Battle honors are attributed to ship names, not the ship itself.
OTL CV QE has battle honors for Crete 1941 despite being launched in 2014.
France Fights On (English Translation) - Thread II - To the continent!
- Thread starter Wings
- Start date
OTL CV QE has battle honors for Crete 1941 despite being launched in 2014.
16/06/44 - Western Front, Start of Operation Wacht am Rhein, Liberation of Antwerp
June 16th, 1944
Liberation and Liberators
The Brittany Festungen
Lorient - The defence of Lanester lived. Beaten to a pulp, faced with a shortage of ammunition, food and even drinking water (not to mention bandages...), subjected to ever-increasing pressure from Ira Wyche's 79th Infantry Cross of Lorraine - which deploys as it leaves the most ruined areas - Major Görtmüller's 942. Grenadier Rgt finishes disbanding and withdraws from the town center for good. Only a few brave, unaware or desperate men manage to cross the Gueydon bridge before it is blown up. Among them - unexpectedly and devastatingly - is the core of the unit's staff, who no doubt saved their lives and the regiment's insignia in the process, albeit at the expense of the unit's morale and effectiveness.
In short, by the evening, all that remains in the eastern sector are pockets - numerous but scattered - fighting amidst the rubble. The most important of these is, of course, the arsenal and the former Ecole des Fusiliers marins, to which all those who could had fled. It's a flat, open area that leads straight to the Pointe de l'Espérance (sic!), but there are (also) a few underground passages. The German troops cannot be expected to hold out much longer in their present state of disorganisation.
The same applies to the surrounding area! On the west bank of the Scorff, what remains of Paul Mahlmann's troops - the 941. and 943. Grenadier Rgt, decimated by the strikes but reinforced by various combat groups* - are still under the illusion that they are facing Manton Eddy's 9th Infantry Varsity, which is still fighting in the Keryado sector. But in reality, the entire German outer perimeter is breached, with no reserves to plug the gaps.
Cézembre Island - Another attempt by Hüffmeier to help Cézembre - which is no more successful than the previous ones. In fact, now that it has become clear that the Kriegsmarine seems prepared to risk its few small ships in futile actions, the Allied navies set up a real blockade around the Channel Islands. What's more, London would (also!) like to recover within a reasonable timeframe the only British territory to suffer the affront of the Hun occupation.
And that's where things stand: over the coming nights and until the end of the month, Saint-Hélier attempts a few more attempts to link up with the island of Seuss, using a variety of means (one rumour spoke of a trawler under a false flag, another of a civilian motorboat!)... But it now seems certain that no vessel from Jersey ever reached its destination.
North - Operation Undergo
Calais - After a day of strikes and truncheons the previous day - which impresses the crowds at least as much as they worry some... - the French army officially ask the 1st Canadian Corps for a 24-hour delay to try and negotiate the surrender of the 47. ID, or at least the evacuation of civilians.
Harry Crerar is in as foul a mood like the day before - but he agrees. Firstly, because when it comes to steel storms, time is on his side. Secondly, because it's raining and will continue to do so until tomorrow - and incendiary shells and Crocodile jets don't work as well in the rain. What's more, he needs more smoke cartridges to attack Cap Gris-Nez. A 5-kilometre long smoke barrier - stretching from Wissant to Marquise - is already being maintained at great expense, to keep the Boche waiting. Let him waste ammunition on clouds, if he likes!
Calais therefore enjoys a short - and very theoretical - respite, while the Allies try to talk to Max Bork (whose reputation is nothing like that of an impressionable schoolgirl!) under the whistle of shells. And all this despite the misery that is befalling the world in general, and Calais in particular.
The pursuit, at last
Plat pays - The liberation of a large part of Belgium and Flanders continues, in the face of an occupying force that has now deserted the entire area below the Scheldt and then the Albert Canal, and to the left of the Meuse... apart from the stray troops or the unlucky columns, which the Belgian army catches up with along the way (which is probably the best thing that could have happened to them, given the prevailing resentment).
With no opponent, the allied troops spread out unopposed. The 3rd Belgian Infantry Division pushes as far as Bruges and sends its motorised squadrons (the same ones that yesterday had been cutting Fischer von Weikersthal's troops to shreds) towards the sea, towards Ostend and Zeebrugge. With the exception, of course, of the flooded plains of the Yser (where a few flag-bearers are later sent to wade for form's sake), the entire south-western part of the country is now free. The Dutch Battalion reaches Terneuzen on the same day.
On the eastern flank, the 1st Belgian Armoured Division (Jean-Baptiste Piron) clears Leuven and Tirlemont in a single sweep, allowing the 4th ID (Roger Libbrecht) to slip a little further towards Namur in preparation for a joint advance towards Maastricht.
Finally, in the center, the 1st Infantry Division (Jean Jans) has finished playing like a cat with the mice of the disbanded Heer units. It continues towards Antwerp - the main objective of Bastin and Van Daele's staff, who are preparing a new leap northwards from Brussels to the Dutch border. Jans' Flemings do not arrive on the scene until the evening. But that doesn't mean they're going to spend the night lazing around, or dancing with Flemish girls...
Antwerp - In the absence of any real confrontation during the day, the main action of this Thursday is played out at night in the great port of Flanders. When the 1st Infantry Division manages to get there, the Reich continues to hold on - a little to allow a few stragglers from the LXVII. ArmeeKorps or the 4. Fallschirmjäger (in particular...) to escape, and a lot to be sure of doing maximum damage to the port's strategic installations when the time came.
No way were they going to let that happen: the Flemish attack without slackening (that's not their style), with the audacity and drive for which their weapons are becoming renowned, and certainly not by stoemelings (on the sly). With all the speed of their armoured cars, indifferent to small arms fire and well coordinated (for once) with the Resistance fighters of the Nationale Koninklijke Beweging**, they unexpectedly manage to push aside all the elements defending the south bank, which soon retreat northwards. It is clear that the Germans want to leave!
The city center is conquered in the middle of the night - all that remains is to limit the damage. Unfortunately, it is too late for the port: a victim of engineer troops and four years of bombing and sabotage, cranes, quays and docks are all out of action. The Saint-Anne tunnel under the Scheldt is still more or less intact, but for how long?
Leading a group of determined men, Eugène "Harris" Colson, a prominent member of the NKB/MNR, pulls off another feat. With his team, he eliminates the saboteurs, seizes the structure and finally disarms the charges. The Sint-Anna Tunnel will not jump! And even though the lifts and escalators are out of order, of course, the essential parts are intact. In the words of the person concerned: "Hey, we weren't going to let the Muffs do what the Frouzes did in '40!"***.
And Brussels broke
Brussels - Today is a big day: the Belgian government is back in its home town! Hubert Pierlot is in town with the first delegation of ministers and notables, for an entrance as triumphal as that of De Troyer's men four days ago. The rain does not discourage the inhabitants or the cheers.
The exiles are welcomed on the steps of the town hall by Jef Vandemeulebroek, the burgomaster - ousted from his post by the Germans, he has regained his position by ousting Joannes Josephus Grauls, who is now in prison**** - and by Neil Ritchie, who was not going to deny himself the pleasure of making history by tasting the "tumultuous welcome" predicted by Churchill. Sincere joy, thanks, photos, smiles, social events... Decorations are also awarded to the men of the Brussels raid, including of course Colonel De Troyer.
Fair play to the British. But in the meantime, not much is happening that would be useful for entering Germany, or for anticipating the inevitable clashes to come.
Wacht am Rhein! - A black eagle has hovered over the town...
SHAFE, Palais du Trianon (Versailles) - With his first cup of coffee of the morning, Ike receives a message from Ultra marked "Extremely urgent", announcing the immediate launch of a major German operation called "Wacht am Rhein". The Rhine, the Rhine... it's the French who are closest to it, so would Ultra have been wrong to say that this attack would be aimed at Patton? However, the Germans have no hope of driving them back across the Meuse, and they are holding the Vosges quite well at the moment. No, it must be aimed at Patton.
He storms into the room, where a gigantic map of the French front shows the units, and in an instant sees the Germans' target: V US Corps, isolated from everyone between Verdun and Châlons! He takes a quick look at the forces at his disposal to try and save Patton, who is no doubt with his men: the 1st Belgian Army is already committed and would take too long to arrive, the 2nd British Army is being redeployed in Picardy and can only arrive in small groups and not immediately... Only the 7th US Army could still play a role. He calls Bradley and, showing for once the energy of an iron general, orders him to bring as many of the 7th's forces as possible to the Marne and then the Meuse. Bradley is not a little surprised to hear, a rare occurrence for Ike, a flurry of swearing reinforcing the order to Patch to march as fast as possible.
As things stand, replies Bradley, Patch has told him that IV US Corps as a whole cannot move normally, lacking officers on its staff, and that VIII is not yet fully concentrated. Only VI Corps can charge forward... but it has no armoured units. No matter, the 1st Armored, which is ready to maneuver, is added immediately and the transfer of the 10th Mountain to the French is accelerated. No more marching with the cannon, we have to run!
Kesselring HQ (Metz), 07:00 - That's it, Wacht am Rhein is launched. However, coordination difficulties and bad weather means that the first tanks do not reach the Americans until around midday. But the rain is also a good thing: the Americans will have no air support. The radios are constantly crackling with reports and orders being passed on, and the loop is a well-oiled machine that makes the Wehrmacht proud... and the SS, too. This time, Verdun would be a German victory!
1st US Army
Verdun, 07:00 - The 327 ID (Rudolf Friedrich) and the 541. VGD (Wolf Hagemann) face V US Corps (Leonard Gerow). The two divisions have tried to entrench themselves in the old forts of the fortified town of Verdun, but twenty years of disuse for most of them and the looting of the arsenals by their 1940 colleagues for the others have greatly reduced the defensive potential of the fortified belt. As a result, the 597. Grenadier Rgt of the 327. ID, which was trying to hold on to the ruins of the Sartelles fort, is completely destroyed on the spot once the 79th Artillery Group had moved onto the Sivry-la-Perche plateau. Its shells crack the last Mougin turrets still in working order in the Place de Verdun, throwing deadly shrapnel into the corridors and firing posts. The 83rd Infantry Thunderbolt (Robert Macon) seizes the ruins, while the 29th Infantry wrests the Fallouse from the 1075. Grenadier Rgt of 541. VGD, which has to fall back to the Citadel district in a hurry.
09:30 - Despite the rain, mud and lack of visibility, the GIs manage to take most of the fortifications west of the Meuse, but the Verdun citadel still holds out. However, the mortars of the 82nd Chem. Mortar Btn are already beginning to batter the new Landser positions.
10:30 - The scouts to the north report that they have seen enemy armoured vehicles, and the news travels quickly up the hierarchy.
11:00 - By the time Ike managed to contact him to let him know that the enemy would be attacking in the afternoon, Patton has already realised the position he is in! He quickly sets up his combat HQ in Fort Chana, which had been evacuated by the defenders of Verdun. The rain covers the approach of the panzers, but he quickly radioes Middleton to hurry up, while Gerow orders his troops forward. The 2nd Infantry Indianhead has to deploy facing north. The 30th Infantry Old Hickory is to stand in reserve covering the 79th Artillery Group and the invaluable 82nd Chem. Mortar Btn, which would be essential for taking the citadel without destroying the town. The 29th Infantry Blue and Gray has to cover the southern approaches and the 83rd Infantry lines the Meuse.
Patton finds himself forced to dig in to face the enemy, without yet having been able to cross the Meuse and take the citadel or the town. The orders reach the rearmost units too late, however, and they only begin to react when the transmitters report that they are picking up heavy radio traffic to the north and south-east. So when the 3rd Armoured Group receives the order to cover the logistical echelon and support left behind around Sainte-Ménehould, half of its units are still extracting themselves from the Clermont-en-Argonne bottleneck!
Dun-sur-Meuse, 12:00 - Having emerged at first light from the nearby forests, the I. SS-PzK organises itself and takes the time to prepare its rush. Now, "Panzer marsch!"
13:34 - The forward positions of the 2nd Infantry sound the alarm: "Panzers!" Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich's tanks charge the American infantrymen. Amid the remains of the trenches, in the rain and gloom, the German felines force the American division back foot by foot towards the shelter of the Mort-Homme forest. The Texans are galvanised by the example of their fathers, who had fought in the same place twenty-five years earlier, but for all their valour, they are not experienced enough to block the German vanguards and the tanks pierce the front lines before the anti-tank companies have time to get into position.
The advanced position of Montfaucon-d'Argonne, held by the 9th Infantry Rgt, is taken by the Panzer IV battalion of the Leibstandarte, and the road to the collection positions in the saving forest is marked by a funeral procession of destroyed vehicles and killed GIs.
The afternoon is spent playing a game of cat and mouse - the Das Reich and the 101. SS-schw. Pz Abt turn the American positions and attack the tail of V US Corps, to which Patton has attached most of the army support, while the Leibstandarte, reinforced by Kurt Chill's 85. ID, prepares a full-scale assault on the forest.
To the south, the LVIII. PzK comes out of Saint-Mihiel and also goes on the offensive, against units that the Americans had undoubtedly left between their two corps. No ?
Aubréville, 16:00 - The 3rd Armoured Group, without infantry support and disorganised, is pushed back with heavy losses, abandoning the 58th Field Artillery Batallion, still behind at Clermont-en-Argonne. Around twenty tanks of the 745th Tank Btn, surprised by the rain and the speed of the German attack, are destroyed before they have time to deploy properly. Other vehicles, including several tank destroyers, are eliminated when the 2. Kompanie of the 101. SS-schw PzAbt breaks through crossing the river Aire over the railway bridge. At the front, Oberstürmführer Michael Wittmann's Tiger I No. 205 single-handedly destroys a dozen American vehicles.
There are still mechanical problems with the symbolic Tiger tank, but with experience the Panzerwaffe knows how to deal with them. Vehicles that broke down arequickly put back on the road, except for one, whose engine gave up after one of the factory components designed to limit the maximum speed had worn out. It has to be recovered with a BergeTiger (a repair Tiger), which also broke down, although not seriously.
A bold counter-attack by the 802nd Tank Destroyer Battalion is stopped in bloody fashion; the Americans lose another dozen vehicles before withdrawing under the shells of the German artillery, which has regained a superiority to which it is no longer accustomed. After a few hours, the leader of the 802nd, Lt-Colonel John H. Montgomery (no relation to the General), has to face the facts: his unit has been virtually destroyed.
Further south, to the great surprise of Hans-Karl von Esebeck (commander of the LVIII PzKorps), almost no one stands between him and the Marne. The German armoured corps stops at Nubécourt, without having had to repel any opposition other than that of the 634th Tank Destroyer Battalion, which is routed, but not without having eliminated a handful of Leopards, as many Panzer IVs and three precious Tigers.
The day ends in triumph at Wacht am Rhein. The Americans count more than 500 dead or missing and three times as many wounded. German losses are a third lower and the Das Reich has taken almost 400 prisoners. Above all, Vth US Corps' logistical link with the rear is practically cut off.
18:30 - It is not all doom and gloom, however: while Gerow is in command of the fighting around Verdun, Patton manages to order John Shirley Wood to march his 4th Armoured as quick as possible and to contact Troy Middleton, whose XIX Corps is just beginning to prepare an assault on the German positions at Revigny-sur-Ornain. On the ground, the 5th Rangers Batallion manages to slip between the German divisions and reach Vienne-le-Château, escorting some of the survivors of the 58th FAB while covering the withdrawal of the 62nd FAB to the west.
20:30 - As night begins to fall, the demoralised artillerymen (who had retained a good proportion of their guns with their tractors) reach Châlons, where Wood tries to get the 4th Armoured into marching order in an unexpected direction.
In the 25th Cavalry's M8 Arabesque, Sergeant Chesterfield, the tank commander, is impatient to get back into action, while Corporal Blutch, the machine's pilot, is more circumspect and even on the verge of desertion. Their captain is notorious for his tendency towards suicidal charges, especially for reconnaissance troops... Although the new lieutenant, Mike Something, doesn't seem too bad - but he's a rookie, of course.
A black eagle hovered over the town
Kesselring HQ (Metz), 21:00 - The German General Staff is more than satisfied with the first day. That same evening, Michael Wittmann is promoted to Hauptsturmführer and is about to be awarded the next rank in the Order of the Iron Cross. However, the propaganda will wait until he returns from the front for a proper decoration ceremony! In the evening, the Germans send their reserve pilots to explore the Shermans abandoned by the 3rd Armored Group, to see if there is anything to salvage.
Naturally, everyone expects the day's exploits to be repeated the next day. But perhaps that's getting ahead of ourselves...
John Lucas's VI US Corps sets off at breakneck speed in the afternoon from Meaux, covering almost 50 kilometres with almost a week's worth of supplies loaded on its vehicles, with the 1st Armored leading the way to Montmirail.
Allied headquarters, 21:30 - It is dismay. We had expected a German counter-attack, knowing that this is a sort of atavistic reflex in the Wehrmacht, but not here, and not just when the First US Army is split into three separate corps. What's more, no one from Auchinleck's troops can really come to the rescue of V US Corps, the French are bogged down in Lorraine and Alsace and the 7th US Army's logistics do not allow it to reach the front quickly enough.
The quality of the German tankers is also a blow, although a drop in the tactical level of the exhausted units had been expected. This is because they had had some time to recover during their transit by train! What's more, the tankers of the I. SS-PzK had seen the Franco-Americans in action a few months earlier and were able to share their experience with their colleagues from the II. SS-PzK - the emulation from the harsh crucible of the Eastern Front did the rest. In comparison, the 1st US Army has never faced a German armoured counter-offensive, whose Kampfgruppen remain formidable.
Finally, the first reports indicated the appearance of a new tank destroyer that only the British had previously reported (but they were the British...): the JagdPz-IV. Apparently very dangerous, it would have been decisive in the defeat of the 3rd Armored Group. Fortunately, it seems to have been present only in small numbers.
1st French Army - Operation Marguerite
Lorraine, Polish II Corps - The 3rd DIP begins to treat the Toul forts with artillery, with the support of the 13th BACA, which is loaned to the Polish corps for the occasion. However, the Moselle seems to be firmly held by the XC. AK, we will have to be methodical. And just as well, logistics are perfectly happy with a slower offensive.
Lorraine, III Corps - In order to prevent a German re-establishment along the Moselle after having liberated Epinal, de Lattre moves the 5th DB forward, albeit at a fairly slow pace, to cross the river and be in a position to advance on Rambervilliers. He leaves the 1st DB in flank-guard and at rest, since it is going to be withdrawn from him anyway.
Hauteclocque, however, is not content to stand idly by, and launches his "rezzou" - an aggressive reconnaissance, in administrative parlance - in order to identify enemy positions and force them to reveal themselves. He doesn't have far to go: the 84. ID under Erwin Menny is waiting for him with anti-tank teams in ambush near Melisey. After losing two tanks destroyed by Panzerschrecks without being able to force the PaKs to reveal themselves, the French tanks pretend to withdraw... but more discreet infantry elements advance into the forest and make contact with the local maquis. And the least we can say is that they are relieved to see Allied troops coming to liberate them! Since Overlord, the anti-partisan operation Waldfest has been ravaging the valleys of the Vosges: several hundred people have already been killed and thousands deported, most of whom had not been heard from since.
Doubs, IV CA - This time, it's done! A corporal from the garrison of the Mont-Bar fort frantically waves a white flag as he goes to meet the troops of the Touzet du Vigier brigade. Guiding a company through the minefields and other booby-traps scattered in the surrounding forest, he leads them into the smouldering ruins of the fort, where the sickening smell of burnt flesh rubs shoulders with the more acrid smell of gunpowder.
Colonel de Gonfreville, commander of the 1st RC, wants to see for himself the state of the fort and receives the surrender of the surviving garrison from a young lieutenant, the last officer fit to fight. The senior officer in command, a major, is still alive but unconscious after being hit in the back by a 155 mm shell the day before. Nothing now stands in the way of entry into Montbéliard, apart from a few positions held by grenadiers from the 363. ID at Mandeure.
Royal Navy
An old warrior on three legs
Rosyth - HMS Warspite, repairs more or less complete following damage caused by a German mine, sets sail again for Scapa Flow. It will try out her new guns before heading for the coast of the continent to support the land forces with her fire. As this support is deemed important, repairs were rushed: only three of the four turrets had their parts replaced and, above all, the shafts were realigned in an original way. They were heated using a large number of oxyacetylene torches so that they could be straightened using hydraulic jacks! Captain Kelsey, Warspite's commanding officer, recalls: "We had a good shaft, a fairly good shaft, a wobbly shaft and another, the outer port, which was still out of order."
The Warspite is therefore recommissioned with only three turrets and three operational shafts. Even so, with a maximum speed of 15 knots, it will be able to play her role as a mobile battery perfectly well.
* KampfGruppe Schmitz (Heer), Fallschirmjägers (Luftwaffe) and SS. It should be noted that KG Schmitz - named after its leader, Oberst Schmitz - owes its existence solely to considerations of precedence, which prevented all the members of the Heer present in the Festung from being integrated into the garrison in solidum!
** NKB or MNR, Mouvement National Royaliste, the most right-wing of the Belgian Resistance organisations.
*** Reference to the Waaslandtunnel destroyed by the French army in 1940. Belgian readers will forgive the Walloon translation of the Flemish diatribe...
**** A Flemish collaborationist and member of the Flemish National League, he distinguished himself, in Brussels like in Antwerp, by his zeal against the Jews and all undesirables. In his defence, he would simply say that his actions were not in themselves illegal and that it was a good thing he had held the post, as a German would undoubtedly have done worse. Sentenced to five years' imprisonment and a heavy fine, he ended up as a journalist for Flemish publications linked to more or less reactionary and separatist political parties.
Liberation and Liberators
The Brittany Festungen
Lorient - The defence of Lanester lived. Beaten to a pulp, faced with a shortage of ammunition, food and even drinking water (not to mention bandages...), subjected to ever-increasing pressure from Ira Wyche's 79th Infantry Cross of Lorraine - which deploys as it leaves the most ruined areas - Major Görtmüller's 942. Grenadier Rgt finishes disbanding and withdraws from the town center for good. Only a few brave, unaware or desperate men manage to cross the Gueydon bridge before it is blown up. Among them - unexpectedly and devastatingly - is the core of the unit's staff, who no doubt saved their lives and the regiment's insignia in the process, albeit at the expense of the unit's morale and effectiveness.
In short, by the evening, all that remains in the eastern sector are pockets - numerous but scattered - fighting amidst the rubble. The most important of these is, of course, the arsenal and the former Ecole des Fusiliers marins, to which all those who could had fled. It's a flat, open area that leads straight to the Pointe de l'Espérance (sic!), but there are (also) a few underground passages. The German troops cannot be expected to hold out much longer in their present state of disorganisation.
The same applies to the surrounding area! On the west bank of the Scorff, what remains of Paul Mahlmann's troops - the 941. and 943. Grenadier Rgt, decimated by the strikes but reinforced by various combat groups* - are still under the illusion that they are facing Manton Eddy's 9th Infantry Varsity, which is still fighting in the Keryado sector. But in reality, the entire German outer perimeter is breached, with no reserves to plug the gaps.
Cézembre Island - Another attempt by Hüffmeier to help Cézembre - which is no more successful than the previous ones. In fact, now that it has become clear that the Kriegsmarine seems prepared to risk its few small ships in futile actions, the Allied navies set up a real blockade around the Channel Islands. What's more, London would (also!) like to recover within a reasonable timeframe the only British territory to suffer the affront of the Hun occupation.
And that's where things stand: over the coming nights and until the end of the month, Saint-Hélier attempts a few more attempts to link up with the island of Seuss, using a variety of means (one rumour spoke of a trawler under a false flag, another of a civilian motorboat!)... But it now seems certain that no vessel from Jersey ever reached its destination.
