemy in the sector of the 3rd Battalion, 28th Infantry, called a truce to evacuate wounded. Previously, two companies of the 2nd Battalion, 28th Infantry, had advanced beyond their adjacent units, been cut off and captured by the Germans. Following the truce, it was found that communications with these two companies had been cut. Several weeks later, after Brest had capitulated, these two companies were freed by men of their own unit from a German prisoner of war enclosure on the Crozon peninsula, south of the harbor of Brest, and returned to their unit.
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Men of the 12th Combat Engineer Battalion complete a Bailey Bridge over a ravine near Lambzellec, France, on the road to Brest. |
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On August 30th, Brig. General Stroh was promoted to the rank of Major General. That day and the next, the 8th Division consolidated further small gains and regrouped. The 121st Infantry, which had been in reserve, went forward to relieve the 28th. On August 31st, the 8th prepared for a coordinated Corps attack which was to include also the 2nd Division. A road in the vicinity of the town of Kergroas was the objective.
On the following day, when the attack was begun, this objective was quickly seized. Besides cleaning out strong enemy pockets of resistance in the villagers of Kergroas and Kergaclet, this action materially assisted the 2nd Division in the capture of the town of Fourneuf.
Lambezellec Ridge
The next day, attacks by the 13th and 121st Infantry Regiments forced the enemy to withdraw. A serious limitation in artillery ammunition prevented the carrying out of any large scale offensive action. Because of this, activities for the next three days were confined to patrolling and holding of occupied positions. On September 8th, with an improvement in the supply of artillery ammunition, the 121st Infantry attacked and seized the eastern end of the strongly defended Lambzellec ridge. The 121st then advanced toward the town of Lambzellec, and by noon was fighting in the streets. The 13th Infantry advanced abreast to positions from which it supported the attack of the 121st.
On September 10th, having passed through Lambzellec, the 121st was confronted with Fort Bouguen. This was a formidable work of thick walls, twenty to thirty feet in height, surrounded by a dry moat, twenty feet deep. Within the Division zone, the western extremity of those walls rested on the Penfeld River. It was pierced only by one narrow entrance. Once through this wall, it would still be necessary to pass through two tunnels and across two narrow ridges. Moreover, between the river and the inside of the wall was a steep cliff.
Such an obstacle could not be assaulted by infantry without artillery fire or extensive engineer demolitions having first breached the wall. Detailed examination of the plans of the fort and photographs of it indicated that engineer demolitions were impracticable. Therefore, on September 11th, heavy artillery fire was directed on the wall. This fire failed to make an appreciable breach and the VIII Corps Commander decided to suspend further operations against that portion of the inner defenses, and to contain the enemy within Fort Bouguen, while efforts were renewed farther east. He therefore directed that elements of the 2nd Infantry Division relieve the 8th Division in front of the fort.
Accordingly, on September 12th, the 13th and 121st Infantry Regiments withdrew to a temporary assembly area near Plouvien. Two days earlier, the 28th Infantry, less the 2nd Battalion which remained in Division reserve, had been moved toward Guilorn to relieve elements of the 29th Division, which had been making only limited progress in its sector. When the 29th had regrouped, the 28th Infantry rejoined the other elements of the 8th Division.
Crozon
At this time, the 8th Division was sent to the Crozen peninsula, reportedly a strongly-held finger of land which would menace the port of Brest even after it had been taken. On the Crozon peninsula, Tank Force A, under command of Brig. General Herbert L. Earnest, had been holding the Germans west of a line about fifteen miles from the four tips of the peninsula. The enemy forces had prepared strong defenses. Crozon was expected to be a tough nut to crack, and when the Division moved into its attack positions on September 14, it had attached, in addition to its normal attachments, Task Force A. This organization consisted of the 1st Tank Destroyer Group, the 35th Field Artillery Group, the 83rd Armored Field Artillery, and the 15th and 17th Cavalry.
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13th Medics—Bronze Star Awards—Normandy. |
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West of the line of departure, two main ridges ran parallel to the axis of the peninsula to a point where it branched into four fingers. A stream ran between the two ridges. The 28th Infantry was given the mission of advancing along the north ridge. An air field near Lanvenoc was expected to be stubbornly defended. The 121st Infantry was to take the south ridge, passing through the city of Crozon. The 13th Infantry was in reserve. Task Force A, with a zone down the center of the valley, was to advance as infantry elements cleared the dominating ridges, and mop up remaining pockets of resistance.
On the morning of September 15th, after a strong barrage by heavy and light artillery and chemical mortars, the attack began. In the zone of the 28th Infantry, the 3rd Battalion led the attack. By 0930 it was approaching the hamlet of St. Eflez. The 3rd Battalion and the 1st following it were under heavy flanking fire from the south ridge. All officers of Company L became casualties. Tech Sergeant Charles E. Ballance reorganized the company and took command. He was killed by a sniper the next day. In the vicinity of St. Eflez, resistance grew so fierce that it was apparent that the main line of enemy defenses had been reached.
