High Ambition WTO (id:#66557)

(HazMo Scenario Pack 4: Making the Grade ID: HazMo38)   [next]   [previous]

Carentan-Périers Road, West of St. Lô France 1944-06-06 (297 others)

Overview:

By the end of June 1944, the U.S. First Army was well established on the Normandy coast and had captured Cherbourg. With control of a deep-water port, supplies and reinforcements were rapidly building up for a massive offensive designed to break out of the Normandy pocket and into the French hinderland. In order for this plan to succeed, however, the Allies first had to capture the crossroads town of St. Lô. It was here the Allies first encountered the hedgerow, known locally as bocage. These small, irregularly shaped fields, enclosed by ancient overgrown hedges (some up to 15 feet high), limited visibility and channeled attacks up small roads that were easily defended. For three days, the Americans had been trying to clear the way to St. Lô but progress had been glacially slow, and with mounting casualties. In an effort to break the impasse, General J. Lawton Collins ordered the more battle-tested 4th Infantry Division to the line. Their objective was to reach the Périers-St. Lô highway, and from there, advance to St. Lô.

Defender: German (2. Fallschirmjäger Division, 6. Fallschirmjäger Regiment)  

Errata (source)