North - Operation Undergo
Calais - After a day of strikes and truncheons the previous day - which impresses the crowds at least as much as they worry some... - the French army officially ask the 1st Canadian Corps for a 24-hour delay to try and negotiate the surrender of the 47. ID, or at least the evacuation of civilians.
Harry Crerar is in as foul a mood like the day before - but he agrees. Firstly, because when it comes to steel storms, time is on his side. Secondly, because it's raining and will continue to do so until tomorrow - and incendiary shells and Crocodile jets don't work as well in the rain. What's more, he needs more smoke cartridges to attack Cap Gris-Nez. A 5-kilometre long smoke barrier - stretching from Wissant to Marquise - is already being maintained at great expense, to keep the Boche waiting. Let him waste ammunition on clouds, if he likes!
Calais therefore enjoys a short - and very theoretical - respite, while the Allies try to talk to Max Bork (whose reputation is nothing like that of an impressionable schoolgirl!) under the whistle of shells. And all this despite the misery that is befalling the world in general, and Calais in particular.
The pursuit, at last
Plat pays - The liberation of a large part of Belgium and Flanders continues, in the face of an occupying force that has now deserted the entire area below the Scheldt and then the Albert Canal, and to the left of the Meuse... apart from the stray troops or the unlucky columns, which the Belgian army catches up with along the way (which is probably the best thing that could have happened to them, given the prevailing resentment).
With no opponent, the allied troops spread out unopposed. The 3rd Belgian Infantry Division pushes as far as Bruges and sends its motorised squadrons (the same ones that yesterday had been cutting Fischer von Weikersthal's troops to shreds) towards the sea, towards Ostend and Zeebrugge. With the exception, of course, of the flooded plains of the Yser (where a few flag-bearers are later sent to wade for form's sake), the entire south-western part of the country is now free. The Dutch Battalion reaches Terneuzen on the same day.
On the eastern flank, the 1st Belgian Armoured Division (Jean-Baptiste Piron) clears Leuven and Tirlemont in a single sweep, allowing the 4th ID (Roger Libbrecht) to slip a little further towards Namur in preparation for a joint advance towards Maastricht.
Finally, in the center, the 1st Infantry Division (Jean Jans) has finished playing like a cat with the mice of the disbanded Heer units. It continues towards Antwerp - the main objective of Bastin and Van Daele's staff, who are preparing a new leap northwards from Brussels to the Dutch border. Jans' Flemings do not arrive on the scene until the evening. But that doesn't mean they're going to spend the night lazing around, or dancing with Flemish girls...
Antwerp - In the absence of any real confrontation during the day, the main action of this Thursday is played out at night in the great port of Flanders. When the 1st Infantry Division manages to get there, the Reich continues to hold on - a little to allow a few stragglers from the LXVII. ArmeeKorps or the 4. Fallschirmjäger (in particular...) to escape, and a lot to be sure of doing maximum damage to the port's strategic installations when the time came.
No way were they going to let that happen: the Flemish attack without slackening (that's not their style), with the audacity and drive for which their weapons are becoming renowned, and certainly not by stoemelings (on the sly). With all the speed of their armoured cars, indifferent to small arms fire and well coordinated (for once) with the Resistance fighters of the Nationale Koninklijke Beweging**, they unexpectedly manage to push aside all the elements defending the south bank, which soon retreat northwards. It is clear that the Germans want to leave!
The city center is conquered in the middle of the night - all that remains is to limit the damage. Unfortunately, it is too late for the port: a victim of engineer troops and four years of bombing and sabotage, cranes, quays and docks are all out of action. The Saint-Anne tunnel under the Scheldt is still more or less intact, but for how long?
Leading a group of determined men, Eugène "Harris" Colson, a prominent member of the NKB/MNR, pulls off another feat. With his team, he eliminates the saboteurs, seizes the structure and finally disarms the charges. The Sint-Anna Tunnel will not jump! And even though the lifts and escalators are out of order, of course, the essential parts are intact. In the words of the person concerned: "Hey, we weren't going to let the Muffs do what the Frouzes did in '40!"***.
And Brussels broke
Brussels - Today is a big day: the Belgian government is back in its home town! Hubert Pierlot is in town with the first delegation of ministers and notables, for an entrance as triumphal as that of De Troyer's men four days ago. The rain does not discourage the inhabitants or the cheers.
The exiles are welcomed on the steps of the town hall by Jef Vandemeulebroek, the burgomaster - ousted from his post by the Germans, he has regained his position by ousting Joannes Josephus Grauls, who is now in prison**** - and by Neil Ritchie, who was not going to deny himself the pleasure of making history by tasting the "tumultuous welcome" predicted by Churchill. Sincere joy, thanks, photos, smiles, social events... Decorations are also awarded to the men of the Brussels raid, including of course Colonel De Troyer.
Fair play to the British. But in the meantime, not much is happening that would be useful for entering Germany, or for anticipating the inevitable clashes to come.
Wacht am Rhein! - A black eagle has hovered over the town...
SHAFE, Palais du Trianon (Versailles) - With his first cup of coffee of the morning, Ike receives a message from Ultra marked "Extremely urgent", announcing the immediate launch of a major German operation called "Wacht am Rhein". The Rhine, the Rhine... it's the French who are closest to it, so would Ultra have been wrong to say that this attack would be aimed at Patton? However, the Germans have no hope of driving them back across the Meuse, and they are holding the Vosges quite well at the moment. No, it must be aimed at Patton.
He storms into the room, where a gigantic map of the French front shows the units, and in an instant sees the Germans' target: V US Corps, isolated from everyone between Verdun and Châlons! He takes a quick look at the forces at his disposal to try and save Patton, who is no doubt with his men: the 1st Belgian Army is already committed and would take too long to arrive, the 2nd British Army is being redeployed in Picardy and can only arrive in small groups and not immediately... Only the 7th US Army could still play a role. He calls Bradley and, showing for once the energy of an iron general, orders him to bring as many of the 7th's forces as possible to the Marne and then the Meuse. Bradley is not a little surprised to hear, a rare occurrence for Ike, a flurry of swearing reinforcing the order to Patch to march as fast as possible.
As things stand, replies Bradley, Patch has told him that IV US Corps as a whole cannot move normally, lacking officers on its staff, and that VIII is not yet fully concentrated. Only VI Corps can charge forward... but it has no armoured units. No matter, the 1st Armored, which is ready to maneuver, is added immediately and the transfer of the 10th Mountain to the French is accelerated. No more marching with the cannon, we have to run!
Kesselring HQ (Metz), 07:00 - That's it, Wacht am Rhein is launched. However, coordination difficulties and bad weather means that the first tanks do not reach the Americans until around midday. But the rain is also a good thing: the Americans will have no air support. The radios are constantly crackling with reports and orders being passed on, and the loop is a well-oiled machine that makes the Wehrmacht proud... and the SS, too. This time, Verdun would be a German victory!
1st US Army
Verdun, 07:00 - The 327 ID (Rudolf Friedrich) and the 541. VGD (Wolf Hagemann) face V US Corps (Leonard Gerow). The two divisions have tried to entrench themselves in the old forts of the fortified town of Verdun, but twenty years of disuse for most of them and the looting of the arsenals by their 1940 colleagues for the others have greatly reduced the defensive potential of the fortified belt. As a result, the 597. Grenadier Rgt of the 327. ID, which was trying to hold on to the ruins of the Sartelles fort, is completely destroyed on the spot once the 79th Artillery Group had moved onto the Sivry-la-Perche plateau. Its shells crack the last Mougin turrets still in working order in the Place de Verdun, throwing deadly shrapnel into the corridors and firing posts. The 83rd Infantry Thunderbolt (Robert Macon) seizes the ruins, while the 29th Infantry wrests the Fallouse from the 1075. Grenadier Rgt of 541. VGD, which has to fall back to the Citadel district in a hurry.
09:30 - Despite the rain, mud and lack of visibility, the GIs manage to take most of the fortifications west of the Meuse, but the Verdun citadel still holds out. However, the mortars of the 82nd Chem. Mortar Btn are already beginning to batter the new Landser positions.
10:30 - The scouts to the north report that they have seen enemy armoured vehicles, and the news travels quickly up the hierarchy.
11:00 - By the time Ike managed to contact him to let him know that the enemy would be attacking in the afternoon, Patton has already realised the position he is in! He quickly sets up his combat HQ in Fort Chana, which had been evacuated by the defenders of Verdun. The rain covers the approach of the panzers, but he quickly radioes Middleton to hurry up, while Gerow orders his troops forward. The 2nd Infantry Indianhead has to deploy facing north. The 30th Infantry Old Hickory is to stand in reserve covering the 79th Artillery Group and the invaluable 82nd Chem. Mortar Btn, which would be essential for taking the citadel without destroying the town. The 29th Infantry Blue and Gray has to cover the southern approaches and the 83rd Infantry lines the Meuse.
Patton finds himself forced to dig in to face the enemy, without yet having been able to cross the Meuse and take the citadel or the town. The orders reach the rearmost units too late, however, and they only begin to react when the transmitters report that they are picking up heavy radio traffic to the north and south-east. So when the 3rd Armoured Group receives the order to cover the logistical echelon and support left behind around Sainte-Ménehould, half of its units are still extracting themselves from the Clermont-en-Argonne bottleneck!
Dun-sur-Meuse, 12:00 - Having emerged at first light from the nearby forests, the I. SS-PzK organises itself and takes the time to prepare its rush. Now, "Panzer marsch!"
13:34 - The forward positions of the 2nd Infantry sound the alarm: "Panzers!" Joseph "Sepp" Dietrich's tanks charge the American infantrymen. Amid the remains of the trenches, in the rain and gloom, the German felines force the American division back foot by foot towards the shelter of the Mort-Homme forest. The Texans are galvanised by the example of their fathers, who had fought in the same place twenty-five years earlier, but for all their valour, they are not experienced enough to block the German vanguards and the tanks pierce the front lines before the anti-tank companies have time to get into position.
The advanced position of Montfaucon-d'Argonne, held by the 9th Infantry Rgt, is taken by the Panzer IV battalion of the Leibstandarte, and the road to the collection positions in the saving forest is marked by a funeral procession of destroyed vehicles and killed GIs.
The afternoon is spent playing a game of cat and mouse - the Das Reich and the 101. SS-schw. Pz Abt turn the American positions and attack the tail of V US Corps, to which Patton has attached most of the army support, while the Leibstandarte, reinforced by Kurt Chill's 85. ID, prepares a full-scale assault on the forest.
To the south, the LVIII. PzK comes out of Saint-Mihiel and also goes on the offensive, against units that the Americans had undoubtedly left between their two corps. No ?
Aubréville, 16:00 - The 3rd Armoured Group, without infantry support and disorganised, is pushed back with heavy losses, abandoning the 58th Field Artillery Batallion, still behind at Clermont-en-Argonne. Around twenty tanks of the 745th Tank Btn, surprised by the rain and the speed of the German attack, are destroyed before they have time to deploy properly. Other vehicles, including several tank destroyers, are eliminated when the 2. Kompanie of the 101. SS-schw PzAbt breaks through crossing the river Aire over the railway bridge. At the front, Oberstürmführer Michael Wittmann's Tiger I No. 205 single-handedly destroys a dozen American vehicles.
There are still mechanical problems with the symbolic Tiger tank, but with experience the Panzerwaffe knows how to deal with them. Vehicles that broke down arequickly put back on the road, except for one, whose engine gave up after one of the factory components designed to limit the maximum speed had worn out. It has to be recovered with a BergeTiger (a repair Tiger), which also broke down, although not seriously.
A bold counter-attack by the 802nd Tank Destroyer Battalion is stopped in bloody fashion; the Americans lose another dozen vehicles before withdrawing under the shells of the German artillery, which has regained a superiority to which it is no longer accustomed. After a few hours, the leader of the 802nd, Lt-Colonel John H. Montgomery (no relation to the General), has to face the facts: his unit has been virtually destroyed.
Further south, to the great surprise of Hans-Karl von Esebeck (commander of the LVIII PzKorps), almost no one stands between him and the Marne. The German armoured corps stops at Nubécourt, without having had to repel any opposition other than that of the 634th Tank Destroyer Battalion, which is routed, but not without having eliminated a handful of Leopards, as many Panzer IVs and three precious Tigers.
The day ends in triumph at Wacht am Rhein. The Americans count more than 500 dead or missing and three times as many wounded. German losses are a third lower and the Das Reich has taken almost 400 prisoners. Above all, Vth US Corps' logistical link with the rear is practically cut off.
18:30 - It is not all doom and gloom, however: while Gerow is in command of the fighting around Verdun, Patton manages to order John Shirley Wood to march his 4th Armoured as quick as possible and to contact Troy Middleton, whose XIX Corps is just beginning to prepare an assault on the German positions at Revigny-sur-Ornain. On the ground, the 5th Rangers Batallion manages to slip between the German divisions and reach Vienne-le-Château, escorting some of the survivors of the 58th FAB while covering the withdrawal of the 62nd FAB to the west.
20:30 - As night begins to fall, the demoralised artillerymen (who had retained a good proportion of their guns with their tractors) reach Châlons, where Wood tries to get the 4th Armoured into marching order in an unexpected direction.
In the 25th Cavalry's M8 Arabesque, Sergeant Chesterfield, the tank commander, is impatient to get back into action, while Corporal Blutch, the machine's pilot, is more circumspect and even on the verge of desertion. Their captain is notorious for his tendency towards suicidal charges, especially for reconnaissance troops... Although the new lieutenant, Mike Something, doesn't seem too bad - but he's a rookie, of course.
A black eagle hovered over the town
Kesselring HQ (Metz), 21:00 - The German General Staff is more than satisfied with the first day. That same evening, Michael Wittmann is promoted to Hauptsturmführer and is about to be awarded the next rank in the Order of the Iron Cross. However, the propaganda will wait until he returns from the front for a proper decoration ceremony! In the evening, the Germans send their reserve pilots to explore the Shermans abandoned by the 3rd Armored Group, to see if there is anything to salvage.
Naturally, everyone expects the day's exploits to be repeated the next day. But perhaps that's getting ahead of ourselves...
John Lucas's VI US Corps sets off at breakneck speed in the afternoon from Meaux, covering almost 50 kilometres with almost a week's worth of supplies loaded on its vehicles, with the 1st Armored leading the way to Montmirail.
Allied headquarters, 21:30 - It is dismay. We had expected a German counter-attack, knowing that this is a sort of atavistic reflex in the Wehrmacht, but not here, and not just when the First US Army is split into three separate corps. What's more, no one from Auchinleck's troops can really come to the rescue of V US Corps, the French are bogged down in Lorraine and Alsace and the 7th US Army's logistics do not allow it to reach the front quickly enough.
The quality of the German tankers is also a blow, although a drop in the tactical level of the exhausted units had been expected. This is because they had had some time to recover during their transit by train! What's more, the tankers of the I. SS-PzK had seen the Franco-Americans in action a few months earlier and were able to share their experience with their colleagues from the II. SS-PzK - the emulation from the harsh crucible of the Eastern Front did the rest. In comparison, the 1st US Army has never faced a German armoured counter-offensive, whose Kampfgruppen remain formidable.
Finally, the first reports indicated the appearance of a new tank destroyer that only the British had previously reported (but they were the British...): the JagdPz-IV. Apparently very dangerous, it would have been decisive in the defeat of the 3rd Armored Group. Fortunately, it seems to have been present only in small numbers.
1st French Army - Operation Marguerite
Lorraine, Polish II Corps - The 3rd DIP begins to treat the Toul forts with artillery, with the support of the 13th BACA, which is loaned to the Polish corps for the occasion. However, the Moselle seems to be firmly held by the XC. AK, we will have to be methodical. And just as well, logistics are perfectly happy with a slower offensive.
Lorraine, III Corps - In order to prevent a German re-establishment along the Moselle after having liberated Epinal, de Lattre moves the 5th DB forward, albeit at a fairly slow pace, to cross the river and be in a position to advance on Rambervilliers. He leaves the 1st DB in flank-guard and at rest, since it is going to be withdrawn from him anyway.
Hauteclocque, however, is not content to stand idly by, and launches his "rezzou" - an aggressive reconnaissance, in administrative parlance - in order to identify enemy positions and force them to reveal themselves. He doesn't have far to go: the 84. ID under Erwin Menny is waiting for him with anti-tank teams in ambush near Melisey. After losing two tanks destroyed by Panzerschrecks without being able to force the PaKs to reveal themselves, the French tanks pretend to withdraw... but more discreet infantry elements advance into the forest and make contact with the local maquis. And the least we can say is that they are relieved to see Allied troops coming to liberate them! Since Overlord, the anti-partisan operation Waldfest has been ravaging the valleys of the Vosges: several hundred people have already been killed and thousands deported, most of whom had not been heard from since.
Doubs, IV CA - This time, it's done! A corporal from the garrison of the Mont-Bar fort frantically waves a white flag as he goes to meet the troops of the Touzet du Vigier brigade. Guiding a company through the minefields and other booby-traps scattered in the surrounding forest, he leads them into the smouldering ruins of the fort, where the sickening smell of burnt flesh rubs shoulders with the more acrid smell of gunpowder.
Colonel de Gonfreville, commander of the 1st RC, wants to see for himself the state of the fort and receives the surrender of the surviving garrison from a young lieutenant, the last officer fit to fight. The senior officer in command, a major, is still alive but unconscious after being hit in the back by a 155 mm shell the day before. Nothing now stands in the way of entry into Montbéliard, apart from a few positions held by grenadiers from the 363. ID at Mandeure.
Royal Navy
An old warrior on three legs
Rosyth - HMS Warspite, repairs more or less complete following damage caused by a German mine, sets sail again for Scapa Flow. It will try out her new guns before heading for the coast of the continent to support the land forces with her fire. As this support is deemed important, repairs were rushed: only three of the four turrets had their parts replaced and, above all, the shafts were realigned in an original way. They were heated using a large number of oxyacetylene torches so that they could be straightened using hydraulic jacks! Captain Kelsey, Warspite's commanding officer, recalls: "We had a good shaft, a fairly good shaft, a wobbly shaft and another, the outer port, which was still out of order."
The Warspite is therefore recommissioned with only three turrets and three operational shafts. Even so, with a maximum speed of 15 knots, it will be able to play her role as a mobile battery perfectly well.
* KampfGruppe Schmitz (Heer), Fallschirmjägers (Luftwaffe) and SS. It should be noted that KG Schmitz - named after its leader, Oberst Schmitz - owes its existence solely to considerations of precedence, which prevented all the members of the Heer present in the Festung from being integrated into the garrison in solidum!
** NKB or MNR, Mouvement National Royaliste, the most right-wing of the Belgian Resistance organisations.
*** Reference to the Waaslandtunnel destroyed by the French army in 1940. Belgian readers will forgive the Walloon translation of the Flemish diatribe...
**** A Flemish collaborationist and member of the Flemish National League, he distinguished himself, in Brussels like in Antwerp, by his zeal against the Jews and all undesirables. In his defence, he would simply say that his actions were not in themselves illegal and that it was a good thing he had held the post, as a German would undoubtedly have done worse. Sentenced to five years' imprisonment and a heavy fine, he ended up as a journalist for Flemish publications linked to more or less reactionary and separatist political parties.
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Thanks. With an infantry regiment I can see a case, where there is at least a continuous chain of soldiers ongoing passing down regimental stories and traditions (and the standard, of course!), but with warships, where there is at one time a completely new build???
Oh well....
17/06/44 - Western Front
June 17th, 1944
Liberation and Liberators
The Brittany Festungen
Lorient - The 79th Infantry Cross of Lorraine spends the night, not trying to clear every little pocket in Lanester (that will have to wait until daylight), but advancing towards the Cape de l'Esperance. Urged on by Joseph Collins, who is himself being rammed by his superiors (and the situation is not likely to get any better with what is happening in Moselle!), Ira Wyche presses hard to push his opponents forward, determined not to give the 942. Grenadier Rgt any chance of recovering. And it works.
As dawn breaks, the M-10 tank destroyers of the 899th Tank Destroyer Btn - engaged in infantry support somewhat contrary to doctrine* - are in the arsenal, strafing the buildings of the former Ecole des Fusiliers marins from a distance, forcing the exhausted German infantrymen to lower their heads. Behind them, the Long Toms of the 991st Arm Art Btn thunder continuously. And what had to happen happens: at 15:30, Colonel Sterling A. Wood's 313rd Inf Rgt reports that the objective has been reached. A fine performance, which earned the unit the French Croix de Guerre with palms. All that remains is to clean up, a thankless and costly task that would not be completed by nightfall.
But it doesn't matter! What remains of the late 942. Grenadier Rgt cannot hope for the slightest help from anyone. On the west bank, its partners of the 353. ID, the 941. and 943. Grenadier Rgt, increasingly replenished with drawer bottoms, are constantly sent back to the front, regardless of the consequences**.
Along the Ter, Manton Eddy's 9th Infantry Varsity continues to advance relentlessly towards the submarine base and its stock of torpedoes. This critical threat, which devours whatever reserves Paul Mahlmann still has, logically leads the defence of the Keryado sector not to give in, but to be crushed under the shells. And the Heer's last source of water disappears with it.
Ile Cézembre - Something new this morning for Seuss and his men! As if in response to any wild hopes the Germans might have, the 9th Air Force tests a new weapon on their ridiculous little fortress that has recently arrived and seems to have a bright future ahead of it: napalm. It's hot, it's almost summer: why not fry something?
The Army agrees. It has given up trying to pierce the concrete of the shelters on Cézembre Island, but it has received a large shipment of phosphorus shells - an incendiary compound that can infiltrate anywhere...
North - Operation Undergo
Côte d'Opale - Unfortunately, last-minute attempts at negotiation come to nothing. This morning, it's flying, the Marauders are roaring, the guns of the 2nd AGRA are thundering. The Pas-de-Calais is set to suffer.
The offensive doesn't get off to such a bad start! Rushing through the smoke towards Cap Gris-Nez, the 7th Infantry Brigade and 8th Infantry Brigade (Rod Keller's 3rd Canadian Infantry) easily breaks through the first lines of the Todt battery, well covered by the Fléau tanks and other AVREs, which smash the bunkers and exploded the minefields. And as soon as the first command post is reached, the Canadians are surprised to see the enemy raise the white flag! To confirm the surrender, an officer appears before them, clearly having to concentrate hard to... stand up straight.
The truth is as simple as it is comical! Without water supplies and subjected to a total blockade, the effects of which were already adding to a drop in morale, against which Oberst Ludwig Schroeder had done nothing - hadn't he said enough that his troops were a bunch of rubbish! - The garrison simply emptied their wine and schnapps reserves, which had a significant impact on their fighting capacity. And so the affair was over in two hours***.
On the Calais side, alas, it is not exactly the same drinking song. Once again following Percy Hobart's Fléau tanks, the 4th Canadian Armoured (George Kitching) advances towards the fortified positions of Noires Mottes and Sangatte. On the face of it, the Germans here are no more motivated than their compatriots at Cap Gris-Nez. But only on the surface. The Canadians can see it clearly with binoculars: when a Kraut comes out of his trench with his arms in the air, he is immediately shot from a position behind him. This happens several times during the morning, until everyone has learned their lesson - obviously, the Eastern Front has infused some NFSOs...
So much the worse for that! We'll have to make do, by hand. But not quite: the arrival of the Crocodile tanks within firing range and the inevitable withdrawal of the defenders into their bunkers enable the 4th Armoured Brigade to continue... but with difficulty, as the ground is so badly churned up by shells that the Fascines tanks have to be called in regularly to advance! In the meantime, the infantry tries to negotiate the surrender of Noires Mottes through the intermediary of the factionalists who had been turned - with the tongues of fire, these people have now calmed down!
