On 21 July, ground commanders of the allied forces in France and allied air commanders from Great Britain met to discuss the plan to break through the Nazi resistance and move into France. This massive planned assault was to be called Cobra. The plan had a large deception ploy, which was the creation of an imaginary army in England. This massive, fictitious army was to be led by General George Patton. The preparations for the high-risk plan began the following day. All units would pull back, to reduce the risk of being struck by shorts. A short is when allied bombs are released early, striking allied positions. Sherman tanks were to be fitted with “tusk like” angle iron. The tusks purpose was to dig into the hedgerows, reducing exposure of the weak be

Early on 25 July airplane props could be heard approaching the target area. This day would mark the largest air assault in history, on an area of only three square miles of the German line. On this assault, all aircraft approached on a parallel course. For four straight hours bombs fell from heavies and fighters onto their target. As the last bomber turned and headed home, it seemed that the kick off to Cobra was a success after a slow start. The second time around proved to be much more fortunate for the allies. With the mission orders being followed, the air assault was proven a success.

The kickoff to operation Cobra started on 24 July at exactly 1200. The allied fighters approached their target, a three by one mile rectangle of the German line, on a parallel course. They dove on the German lines with machine guns rattling and releasing their 500-pound bombs. As the fighters were finishing their bombing runs, allied bombers were heard directly over the ground forces. The heavies (allied bombers) had approached on a perpendicular course, instead of the instructed parallel course. The first group of bombers dropped their entire load of bombs only 300 yards in front of the allied line of resistance. The heavies following the first group were unable to see through the dust and smoke and dropped their loads over the top of allied forces. A wing commander took the initiative to contact pilots and demanded that they stop the bombing after hearing the report of numerous shorts. After the damage had been assessed, soldiers replaced, and the allied line restored, Cobra was to be tried again the following morning. As a result of the failure to follow orders by the bombers pilots, many allied lives were lost. These orders were given for a reason and it is my belief that no matter what the personal danger is, it is crucial to adhere to the mission requirements and do your duty.

Just east of Mortain, the 30th Infantry Division was holding a crucial key terrain feature, Hill 317. They had been completely cut off for two days and were running low on food, medical supplies, and other items. This hill was used for directing devastating shellfire onto German tanks and troops concentrations in the valleys on all sides. The allies tried to get supplies to the hill by aircraft but were turned back by anti-aircraft guns. An idea of getting supplies to Hill 317 was to use smoke-shell cases to shoot in the supplies. The smoke-shells were used to send pamphlets and propaganda. The idea worked, and Hill 317 again had food and medical supplies. Only the day before a truce had been offered by a German commander to evacuate the wounded from each side. Greatly out numbered and in a desperate position, the acting allied commander responded, “Go to hell!” The German commander stiffened and returned back down the hill. Thirty minutes later artillery was plastering the hilltop. Panzers and grenadiers were making their way up the hill, but the 30th Infantry Division again drove them back down the hill. The attack had taken its toll but the Germans were barred from Avranches one more time. With all odds stacked against them, they kept the hill, a major tactical position. Not knowing their fate, they put their duty above their own lives to keep Hill 317.

Patton advanced to the rally point where they were supposed to meet the other allied front halfway. The Canadians and British had not met their objective, so Patton pushed on trying to close the gap. The Canadians and British were having some problems pushing through General Meyers make shift companies. They were able to turn back the allies long enough for fleeing Germans to escape. Finally, they could hold no more and the allied forces broke through. Patton’s decision to go beyond his objective proved to be a sound decision at this time.

Within the city of St. Malo, a German commander made all of his subordinate commanders sign an oath, to fight to the

Some topics in this essay:
George Patton, SS Feldgrau, Infantry Division, German Feldgrau, August German, Canadians British, Third Army, St-Lo Nazi’s, Brest Patton, Adolph Hitler, allied forces, hill 317, allied line, imaginary army, fictitious army, dust smoke, parallel course, infantry division, panzer divisions, port city, world war ii, food medical supplies, canadians british met, city st malo, 30th infantry division,