On the south ridge, Company G, 121st Infantry, led the column of companies in which the battalion attacked. After a short advance, the attacking troops met small arms and automatic fire of such intensity that it left no doubt that here the enemy intended to hold to the last. The ground was flat and open, giving the enemy good observation.
On the night of September 15th, German counterattacks on both ridges were repulsed. At 0700 the following morning, the attack was renewed under cover of a dense fog, which was to furnish an effective mask for each morning of the Crozon action. In the 28th Infantry sector, the 1st Battalion was moved up on the right of the 3rd. Although the advance for the day was slight, it penetrated the enemy's line. Numerous strongpoints had been reduced and 150 prisoners taken.
Two enemy documents were secured which had a far reaching effect on the campaign. Pfc Ervin D. Lammley of the Intelligence Section, 3rd Battalion, recognized at once the importance of a map he found while searching prisoners. It showed complete gun positions of all enemy artillery on the peninsula. Before daylight, 8th Division Artillery had laid effective fire on these positions. In the opinion of senior officers of the regiment, the resulting loss to the Germans of their artillery was a decisive factor in their swift defeat.
On the evening of the same day, a complete field order, giving the enemy plan for defense of the peninsula, was taken from a captured German officer. With it went the enemy's confidence and reliance on his defense plan. Strongpoints remained to be broken, but through bypassing them, the Division advanced at such speed that the Germans never succeeded in reforming a line of resistance. A fort which had been considered formidable fell to the fire of one machine gun. Once having broken the main line, the 121st took objectives with a speed that baffled and harried Germans. Before the town of Crozon was reached, effective enemy resistance had collapsed.
By the afternoon of Sept. 17th, the shaft of the peninsula was in 8th Division hands. It was time to plan the cleaning out of the branching fingers of the western extremity. The ground was dominated by Hill 70, in the zone of advance of Task Force A. The task force had been following up the advance of the two regiments, but was hampered by the nature of the terrain and the lack of a road not in its zone. Consequently it had fallen behind. The 3rd Battalion, 13th Infantry, was therefore given the mission of securing this key to the last phase of the Crozon campaign.
On the night of December 17-18, a reinforced platoon of Company L, 13th Infantry, outposted Hill 70 without finding evidence of any Germans. The first light of dawn, however, revealed the position of the enemy, who had believed himself in a secure position. In their bewilderment at finding themselves infiltrated, the Germans became panicky. Sergeant Will R. Wheeler of Company L, in charge of a combat patrol of little more than a squad, took more than a hundred prisoners, and marched them down the hill to where the main body of Company L was advancing to attack. Before 0900 on the morning of September 18th, the 3rd Battalion had occupied the essential hill. The mop-up of the fingers of the peninsula proceeded as planned. Later that day, Lt. General Erwin Rauch, Commander of the Crozon peninsula force of Germans was captured.
Four forces, acting almost as independent combat commands, accomplished the final phase of the campaign. Task Force A reduced the Cap du Chevre sub-peninsula to the south. The 28th Infantry, driving west, cleared the Camaret Point. On the north, the 2nd Ranger Battalion, which had been attached to the Division on September 17th, mopped up the Le fret area, and the 13th took over the task of smashing through the massive wall and Old Fort guarding the large north finger, the Point Des Espagnoles.
These Are My Credentials
The 3rd Battalion, 13th Infantry, attacked after an artillery preparation of an hour's duration. The doughboys caught the Germans coming out of their shelters and took them captive before they could reach their positions. As the assault companies drove north, the reserve company, Company I, was left to clear out a strip of beach containing pillboxes and coastal guns. A platoon commander, 1st Lieutenant James M. Dunham, leading his men through these knolls and emplacements, saw Germans waving white flags. A German medical officer announced in perfect English that General Ramcke was in a dugout below, and would like to talk terms with the American Commanding Officer. Ramcke, Commander of the Port of Brest until its surrender a few days previous, was rumored to have fled to the Crozon peninsula.
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Lt. General Herman Bernhard Ramcke, commander of the German garrison at Brest, is brought before Maj. General D. A. Stroh and members of the 8th Division staff after his capture on the Crozon peninsula. |
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Brig. General Canham, Assistant Division Commander, and Colonel Robert A. Griffin, 13th Infantry Commander, together with Dunham and Lt. Colonel Earl L. Lerette, 3rd Battalion Commander, arrived at the dugout. They were escorted down a concrete stairway about seventy-five feet underground, where General Ramcke was waiting.
The Nazi commander addressed General Canham through his interpreter: I am to surrender to you. Let me see your credentials."
"These are my credentials," Canham replied, pointing outside to doughboys crowding the dugout entrance.
Early that evening, a truce was signed, and all German resistance on the Crozon peninsula ceased. In four days of swift advance, the units of the 8th Division took more than seven thousand prisoners.
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This page last updated on Friday, May 23, 2003 at 08:16 PM