Cromwell and Sherman continue towards Sangatte, another strong point in the system. Same exercise, same solution, same punishment. In short, the first line cannot be broken through by nightfall. As a result, Harry Crerar is forced to postpone the assault by the 5th Canadian Armoured (Guy Simonds), planned for as soon as Fort Nieulay is turned...
Wacht am Maas ?
Maastricht - Arrival of the first elements of the 347. ID (Wolf Trierenberg), the vanguard of the LXXXVIII. ArmeeKorps (Hans-Wolfgang Reinhard). In the coming days, the latter would place its three modest - but still relatively intact - divisions on an arc stretching from Zonhonven to Visé. In other words, roughly in the corner between the Meuse and the Albert Canal.
Not ideal... But the LXVII. ArmeeKorps has lost so many units in Flanders that, in practice, the corps no longer exists! This forces Manstein to change his plans. Holland and Rotterdam have to be held for a while. In the worst case, a flanking counter-attack would be attempted... In any case, the German is no closer to an expedient.
The pursuit at last
Flat country - The limitations on supplies and the extent of the terrain to be controlled have an ever-greater impact on the capabilities of the two Belgian army corps, which are gradually reaching the limits of their capacity for action.
In Antwerp, while waiting for the 2nd Infantry Division (Charles Bruyère) to come and support it, the 1st Infantry Division (Jean Jans) sets about securing the heart of the city and pushing back what remains of the Muffs across the Albert Canal, towards Schoten and the Merksem district. A heavy task, which keeps it busy all day.
Further east, the 1st Armoured Division (Jean-Baptiste Piron) can do little more than push as far as Saint-Trond - the 4th ID (Roger Libbrecht) remains disproportionately stretched over 60 kilometres from Maubeuge to Namur, alone in the face of an improbable (but still possible) counter-attack from the Ardennes. But there are some memories you just don't want to relive. The English better hurry up!
Finally, in the center, both Tancrémont and the Ardennais are beginning to move up towards Mechelen, to take their place in the future line-up against Holland.
And Brussels broke
Brussels - The Kingdom's new-found capital is still abuzz with the clattering of its black-yellow-red flags and with activity that is certainly joyful - but also somewhat unproductive from a military point of view, not to mention humanitarian constraints. Belgium is emerging from four years of darkness: public facilities have been looted or destroyed, the population has nothing left, its bellies are crying out for food and its mouths for vengeance. In short, here like in France, there's a whole country to get back on its feet...
In other words, Pierlot's priority is not immediately to collaborate with the Allies on a new campaign. That will come, but in a few days' time. Neil Ritchie, for his part, takes no offence. Benelux is not his first objective and he knows that with what is happening towards Verdun, his starting position towards the Ruhr looks increasingly favourable... as long as he applies himself and pushes his pawns well.
What's next?
Vélizy-Villacoublay airfield - Sir Alan (Brooke), 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, and Sir Claude (Auchinleck), known as "the Auk", represent respectively the War Office and the 21st AAG - in other words, between them, almost all the Commonwealth armies (almost, because the South Africans sometimes play hard to get). They are landing in France today on their way to Versailles for a high-level discussion with their American and French allies. The agenda is simple: how do we strike the final blow to end the war? And by extension, who will deliver it?
The British, of course, have their own ideas on the subject. And from their point of view, recent events around Verdun have proved them right. As a symbol of the failure of an entire US army, Eisenhower could not even invite them to dinner. No, he's far too busy doing... his own thing. Naturally, the islanders take no offence, nor are they very happy about it. However, after so many setbacks, so many painful ordeals, so many lessons received from on high, and so many recent (but discreet) humiliations when it had to justify (!) its commitments in Central Europe, Britannia is not shying away from its discreet satisfaction at seeing the colonists put their caps down a little...
Wacht am Rhein - He swore to be victorious
Lorraine - All hell has broken loose around Verdun! The finest young people from two countries return to die in a violent explosion that scorns any consideration of humanity. All calibres are used by the Germans, from the small 8 mm Lebel Mle 1892 captured in 1940 to the 380 mm Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW1 (also known as the SturmTiger) of the 1000. and 1001. PzSturmKp.
The day's clashes remain brutal, even if there are fewer of them than the day before: the German offensive is hampered by a mixture of mechanical problems, bad road conditions and poor coordination. There is no intermediate command between Kesselring and the corps generals! This is one of the most obvious signs of the urgency with which Wacht am Rhein had been planned, and one of the major shortcomings that could not be corrected after von Rundstedt was replaced by Kesselring, who did not have the same conception of the operation. For Rundstedt, it was supposed to be a stop-and-go battle with harassment; for Kesselring, who is more ambitious, a double pincer should allow the destruction of the encircled elements.
Forêt du Mort-Homme - The I. SS-PzK reorganises and leads an afternoon assault on Avocourt, held by the 2nd Infantry Indianhead, the position forming a dangerous salient between the Leibstandarte and the Das Reich. The 23rd Infantry Rgt holds out as best it could, but finds itself pushed back to hill 304, and it takes all of Walter Robertson's willpower to prevent his division from collapsing. The divisional staff works tirelessly in the church at Esnes-en-Argonne, where the stained glass windows they can look up to evoke nothing but desolation, death and sacrifice.
To spare his men any despondency, Robertson has the inscription engraved on the (French!) 69th Division memorial a little further east translated, "Ils ne sont pas passés" ("They did not pass"). He even draws up a slogan for his division: "They did not pass, they shall not pass!"
V US Corps, northern part of the front - The Americans are trying to reorganise to cope with the situation. They endeavour to regain a freer hand and to free themselves from unstable positions. During the night, the remnants of the 3rd Armoured Group are ordered to reorganise around Dombasle and support the arrival of infantrymen from the 30th Infantry Old Hickory (Leland Hobbs). Meanwhile, the 4th Armoured crosses the Marne unnoticed by the Germans. Tomorrow, the whole unit would have to lead an assault to break the encirclement of V Corps.
1st US Army HQ, Verdun (west) - A commander other than Patton might want to throw in the towel. But for 'Ol' Blood 'n Guts', it is unthinkable that an SS officer in a crisp black uniform would walk up to the V US Corps positions with a white flag and ask them to surrender because they are surrounded. Faced with the haughty Hauptsturmführer, who had handed him a message from his commanding officer, Patton, with a touch of Gerow in his hair, sends a V Corps staff officer to deliver the following message: "To the German commander: sod off. (signed) The American commander".
In Ken Annakin's film Verdun 44 (1965), the scene was romanticised, as it involved a direct interview between Patton and 'Sepp' Dietrich, in which the former said to the latter: "You haven't understood the situation. I'm not stuck here with you, you're stuck here with me!" In reality, Patton only saw Dietrich once or twice... at the SS trial.
Verdun - Patton's men do more than just defend themselves! In the morning, the 82nd Chemical Mortar Btn surrounds the German infantrymen trapped in the citadel, before a determined assault by the 83rd Infantry Thunderbolt pushes the 327. ID back across the Meuse. Buoyed by their success, the GIs of the 329th Inf Rgt (Robert Macon) try to cross the river. A young FTP, Fernand Legay, appears to warn them that the bridge is mined - his comrades have discreetly defused some of the charges, but they have not managed to render them all harmless. Unfortunately, Legay is shot by a sniper hiding in the Hôtel des Jardins.
Half-tracks still try to get through, but a 75 mm hidden in a tobacco tree opposite the bridge in question, which was caught in enfilade, destroys the first half-track, then the second. Taking advantage of the poor visibility due to the smoke and drizzle, a combat group still manages to slip across the river and eliminates the 75 mm with a grenade. In the end, the bridge does not collapse and the soldiers of the 329th are the first to cross the Meuse!
Meanwhile, the 331st Inf Rgt invades the citadel from the Place de la Roche, a weak point in the fortification. The fighting lasts for many hours, but by evening all German resistance hads ceased in the western half of Verdun. Kesselring, hearing that communications with the fortress have broken down, becomes furious: what, they are surrounded and they are attacking and winning! He gives a simple and brutal order: the 1000. and 1001. Sturm-Mœrser-Kompanien are to use their 380 mortars mounted on Tiger I chassis to raze the town to the ground during the night in order to calm the Americans' ardour.
Barrois - We are also fighting in the south. Troy Middleton's XIX US Corps clashes fort to fort with the LVIII. PzK, and the Heer tankers, on their own and exhausted by the losses they had suffered since Overlord, are unable to contain the Americans.
When the 5th Armored assaults Révigny-sur-Ornain, Hans-Karl von Esebeck confronts the Panzer Lehr, whose crews were supposed to be of a much higher tactical level. However, although the young men (one could sometimes say adolescents) of this Panzerdivision are indeed very well trained, they too have been decimated!
And their form is no better. In short, if one armoured division is fighting another, the Americans are often outnumbered four to one in the field. The Panzer Lehr is routed towards Bar-le-Duc, on the south bank of the Ornain, leaving the ground to the Americans. It fought well, however: the 5th Armoured lost fifteen to twenty tanks destroyed, as many damaged and almost 500 dead and wounded.
But the American division is now wedged between the remnants of the LXXXVI. AK and what remains of the LVIII. PzK, including the 14. SS-Panzergrenadier Division Gotz von Berlichingen (Werner Ostendorff) is pushed back into the cul-de-sac of Noyers-Auzécourt. At the same time, the Super Sixth (6th Armored) deploys on the plain near Bassu to turn the LVIII. PzK, the Golden Arrow (8th Infantry) moves into the wooded cuts between the two armoured divisions and the Red Diamond (5th Infantry) acts as flank-guard.
Middleton's initial objective was to seize Bar-le-Duc, but the start of the German offensive led him to revise his plans: with the 5th Armoured at the centre of his manoeuvre, he is going to move up the German southern flank with the 6th Armoured and the 8th Infantry in an overrun and then clashing movement. In the face of German shock and speed, he wants to use his firepower and numerical superiority to crush them. Even though he is theoretically facing two army corps (the LVIII. PzK and the LXXXVI. AK), these two formations are greatly diminished and are barely able to achieve numerical parity with his men, let alone parity in terms of firepower.
Argonne - Meanwhile, the II. SS-PzK (Wilhelm Bittrich) completes its turning movement. The 9. SS-Panzer Hohenstaufen (Sylvester Stadler) links up with the 101. SS-schw. PzAbt between Clermont-en-Argonne and Rarécourt. However, the encounter is marred by the loss of two Tigers, destroyed by a handful of survivors from the 741st Tank Destroyer Btn, ambushed in copses near Auzéville.
At the same time, the 10. SS-Panzer Frundsberg (Heinz Harmel) captures Triaucourt-en-Argonne (now Seuil-d'Argonne). The villagers, who had just begun to take their tricolour flags out of the cellars to celebrate their liberation, are machine-gunned: a dozen people are killed and as many wounded, including the parish priest, who had stayed behind after his church had been destroyed in June 1940.
Cancellation
Kesselring HQ (Metz) - The Luftwaffe receives yet another Führerbefehl that it is unable to execute. During the preparations for Wacht am Rhein, a parachute landing on the American rear had been envisaged. But the necessary transport was insufficient and the available pilots lacked experience. And Robert von Greim could add that, in any case, there was no one to parachute: the last parachute reserves on the Western Front were currently fighting to defend Belfort and were obviously not available. By scraping the bottom of the barrel, we were able to put together a battalion of around 800 men under the command of Oberst Friedrich von der Heydte, to prepare for what should have been Operation Stösser, but their training is far from adequate!
Obviously, from Berlin's point of view, these are just excuses, but Marshal Kesselring discreetly puts an end to all this fuss by calling the Adlerhorst directly: with the appalling weather prevailing in the region, executing Stösser would mean sending men to their deaths for nothing, especially as the I. SS-PzK can soon reach the Marne without help! Sacrificing the parachutists would therefore be pointless. Informed of the successes of the SS tankers, Himmler is drinking whey in the face of an increasingly impotent Göring. Von der Heydte, for his part, breathes a sigh of relief on learning that the operation has been abandoned: the men who had been entrusted to him had quickly appeared to him to be the dregs of the German airborne arm.
Reorganisation and progress
7th US Army HQ (Paris) - The redeployment of the 28th Infantry Keystone is slow, very slow: the division lags behind the rest of VI US Corps and it soon becomes apparent that Lloyd Brown is not pressing his unit as hard as its potential would allow. After consulting the division's infantry commander, Patch decides to sack Brown and replace him forthwith with James Edward Wharton, deputy commander of the 9th Infantry Varsity, currently in general reserve. As the Varsity is part of VII US Corps, such a decision was normally reserved for Omar Bradley, but he immediately agrees to Patch's request. Wharton is more energetic, and Brown had to be replaced in any case, given his poor behaviour during Arrowheads****.
Arriving at midday to reorganise his unit, Wharton immediately demonstrates his will and skill by managing to catch up the division in half a day by following the departmental road to Epernay. He is followed by the first divisions of IV US Corps to move up towards Reims and the front, while the rest of the corps prepares to cross the Marne from Blancs-Coteaux.
At the same time, Patch is finally able to start moving his divisions northwards, albeit at a fairly slow pace to give the logistical train time to settle in. While VIII US Corps begins to assemble by train around Meaux, the IV US Corps leaves the Oise and reaches Villers-Cotterêts in the evening with the 3rd Armored Spearhead - Doyle Hickey is beginning to get to grips with his unit after three weeks at its head. The Big Red One, very tired from Arrowheads, drags its feet a little and is only at Lévignen, while the 7th Infantry Bayonet (Lyman Lemnitzer) liberates Crépy and the 36th Infantry Texas (John Dalquist) is at La Ferté-Millon. The Texans are not overly impressed by the ruins of the château, as they had seen others much better preserved since Dragon.
French forces: staff manoeuvres
Ministry of War (Paris) - The Ministry distributes new assignments. Lieutenant General Marius Daille bids farewell to the army: he will unofficially assist General Bougrain, who is in charge of the liaison mission with Poland. His staff is sent to Grenoble to create II Corps. From the end of the month, it would oversee the Alpine front, under the command of General Antoine Béthouart, who had left Montgomery and the Balkans to come under Giraud's command. Under his command, the 3rd DM (Robert Boisseau), the 36th DI (Guy Schlesser) and the 35th Infantry Division Santa Fe (Paul Baade) would operate in the region, with the 3rd Groupement de Tabors Marocains providing corps support, the 1st GTM having left the Alps with the rest of the I CA.
Another circular is also signed by Paul-Boncour: from July 1st, Major General Jean Rabanit is promoted to the rank and title of Lieutenant General. He is transferred to the General Staff to serve under General Giraud as Inspector for the reconstruction of the Army's infrastructure in Metropolitan France, as well as its armaments factories. Air Force General Odic is given the same mission for Air Force infrastructures, and the Navy is still looking for an officer for this mission from among a number of profiles that are both deserving and competent (the Navy being the only army in which the majority of officers were already professionals). Rabanit is replaced at the head of the 3rd DB by General Touzet du Vigier, whose brigade is taken over by Colonel de Gonfreville.
1st French Army - Operation Marguerite
Lorraine, II Polish CA and III CA - The progressive neutralisation of the forts around Toul continues. It is true that they are less well supplied and armed than those at Belfort or the Festungen, and that the XC. AK does not try to hold them for too long, preferring to prepare the defence of Nancy. It also receives a welcome reinforcement: the remnants of the 91. Luftlande, under the command of the newly appointed Generalmajor Bernhard Klosterkemper.
However, the Germans are not the only ones to receive reinforcements. The Polish II Corps (3rd ID, 5th ID, 1st BB) sees Gustaw Paszkiewicz's 4th Polish Infantry Division and Tadeusz Adam Feliks Majewski's 2nd Polish Armoured Brigade arrive in its rear. It is a moving reunion...
On the other hand, the arrival of the Poles means that the 14th and 19th Divisions d'Infanterie would soon be relieved, and they too would be rested in front of the Vosges. The whole of III CA is put to the sword, while the valleys ahead continue to burn...
Doubs, IVth CA - The positions of the 958. Grenadier Rgt in Mandeure are quickly swept away in the morning after the infantrymen of the Allard brigade of the 10th DI had circumscribed and then reduced them. The 3rd DB enters Montbéliard and takes control of the roads before allowing the 2nd Algerian Spahi Regiment to overtake it and head for the Alsatian plain. The aim is to disrupt the movements of the 363. ID as much as possible and, if possible, to take advantage of the Spahis' great mobility to turn Belfort via Joncherey and head for the Rhine.
For their part, the 9th DIC and 83rd DIA continue to methodically clear the woods to the east of Belfort. The task is made all the more difficult by the fact that the German paratroopers have littered the ground with anti-personnel mines.
* But we're short of tanks! What's more, its open roof made it easier to communicate with the infantry.
** As siege historians will describe it, the 353. ID degenerated, over the course of the fighting, into a sort of harlequin division, made up of young recruits, veterans of the Other War, the lightly wounded, convalescents from hospitals, and leave-holders collected from railway stations... The result was an inconsistent unit with, as a result, inconsistent combat value.
*** Casemate no. 1 now houses the Atlantic Wall Museum, including a 280mm K5 naval artillery gun, of which there is only one other surviving example in the world. The other three casemates cannot be visited (2 and 3 in ruins, 4 on private land).
**** For example, its all-out assaults during the battle of Aigurandes resulted in the needless deaths of many GIs, and even a few civilians who had asked for nothing.
Liberation and Liberators
The Brittany Festungen
Lorient - The 79th Infantry Cross of Lorraine spends the night, not trying to clear every little pocket in Lanester (that will have to wait until daylight), but advancing towards the Cape de l'Esperance. Urged on by Joseph Collins, who is himself being rammed by his superiors (and the situation is not likely to get any better with what is happening in Moselle!), Ira Wyche presses hard to push his opponents forward, determined not to give the 942. Grenadier Rgt any chance of recovering. And it works.
As dawn breaks, the M-10 tank destroyers of the 899th Tank Destroyer Btn - engaged in infantry support somewhat contrary to doctrine* - are in the arsenal, strafing the buildings of the former Ecole des Fusiliers marins from a distance, forcing the exhausted German infantrymen to lower their heads. Behind them, the Long Toms of the 991st Arm Art Btn thunder continuously. And what had to happen happens: at 15:30, Colonel Sterling A. Wood's 313rd Inf Rgt reports that the objective has been reached. A fine performance, which earned the unit the French Croix de Guerre with palms. All that remains is to clean up, a thankless and costly task that would not be completed by nightfall.
But it doesn't matter! What remains of the late 942. Grenadier Rgt cannot hope for the slightest help from anyone. On the west bank, its partners of the 353. ID, the 941. and 943. Grenadier Rgt, increasingly replenished with drawer bottoms, are constantly sent back to the front, regardless of the consequences**.
Along the Ter, Manton Eddy's 9th Infantry Varsity continues to advance relentlessly towards the submarine base and its stock of torpedoes. This critical threat, which devours whatever reserves Paul Mahlmann still has, logically leads the defence of the Keryado sector not to give in, but to be crushed under the shells. And the Heer's last source of water disappears with it.
Ile Cézembre - Something new this morning for Seuss and his men! As if in response to any wild hopes the Germans might have, the 9th Air Force tests a new weapon on their ridiculous little fortress that has recently arrived and seems to have a bright future ahead of it: napalm. It's hot, it's almost summer: why not fry something?
The Army agrees. It has given up trying to pierce the concrete of the shelters on Cézembre Island, but it has received a large shipment of phosphorus shells - an incendiary compound that can infiltrate anywhere...
North - Operation Undergo
Côte d'Opale - Unfortunately, last-minute attempts at negotiation come to nothing. This morning, it's flying, the Marauders are roaring, the guns of the 2nd AGRA are thundering. The Pas-de-Calais is set to suffer.
The offensive doesn't get off to such a bad start! Rushing through the smoke towards Cap Gris-Nez, the 7th Infantry Brigade and 8th Infantry Brigade (Rod Keller's 3rd Canadian Infantry) easily breaks through the first lines of the Todt battery, well covered by the Fléau tanks and other AVREs, which smash the bunkers and exploded the minefields. And as soon as the first command post is reached, the Canadians are surprised to see the enemy raise the white flag! To confirm the surrender, an officer appears before them, clearly having to concentrate hard to... stand up straight.
The truth is as simple as it is comical! Without water supplies and subjected to a total blockade, the effects of which were already adding to a drop in morale, against which Oberst Ludwig Schroeder had done nothing - hadn't he said enough that his troops were a bunch of rubbish! - The garrison simply emptied their wine and schnapps reserves, which had a significant impact on their fighting capacity. And so the affair was over in two hours***.
On the Calais side, alas, it is not exactly the same drinking song. Once again following Percy Hobart's Fléau tanks, the 4th Canadian Armoured (George Kitching) advances towards the fortified positions of Noires Mottes and Sangatte. On the face of it, the Germans here are no more motivated than their compatriots at Cap Gris-Nez. But only on the surface. The Canadians can see it clearly with binoculars: when a Kraut comes out of his trench with his arms in the air, he is immediately shot from a position behind him. This happens several times during the morning, until everyone has learned their lesson - obviously, the Eastern Front has infused some NFSOs...
So much the worse for that! We'll have to make do, by hand. But not quite: the arrival of the Crocodile tanks within firing range and the inevitable withdrawal of the defenders into their bunkers enable the 4th Armoured Brigade to continue... but with difficulty, as the ground is so badly churned up by shells that the Fascines tanks have to be called in regularly to advance! In the meantime, the infantry tries to negotiate the surrender of Noires Mottes through the intermediary of the factionalists who had been turned - with the tongues of fire, these people have now calmed down!
Cromwell and Sherman continue towards Sangatte, another strong point in the system. Same exercise, same solution, same punishment. In short, the first line cannot be broken through by nightfall. As a result, Harry Crerar is forced to postpone the assault by the 5th Canadian Armoured (Guy Simonds), planned for as soon as Fort Nieulay is turned...
Wacht am Maas ?
Maastricht - Arrival of the first elements of the 347. ID (Wolf Trierenberg), the vanguard of the LXXXVIII. ArmeeKorps (Hans-Wolfgang Reinhard). In the coming days, the latter would place its three modest - but still relatively intact - divisions on an arc stretching from Zonhonven to Visé. In other words, roughly in the corner between the Meuse and the Albert Canal.
Not ideal... But the LXVII. ArmeeKorps has lost so many units in Flanders that, in practice, the corps no longer exists! This forces Manstein to change his plans. Holland and Rotterdam have to be held for a while. In the worst case, a flanking counter-attack would be attempted... In any case, the German is no closer to an expedient.
The pursuit at last
Flat country - The limitations on supplies and the extent of the terrain to be controlled have an ever-greater impact on the capabilities of the two Belgian army corps, which are gradually reaching the limits of their capacity for action.
In Antwerp, while waiting for the 2nd Infantry Division (Charles Bruyère) to come and support it, the 1st Infantry Division (Jean Jans) sets about securing the heart of the city and pushing back what remains of the Muffs across the Albert Canal, towards Schoten and the Merksem district. A heavy task, which keeps it busy all day.
Further east, the 1st Armoured Division (Jean-Baptiste Piron) can do little more than push as far as Saint-Trond - the 4th ID (Roger Libbrecht) remains disproportionately stretched over 60 kilometres from Maubeuge to Namur, alone in the face of an improbable (but still possible) counter-attack from the Ardennes. But there are some memories you just don't want to relive. The English better hurry up!
Finally, in the center, both Tancrémont and the Ardennais are beginning to move up towards Mechelen, to take their place in the future line-up against Holland.
And Brussels broke
Brussels - The Kingdom's new-found capital is still abuzz with the clattering of its black-yellow-red flags and with activity that is certainly joyful - but also somewhat unproductive from a military point of view, not to mention humanitarian constraints. Belgium is emerging from four years of darkness: public facilities have been looted or destroyed, the population has nothing left, its bellies are crying out for food and its mouths for vengeance. In short, here like in France, there's a whole country to get back on its feet...
In other words, Pierlot's priority is not immediately to collaborate with the Allies on a new campaign. That will come, but in a few days' time. Neil Ritchie, for his part, takes no offence. Benelux is not his first objective and he knows that with what is happening towards Verdun, his starting position towards the Ruhr looks increasingly favourable... as long as he applies himself and pushes his pawns well.
What's next?
Vélizy-Villacoublay airfield - Sir Alan (Brooke), 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, and Sir Claude (Auchinleck), known as "the Auk", represent respectively the War Office and the 21st AAG - in other words, between them, almost all the Commonwealth armies (almost, because the South Africans sometimes play hard to get). They are landing in France today on their way to Versailles for a high-level discussion with their American and French allies. The agenda is simple: how do we strike the final blow to end the war? And by extension, who will deliver it?
The British, of course, have their own ideas on the subject. And from their point of view, recent events around Verdun have proved them right. As a symbol of the failure of an entire US army, Eisenhower could not even invite them to dinner. No, he's far too busy doing... his own thing. Naturally, the islanders take no offence, nor are they very happy about it. However, after so many setbacks, so many painful ordeals, so many lessons received from on high, and so many recent (but discreet) humiliations when it had to justify (!) its commitments in Central Europe, Britannia is not shying away from its discreet satisfaction at seeing the colonists put their caps down a little...
Wacht am Rhein - He swore to be victorious
Lorraine - All hell has broken loose around Verdun! The finest young people from two countries return to die in a violent explosion that scorns any consideration of humanity. All calibres are used by the Germans, from the small 8 mm Lebel Mle 1892 captured in 1940 to the 380 mm Sturmmörserwagen 606/4 mit 38 cm RW1 (also known as the SturmTiger) of the 1000. and 1001. PzSturmKp.
The day's clashes remain brutal, even if there are fewer of them than the day before: the German offensive is hampered by a mixture of mechanical problems, bad road conditions and poor coordination. There is no intermediate command between Kesselring and the corps generals! This is one of the most obvious signs of the urgency with which Wacht am Rhein had been planned, and one of the major shortcomings that could not be corrected after von Rundstedt was replaced by Kesselring, who did not have the same conception of the operation. For Rundstedt, it was supposed to be a stop-and-go battle with harassment; for Kesselring, who is more ambitious, a double pincer should allow the destruction of the encircled elements.
Forêt du Mort-Homme - The I. SS-PzK reorganises and leads an afternoon assault on Avocourt, held by the 2nd Infantry Indianhead, the position forming a dangerous salient between the Leibstandarte and the Das Reich. The 23rd Infantry Rgt holds out as best it could, but finds itself pushed back to hill 304, and it takes all of Walter Robertson's willpower to prevent his division from collapsing. The divisional staff works tirelessly in the church at Esnes-en-Argonne, where the stained glass windows they can look up to evoke nothing but desolation, death and sacrifice.
To spare his men any despondency, Robertson has the inscription engraved on the (French!) 69th Division memorial a little further east translated, "Ils ne sont pas passés" ("They did not pass"). He even draws up a slogan for his division: "They did not pass, they shall not pass!"
V US Corps, northern part of the front - The Americans are trying to reorganise to cope with the situation. They endeavour to regain a freer hand and to free themselves from unstable positions. During the night, the remnants of the 3rd Armoured Group are ordered to reorganise around Dombasle and support the arrival of infantrymen from the 30th Infantry Old Hickory (Leland Hobbs). Meanwhile, the 4th Armoured crosses the Marne unnoticed by the Germans. Tomorrow, the whole unit would have to lead an assault to break the encirclement of V Corps.
1st US Army HQ, Verdun (west) - A commander other than Patton might want to throw in the towel. But for 'Ol' Blood 'n Guts', it is unthinkable that an SS officer in a crisp black uniform would walk up to the V US Corps positions with a white flag and ask them to surrender because they are surrounded. Faced with the haughty Hauptsturmführer, who had handed him a message from his commanding officer, Patton, with a touch of Gerow in his hair, sends a V Corps staff officer to deliver the following message: "To the German commander: sod off. (signed) The American commander".
In Ken Annakin's film Verdun 44 (1965), the scene was romanticised, as it involved a direct interview between Patton and 'Sepp' Dietrich, in which the former said to the latter: "You haven't understood the situation. I'm not stuck here with you, you're stuck here with me!" In reality, Patton only saw Dietrich once or twice... at the SS trial.
Verdun - Patton's men do more than just defend themselves! In the morning, the 82nd Chemical Mortar Btn surrounds the German infantrymen trapped in the citadel, before a determined assault by the 83rd Infantry Thunderbolt pushes the 327. ID back across the Meuse. Buoyed by their success, the GIs of the 329th Inf Rgt (Robert Macon) try to cross the river. A young FTP, Fernand Legay, appears to warn them that the bridge is mined - his comrades have discreetly defused some of the charges, but they have not managed to render them all harmless. Unfortunately, Legay is shot by a sniper hiding in the Hôtel des Jardins.
Half-tracks still try to get through, but a 75 mm hidden in a tobacco tree opposite the bridge in question, which was caught in enfilade, destroys the first half-track, then the second. Taking advantage of the poor visibility due to the smoke and drizzle, a combat group still manages to slip across the river and eliminates the 75 mm with a grenade. In the end, the bridge does not collapse and the soldiers of the 329th are the first to cross the Meuse!
Meanwhile, the 331st Inf Rgt invades the citadel from the Place de la Roche, a weak point in the fortification. The fighting lasts for many hours, but by evening all German resistance hads ceased in the western half of Verdun. Kesselring, hearing that communications with the fortress have broken down, becomes furious: what, they are surrounded and they are attacking and winning! He gives a simple and brutal order: the 1000. and 1001. Sturm-Mœrser-Kompanien are to use their 380 mortars mounted on Tiger I chassis to raze the town to the ground during the night in order to calm the Americans' ardour.
Barrois - We are also fighting in the south. Troy Middleton's XIX US Corps clashes fort to fort with the LVIII. PzK, and the Heer tankers, on their own and exhausted by the losses they had suffered since Overlord, are unable to contain the Americans.
When the 5th Armored assaults Révigny-sur-Ornain, Hans-Karl von Esebeck confronts the Panzer Lehr, whose crews were supposed to be of a much higher tactical level. However, although the young men (one could sometimes say adolescents) of this Panzerdivision are indeed very well trained, they too have been decimated!
And their form is no better. In short, if one armoured division is fighting another, the Americans are often outnumbered four to one in the field. The Panzer Lehr is routed towards Bar-le-Duc, on the south bank of the Ornain, leaving the ground to the Americans. It fought well, however: the 5th Armoured lost fifteen to twenty tanks destroyed, as many damaged and almost 500 dead and wounded.
But the American division is now wedged between the remnants of the LXXXVI. AK and what remains of the LVIII. PzK, including the 14. SS-Panzergrenadier Division Gotz von Berlichingen (Werner Ostendorff) is pushed back into the cul-de-sac of Noyers-Auzécourt. At the same time, the Super Sixth (6th Armored) deploys on the plain near Bassu to turn the LVIII. PzK, the Golden Arrow (8th Infantry) moves into the wooded cuts between the two armoured divisions and the Red Diamond (5th Infantry) acts as flank-guard.
Middleton's initial objective was to seize Bar-le-Duc, but the start of the German offensive led him to revise his plans: with the 5th Armoured at the centre of his manoeuvre, he is going to move up the German southern flank with the 6th Armoured and the 8th Infantry in an overrun and then clashing movement. In the face of German shock and speed, he wants to use his firepower and numerical superiority to crush them. Even though he is theoretically facing two army corps (the LVIII. PzK and the LXXXVI. AK), these two formations are greatly diminished and are barely able to achieve numerical parity with his men, let alone parity in terms of firepower.
Argonne - Meanwhile, the II. SS-PzK (Wilhelm Bittrich) completes its turning movement. The 9. SS-Panzer Hohenstaufen (Sylvester Stadler) links up with the 101. SS-schw. PzAbt between Clermont-en-Argonne and Rarécourt. However, the encounter is marred by the loss of two Tigers, destroyed by a handful of survivors from the 741st Tank Destroyer Btn, ambushed in copses near Auzéville.
At the same time, the 10. SS-Panzer Frundsberg (Heinz Harmel) captures Triaucourt-en-Argonne (now Seuil-d'Argonne). The villagers, who had just begun to take their tricolour flags out of the cellars to celebrate their liberation, are machine-gunned: a dozen people are killed and as many wounded, including the parish priest, who had stayed behind after his church had been destroyed in June 1940.
Cancellation
Kesselring HQ (Metz) - The Luftwaffe receives yet another Führerbefehl that it is unable to execute. During the preparations for Wacht am Rhein, a parachute landing on the American rear had been envisaged. But the necessary transport was insufficient and the available pilots lacked experience. And Robert von Greim could add that, in any case, there was no one to parachute: the last parachute reserves on the Western Front were currently fighting to defend Belfort and were obviously not available. By scraping the bottom of the barrel, we were able to put together a battalion of around 800 men under the command of Oberst Friedrich von der Heydte, to prepare for what should have been Operation Stösser, but their training is far from adequate!
Obviously, from Berlin's point of view, these are just excuses, but Marshal Kesselring discreetly puts an end to all this fuss by calling the Adlerhorst directly: with the appalling weather prevailing in the region, executing Stösser would mean sending men to their deaths for nothing, especially as the I. SS-PzK can soon reach the Marne without help! Sacrificing the parachutists would therefore be pointless. Informed of the successes of the SS tankers, Himmler is drinking whey in the face of an increasingly impotent Göring. Von der Heydte, for his part, breathes a sigh of relief on learning that the operation has been abandoned: the men who had been entrusted to him had quickly appeared to him to be the dregs of the German airborne arm.
Reorganisation and progress
7th US Army HQ (Paris) - The redeployment of the 28th Infantry Keystone is slow, very slow: the division lags behind the rest of VI US Corps and it soon becomes apparent that Lloyd Brown is not pressing his unit as hard as its potential would allow. After consulting the division's infantry commander, Patch decides to sack Brown and replace him forthwith with James Edward Wharton, deputy commander of the 9th Infantry Varsity, currently in general reserve. As the Varsity is part of VII US Corps, such a decision was normally reserved for Omar Bradley, but he immediately agrees to Patch's request. Wharton is more energetic, and Brown had to be replaced in any case, given his poor behaviour during Arrowheads****.
Arriving at midday to reorganise his unit, Wharton immediately demonstrates his will and skill by managing to catch up the division in half a day by following the departmental road to Epernay. He is followed by the first divisions of IV US Corps to move up towards Reims and the front, while the rest of the corps prepares to cross the Marne from Blancs-Coteaux.
At the same time, Patch is finally able to start moving his divisions northwards, albeit at a fairly slow pace to give the logistical train time to settle in. While VIII US Corps begins to assemble by train around Meaux, the IV US Corps leaves the Oise and reaches Villers-Cotterêts in the evening with the 3rd Armored Spearhead - Doyle Hickey is beginning to get to grips with his unit after three weeks at its head. The Big Red One, very tired from Arrowheads, drags its feet a little and is only at Lévignen, while the 7th Infantry Bayonet (Lyman Lemnitzer) liberates Crépy and the 36th Infantry Texas (John Dalquist) is at La Ferté-Millon. The Texans are not overly impressed by the ruins of the château, as they had seen others much better preserved since Dragon.
French forces: staff manoeuvres
Ministry of War (Paris) - The Ministry distributes new assignments. Lieutenant General Marius Daille bids farewell to the army: he will unofficially assist General Bougrain, who is in charge of the liaison mission with Poland. His staff is sent to Grenoble to create II Corps. From the end of the month, it would oversee the Alpine front, under the command of General Antoine Béthouart, who had left Montgomery and the Balkans to come under Giraud's command. Under his command, the 3rd DM (Robert Boisseau), the 36th DI (Guy Schlesser) and the 35th Infantry Division Santa Fe (Paul Baade) would operate in the region, with the 3rd Groupement de Tabors Marocains providing corps support, the 1st GTM having left the Alps with the rest of the I CA.
Another circular is also signed by Paul-Boncour: from July 1st, Major General Jean Rabanit is promoted to the rank and title of Lieutenant General. He is transferred to the General Staff to serve under General Giraud as Inspector for the reconstruction of the Army's infrastructure in Metropolitan France, as well as its armaments factories. Air Force General Odic is given the same mission for Air Force infrastructures, and the Navy is still looking for an officer for this mission from among a number of profiles that are both deserving and competent (the Navy being the only army in which the majority of officers were already professionals). Rabanit is replaced at the head of the 3rd DB by General Touzet du Vigier, whose brigade is taken over by Colonel de Gonfreville.
1st French Army - Operation Marguerite
Lorraine, II Polish CA and III CA - The progressive neutralisation of the forts around Toul continues. It is true that they are less well supplied and armed than those at Belfort or the Festungen, and that the XC. AK does not try to hold them for too long, preferring to prepare the defence of Nancy. It also receives a welcome reinforcement: the remnants of the 91. Luftlande, under the command of the newly appointed Generalmajor Bernhard Klosterkemper.
However, the Germans are not the only ones to receive reinforcements. The Polish II Corps (3rd ID, 5th ID, 1st BB) sees Gustaw Paszkiewicz's 4th Polish Infantry Division and Tadeusz Adam Feliks Majewski's 2nd Polish Armoured Brigade arrive in its rear. It is a moving reunion...
On the other hand, the arrival of the Poles means that the 14th and 19th Divisions d'Infanterie would soon be relieved, and they too would be rested in front of the Vosges. The whole of III CA is put to the sword, while the valleys ahead continue to burn...
Doubs, IVth CA - The positions of the 958. Grenadier Rgt in Mandeure are quickly swept away in the morning after the infantrymen of the Allard brigade of the 10th DI had circumscribed and then reduced them. The 3rd DB enters Montbéliard and takes control of the roads before allowing the 2nd Algerian Spahi Regiment to overtake it and head for the Alsatian plain. The aim is to disrupt the movements of the 363. ID as much as possible and, if possible, to take advantage of the Spahis' great mobility to turn Belfort via Joncherey and head for the Rhine.
For their part, the 9th DIC and 83rd DIA continue to methodically clear the woods to the east of Belfort. The task is made all the more difficult by the fact that the German paratroopers have littered the ground with anti-personnel mines.
* But we're short of tanks! What's more, its open roof made it easier to communicate with the infantry.
** As siege historians will describe it, the 353. ID degenerated, over the course of the fighting, into a sort of harlequin division, made up of young recruits, veterans of the Other War, the lightly wounded, convalescents from hospitals, and leave-holders collected from railway stations... The result was an inconsistent unit with, as a result, inconsistent combat value.
*** Casemate no. 1 now houses the Atlantic Wall Museum, including a 280mm K5 naval artillery gun, of which there is only one other surviving example in the world. The other three casemates cannot be visited (2 and 3 in ruins, 4 on private land).
**** For example, its all-out assaults during the battle of Aigurandes resulted in the needless deaths of many GIs, and even a few civilians who had asked for nothing.
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18/06/44 - Western Front
June 18th, 1944
Liberation and Liberators
The Brittany Festungen
Lorient - Lanester has been cleaned up - at least from the German occupation, because as far as the rubble is concerned, the work has only just begun.
Only a few stubborn men remain in the arsenal - including a group equipped with automatic weapons, now entrenched in a gallery. Going in there would be suicide. To settle the matter, an M-10 Tank Destroyer positions itself opposite the entrance and fires a 76.2 mm shell... which immediately triggers a frightful explosion that shakes the ground, makes the earth rumble and drowns the crew in a thick cloud of dust.
In fact, the arsenal was (also) used as an ammunition depot. The projectile probably hit a stockpile of explosives... Which, by the way, solves the Americans' problem*. For those who doubted it, the battle east of Lorient is over.
On the west bank, the situation for the 353. ID is becoming more problematic by the hour. The outer perimeter now seems irretrievably compromised, the reserves are all destroyed or committed, while the air force and artillery no longer give the German army the slightest respite, even when it is only pretending to withdraw. It is reported that the improvised KampfGruppen mounted under fire fell victim to mass surrender. The loss of the drinking water supply was the final blow.
The Kriegsmarine agrees. It is therefore working hard to get its last remaining vessel, the U-466, a Type VIIC undergoing repairs, ready to put to sea for an immersion trip this evening, bound for Saint-Nazaire or wherever... well, whoever will have her!
Due to lack of time, three of the nine cylinders in the port diesel engine have not been replaced, the leading periscope is still stuck in the down position and the aft diving bars have to be operated by hand, as their burnt-out electric motors have not been replaced.
A quick meeting of the U.Bootewaffe officers still present at Kéroman concludes that while a night sortie is preferable in order to escape the permanent surveillance of the allied air force, to do so by diving is, given the nautical conditions of the roadstead and its approaches, a true suicide.
The order is therefore given to Oberleutnant zur See Gerhard Thäter, commander of U-466, to sail first to Saint Nazaire and then, once fully repaired, to Bergen, rounding the British Isles to the north. The Loire port is preferred because it is not under attack from the Americans, whereas Brest threatens to be taken at short notice.
The exit is not easy, as the various turrets that marked out the channel between Saint Michel Island and Port Louis Passage have disappeared, victims of bombing by the Allied air force or blasting by German bombers. To be sure of entering the channel under the right conditions, the two lights at Pointe de Kéroman and Kéroman Supérieur have to be aligned aft, in order to make way for the 169. But with the intensity of the bombardment by the American air force and artillery, these lights near the submarine base are now just rubble among other rubble. Studying the map, Thäter and his first officer, who is responsible for navigation, decide that the Flak tower in the southern corner of U.bunker K 3 can replace the usual landmarks by keeping this heading: 169°.
However, Thäter cannot rely on the Moon to take his bearings, as it is only a thin crescent providing anaemic illumination**. He therefore decides to use a makeshift method to estimate his position: special binoculars for night surface attacks. He aims at the Flak tower to determine his position on the basis of the bearing and distance given by the aircraft. The commander would take regular bearings and the first officer would read them off the repeater at the central station and plot them on the map.
Numerous sights should make it possible to obtain an accurate position, well as accurate as possible because at the point where the channel coming from Kéroman is joined by the main channel coming from the arsenal, nine wrecks have been scuttled in two lines. And you'll have to weave your way between them, hoping their positions on the map are correct!
Once through the barrage, we'll continue on the same route until the fort of Kernavel is located on the starboard aft side at 275. The U-466 will then turn right, heading 200, to leave the citadel of Port Louis on the port side and the islets of Cochon, Pot and Mare on the starboard side to enter the southern channel.
And at dusk, as the TDs approach the large concrete block where the submarine base is located, Paul Mahlmann, now entrenched in this dungeon, begins to contemplate his surrender.
At 23:00, U-583 emerges from the alveolus that had protected her from the storm of steel generously dispensed by the American forces. Having cleared the wreck of the old cruiser Strasbourg, the former Regensburg of the Imperial Navy***, the submarine makes slow headway in the channel. Reliefs follow one another and at 23:30, the vessel arrives close to the first line of the barrage of wrecks. The U-boot enters the gap between the two easternmost wrecks**** without touching them. After a brief sigh of relief, everyone on board is apprehensive about the next stage of the navigation: would they get through the second line in the same way?
Alas, the sound of a sinister scraping on the port side is heard in all the compartments. U-466 has just hit the easternmost wreck of the second line****. The ballast tanks, from forward to aft of the kiosk, are ripped open. Water penetrates and the submarine lists to port. To save his crew, Thäter orders "hard to port" and beaches the U-boot on the Turkish Bank. The next day, after recovering the secret documents, maps, Enigma machine, codes and sighting device for a night surface attack, he blows up the wreck.
The attempt to exfiltrate the last submarine from Lorient failed.
North - Operation Undergo
Côte d'Opale - After the surprisingly rapid fall of the Cape Gris-Nez batteries, the 1st Canadian Army Corps logically turns its full attention to Calais. The morning's good news: during the night, the Noires Mottes position has surrendered. The new glorious defenders of National Socialist Germany did not want to fight to the bitter end in the face of shells and flamethrowers. Three hundred of them are sent to prison camps. Then it is Sangatte's turn to raise the white flag.
The 4th Canadian Armoured (George Kitching), massively supported by the 3rd Canadian Infantry (Rod Keller), is therefore free to assault the positions at Coquelles and Fort Nieulay. This allows the 5th Canadian Armoured (Guy Simonds) to go into action for a frontal assault towards Coulogne, in order to break through the 47. ID (Max Bork), while isolating Calais from Dunkirk via the Belle Vue ridge.
Unfortunately, this last action gets off to a bad start on the east side. Following the rolling artillery barrage, the men of the 11th Infantry Brigade crawl past the shattered front lines, but soon find that the strike has been too quick on the following positions, which are still largely intact. Casualties are mounting - the least effective units, including several companies of reservists, had been positioned here. Simonds is therefore forced to ask for help from Hobart's engines and Charles Foulkes' 2nd Canadian Infantry. The Funnies take over and attack in the early afternoon, accompanied by Foulkes' men - although they do not finish the job before nightfall. And everywhere else, the Kraut puts up fierce resistance.
Belgium - The pursuit, at last
Flat country - Arrival in the Charleroi sector of the vanguard of the VIII Corps (Sidney Kirkman) - namely the 49th Reco Rgt of the Royal Armoured Corps, which announces Evelyn Barker's 49th Infantry West Riding. This long-awaited reinforcement - which certainly heralds an advance towards the Ardennes - encourages the 1st Armoured Division (Jean-Baptiste Piron) and the 4th Infantry Division (Roger Libbrecht) to prepare the next leap towards Maastricht, by targeting Hasselt and Tongeren. One more push, manneke!
Wacht am Rhein - The crows come from all sides.
First US Army, Meuse - The 4th Armored completes its crossing of the Marne. The maneuver has been greatly slowed by the crowd of fugitives from the logistics chain who were crowding Châlons, hampering the maneuver. But John S. Wood had managed the day before to rally everyone together and reorganise the survivors from the day before into a handful of marching units, with an improvised chain of command.
In front of him, the plain is empty all the way to the hills of the Argonne. Informed by radio by the groups of Rangers left behind, he is able to make a great leap forward to Valmy, from where he wants to prepare the blow in the back that would send the Germans home. But the Americans aren't the only ones with scouts, and the SS have no trouble spotting the mass moving towards them (the 4th Armored alone has as many tanks as two SS armoured divisions)! This is enough to worry Wilhelm Bittrich, who decides to ambush the 103. SS-schw. Pz Abt to provide cover for the 10. SS-Panzer Frundsberg.
.........
At the same time, the 2nd Infantry Indianhead (Walter Robertson) is still facing the Das Reich. Despite the numerical superiority of the Americans, the day's fighting soon turns into a disaster: the 4. SS-PzGr Rgt Der Führer storms the gap between Avocourt and Esnes-en-Argonne, where the divisional HQ had been the previous day. The 9th Inf. Rgt, supported by the artillery of the CCA and CCB, manages to hold on, but losses have been mounting since the fall of Montfaucon and it is saved in extremis by the intervention of the 38th Inf. Rgt.
"I saw the tank, probably a Tiger, firing on our mates behind us in the half-track, which ended up as a smoking carcass. Real, Western-style warfare was different from the war myths of the Reserves. Here, it was dirty, inhuman, a war of metal and fire, in the middle of old guts uncovered by artillery and the remains of young men who had died like us earlier, their skulls with empty eye sockets reminding us of our own mortality.
I was getting fed up. It was probably stupid, but when I saw the lieutenant being cut in half by a burst of "jigsaw", as the MG-42 was called in those days, I took my Thompson, two magazines, and left the position that was being framed by the Krauts, but running towards them, with three guys who were still just about standing. I don't know what spirit, god or whatever, was watching over us as we ran at them, but we made it across the whole field amid bursts of fire, mines and rusty barbed wire unearthed after twenty years, before finding ourselves thirty yards from a machine gun nest, probably the jigsaw that had killed our platoon leader.
I jumped into a manhole, where I found myself face to face with a Kraut wrapped in a large, discarded, dirt-stained coat - I lined him up by instinct, fired, no reaction, no cry. Then his helmet fell to the ground - inside, a brown skull smiled at me, as if to tell me that I was going to die like him twenty years earlier, far from home, without glory and without reason.
I shook my head and then dared to glance out of the hole to observe as my three lads hid in other holes. The machine gun, in its own hole, was flanking me. I unhooked a pineapple, climbed up the hole and pressed myself to the ground before cocking the pineapple. I waited three seconds before throwing it into the machine gun hole. I heard screams, boom. Then I straightened up, straight as an I, and emptied my clip into the trench while I heard groans everywhere. I ripped the machine gun out of the hands of a guy whose belly had been ripped open by the grenade and who was clutching onto it as if it would make any difference to him.
The MG didn't seem to be in too bad a shape, so I gave it to one of my men and then we ran back to our positions, where two guys shot me in a manhole just as bullets were starting to rattle around me, maybe a sniper was lining me up. One of the three soldiers didn't come back and the one with the MG was hit in the leg. It wasn't until the adrenaline had worn off that I realised that my right flank hurt like hell - one of the snipers had got me.
In the evening, while I was in sickbay wondering why I had been so stupid, the 'ptain' came down to see me and told me that he had applied to the General for me to be decorated with the Purple Heart and the Silver Star".
Testimony in 1954 by Sergeant Pascal Poolaw, 9th Infantry Regiment. Poolaw was a Kiowa Indian, but did not join the 45th Infantry Thunderbird like most Amerindians. He is still the most decorated American Indian of the Second World War, with a Purple Heart and Silver Star, a DSC, a Croix de Guerre and a Bronze Star.
.........
Further south, operating on a reversed front, the 29th Infantry, after the losses suffered a few days earlier, is dominated by the 9 SS-Panzer Hohenstaufen. It has to abandon Bouquemont and Trois-Domaines and withdraw to Souilly and Les Monthairons.
.........
In Verdun, the 83rd Infantry Thunderbolt extends its bridgehead over the Meuse, but suffered heavily during the Sturmtiger night bombardment of the town. Part of its artillery shell supply was hit, blowing up a block of houses. There were around thirty civilian casualties and the same number of GIs - but above all (from a military point of view...), V US Corps is under siege and does not have an infinite supply of ammunition...
The 30th Infantry Old Hickory did try to form a salient between the I. and II. SS-PzK, but it was a massacre: due to terrain constraints and artillery rationing, the CCB could not properly support the CCA in its assault, while the 3rd Armored Group was still reeling from its defeat on the 16th.
Patton and Gerow are excellent commanders, but V Corps cannot sustain such a pace for long, cut off from its logistics. The Dakotas did try to parachute in supplies (particularly medicines, which were less dangerous to drop than ammunition, especially on such a battlefield), but the bad weather and the small size of the American perimeter (barely 250 km2, poorly demarcated and less than 25 km deep) meant that this parachute drop was partly unsuccessful.
.........
For XIX US Corps, it is a failure: the Super Sixth could not carry out the planned turning movement... because the LVIII. AK has withdrawn! Faced with the impossibility of destroying XIX Corps, Hans-Karl von Esebeck decided to withdraw by carrying out delaying ambushes, an effective tactic that cost the Americans dearly, whose relatively inexperienced tactical commanders are confused by the lack of aerial reconnaissance. Progress is therefore slow. At the end of the day, there is only one positive point: the German infantry, isolated, exhausted and lacking the fanaticism and equipment of the LVIII. PzK, has turned their backs. The LXXXVI. AK withdraws in good order towards Bar-le-Duc. Middleton is unable to continue: the 6th Armoured, his best armoured division, has been stopped at Possesse by the Hitlerjugend, the 5th Armoured is too exposed in its salient at Revigny and the 5th and 8th Infantry already have to cover the centre and right flank of the corps respectively.
7th US Army, Champagne - John Lucas pushes his men forward. While behind him IV US Corps begins to move north (towards Reims), his VI Corps races towards Châlons. His scouts arrive that evening, but the bulk of the corps would not be there until tomorrow.
It is already clear that although John S. Wood had managed to create a bit of a mess as his 4th Armored passed through, the major setback suffered by the 1st Army around Verdun has demoralised his men... and the absence of the Boss, who is locked up in the besieged fortress, does nothing to help matters, of course.
In short, VI Corps would need two days to reorganise the rear, put the army train back in place and cross the Marne.
1st French Army - Operation Marguerite: the Rhine!
Lorraine, Polish II Corps - After meticulous and highly professional preparation, the Poles advance almost as if on parade.
For a while, their general staff had feared that Wacht am Rhein would be a huge offensive, with several armies supporting each other and the Luftwaffe coming back to harass them in force - the wounds of the first French Campaign and the fighting in Greece (not to mention the invasion of Poland in 1939!) are still fresh in people's minds. In their worst fears, the Poles thought of a vast turning movement aimed at decapitating the 1st US Army before mutilating the 1st French Army by falling back on the Vosges. A new Sickle Cut, in other words. But in the dark skies, the few planes are allied, and the Americans have reserves...
The 5th Infantry Division crosses the hills without resistance, the few men in German uniform in the sector belonging to scattered groups of fugitives. It gives way to the 3rd Infantry Division in front of Toul.
Further south, a ragtag group on the Sion-Vaudémont hill had been rounded up by a young Oberleutnant who was overwhelmed by events. Having contacted the parish priest and a Poor Clare from the nearby shrine, he ordered them to tell the Poles that he would destroy the Marian basilica if they did not allow them to withdraw to the Moselle without intervening. Some 250 men thus manage to reach the river, and the Poor Clares do not fail to show their gratitude to the Poles by inviting them to a future service. This would no doubt have to wait until the Germans had been pushed back to their homeland...
With the help of local Resistance fighters, the scouts of the 5th Infantry Division soon discover that most of the bridges over the Madon (the Moselle has not yet been reached here) have been blown up. There is still the bridge at Xirocourt, but the Vaudémont stragglers had blown it up that morning. Only those at Haroué and Ceintrey remain.
At Ceintrey, the 1st BB catches up with a retreating convoy of around 250 exhausted Landsers - they had been fleeing the Allied advance for almost forty days, most of them on foot! After seizing the bridge and taking around forty prisoners (the others having fled once again), the Polish soldiers make a strange discovery at the Tourtel brewery: a veritable mountain of goods of all kinds, labelled in German but undoubtedly of French origin. Since 1940, the brewery had been used by the Germans as a depot for a number of goods that had been stolen or bought at a low price before being sent to the Reich.
In Haroué, on the other hand, there is an unpleasant surprise: the bridge had been sabotaged and the road linking the town to Ceintrey was a long straight line that could easily be aligned from the opposite bank of the river. In other words, a cut-throat.
In and around Pulligny, the 5th ID methodically cleanses the south bank of the Moselle. June 44 is no more charitable than June 40: there is a great deal of destruction and snipers and other traps had been systematically left behind by the last small groups of soldiers.
Meanwhile, in Mirecourt, where Anders had taken up temporary residence, a curious convoy of French lorries stamped "Service Historique de l'Armée" (Army Historical Service) stops not far from the Polish HQ and an officer comes to the headquarters to ask for a barn or some other place protected from the rain to shelter his load. Inside the lorries is nothing less than a complete collection of maps, relief plans and models of the Séré de Rivières forts in eastern France, from Verdun to Belfort. The collection, kept in wooden boxes in the cellars of the Château de Vincennes, had spent the whole of the war there without anyone touching it, no doubt due to a lack of interest. In any case, this makes it easier to prepare for the capture of Toul!
An initial assault already launched from the west produces mixed results due to the tunnels under Foug, dutifully used by the Teutons.
Alsace, IV CA - The 9th DIC finally manages to chase the 39. ID from Giromagny! The 4th RTS storms Fort Dorsner, an assault during which Staff Sergeant N'Tchoréré****** distinguished himself by galvanising his section after the death of his section leader, then by commanding his unit in such a fine manner that he was cited in the army order for his heroism and awarded the Croix de Guerre.
As a sign of the times, the decoration comes with brand new second lieutenant's stripes! N'Tchoréré is one of the many examples of former subjects of the Empire who are now being awarded the epaulette for their valour. Whereas this was a rare occurrence in 1940 (his father being one of the rare exceptions), the French Army now has several hundred junior officers from the West Indies, Arabs, black Africans, sometimes even Vietnamese, and even a handful of senior officers of colour. Some of them could eventually reach the stars, something that has not been seen since the case of General Dumas during the Revolution.
.........
Further south, the 83rd DIA remains blocked by the rest of the belt of forts defending Belfort, while the 108th RALCA has not yet given its all and the 12th BACA is in the middle of calculating its firing tables from Faymont.
At the same time, the 3rd DB begins to deploy the Chomel brigade towards Belfort and as far as Trévenans (Héricourt is closed off by the Mont-Vaudois batteries). At Trévenans, anti-tank teams from the 363. ID stop it dead in its tracks.
Nevertheless, this advance enables the 2nd Algerian Spahis Regiment to make its way across the plain, sweeping aside the few formations of border guards or feldgendarmes that tried to deny it passage. The coherence of the LXXXV. AK's right flank is definitively broken: in the evening, pushing their machines to the limit, a detachment of the 2nd Squadron of the 2nd RSA, lit up by commandos from the 113th Infantry, reaches the Rhine! The Mouflon tracks dip into the river at Huningue, and the squadron commander, Captain Alain de Boissieu, plunges his sabre into the river, a historic moment photographed by one of the spahis. During the Uzkub manoeuvre, twenty-five years earlier, the African cavalry regiments had also been the first Allied soldiers to dip their sabres in a major river - the Danube, at the time.
In Metz, when the news breaks (the tanks had been seen from the opposite bank), there is initial consternation: an armoured division is already in the Alsace plain! But in the evening, Erich Straube's detailed reports calm the situation: the 363. ID, supported by the 2. and 5. FJD, is still holding Belfort. Opposite, they are only scouts; the situation is seriously worrying but not catastrophic. The remnants of Wilke's 5. Fallschirmjäger are therefore diverted from the Giromagny forest to confront the 2nd RSA, which could cut the front's logistical line by approaching Mulhouse.
French forces
Staff manoeuvres
Ministère de la Guerre (Paris) - It is a rare thing to summon a general for reasons of command. It is even more so when the said general is in fact Marshal of France and theoretically has only the Minister to report to. Noguès therefore enters the Hôtel de Brienne not quite knowing what is going to happen. But far from being punished for his cavalier request for Castelnau to be Marshal, Paul-Boncour is waiting for him not in his office but in a discreet salon, where the two men meet in private.
- My respects, Minister.
- Good morning, Marshal. I imagine you know the reason for our discussion today?
- My earlier remarks about General de Castelnau?
- Quite right, Marshal, quite right. You see, your arguments are not without foundation... but they come too late. I'm going to be blunt, Marshal, because I know you can understand. The current political scene does not lend itself to celebrating a hero of the Other War, and General de Castelnau, for all his recent or past merits, is not a hero of today capable of strengthening the position of the Republic. I raised the issue with the President of the Council, who concluded that while he was personally very much in favour of such an award***, it would be, and I quote, "an anachronistic act worthy of the Count of Barcelona's claims to the Roman imperial title". After all, we're talking about a man who has already been decorated for his service in the 1870 war! The fact is that if the old General Castelnau can be publicly rewarded for his work, it will be for acts of the Resistance, not for his victories during the war of Fourteen.
Fortunately, there are other honours that can be bestowed without appearing to be a public insult. The Ordre de la Libération, which was created four years ago and of which you are a recipient, has as its provisional Grand Master the President of the Council, first Mr Reynaud and then the General. However, the General, although very proud of this position, is also a great admirer of General de Castelnau, and the scope of his current duties, which have been further increased by the Liberation, prevent him from being able to fully fulfil his ceremonial tasks, whereas it has always been planned that a grand master should be appointed on a permanent basis...
- Well taken, Minister. Shall I inform the General?
- There's no need, Marshal. His son is soon to take charge of resurrecting the national armaments industry, and he has been granted two weeks' leave before starting his work. At the moment, Major General Joseph de Castelnau has to land in Toulouse before going to visit his father.
Allied strategy
Where do we go from here?
SHAFE, Grand Trianon (Versailles) - The atmosphere is hushed, but the knives are already being drawn for this latest inter-allied coordination meeting - which may well be the last in Europe, or so the participants hope.
The agenda is simple: to define, under the authority of SACEUR - who is obviously the chair - the strategy for entering Germany. Around the table - which a clever mind had set up in the Emperor's topographical cabinet******** - are some fine people: Omar Bradley, Walter Bedell Smith (Chief of Staff of SACEUR - some say his henchman...), Eisenhower himself of course, the French Generals Aubert Frère and René Altmayer - who came with his Chief of Staff, General Gabriel Bougrain, who had been following him from the 2nd DLM - and of course Sir Alan Brooke and Claude Auchinleck.
The Americans might therefore seem outnumbered - the fault to Wacht am Rhein, which keeps Patton and his court busy, as well as Omar Bradley's Chief of Staff, Major-General Leven C. Allen. Incidentally, the news from Verdun is not exactly good. And although the Americans insist that the situation is once again under control (hadn't it been for a while?), it seems that their 1st Army is heavily engaged, and not necessarily out of the woods yet.
The conference, obviously victorious though it is - after all, France had been liberated in two months! - opens in this... strange atmosphere. With the British phlegmatic, the French happy (exhausted! But happy) and the Americans in the thick of the battle, albeit as authoritarian as ever, there is bound to be some tug-of-war.
Basically, however, everyone agrees: the enemy has been defeated beyond recovery. In the east, the powerful offensive that the Soviets seem to have launched in Poland - not to mention the operations in Hungary, and we're talking about all the Allies here - is really sucking the life out of and dislocating the German battle corps, which can no longer even pretend to rotate its forces from east to west, if it still had the fuel to do so. In the skies, the Luftwaffe has all but disappeared. Admittedly, it can still be seen at night and the NachtJagd can still interfere with RAF bombing raids on Germany, but it poses no threat to the course of operations. As for the Kriegsmarine, we won't say anything - it's not nice to make fun of the disabled.
To sum up: this is the end. The thousand-year-old Reich is on the brink of collapse. Now how do we deliver the coup de grâce? The Americans are still in favour of a knock-out: crossing the Rhine between Strasbourg and Mainz, entering the Ruhr via Frankfurt, then heading east towards Kassel, while the French play the flank guard in Bavaria, and the Anglo-Belgians the... utilities in the Benelux. At best, they can close the clamp of a gigantic pocket, if they are able to advance as far as Dortmund.
To be sure, business in the Meuse is tough. But," Walter Bedell Smith says immediately, as unpleasant as ever, "it's under control". "If this is all the Krauts can do, then they're done for. Our forces weren't surprised, they bled them dry." That's certainly embellishing reality somewhat, but it's hard to admit how worried we are about Patton... Well, we should be fine anyway! Then he adds: "This is not the umpteenth ill-anticipated flanking action...", obviously referring to the many "tactical failures" of the British in the Ile-de-France region - which is fair enough, given the predictable tenor of the British arguments that are to follow.
The ambitious American plan therefore meets both the military imperatives of destroying enemy troops and Washington's political injunctions (to spare the Soviets and not get involved in the Churchillian Great Game!) .
In this respect, it suits the French - who rightly see it as an opportunity to end the war cheaply but beautifully by conquering a province that was once France's ally, while at the same time rebuilding their forces, raising their country and, above all, completing the liberation of their national territory. It's true that the American plan meets their own strategic imperatives (to liberate Alsace... or even move a few border posts), but above all, it leaves the bulk of the human and material costs to an ally: a good deal!
However, this proposal does not suit the Commonwealth at all, which has a different opinion on the matter. For them, the breakthrough across the Rhine is a costly fad: the Germans have proved that they were prepared to do anything to defend this area, supplies are arriving from a long way off, the roads are ravaged, and there are many obstacles... No. Faced with this brutal and obvious desire to strike as fast as possible - too fast and unnecessarily hard - Brooke defends another point of view, based on the principles of simplicity and concentration of forces. The idea is to cut as short as possible through Aachen, Cologne, Hanover and Hamburg. A long salient, it is true, "but the German defences in the Maastricht and Cologne sector are irrelevant. A determined push in this direction would directly threaten the enemy's vital centers and would inevitably force the Wehrmacht to withdraw to a Karlsruhe-Hanover line. Your forces would then enter the Ruhr like butter. Then all you'd have to do is push on to Lübeck or even Leipzig.
A mention of this immediately makes Eisenhower sit up and take notice - he understands that, over and above the traditional questions of primacy and prestige, the most Churchillian political considerations in the Baltic are also guiding Britain's plans. Denmark no doubt, Norway perhaps... Here, like elsewhere, London is playing its cards close to its chest for the post-war period.
- It's a very ambitious operation, Sir Alan. And one that overlooks the many logistical difficulties, such as crossing the wetlands to get out of the Benelux countries.
- Nothing that can't be anticipated with a bit of rigour. We're used to working in more difficult conditions. Others can testify to that.
- Really?" intervenes the SACEUR, suddenly very irritated. Everyone knows that, since the little tiff last month between him and Monty, there are some names to which Ike is allergic. Too bad!
- That's true! But be that as it may, Marshal Montgomery has proved that the control and rigour that... we all know how to demonstrate here also lead to victory.
British constancy and moderation therefore produce better results than Yankee impetuosity, here lik elsewhere. That is what an aggressive mind could understand.
Bedell-Smith, again: "Sir Alan, with respect, your forces are at this time too... scattered [did he almost say 'disordered'?] to pretend to regain their advance for several weeks. Your bases are far away."
- No more than yours!
- No doubt. At least ours are working. The fact remains that by this date, the 2nd Army is no longer advancing. It is hunkering down, consolidating and no doubt planning things. But in the meantime, the Germans are getting stronger. We can see it. Let's hope we don't see it again tomorrow. And if it's a question of saving men, it's not time to stop pushing the enemy.
Auchinleck then intervenes, with some acidity: "Certainly, the 21st AAG will have to be given priority in the allocation of the necessary resources. But don't you think your own forces need to be supplemented?
- Yes, and as a priority.
This brings us to the heart of the problem: the distribution of supplies. The Allied forces in Western Europe are now considerable: three million men, who have to be equipped, fed and cared for every day... not to mention the 18th AAG, who literally eats up the smallest surplus.
Admittedly, the situation is less critical than had been feared. The rapid capture of Cherbourg, the ongoing clearing of Le Havre, the imminent capture of Lorient and Antwerp - not to mention, of course, the many installations that had long since been repaired in the Mediterranean - means that we can already anticipate a resumption of offensive action from mid-July. And perhaps even a mixture of these, depending on each individual's plans. Nonetheless, while Bedell-Smith and Brooke continue to fight over the table with more or less spearheads in front of a curiously impassive Eisenhower, Frère and Altmayer are saying to themselves - no doubt along with others - that they are going to have to show both authority and diplomacy to come up with a coherent and effective battle plan. We may have to wait for the champagne - although Bradley has brought a few cases for his boss.
.........
The debates drag on and the British find themselves facing a crossfire: the Americans hold their positions while the French flank them! While Her Majesty's generals argue that the liberation of Antwerp would simplify the logistical problems, the French counter that the Rhone line can supply an entire AG, while Antwerp already has to be rehabilitated, its approaches cleared and the SNCB put back on track - literally.
It is at a time when we were exhausting ourselves arguing about operational considerations while hiding - or pretending to hide - crystal-clear political objectives that a radiogram is discreetly handed to Frère. Smiling beneath his mustache, he stands up and dares to interrupt Brooke, who had been talking about the possibility of taking Eindhoven in one fell swoop. He speaks without appearing triumphant - which was not necessary: "I believe, my dear Alan, that we shall soon know whether we can seize passages on the Rhine: this evening, the 2nd Spahis Regiment and the 113th Infantry Regiment have reached the banks of the river. They are already moving to seize the Kembs hydro-electric plant and the Huningue railway bridge. It seems to me that this news deserves that we finally open these bottles of champagne that our friend Omar had the good idea of bringing...". And, in petto, Frère is sure that this champagne will not be too much to put a little... oil in the allied wheels.
Birthday
Matignon (Paris) - The private secretary to the President of the French Prime Minister is at a loss. It is, however, he who had written "Anniversary statement on the radio" on the day's large agenda. He barely dares to admit to the General that he had done so after receiving a phone call from Radio-Paris on the subject, but... Radio-Paris denied having called him and said that nothing was planned!
- Anniversary of what, anyway?" grumbles De Gaulle. "Waterloo? "
The General is silent for a moment... This story reminds him of something he'd heard before... Well, it doesn't matter. The secretary sighs with relief - luckily, a few minutes earlier, there had been a phone call that had put De Gaulle in a very good mood.
- As soon as possible, call me Frère or Altmayer. I need to know what's going on at the Trianon.
Yes, the place of the French Army in the hallali against Nazi Germany, the place of France in the post-war period... That's important. And that little De Boissieu dipping his sword in the Rhine, as a phone call has just told him - that's important too, in another way. A photo of this historic moment will have to be released to the press, and the hero will have to be decorated for it - he'd even like to decorate this young man himself.
* Due to the collapse of the gallery, we still don't know how many German soldiers were killed there, what equipment was stored there... or the state of the munitions that could still be active underground! But that hasn't stopped the Army from rebuilding on it since.
** This is the end of the last quarter, the new moon is on the 20th.
*** The Germans had sunk the old cruiser parallel to the U.bunker K 3 as protection to prevent the U-boots from being torpedoed in the afloat cells.
**** Identified after the liberation of the town as those of two P & C vessels, the tug Désiré Delmotte and the clapper barge Boulogne V.
***** Also identified after the liberation as the former U.jäger U-718.
****** Son of Captain Charles N'Tchoréré and older brother of Master Corporal Jean-Baptiste N'Tchoréré, both of whom died for France in June 1940.
******* De Gaulle, a former member of the 33rd RI, was not, however, a member of the "Petainist" faction of the Army, and was more a member of the hardliners (especially since the affair of Pétain's entry into the Académie Française, the date of the definitive break between the two men). This faction, heir to Castelnau, had no real leader in 1940, but included a good number of visionary generals. It is not irrelevant that Delestraint, Noguès and Olry were also members. Giraud and Frère were relatively neutral in these internal disputes, having had little contact with the great leaders of the other three factions of 1940: Weygand, Gamelin and Pétain. Weygand had spent the First World War with Franchet d'Esperey, while Pétain had held few staff positions during the conflict.
**** It's nice under the peristyle, but still!
Liberation and Liberators
The Brittany Festungen
Lorient - Lanester has been cleaned up - at least from the German occupation, because as far as the rubble is concerned, the work has only just begun.
Only a few stubborn men remain in the arsenal - including a group equipped with automatic weapons, now entrenched in a gallery. Going in there would be suicide. To settle the matter, an M-10 Tank Destroyer positions itself opposite the entrance and fires a 76.2 mm shell... which immediately triggers a frightful explosion that shakes the ground, makes the earth rumble and drowns the crew in a thick cloud of dust.
In fact, the arsenal was (also) used as an ammunition depot. The projectile probably hit a stockpile of explosives... Which, by the way, solves the Americans' problem*. For those who doubted it, the battle east of Lorient is over.
On the west bank, the situation for the 353. ID is becoming more problematic by the hour. The outer perimeter now seems irretrievably compromised, the reserves are all destroyed or committed, while the air force and artillery no longer give the German army the slightest respite, even when it is only pretending to withdraw. It is reported that the improvised KampfGruppen mounted under fire fell victim to mass surrender. The loss of the drinking water supply was the final blow.
The Kriegsmarine agrees. It is therefore working hard to get its last remaining vessel, the U-466, a Type VIIC undergoing repairs, ready to put to sea for an immersion trip this evening, bound for Saint-Nazaire or wherever... well, whoever will have her!
Due to lack of time, three of the nine cylinders in the port diesel engine have not been replaced, the leading periscope is still stuck in the down position and the aft diving bars have to be operated by hand, as their burnt-out electric motors have not been replaced.
A quick meeting of the U.Bootewaffe officers still present at Kéroman concludes that while a night sortie is preferable in order to escape the permanent surveillance of the allied air force, to do so by diving is, given the nautical conditions of the roadstead and its approaches, a true suicide.
The order is therefore given to Oberleutnant zur See Gerhard Thäter, commander of U-466, to sail first to Saint Nazaire and then, once fully repaired, to Bergen, rounding the British Isles to the north. The Loire port is preferred because it is not under attack from the Americans, whereas Brest threatens to be taken at short notice.
The exit is not easy, as the various turrets that marked out the channel between Saint Michel Island and Port Louis Passage have disappeared, victims of bombing by the Allied air force or blasting by German bombers. To be sure of entering the channel under the right conditions, the two lights at Pointe de Kéroman and Kéroman Supérieur have to be aligned aft, in order to make way for the 169. But with the intensity of the bombardment by the American air force and artillery, these lights near the submarine base are now just rubble among other rubble. Studying the map, Thäter and his first officer, who is responsible for navigation, decide that the Flak tower in the southern corner of U.bunker K 3 can replace the usual landmarks by keeping this heading: 169°.
However, Thäter cannot rely on the Moon to take his bearings, as it is only a thin crescent providing anaemic illumination**. He therefore decides to use a makeshift method to estimate his position: special binoculars for night surface attacks. He aims at the Flak tower to determine his position on the basis of the bearing and distance given by the aircraft. The commander would take regular bearings and the first officer would read them off the repeater at the central station and plot them on the map.
Numerous sights should make it possible to obtain an accurate position, well as accurate as possible because at the point where the channel coming from Kéroman is joined by the main channel coming from the arsenal, nine wrecks have been scuttled in two lines. And you'll have to weave your way between them, hoping their positions on the map are correct!
Once through the barrage, we'll continue on the same route until the fort of Kernavel is located on the starboard aft side at 275. The U-466 will then turn right, heading 200, to leave the citadel of Port Louis on the port side and the islets of Cochon, Pot and Mare on the starboard side to enter the southern channel.
And at dusk, as the TDs approach the large concrete block where the submarine base is located, Paul Mahlmann, now entrenched in this dungeon, begins to contemplate his surrender.
At 23:00, U-583 emerges from the alveolus that had protected her from the storm of steel generously dispensed by the American forces. Having cleared the wreck of the old cruiser Strasbourg, the former Regensburg of the Imperial Navy***, the submarine makes slow headway in the channel. Reliefs follow one another and at 23:30, the vessel arrives close to the first line of the barrage of wrecks. The U-boot enters the gap between the two easternmost wrecks**** without touching them. After a brief sigh of relief, everyone on board is apprehensive about the next stage of the navigation: would they get through the second line in the same way?
Alas, the sound of a sinister scraping on the port side is heard in all the compartments. U-466 has just hit the easternmost wreck of the second line****. The ballast tanks, from forward to aft of the kiosk, are ripped open. Water penetrates and the submarine lists to port. To save his crew, Thäter orders "hard to port" and beaches the U-boot on the Turkish Bank. The next day, after recovering the secret documents, maps, Enigma machine, codes and sighting device for a night surface attack, he blows up the wreck.
The attempt to exfiltrate the last submarine from Lorient failed.
North - Operation Undergo
Côte d'Opale - After the surprisingly rapid fall of the Cape Gris-Nez batteries, the 1st Canadian Army Corps logically turns its full attention to Calais. The morning's good news: during the night, the Noires Mottes position has surrendered. The new glorious defenders of National Socialist Germany did not want to fight to the bitter end in the face of shells and flamethrowers. Three hundred of them are sent to prison camps. Then it is Sangatte's turn to raise the white flag.
The 4th Canadian Armoured (George Kitching), massively supported by the 3rd Canadian Infantry (Rod Keller), is therefore free to assault the positions at Coquelles and Fort Nieulay. This allows the 5th Canadian Armoured (Guy Simonds) to go into action for a frontal assault towards Coulogne, in order to break through the 47. ID (Max Bork), while isolating Calais from Dunkirk via the Belle Vue ridge.
Unfortunately, this last action gets off to a bad start on the east side. Following the rolling artillery barrage, the men of the 11th Infantry Brigade crawl past the shattered front lines, but soon find that the strike has been too quick on the following positions, which are still largely intact. Casualties are mounting - the least effective units, including several companies of reservists, had been positioned here. Simonds is therefore forced to ask for help from Hobart's engines and Charles Foulkes' 2nd Canadian Infantry. The Funnies take over and attack in the early afternoon, accompanied by Foulkes' men - although they do not finish the job before nightfall. And everywhere else, the Kraut puts up fierce resistance.
Belgium - The pursuit, at last
Flat country - Arrival in the Charleroi sector of the vanguard of the VIII Corps (Sidney Kirkman) - namely the 49th Reco Rgt of the Royal Armoured Corps, which announces Evelyn Barker's 49th Infantry West Riding. This long-awaited reinforcement - which certainly heralds an advance towards the Ardennes - encourages the 1st Armoured Division (Jean-Baptiste Piron) and the 4th Infantry Division (Roger Libbrecht) to prepare the next leap towards Maastricht, by targeting Hasselt and Tongeren. One more push, manneke!
Wacht am Rhein - The crows come from all sides.
First US Army, Meuse - The 4th Armored completes its crossing of the Marne. The maneuver has been greatly slowed by the crowd of fugitives from the logistics chain who were crowding Châlons, hampering the maneuver. But John S. Wood had managed the day before to rally everyone together and reorganise the survivors from the day before into a handful of marching units, with an improvised chain of command.
In front of him, the plain is empty all the way to the hills of the Argonne. Informed by radio by the groups of Rangers left behind, he is able to make a great leap forward to Valmy, from where he wants to prepare the blow in the back that would send the Germans home. But the Americans aren't the only ones with scouts, and the SS have no trouble spotting the mass moving towards them (the 4th Armored alone has as many tanks as two SS armoured divisions)! This is enough to worry Wilhelm Bittrich, who decides to ambush the 103. SS-schw. Pz Abt to provide cover for the 10. SS-Panzer Frundsberg.
.........
At the same time, the 2nd Infantry Indianhead (Walter Robertson) is still facing the Das Reich. Despite the numerical superiority of the Americans, the day's fighting soon turns into a disaster: the 4. SS-PzGr Rgt Der Führer storms the gap between Avocourt and Esnes-en-Argonne, where the divisional HQ had been the previous day. The 9th Inf. Rgt, supported by the artillery of the CCA and CCB, manages to hold on, but losses have been mounting since the fall of Montfaucon and it is saved in extremis by the intervention of the 38th Inf. Rgt.
"I saw the tank, probably a Tiger, firing on our mates behind us in the half-track, which ended up as a smoking carcass. Real, Western-style warfare was different from the war myths of the Reserves. Here, it was dirty, inhuman, a war of metal and fire, in the middle of old guts uncovered by artillery and the remains of young men who had died like us earlier, their skulls with empty eye sockets reminding us of our own mortality.
I was getting fed up. It was probably stupid, but when I saw the lieutenant being cut in half by a burst of "jigsaw", as the MG-42 was called in those days, I took my Thompson, two magazines, and left the position that was being framed by the Krauts, but running towards them, with three guys who were still just about standing. I don't know what spirit, god or whatever, was watching over us as we ran at them, but we made it across the whole field amid bursts of fire, mines and rusty barbed wire unearthed after twenty years, before finding ourselves thirty yards from a machine gun nest, probably the jigsaw that had killed our platoon leader.
I jumped into a manhole, where I found myself face to face with a Kraut wrapped in a large, discarded, dirt-stained coat - I lined him up by instinct, fired, no reaction, no cry. Then his helmet fell to the ground - inside, a brown skull smiled at me, as if to tell me that I was going to die like him twenty years earlier, far from home, without glory and without reason.
I shook my head and then dared to glance out of the hole to observe as my three lads hid in other holes. The machine gun, in its own hole, was flanking me. I unhooked a pineapple, climbed up the hole and pressed myself to the ground before cocking the pineapple. I waited three seconds before throwing it into the machine gun hole. I heard screams, boom. Then I straightened up, straight as an I, and emptied my clip into the trench while I heard groans everywhere. I ripped the machine gun out of the hands of a guy whose belly had been ripped open by the grenade and who was clutching onto it as if it would make any difference to him.
The MG didn't seem to be in too bad a shape, so I gave it to one of my men and then we ran back to our positions, where two guys shot me in a manhole just as bullets were starting to rattle around me, maybe a sniper was lining me up. One of the three soldiers didn't come back and the one with the MG was hit in the leg. It wasn't until the adrenaline had worn off that I realised that my right flank hurt like hell - one of the snipers had got me.
In the evening, while I was in sickbay wondering why I had been so stupid, the 'ptain' came down to see me and told me that he had applied to the General for me to be decorated with the Purple Heart and the Silver Star".
Testimony in 1954 by Sergeant Pascal Poolaw, 9th Infantry Regiment. Poolaw was a Kiowa Indian, but did not join the 45th Infantry Thunderbird like most Amerindians. He is still the most decorated American Indian of the Second World War, with a Purple Heart and Silver Star, a DSC, a Croix de Guerre and a Bronze Star.
.........
Further south, operating on a reversed front, the 29th Infantry, after the losses suffered a few days earlier, is dominated by the 9 SS-Panzer Hohenstaufen. It has to abandon Bouquemont and Trois-Domaines and withdraw to Souilly and Les Monthairons.
.........
In Verdun, the 83rd Infantry Thunderbolt extends its bridgehead over the Meuse, but suffered heavily during the Sturmtiger night bombardment of the town. Part of its artillery shell supply was hit, blowing up a block of houses. There were around thirty civilian casualties and the same number of GIs - but above all (from a military point of view...), V US Corps is under siege and does not have an infinite supply of ammunition...
The 30th Infantry Old Hickory did try to form a salient between the I. and II. SS-PzK, but it was a massacre: due to terrain constraints and artillery rationing, the CCB could not properly support the CCA in its assault, while the 3rd Armored Group was still reeling from its defeat on the 16th.
Patton and Gerow are excellent commanders, but V Corps cannot sustain such a pace for long, cut off from its logistics. The Dakotas did try to parachute in supplies (particularly medicines, which were less dangerous to drop than ammunition, especially on such a battlefield), but the bad weather and the small size of the American perimeter (barely 250 km2, poorly demarcated and less than 25 km deep) meant that this parachute drop was partly unsuccessful.
.........
For XIX US Corps, it is a failure: the Super Sixth could not carry out the planned turning movement... because the LVIII. AK has withdrawn! Faced with the impossibility of destroying XIX Corps, Hans-Karl von Esebeck decided to withdraw by carrying out delaying ambushes, an effective tactic that cost the Americans dearly, whose relatively inexperienced tactical commanders are confused by the lack of aerial reconnaissance. Progress is therefore slow. At the end of the day, there is only one positive point: the German infantry, isolated, exhausted and lacking the fanaticism and equipment of the LVIII. PzK, has turned their backs. The LXXXVI. AK withdraws in good order towards Bar-le-Duc. Middleton is unable to continue: the 6th Armoured, his best armoured division, has been stopped at Possesse by the Hitlerjugend, the 5th Armoured is too exposed in its salient at Revigny and the 5th and 8th Infantry already have to cover the centre and right flank of the corps respectively.
7th US Army, Champagne - John Lucas pushes his men forward. While behind him IV US Corps begins to move north (towards Reims), his VI Corps races towards Châlons. His scouts arrive that evening, but the bulk of the corps would not be there until tomorrow.
It is already clear that although John S. Wood had managed to create a bit of a mess as his 4th Armored passed through, the major setback suffered by the 1st Army around Verdun has demoralised his men... and the absence of the Boss, who is locked up in the besieged fortress, does nothing to help matters, of course.
In short, VI Corps would need two days to reorganise the rear, put the army train back in place and cross the Marne.
1st French Army - Operation Marguerite: the Rhine!
Lorraine, Polish II Corps - After meticulous and highly professional preparation, the Poles advance almost as if on parade.
For a while, their general staff had feared that Wacht am Rhein would be a huge offensive, with several armies supporting each other and the Luftwaffe coming back to harass them in force - the wounds of the first French Campaign and the fighting in Greece (not to mention the invasion of Poland in 1939!) are still fresh in people's minds. In their worst fears, the Poles thought of a vast turning movement aimed at decapitating the 1st US Army before mutilating the 1st French Army by falling back on the Vosges. A new Sickle Cut, in other words. But in the dark skies, the few planes are allied, and the Americans have reserves...
The 5th Infantry Division crosses the hills without resistance, the few men in German uniform in the sector belonging to scattered groups of fugitives. It gives way to the 3rd Infantry Division in front of Toul.
Further south, a ragtag group on the Sion-Vaudémont hill had been rounded up by a young Oberleutnant who was overwhelmed by events. Having contacted the parish priest and a Poor Clare from the nearby shrine, he ordered them to tell the Poles that he would destroy the Marian basilica if they did not allow them to withdraw to the Moselle without intervening. Some 250 men thus manage to reach the river, and the Poor Clares do not fail to show their gratitude to the Poles by inviting them to a future service. This would no doubt have to wait until the Germans had been pushed back to their homeland...
With the help of local Resistance fighters, the scouts of the 5th Infantry Division soon discover that most of the bridges over the Madon (the Moselle has not yet been reached here) have been blown up. There is still the bridge at Xirocourt, but the Vaudémont stragglers had blown it up that morning. Only those at Haroué and Ceintrey remain.
At Ceintrey, the 1st BB catches up with a retreating convoy of around 250 exhausted Landsers - they had been fleeing the Allied advance for almost forty days, most of them on foot! After seizing the bridge and taking around forty prisoners (the others having fled once again), the Polish soldiers make a strange discovery at the Tourtel brewery: a veritable mountain of goods of all kinds, labelled in German but undoubtedly of French origin. Since 1940, the brewery had been used by the Germans as a depot for a number of goods that had been stolen or bought at a low price before being sent to the Reich.
In Haroué, on the other hand, there is an unpleasant surprise: the bridge had been sabotaged and the road linking the town to Ceintrey was a long straight line that could easily be aligned from the opposite bank of the river. In other words, a cut-throat.
In and around Pulligny, the 5th ID methodically cleanses the south bank of the Moselle. June 44 is no more charitable than June 40: there is a great deal of destruction and snipers and other traps had been systematically left behind by the last small groups of soldiers.
Meanwhile, in Mirecourt, where Anders had taken up temporary residence, a curious convoy of French lorries stamped "Service Historique de l'Armée" (Army Historical Service) stops not far from the Polish HQ and an officer comes to the headquarters to ask for a barn or some other place protected from the rain to shelter his load. Inside the lorries is nothing less than a complete collection of maps, relief plans and models of the Séré de Rivières forts in eastern France, from Verdun to Belfort. The collection, kept in wooden boxes in the cellars of the Château de Vincennes, had spent the whole of the war there without anyone touching it, no doubt due to a lack of interest. In any case, this makes it easier to prepare for the capture of Toul!
An initial assault already launched from the west produces mixed results due to the tunnels under Foug, dutifully used by the Teutons.
Alsace, IV CA - The 9th DIC finally manages to chase the 39. ID from Giromagny! The 4th RTS storms Fort Dorsner, an assault during which Staff Sergeant N'Tchoréré****** distinguished himself by galvanising his section after the death of his section leader, then by commanding his unit in such a fine manner that he was cited in the army order for his heroism and awarded the Croix de Guerre.
As a sign of the times, the decoration comes with brand new second lieutenant's stripes! N'Tchoréré is one of the many examples of former subjects of the Empire who are now being awarded the epaulette for their valour. Whereas this was a rare occurrence in 1940 (his father being one of the rare exceptions), the French Army now has several hundred junior officers from the West Indies, Arabs, black Africans, sometimes even Vietnamese, and even a handful of senior officers of colour. Some of them could eventually reach the stars, something that has not been seen since the case of General Dumas during the Revolution.
.........
Further south, the 83rd DIA remains blocked by the rest of the belt of forts defending Belfort, while the 108th RALCA has not yet given its all and the 12th BACA is in the middle of calculating its firing tables from Faymont.
At the same time, the 3rd DB begins to deploy the Chomel brigade towards Belfort and as far as Trévenans (Héricourt is closed off by the Mont-Vaudois batteries). At Trévenans, anti-tank teams from the 363. ID stop it dead in its tracks.
Nevertheless, this advance enables the 2nd Algerian Spahis Regiment to make its way across the plain, sweeping aside the few formations of border guards or feldgendarmes that tried to deny it passage. The coherence of the LXXXV. AK's right flank is definitively broken: in the evening, pushing their machines to the limit, a detachment of the 2nd Squadron of the 2nd RSA, lit up by commandos from the 113th Infantry, reaches the Rhine! The Mouflon tracks dip into the river at Huningue, and the squadron commander, Captain Alain de Boissieu, plunges his sabre into the river, a historic moment photographed by one of the spahis. During the Uzkub manoeuvre, twenty-five years earlier, the African cavalry regiments had also been the first Allied soldiers to dip their sabres in a major river - the Danube, at the time.
In Metz, when the news breaks (the tanks had been seen from the opposite bank), there is initial consternation: an armoured division is already in the Alsace plain! But in the evening, Erich Straube's detailed reports calm the situation: the 363. ID, supported by the 2. and 5. FJD, is still holding Belfort. Opposite, they are only scouts; the situation is seriously worrying but not catastrophic. The remnants of Wilke's 5. Fallschirmjäger are therefore diverted from the Giromagny forest to confront the 2nd RSA, which could cut the front's logistical line by approaching Mulhouse.
French forces
Staff manoeuvres
Ministère de la Guerre (Paris) - It is a rare thing to summon a general for reasons of command. It is even more so when the said general is in fact Marshal of France and theoretically has only the Minister to report to. Noguès therefore enters the Hôtel de Brienne not quite knowing what is going to happen. But far from being punished for his cavalier request for Castelnau to be Marshal, Paul-Boncour is waiting for him not in his office but in a discreet salon, where the two men meet in private.
- My respects, Minister.
- Good morning, Marshal. I imagine you know the reason for our discussion today?
- My earlier remarks about General de Castelnau?
- Quite right, Marshal, quite right. You see, your arguments are not without foundation... but they come too late. I'm going to be blunt, Marshal, because I know you can understand. The current political scene does not lend itself to celebrating a hero of the Other War, and General de Castelnau, for all his recent or past merits, is not a hero of today capable of strengthening the position of the Republic. I raised the issue with the President of the Council, who concluded that while he was personally very much in favour of such an award***, it would be, and I quote, "an anachronistic act worthy of the Count of Barcelona's claims to the Roman imperial title". After all, we're talking about a man who has already been decorated for his service in the 1870 war! The fact is that if the old General Castelnau can be publicly rewarded for his work, it will be for acts of the Resistance, not for his victories during the war of Fourteen.
Fortunately, there are other honours that can be bestowed without appearing to be a public insult. The Ordre de la Libération, which was created four years ago and of which you are a recipient, has as its provisional Grand Master the President of the Council, first Mr Reynaud and then the General. However, the General, although very proud of this position, is also a great admirer of General de Castelnau, and the scope of his current duties, which have been further increased by the Liberation, prevent him from being able to fully fulfil his ceremonial tasks, whereas it has always been planned that a grand master should be appointed on a permanent basis...
- Well taken, Minister. Shall I inform the General?
- There's no need, Marshal. His son is soon to take charge of resurrecting the national armaments industry, and he has been granted two weeks' leave before starting his work. At the moment, Major General Joseph de Castelnau has to land in Toulouse before going to visit his father.
Allied strategy
Where do we go from here?
SHAFE, Grand Trianon (Versailles) - The atmosphere is hushed, but the knives are already being drawn for this latest inter-allied coordination meeting - which may well be the last in Europe, or so the participants hope.
The agenda is simple: to define, under the authority of SACEUR - who is obviously the chair - the strategy for entering Germany. Around the table - which a clever mind had set up in the Emperor's topographical cabinet******** - are some fine people: Omar Bradley, Walter Bedell Smith (Chief of Staff of SACEUR - some say his henchman...), Eisenhower himself of course, the French Generals Aubert Frère and René Altmayer - who came with his Chief of Staff, General Gabriel Bougrain, who had been following him from the 2nd DLM - and of course Sir Alan Brooke and Claude Auchinleck.
The Americans might therefore seem outnumbered - the fault to Wacht am Rhein, which keeps Patton and his court busy, as well as Omar Bradley's Chief of Staff, Major-General Leven C. Allen. Incidentally, the news from Verdun is not exactly good. And although the Americans insist that the situation is once again under control (hadn't it been for a while?), it seems that their 1st Army is heavily engaged, and not necessarily out of the woods yet.
The conference, obviously victorious though it is - after all, France had been liberated in two months! - opens in this... strange atmosphere. With the British phlegmatic, the French happy (exhausted! But happy) and the Americans in the thick of the battle, albeit as authoritarian as ever, there is bound to be some tug-of-war.
Basically, however, everyone agrees: the enemy has been defeated beyond recovery. In the east, the powerful offensive that the Soviets seem to have launched in Poland - not to mention the operations in Hungary, and we're talking about all the Allies here - is really sucking the life out of and dislocating the German battle corps, which can no longer even pretend to rotate its forces from east to west, if it still had the fuel to do so. In the skies, the Luftwaffe has all but disappeared. Admittedly, it can still be seen at night and the NachtJagd can still interfere with RAF bombing raids on Germany, but it poses no threat to the course of operations. As for the Kriegsmarine, we won't say anything - it's not nice to make fun of the disabled.
To sum up: this is the end. The thousand-year-old Reich is on the brink of collapse. Now how do we deliver the coup de grâce? The Americans are still in favour of a knock-out: crossing the Rhine between Strasbourg and Mainz, entering the Ruhr via Frankfurt, then heading east towards Kassel, while the French play the flank guard in Bavaria, and the Anglo-Belgians the... utilities in the Benelux. At best, they can close the clamp of a gigantic pocket, if they are able to advance as far as Dortmund.
To be sure, business in the Meuse is tough. But," Walter Bedell Smith says immediately, as unpleasant as ever, "it's under control". "If this is all the Krauts can do, then they're done for. Our forces weren't surprised, they bled them dry." That's certainly embellishing reality somewhat, but it's hard to admit how worried we are about Patton... Well, we should be fine anyway! Then he adds: "This is not the umpteenth ill-anticipated flanking action...", obviously referring to the many "tactical failures" of the British in the Ile-de-France region - which is fair enough, given the predictable tenor of the British arguments that are to follow.
The ambitious American plan therefore meets both the military imperatives of destroying enemy troops and Washington's political injunctions (to spare the Soviets and not get involved in the Churchillian Great Game!) .
In this respect, it suits the French - who rightly see it as an opportunity to end the war cheaply but beautifully by conquering a province that was once France's ally, while at the same time rebuilding their forces, raising their country and, above all, completing the liberation of their national territory. It's true that the American plan meets their own strategic imperatives (to liberate Alsace... or even move a few border posts), but above all, it leaves the bulk of the human and material costs to an ally: a good deal!
However, this proposal does not suit the Commonwealth at all, which has a different opinion on the matter. For them, the breakthrough across the Rhine is a costly fad: the Germans have proved that they were prepared to do anything to defend this area, supplies are arriving from a long way off, the roads are ravaged, and there are many obstacles... No. Faced with this brutal and obvious desire to strike as fast as possible - too fast and unnecessarily hard - Brooke defends another point of view, based on the principles of simplicity and concentration of forces. The idea is to cut as short as possible through Aachen, Cologne, Hanover and Hamburg. A long salient, it is true, "but the German defences in the Maastricht and Cologne sector are irrelevant. A determined push in this direction would directly threaten the enemy's vital centers and would inevitably force the Wehrmacht to withdraw to a Karlsruhe-Hanover line. Your forces would then enter the Ruhr like butter. Then all you'd have to do is push on to Lübeck or even Leipzig.
A mention of this immediately makes Eisenhower sit up and take notice - he understands that, over and above the traditional questions of primacy and prestige, the most Churchillian political considerations in the Baltic are also guiding Britain's plans. Denmark no doubt, Norway perhaps... Here, like elsewhere, London is playing its cards close to its chest for the post-war period.
- It's a very ambitious operation, Sir Alan. And one that overlooks the many logistical difficulties, such as crossing the wetlands to get out of the Benelux countries.
- Nothing that can't be anticipated with a bit of rigour. We're used to working in more difficult conditions. Others can testify to that.
- Really?" intervenes the SACEUR, suddenly very irritated. Everyone knows that, since the little tiff last month between him and Monty, there are some names to which Ike is allergic. Too bad!
- That's true! But be that as it may, Marshal Montgomery has proved that the control and rigour that... we all know how to demonstrate here also lead to victory.
British constancy and moderation therefore produce better results than Yankee impetuosity, here lik elsewhere. That is what an aggressive mind could understand.
Bedell-Smith, again: "Sir Alan, with respect, your forces are at this time too... scattered [did he almost say 'disordered'?] to pretend to regain their advance for several weeks. Your bases are far away."
- No more than yours!
- No doubt. At least ours are working. The fact remains that by this date, the 2nd Army is no longer advancing. It is hunkering down, consolidating and no doubt planning things. But in the meantime, the Germans are getting stronger. We can see it. Let's hope we don't see it again tomorrow. And if it's a question of saving men, it's not time to stop pushing the enemy.
Auchinleck then intervenes, with some acidity: "Certainly, the 21st AAG will have to be given priority in the allocation of the necessary resources. But don't you think your own forces need to be supplemented?
- Yes, and as a priority.
This brings us to the heart of the problem: the distribution of supplies. The Allied forces in Western Europe are now considerable: three million men, who have to be equipped, fed and cared for every day... not to mention the 18th AAG, who literally eats up the smallest surplus.
Admittedly, the situation is less critical than had been feared. The rapid capture of Cherbourg, the ongoing clearing of Le Havre, the imminent capture of Lorient and Antwerp - not to mention, of course, the many installations that had long since been repaired in the Mediterranean - means that we can already anticipate a resumption of offensive action from mid-July. And perhaps even a mixture of these, depending on each individual's plans. Nonetheless, while Bedell-Smith and Brooke continue to fight over the table with more or less spearheads in front of a curiously impassive Eisenhower, Frère and Altmayer are saying to themselves - no doubt along with others - that they are going to have to show both authority and diplomacy to come up with a coherent and effective battle plan. We may have to wait for the champagne - although Bradley has brought a few cases for his boss.
.........
The debates drag on and the British find themselves facing a crossfire: the Americans hold their positions while the French flank them! While Her Majesty's generals argue that the liberation of Antwerp would simplify the logistical problems, the French counter that the Rhone line can supply an entire AG, while Antwerp already has to be rehabilitated, its approaches cleared and the SNCB put back on track - literally.
It is at a time when we were exhausting ourselves arguing about operational considerations while hiding - or pretending to hide - crystal-clear political objectives that a radiogram is discreetly handed to Frère. Smiling beneath his mustache, he stands up and dares to interrupt Brooke, who had been talking about the possibility of taking Eindhoven in one fell swoop. He speaks without appearing triumphant - which was not necessary: "I believe, my dear Alan, that we shall soon know whether we can seize passages on the Rhine: this evening, the 2nd Spahis Regiment and the 113th Infantry Regiment have reached the banks of the river. They are already moving to seize the Kembs hydro-electric plant and the Huningue railway bridge. It seems to me that this news deserves that we finally open these bottles of champagne that our friend Omar had the good idea of bringing...". And, in petto, Frère is sure that this champagne will not be too much to put a little... oil in the allied wheels.
Birthday
Matignon (Paris) - The private secretary to the President of the French Prime Minister is at a loss. It is, however, he who had written "Anniversary statement on the radio" on the day's large agenda. He barely dares to admit to the General that he had done so after receiving a phone call from Radio-Paris on the subject, but... Radio-Paris denied having called him and said that nothing was planned!
- Anniversary of what, anyway?" grumbles De Gaulle. "Waterloo? "
The General is silent for a moment... This story reminds him of something he'd heard before... Well, it doesn't matter. The secretary sighs with relief - luckily, a few minutes earlier, there had been a phone call that had put De Gaulle in a very good mood.
- As soon as possible, call me Frère or Altmayer. I need to know what's going on at the Trianon.
Yes, the place of the French Army in the hallali against Nazi Germany, the place of France in the post-war period... That's important. And that little De Boissieu dipping his sword in the Rhine, as a phone call has just told him - that's important too, in another way. A photo of this historic moment will have to be released to the press, and the hero will have to be decorated for it - he'd even like to decorate this young man himself.
* Due to the collapse of the gallery, we still don't know how many German soldiers were killed there, what equipment was stored there... or the state of the munitions that could still be active underground! But that hasn't stopped the Army from rebuilding on it since.
** This is the end of the last quarter, the new moon is on the 20th.
*** The Germans had sunk the old cruiser parallel to the U.bunker K 3 as protection to prevent the U-boots from being torpedoed in the afloat cells.
**** Identified after the liberation of the town as those of two P & C vessels, the tug Désiré Delmotte and the clapper barge Boulogne V.
***** Also identified after the liberation as the former U.jäger U-718.
****** Son of Captain Charles N'Tchoréré and older brother of Master Corporal Jean-Baptiste N'Tchoréré, both of whom died for France in June 1940.
******* De Gaulle, a former member of the 33rd RI, was not, however, a member of the "Petainist" faction of the Army, and was more a member of the hardliners (especially since the affair of Pétain's entry into the Académie Française, the date of the definitive break between the two men). This faction, heir to Castelnau, had no real leader in 1940, but included a good number of visionary generals. It is not irrelevant that Delestraint, Noguès and Olry were also members. Giraud and Frère were relatively neutral in these internal disputes, having had little contact with the great leaders of the other three factions of 1940: Weygand, Gamelin and Pétain. Weygand had spent the First World War with Franchet d'Esperey, while Pétain had held few staff positions during the conflict.
**** It's nice under the peristyle, but still!
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18/06/44 - Occupied Countries
June 18th, 1944
A failed parade
Strasbourg - To celebrate the "liberation" of the city in 1940, Gauleiter Robert Wagner marches the unit responsible for defending the city along the Avenue des Vosges, which the occupying forces call Vogesenstrasse (as it had been during the Wilhelm period). For Wagner, it is an opportunity to reassure the population about the worrying turn the Battle of Belfort seems to be taking, and to promise that the "French occupiers" would not return to oppress Alsace.
But already, on the walls of the town, under the posters proclaiming "Heil Hitler", some clever kids are having fun scribbling "Ein Liter". And, far from the effervescence expected by Wagner, the 95. Sicherungs Rgt, which is rushed out of Dijon last month. That is, in dead silence - until a lone voice starts singing in front of the Centre des Finances Publiques (on the corner of what is now the rue du Maréchal Frère) and a good chunk of the crowd sang along: "Petit Papa, est-ce donc la Mi-Carême?..". The parade ends in a riot when, losing their rhythm, the German disciplinarians start firing into the crowd, in front of a dejected Wagner who sees himself discredited among those he so much wanted to bring back into the fold of the Heimat.
Operation Waldfest
Strasbourg - In the evening, a group of Feldgendarmes breaks into the flat of a young René Kleinmann, suspected of anti-German activities. This suspicion is confirmed, as Kleinmann, along with his two brothers, is a former member of the Black Hand*. After it was disbanded, he escaped execution thanks to his young age and ended up in a reform school. But Kleinmann was already in the Gestapo's sights and had fled. The police managed to retrace his steps, before coming to the conclusion that the young man had joined the "Réseau Martial" and its Groupements Mobiles d'Alsace.
At the same time, several members of the Resistance networks (or supposed members) were summarily executed or deported to Struthof. Another of Robert Wagner's failures is already there: around thirty Alsatian reserve officers, who refused to be mobilised on the grounds that they were French army reservists, not German. Alsace officially had almost 800 reserve officers in the French army, and the SS had tried to exploit this seam (a seam that was, however, diminished by the exfiltrations, entries into hiding and individual moves to the other side of the Mediterranean between 40 and 43). The refusal of forty-two of the first 50 officers approached had buried this hope. In desperation, Himmler decided to classify these 42 as Nacht und Nebel and deport them to Neuengamme. The episode, known by Alsatians as the "Honour of the 42", left a deep mark on the region.
For his part, Carl Oberg can be proud: Operation Waldfest is in full swing and producing results. A major feat: the day before, one of his companies had managed to capture a fortified farm in the village of Grendelbruch. Inside are captured most of the leaders of the Resistance in Alsace. They had just started a meeting planning the mobilisation of the FFI in the region, no less!
Indeed, faced with the rapid advance of the Allied forces and the losses suffered as a result of Operation Waldfest, Marcel Kibler, alias "Commandant Marceau", leader of the FFI-Alsace (i.e. the Alsace brigade), had called a meeting of his lieutenants from the 17th in order to set up an all-out guerrilla war to drive the Nazis out of the Vosges. Unfortunately, the capture on the 15th of one of the few members of the brigade who knew the location of the meeting enabled Isselhorst to pull off a masterstroke. "Commandant Marceau" managed to escape, but the Gestapo got hold of his chief of staff, Jean Eschbach or "Jean Rivière", and Paul Winter or "Commandant Daniel", who was to be given command of the Haut-Rhin FFI. The leader of the Bas-Rhin FFI, Georges Kiefer, had also managed to escape, but he was burnt out; his actions would suffer as a result.
And the toll continues to rise, with the number of deportees now close to 20,000. Isselhorst promises his superior that they would finish clearing the ridge line within a week - after that, they would tackle the Saverne Gap, before clearing the Plain. One of the Mulhouse networks has attracted the attention of the Gestapo since the escape of Generals Mast and Juin in 1942. Intelligence is once again on the hunt. First of all, gamekeepers and border guards have to be inspected, in short, anyone who is in a privileged position to help with escapes, and thus increase Resistance activity.
* Network of adolescent Resistance fighters founded in September 1940 to carry out counter-propaganda, intelligence and even sabotage. There were around 25 of them, scattered into independent cells, before being dismantled by the Gestapo in 1941. The oldest were shot, the youngest put in reform school.
A failed parade
Strasbourg - To celebrate the "liberation" of the city in 1940, Gauleiter Robert Wagner marches the unit responsible for defending the city along the Avenue des Vosges, which the occupying forces call Vogesenstrasse (as it had been during the Wilhelm period). For Wagner, it is an opportunity to reassure the population about the worrying turn the Battle of Belfort seems to be taking, and to promise that the "French occupiers" would not return to oppress Alsace.
But already, on the walls of the town, under the posters proclaiming "Heil Hitler", some clever kids are having fun scribbling "Ein Liter". And, far from the effervescence expected by Wagner, the 95. Sicherungs Rgt, which is rushed out of Dijon last month. That is, in dead silence - until a lone voice starts singing in front of the Centre des Finances Publiques (on the corner of what is now the rue du Maréchal Frère) and a good chunk of the crowd sang along: "Petit Papa, est-ce donc la Mi-Carême?..". The parade ends in a riot when, losing their rhythm, the German disciplinarians start firing into the crowd, in front of a dejected Wagner who sees himself discredited among those he so much wanted to bring back into the fold of the Heimat.
Operation Waldfest
Strasbourg - In the evening, a group of Feldgendarmes breaks into the flat of a young René Kleinmann, suspected of anti-German activities. This suspicion is confirmed, as Kleinmann, along with his two brothers, is a former member of the Black Hand*. After it was disbanded, he escaped execution thanks to his young age and ended up in a reform school. But Kleinmann was already in the Gestapo's sights and had fled. The police managed to retrace his steps, before coming to the conclusion that the young man had joined the "Réseau Martial" and its Groupements Mobiles d'Alsace.
At the same time, several members of the Resistance networks (or supposed members) were summarily executed or deported to Struthof. Another of Robert Wagner's failures is already there: around thirty Alsatian reserve officers, who refused to be mobilised on the grounds that they were French army reservists, not German. Alsace officially had almost 800 reserve officers in the French army, and the SS had tried to exploit this seam (a seam that was, however, diminished by the exfiltrations, entries into hiding and individual moves to the other side of the Mediterranean between 40 and 43). The refusal of forty-two of the first 50 officers approached had buried this hope. In desperation, Himmler decided to classify these 42 as Nacht und Nebel and deport them to Neuengamme. The episode, known by Alsatians as the "Honour of the 42", left a deep mark on the region.
For his part, Carl Oberg can be proud: Operation Waldfest is in full swing and producing results. A major feat: the day before, one of his companies had managed to capture a fortified farm in the village of Grendelbruch. Inside are captured most of the leaders of the Resistance in Alsace. They had just started a meeting planning the mobilisation of the FFI in the region, no less!
Indeed, faced with the rapid advance of the Allied forces and the losses suffered as a result of Operation Waldfest, Marcel Kibler, alias "Commandant Marceau", leader of the FFI-Alsace (i.e. the Alsace brigade), had called a meeting of his lieutenants from the 17th in order to set up an all-out guerrilla war to drive the Nazis out of the Vosges. Unfortunately, the capture on the 15th of one of the few members of the brigade who knew the location of the meeting enabled Isselhorst to pull off a masterstroke. "Commandant Marceau" managed to escape, but the Gestapo got hold of his chief of staff, Jean Eschbach or "Jean Rivière", and Paul Winter or "Commandant Daniel", who was to be given command of the Haut-Rhin FFI. The leader of the Bas-Rhin FFI, Georges Kiefer, had also managed to escape, but he was burnt out; his actions would suffer as a result.
And the toll continues to rise, with the number of deportees now close to 20,000. Isselhorst promises his superior that they would finish clearing the ridge line within a week - after that, they would tackle the Saverne Gap, before clearing the Plain. One of the Mulhouse networks has attracted the attention of the Gestapo since the escape of Generals Mast and Juin in 1942. Intelligence is once again on the hunt. First of all, gamekeepers and border guards have to be inspected, in short, anyone who is in a privileged position to help with escapes, and thus increase Resistance activity.
* Network of adolescent Resistance fighters founded in September 1940 to carry out counter-propaganda, intelligence and even sabotage. There were around 25 of them, scattered into independent cells, before being dismantled by the Gestapo in 1941. The oldest were shot, the youngest put in reform school.
19/06/44 - Western Front
June 19th, 1944
Liberation and Liberators
The Brittany Festungen
Lorient - Paul Mahlmann, commander of a 353. ID now in tatters and a Festung Lorient now in ruins, officially asks his enemy for the means to surrender. Joseph Collins, Manton Eddy, Ira Wyche and co. are so tired of this exercise that had already cost them so much. As he hands over his weapon to his adversaries, the Thuringian immediately makes it clear that his surrender order only concerns the perimeter under his personal command*. For all the other strongholds, whether the strays of Quiberon, Ile Saint-Michel or even Port-Louis (just across the bay), it is necessary to check with the local authorities. The Americans take note, visibly disappointed. But they're not in as much of a hurry as they used to be... After all, if Landsers with no guns or means of harm want to rot on the shore, that's their business. The French will go and get them later if they want to, the US Army already has enough to do everywhere else. As for Quiberon, it's still possible to pass offshore**...
The large submarine base fell, but the port is largely destroyed, if not painstakingly sabotaged***. The KM did not deliver a single operational building. After recovering the secret documents, maps, Enigma machine, codes and sighting device for night surface attacks from his U-466, Kpt-Lt Gerhard Thäter blows up the wreck.
La Rochelle - Another submersible is luckier: the U-178 (Type-IX D2), returning from Asia. Originally due to reach Bordeaux, it was diverted at the last minute to La Rochelle, where it arrives today.
Short of potential after its journey from Penang, it is scuttled by its crew, who then join the defenders of the Festung... and are able to take advantage of the truce reached with the Allies.
Brest - With the fall of Lorient and now that the American strategy in Brittany - and indeed in Europe - was becoming clearer, VII Corps logically turns its attention to the last objective within its economic reach before an expected departure for Germany: Brest. For almost a week, the 90th Infantry Tough Ombres (Jay MacKelvie) and the 82nd Airborne All American (Matthew Ridgway) had been carefully and painstakingly cutting down the positions of 343. ID under Erwin Rauch. As a result, the latter had to withdraw to a relatively small perimeter to avoid being overrun. Now it too is awaiting the inevitable assault.
North - Operation Undergo
Côte d'Opale - Harry Crerar continues to assault the citadel of Calais, now cut off from its twin, Dunkirk, since the 5th Canadian Armoured (Guy Simonds) and the 2nd Canadian Infantry (Charles Foulkes) have reached Oye-Plage. This former seaside resort has been destroyed twice: first, last year, because the Occupiers wanted to build blockhouses there, and then, last night, when the same people dynamited everything as they left****!
No matter. Now that a large part - but only a part - of Max Bork's 47. ID is cut off from any help, the pressure on the Bourgeois town is intensifying on all sides. And yet, its defenders - rallied around the 115. Grenadier Rgt under Oberst Karl Inhofer - are still holding on, making the most of the slightest patch of flooded ground, particularly in the Fort Nieulay sector.
The Canadians are having a hard time of it... They have realised that they would have to cut down the machine-gun nests one by one. Early in the night, Rod Keller sends commandos to take Fort Lapin. In anticipation of a massive four-engine strike, planned for later that night.
The pursuit at last
Flat country - Sidney Kirkman's VIII Corps begins to deploy over a small arc stretching from Charleroi to Namur. To the great surprise of the Belgians - who had not been warned - it does not, however, plan to move towards Dinant. No - this area would come under XII Corps (Alfred Reade Godwin-Austen) and, to some extent, the I Corps (John Crocker). The latter is at the same time engaged in the Ardennes sector, having liberated Charleville-Mézières and a small town full of bad memories: Sedan.
Instead, the Belgians deploy along the Antwerp-Hasselt line, which is now clearly defined. Hasselt is the most easterly objective on the road to Germany that they had been granted. So much the worse for Maastricht too... Something to chew on!
Wacht am Rhein - In the furrows and sunken lanes
First US Army (Lorraine) - John Shirley Wood's 4th Armoured is in for a rude surprise. Expecting to run into the backs of panzers facing Verdun, his 25th Cavalry Reconnaissance Rgt is put to the sword by enemy heavy tanks - the M7s are no match for the Tiger or Panther II. The 103. SS-schw. Pz Abt (Karl Leiner) threatens to decimate the regiment when more robust and better armed tanks come to the rescue of the reconnaissance vehicles and force it to withdraw into the woods.
Among the tanks destroyed is the M7 belonging to Captain Stark of the 25th Cavalry. Unbelievably, the wounded captain is taken to a field hospital, while Lieutenant Blueberry and Corporal Blutch curse his idiotic charge of the morning, responsible for more than fifteen deaths in the squadron. Tetanised by the sight of burning armour, the screams of badly burnt tankers and the smell of roasting flesh, Sergeant Chesterfield remains silent...
Made cautious by the ambush, Wood gives the order not to pursue. He is well advised: the 10. SS-Panzer Frundsberg (Heinz Harmel) falls on his flank. The division's CCB, facing the plain to the south, is a little surprised but stands its ground, and the confrontation ends with a costly defeat for both sides. Admittedly, the SS tankers are far more experienced than the Americans (well, those Americans...), but the Panzer IV, whatever the model, is becoming increasingly outdated, especially in the face of the Sherman 75 long guns, which are now in the majority in the Armoured Divisions. And as smoke and flames devour the destroyed tanks, Harmel gives the order to break contact, taking advantage of the poor visibility to prevent his unit, which is far outnumbered, from being annihilated in the confrontation. The 10. SS-Panzer withdraws through the Villers-en-Argonne gap. Of all the divisions launched into Wacht am Rhein, it had come closest to reaching Châlons...
.........
The 2nd Infantry Indianhead also suffers a setback: exhausted by three days of uninterrupted fighting against a fanatical enemy, the 9th Rgt cracks under the pressure of the Das Reich. Hill 304, Avocourt and Esnes-en-Argonne fall to the SS, as does the makeshift hospital set up in the church. Walter Robertson orders his staff to withdraw to Montzéville, but before joining them, he finds himself commanding an anti-tank company approaching Esnes and destroying two Panzer IVs. His bravery earns him the Silver Star and the Croix de Guerre*****. However, busy with the fire, he is unable to order his division's reserve TCT to counter-attack, as the Das Reich begins to spread too far.
.........
The 30th Infantry Old Hickory has suffered heavy losses the previous day. Smelling blood, the 1 SS-Panzer Leibstandarte Adolf-Hitler (Theodor Wisch) tries to finish it off. However, Leland Hobbs manages to regain control of his unit and, supported by the two squadrons of the 3rd Armored Group that still have some consistency, it holds out. Better still, it drives back the SS, crushing the 2. SS-PzGr Rgt and retaking the hamlet of Récicourt. There is nothing but desolation: the villagers had been dispersed or massacred by the SS, who had become enraged when they saw the tricolour flying over the church. The church burns down in the drizzle, a few blackened threads of cloth still hanging from the ruined bell tower.
.........
In Verdun, the last German infantry elements are driven out by the 83rd Infantry Thunderbolt (Robert Macon). The previous day's SturmTiger bombardment has razed several city blocks to the ground, killing many civilians as well as a number of soldiers. But while the huge shells are supposed to demoralise the GIs, they have the opposite effect! Besieged by furious Americans, the 327. ID (Rudolf Friedrich) has practically only 10% of the soldiers it had had at the beginning of May, the rest of its strength (around 35% of its normal strength) being an amalgam of poor wretches picked up on the roads or in the logistics offices. In the evening, it has to be withdrawn from the front and sent back to Germany to be reconstituted, while the 541. VGD (Wolf Hagemann) is having all the trouble in the world holding its line, despite the support of the 101. Panzer Brigade.
Only the road to Metz and the forts to the north-east of the town are still held properly. Fort Haudainville, which commanded the east bank of the Meuse south of Verdun, had already been abandoned by the Landsers... without consulting the SS. Von Obstfelder intends to take advantage of their determination to disengage the forces of his 1. Armee!
Finally, in V Corps, the 29th Infantry Blue and Gray (Charles Gerhardt) also recovers and uses its numerical advantage to retake the sectors ceded the previous day to the SS tankers, showing once again that it is easier for armoured units to conquer positions than to hold them. The 9. SS-Panzer Hohenstaufen (Sylvester Stadler) is pushed back as far as the bridge at Villers-sur-Meuse. The rain of the last few days had turned the roads, many of which are still dirt, into torrents of mud from which non-tracked vehicles have great difficulty getting out, and the 29th has suffered a great deal during its counter-attack. It too is beginning to spread dangerously.
.........
With the withdrawal of the German infantry, XIX US Army Corps can begin to move northwards. The 8th Infantry Golden Arrow (William MacMahon) approaches Bar-le-Duc and the Marne-Rhine canal, but fails to reach it.
The 5th Armored also begins to feel out the LVIII. PzK and more particularly the 14. SS-PzGr Götz von Berlichingen (Werner Ostendorff): cornered in the valley bottom at Noyers-Auzécourt, it seems an easy target. But it is a failure: the German grenadiers lead an orderly retreat that is made easier by their small numbers, while the Victory loses around ten tanks from the 81st Tank Btn. But the American armoured division holds its ground. This is not the case everywhere...
Worried about the withdrawal of the 10. SS-Panzer, Fritz Witt ordered his Hitlerjugend to firmly hold Charmont against a combined assault by the 6th Armored Super Sixth (Robert Grow) and the 5th Infantry Red Diamond (Stafford LeRoy Irwin). After the first assault, the German division seems close to cracking when the 6th is surprised by an unexpected enemy on its flank: Oberst Max Sperling's 9. Panzer, which has no desire to be stuck here! The Super Sixth holds out but has to let go of its prey and the two panzer divisions, much reduced in strength, speed off into the darkness. They pass under the 5th Armored's nose thanks to a forest road in the Gérard valley, which allows the Hitlerjugend to redeploy while the 9. Panzer stands guard at Sommeilles (an oddity that does not make the Germans laugh).
.........
Finally, VI US Army Corps begins to cross the Marne. The 3rd Infantry Rock of the Marne is the first (it was appropriate after all), and the 28th Infantry Keystone follows. With the 4th Armored already in action, the need to commit the 1st Armored is less pressing than expected - so much the better for logistics, which would already be hard-pressed to support two complete army corps properly.
Kesselring: pessimism
Kesselring HQ (Metz) - American losses are visibly heavy, but their formations are much stronger than expected, and those fatheads trapped in Verdun refuse to lay down their arms! Wacht am Rhein turns out to be much harder than expected, and after Fredericus II, the SS tankers are beginning to know the drill and how this sort of thing ends. Apart from the armoured division that has just swooped in like the proverbial dog in a bowling alley, we have yet to see any major American reinforcements, but that is only a matter of time. And the weather forecasters don't know how much longer the rain will last...
At last! If the SS keep up the pace of their assault for another two or three days, Patton would have to surrender for lack of ammunition! It must work, Kesselring thinks, but he is no longer so sure that Wacht am Rhein could achieve its objectives. He knows that if he doesn't succeed in seriously amputating the American armies, the Westheer would be condemned to trying to plug more and more holes... and, inevitably, to failure.
Patch: back to the front
Reims - The GIs of the 3rd Armored Spearhead (Doyle Hickey) enter an erupting Reims. Far from the concerns of strategists on either side, the city of the coronations has been the prey of score-settling that has often turned deadly since the withdrawal of the last German troops a few days earlier. The local FFI were often unable to restore order, as they themselves gave free rein to their grudges, and the lack of supervision****** only made matters worse. The gendarmerie did try to intervene, but they had been disarmed by the occupying forces and were hard pressed to control men who were often better equipped than they were! In other words, the Spearhead Shermans are extremely useful in calming everyone down.
Further south, still in the process of crossing the Montagne de Reims, the rest of IV US Corps is still behind. Willis Crittenberg has already shown that he was not as experienced as Patch and that it would be more difficult for him to maneuver his units.
1st French Army - Operation Marguerite
I Corps (Vesoul) - Alphonse Juin, whose first troops are beginning to approach the southern Vosges, requests authorisation to carry out an operation to rescue the local population, once the banks of the Moselle had been secured. He cannot allow the Nazis to massacre good French people while standing by! This is the source of a marked enmity between De Lattre and Juin, especially as the latter repeats verbatim the arguments Hauteclocque had used the day before...
Juin takes advantage of the situation to seize control of the 2nd DB, which De Lattre allowed to happen (he might as well have been glad to be rid of it), but also of the 1st DIM, which had indeed been intended for him, but not so soon. Much to his chagrin, when De Lattre tries to contact the 1st Army headquarters, the chief of staff, Charles Raoux, endorses Juin's action. In fact, Raoux, a former member of the Alps army, understands Juin's intention perfectly and approves of it.
II Polish Corps (Lorraine) - Worried for a moment by the sudden withdrawal of the Landsers of LXXXVI. AK through Bar-le-Duc, Anders is reassured when reconnaissance by the two armoured brigades assure him that the Germans are fleeing northwards. In return, Stanislas Maczek receives thanks and his appointment as commander of the 1st Polish Armoured Division, which is supposed to combine the two brigades. No doubt this "armoured division" only exists in theory, for show: the two brigades are too different in organisation and equipment to really operate together. However, the Polish government continues to push - discreetly but steadily - for the expansion of a large Polish army in Western Europe. An army that everyone realises would have a rival, if not an adversary. In any case, Maczek has every right to his new rank. With his personal staff, he would be able to direct the manoeuvres of the two brigades, according to the orders of II Corps.
.........
But the Polish corps commander's attention is focused on Toul: the first assault, launched from the west and Pagny-sur-Meuse, produces mixed results.
It is necessary to cross the Foug threshold, a series of parallel, folded and steep reliefs separating the Meuse and Moselle valleys, 7 km apart at this point. The site is crossed by the N4 trunk road, the Paris-Nancy railway line and the Marne-Rhine canal. Normally, these are all mobility corridors that allow fire to penetrate and concentrate in enemy lines. However, the road and railway run through numerous tunnels that serve as shelters for the German troops, who are fortunately not very well-motivated. The commune of Foug is taken, but not the tunnels, and without controlling them, crossing the Moselle is out of the question.
To the north, there is more success: the forts in the sector north-west of Toul are all taken despite artillery support from the fort at Domgermain, as are the positions at Trondes, Brûley and Lucey, which were not defended. However, the fort at Ecrouves, which dominates the western approaches to Toul, is still holding out.
In the evening, after numerous exchanges of fire, the defenders of the Foug tunnels surrender, running out of ammunition and partially smoked out through air vents discovered by the Resistance.
A second assault sweeps away the last major fortified positions. The fort at Blénod-les-Toul and the high ground are turned and occupied. Fort Domgermain surrenders after intense shelling, its garrison absolutely exhausted. The 2nd Armoured Brigade effectively supports the infantrymen of the 5th Infantry Division and the German troops can only temporarily hold on to two forts, Chanot and Tillot, before crossing the Moselle.
The Polish advance is momentarily thwarted by fire from Fort Saint-Michel, on the mountain of the same name. Effective counter-battery fire from Allied artillerymen muzzles the guns and turrets, allowing the assault troops to enter Toul. Reconnaissance vanguards cross the river on locks forgotten by the German troops and not sabotaged. The road bridge at Dommartin-lès-Toul, sabotaged, is impassable but not destroyed. If the engineers intervene, it could be used again.
After 36 hours of assault, only two forts remain, as well as the north-eastern sector, around the works and forts of the Vieux Canton. Toul, which had already been shelled and 40% damaged in 1940 (when the 227th Infantry Regiment and the Dubuisson Group held out for five days against an army six times more numerous), suffers little further damage. At the end of the day, the 266. ID is pushed back to a line running from Villey-le-Sec (and its fort) to Gondreville, held by two Kampfgruppen. For its part, the 334. ID is already preparing the defense of Nancy itself.
IV CA (Alsace) - The 9th DIC arrives at the end of the surge: wedged between the remnants of the 39. ID to the east, the 232. VGD in the same area and, to the south, the 363. ID entrenched in Belfort, the division is forced to switch to flank-guard and become passive for a few days. Not that the marsouins are complaining...
The 83rd DIA is therefore the main unit to lead the assault: supported by the corps artillery from Faymont, it finally manages to dislodge the Landsers from Mont-Vaudois and its impressive fortifications. The next stop is Fort Essert, the last major position held by the 363. ID west of Belfort.
In the town's citadel, Baron von Hirschberg realises that he is losing his foothold, but he still holds all the forts to the east of the town and can rely on the Savoureuse to hinder the enemy's advance. He makes his decision as soon as the first fire begins to fall on Fort Essert. Smaller and less well armed than Mont Vaudois, its garrison stands no chance. During the night, its stores of explosives are emptied to blow up all the bridges over the river, and Hirschberg waits with bated breath for the "Africans" (this nickname still has some relevance, given that they are two divisions of colonial infantry).
South of Belfort, surrounded by the numerous firing positions and anti-tank teams that had been scattered between Belfort and Delle since the previous day, the 3rd DB is unable to act in support of the 2nd RSA, which is already in Alsace itself.
In fact, after their spectacular attack the previous day, the Spahis begin to scatter across the plain. The unit is too weak to liberate Mulhouse on its own, but the cavalrymen are beginning to gather around them members of the Groupement Mobile d'Alsace-Sud. The corps commander, Colonel Lecoq, is already planning to take Altkirch, which would provide an excellent base from which to start. At the same time, the 113th Infantry Regiment, which has also slipped through Delle into the Alsace plain, is approaching Huningue and Kembs, which are undefended. The aim is to seize the town's railway bridge and the Kembs hydroelectric power station, whose turbines provide access to the Rhine island and rapids on the river that could, if necessary, allow a bridge to be built.
Allied strategy
What next?
SHAFE, Grand Trianon (Versailles) - After the difficult exchanges of the previous evening, which preceded a somewhat more diplomatic evening - if not a cordial one, as no one is here to party - the exchanges resume, with a markedly different dynamic. In other words, more lively and more... frank. The influence of the rain, no doubt.
The American delegation is back - in better shape, given that the operations in Moselle finally seem to be moving towards a favourable outcome (just barely! but favourable nonetheless). Nevertheless, despite Walter Bedell-Smith's long-standing plea for 'controlled transparency' on certain issues with regard to America's allies, it is clear that V Corps has been bled dry and XIX Corps is well and truly worn out. The bulk of Patton's 1st Army is out of action, at least for attacking! A powerful argument for the British, who are quick to come back to the charge.
Auchinleck: "Gentlemen, now that we're finally at peace, knowing that the Huns have been stopped, we can talk about what to do next. You propose Downfall, we always propose Undertone. Undertone has the double advantage of being able to be launched more quickly, against a weaker opponent, and without needing many more resources."
Against this opening, Bedell-Smith - who had spent the night having his staff study ways of diplomatically refusing Undertone - unleashes a rapid salvo of technical arguments designed to saturate the space: "Sir Claude, I'm sorry, but we don't believe in Undertone. Or at least, we have serious reservations about its chances of success in our current configuration. You'd have to clear the port of Antwerp first, if you can't find another large anchorage that's already operational. The wet sections are not as wide as the Rhine, but they are numerous - these successive barriers will wear down your potential before you reach Germany. Last but not least, at the 21th AAG you don't have the means to advance by keeping your flank on the Luxembourg or Ardennes side. We all know today that this is not the best idea."
That's fair enough. But the English have long anticipated these arguments. Sir Alan Brooke: "That is why we are asking that the US IV and VIII Corps be made available to the 21st AAG for Undertone.
Stupor among the Americans. Bradley, who was already anticipating with finesse what his chief was going to say: "Attach the 7th Army to your 21st AAG? Impossible.
- And why not?" Brooke pretends to ask.
Eisenhower then uses his stature to intervene, diplomatically but also firmly: "Sir Allan, with all due respect, such a maneuver is unacceptable. It calls into question the very structure of our command. More than half of the allied forces would then come under your authority. You are asking us for the 7th Army for the left flank - it is precisely what is needed to support the 1st Army on the right flank. Without it, Patton's forces would be forced into a strict defensive role, unable to help our French friends in their campaign to liberate Alsace.
And above all, this means burying FUSAG, and therefore the primacy attributed to the American command - but Ike prefers to keep this quiet in order to win over the French instead!
But Brooke continues: "We realise that our proposal cannot be carried out without a major redistribution of forces in France. Joseph Collins' VII Corps, for example. The latter has to leave Brittany as quickly as possible to take up a position in the Nancy sector, where it would join the VIII Corps. In this way, the French army would have ample means of retaking Strasbourg. What's more, it seems to me that the intelligence is clear: the German 19. Armee is in retreat, and the 1. Armee is now out of action. The 1st Army no longer needs support. You had already planned to send IV Corps to Luxembourg, by the way. You see, everything fits!
Frère, Altmayer and Bougrain now have the unpleasant impression of being in the middle of a battle that only indirectly concerns them... And, in this battle, of being used as a wrecking ball that is constantly being passed back and forth.
What's more, Brooke is now addressing them directly, with a wry smile: "What do our French friends think?" Frère can only cautiously hazard: "It's not for me to decide on behalf of my government. Having said that, I must remind you that, despite all our efforts, the French army is not yet in a position to take over completely from the pockets of the Atlantic.
Bedell-Smith jumps at the chance: "Not to mention our logistical train, which has to come to the rescue of the population! Sir Allan, most of our logistics chain from Normandy is already assigned to your troops. It seems impossible to me, for obvious reasons of efficiency, that you can expect to absorb all the reinforcements coming from England for such an uncertain operation.
- General Bedell-Smith, with all due respect, I'm afraid that you are essentially refusing our proposals for reasons that have nothing to do with military matters. We are allies, and therefore equals. Need I remind you of the terms of the agreements binding our governments?
- And with all due respect, I'm not sure you're really thinking in purely military terms either. The truth is that until Antwerp is cleared and several ports on the Channel and the Atlantic are rehabilitated, you are taking an enormous risk. I refuse to speculate on the reasons why! Nevertheless, one truth remains: at this time, your forces are in... disarray.
- And yours just as much, if not outright out of combat!
The outraged hubbub turns into cacophony. Eisenhower's preferred method of command, based on a certain amount of trust - even a certain amount of freedom - given to subordinates who are far too restless in an army that is far too big to be managed closely, is now reaching its limits. Ike then intervenes again, this time with a certain haughtiness, standing up abruptly but without bursting his voice to call for calm. He understands that this is the decisive moment. The moment when he might well be threatened, or even sacrificed if he slips up too badly to be repaired. Who knows if tomorrow, in an apparent gesture of appeasement, someone much more authoritarian than he will be put in his place? A Patton, a Bedell-Smith, or even... well, good old Omar Bradley, as affable as ever and perhaps smiling as he bides his time.
In such a scenario, who would support him? Not the English! Too happy to see him get out of the way, so they can arrogantly try to impose their alternative strategy at a later date. Not the French either! These courageous pretentious people are still vexed that the likeable Aubert Frère has not taken the lead of the Allies in France. So what to do?
With a political acumen he didn't know he had, Ike concludes: "Gentlemen, we've heard everyone's arguments. In view of what is at stake, I propose that we refer the matter to our respective governments."
In the event of a problem, always refer to the higher authority. The one who, not so long ago, was able to elevate him to his current position.
* Released in 1946 without prosecution, his behaviour having been Korrect during his posting to France - compared to his colleagues, no doubt, and his time on the Eastern Front was never mentioned - Mahlmann worked for the American army as a... biologist, before becoming a freelance journalist. A member of the FDP, West Germany's liberal-democratic party, he was called several times as a witness in trials of former Waffen SS. He died at his home in Munich in 1963.
** This last position held out until the German surrender!
*** The Lorient submarine base is now a naval museum, housing - in addition to the traditional memorial exhibitions - a decommissioned French diesel submarine. No-one ever thought it worth demolishing such a structure... What's more, no trace has yet been found of the torpedo stockpile, which still sleeps somewhere along the Ter, at the bottom of bunkers whose accesses have long since been lost or filled in!
**** Except for one... a reinforced concrete decoy, resembling a bell tower, which did not receive a sufficient dose of explosives. Nicknamed "the leaning tower" for fairly obvious reasons, it is now a small local attraction.
***** The decoration was extended after the battle to the whole of the 2nd Infantry, "for its spirit of sacrifice and its magnificent conduct in battle", which explains why Robertson wore both the decoration and the fourragère.
****** Champagne was not exactly at the bottom of the list of priorities for the management of maquis, but not far off. Unfortunately, unlike the maquis in the South, Paris or Alsace-Moselle, there were not many demobilised officers available in the region. This obviously led to a more muddled Resistance than elsewhere, with more mistakes and therefore more effective repression.
Liberation and Liberators
The Brittany Festungen
Lorient - Paul Mahlmann, commander of a 353. ID now in tatters and a Festung Lorient now in ruins, officially asks his enemy for the means to surrender. Joseph Collins, Manton Eddy, Ira Wyche and co. are so tired of this exercise that had already cost them so much. As he hands over his weapon to his adversaries, the Thuringian immediately makes it clear that his surrender order only concerns the perimeter under his personal command*. For all the other strongholds, whether the strays of Quiberon, Ile Saint-Michel or even Port-Louis (just across the bay), it is necessary to check with the local authorities. The Americans take note, visibly disappointed. But they're not in as much of a hurry as they used to be... After all, if Landsers with no guns or means of harm want to rot on the shore, that's their business. The French will go and get them later if they want to, the US Army already has enough to do everywhere else. As for Quiberon, it's still possible to pass offshore**...
The large submarine base fell, but the port is largely destroyed, if not painstakingly sabotaged***. The KM did not deliver a single operational building. After recovering the secret documents, maps, Enigma machine, codes and sighting device for night surface attacks from his U-466, Kpt-Lt Gerhard Thäter blows up the wreck.
La Rochelle - Another submersible is luckier: the U-178 (Type-IX D2), returning from Asia. Originally due to reach Bordeaux, it was diverted at the last minute to La Rochelle, where it arrives today.
Short of potential after its journey from Penang, it is scuttled by its crew, who then join the defenders of the Festung... and are able to take advantage of the truce reached with the Allies.
Brest - With the fall of Lorient and now that the American strategy in Brittany - and indeed in Europe - was becoming clearer, VII Corps logically turns its attention to the last objective within its economic reach before an expected departure for Germany: Brest. For almost a week, the 90th Infantry Tough Ombres (Jay MacKelvie) and the 82nd Airborne All American (Matthew Ridgway) had been carefully and painstakingly cutting down the positions of 343. ID under Erwin Rauch. As a result, the latter had to withdraw to a relatively small perimeter to avoid being overrun. Now it too is awaiting the inevitable assault.
North - Operation Undergo
Côte d'Opale - Harry Crerar continues to assault the citadel of Calais, now cut off from its twin, Dunkirk, since the 5th Canadian Armoured (Guy Simonds) and the 2nd Canadian Infantry (Charles Foulkes) have reached Oye-Plage. This former seaside resort has been destroyed twice: first, last year, because the Occupiers wanted to build blockhouses there, and then, last night, when the same people dynamited everything as they left****!
No matter. Now that a large part - but only a part - of Max Bork's 47. ID is cut off from any help, the pressure on the Bourgeois town is intensifying on all sides. And yet, its defenders - rallied around the 115. Grenadier Rgt under Oberst Karl Inhofer - are still holding on, making the most of the slightest patch of flooded ground, particularly in the Fort Nieulay sector.
The Canadians are having a hard time of it... They have realised that they would have to cut down the machine-gun nests one by one. Early in the night, Rod Keller sends commandos to take Fort Lapin. In anticipation of a massive four-engine strike, planned for later that night.
The pursuit at last
Flat country - Sidney Kirkman's VIII Corps begins to deploy over a small arc stretching from Charleroi to Namur. To the great surprise of the Belgians - who had not been warned - it does not, however, plan to move towards Dinant. No - this area would come under XII Corps (Alfred Reade Godwin-Austen) and, to some extent, the I Corps (John Crocker). The latter is at the same time engaged in the Ardennes sector, having liberated Charleville-Mézières and a small town full of bad memories: Sedan.
Instead, the Belgians deploy along the Antwerp-Hasselt line, which is now clearly defined. Hasselt is the most easterly objective on the road to Germany that they had been granted. So much the worse for Maastricht too... Something to chew on!
Wacht am Rhein - In the furrows and sunken lanes
First US Army (Lorraine) - John Shirley Wood's 4th Armoured is in for a rude surprise. Expecting to run into the backs of panzers facing Verdun, his 25th Cavalry Reconnaissance Rgt is put to the sword by enemy heavy tanks - the M7s are no match for the Tiger or Panther II. The 103. SS-schw. Pz Abt (Karl Leiner) threatens to decimate the regiment when more robust and better armed tanks come to the rescue of the reconnaissance vehicles and force it to withdraw into the woods.
Among the tanks destroyed is the M7 belonging to Captain Stark of the 25th Cavalry. Unbelievably, the wounded captain is taken to a field hospital, while Lieutenant Blueberry and Corporal Blutch curse his idiotic charge of the morning, responsible for more than fifteen deaths in the squadron. Tetanised by the sight of burning armour, the screams of badly burnt tankers and the smell of roasting flesh, Sergeant Chesterfield remains silent...
Made cautious by the ambush, Wood gives the order not to pursue. He is well advised: the 10. SS-Panzer Frundsberg (Heinz Harmel) falls on his flank. The division's CCB, facing the plain to the south, is a little surprised but stands its ground, and the confrontation ends with a costly defeat for both sides. Admittedly, the SS tankers are far more experienced than the Americans (well, those Americans...), but the Panzer IV, whatever the model, is becoming increasingly outdated, especially in the face of the Sherman 75 long guns, which are now in the majority in the Armoured Divisions. And as smoke and flames devour the destroyed tanks, Harmel gives the order to break contact, taking advantage of the poor visibility to prevent his unit, which is far outnumbered, from being annihilated in the confrontation. The 10. SS-Panzer withdraws through the Villers-en-Argonne gap. Of all the divisions launched into Wacht am Rhein, it had come closest to reaching Châlons...
.........
The 2nd Infantry Indianhead also suffers a setback: exhausted by three days of uninterrupted fighting against a fanatical enemy, the 9th Rgt cracks under the pressure of the Das Reich. Hill 304, Avocourt and Esnes-en-Argonne fall to the SS, as does the makeshift hospital set up in the church. Walter Robertson orders his staff to withdraw to Montzéville, but before joining them, he finds himself commanding an anti-tank company approaching Esnes and destroying two Panzer IVs. His bravery earns him the Silver Star and the Croix de Guerre*****. However, busy with the fire, he is unable to order his division's reserve TCT to counter-attack, as the Das Reich begins to spread too far.
.........
The 30th Infantry Old Hickory has suffered heavy losses the previous day. Smelling blood, the 1 SS-Panzer Leibstandarte Adolf-Hitler (Theodor Wisch) tries to finish it off. However, Leland Hobbs manages to regain control of his unit and, supported by the two squadrons of the 3rd Armored Group that still have some consistency, it holds out. Better still, it drives back the SS, crushing the 2. SS-PzGr Rgt and retaking the hamlet of Récicourt. There is nothing but desolation: the villagers had been dispersed or massacred by the SS, who had become enraged when they saw the tricolour flying over the church. The church burns down in the drizzle, a few blackened threads of cloth still hanging from the ruined bell tower.
.........
In Verdun, the last German infantry elements are driven out by the 83rd Infantry Thunderbolt (Robert Macon). The previous day's SturmTiger bombardment has razed several city blocks to the ground, killing many civilians as well as a number of soldiers. But while the huge shells are supposed to demoralise the GIs, they have the opposite effect! Besieged by furious Americans, the 327. ID (Rudolf Friedrich) has practically only 10% of the soldiers it had had at the beginning of May, the rest of its strength (around 35% of its normal strength) being an amalgam of poor wretches picked up on the roads or in the logistics offices. In the evening, it has to be withdrawn from the front and sent back to Germany to be reconstituted, while the 541. VGD (Wolf Hagemann) is having all the trouble in the world holding its line, despite the support of the 101. Panzer Brigade.
Only the road to Metz and the forts to the north-east of the town are still held properly. Fort Haudainville, which commanded the east bank of the Meuse south of Verdun, had already been abandoned by the Landsers... without consulting the SS. Von Obstfelder intends to take advantage of their determination to disengage the forces of his 1. Armee!
Finally, in V Corps, the 29th Infantry Blue and Gray (Charles Gerhardt) also recovers and uses its numerical advantage to retake the sectors ceded the previous day to the SS tankers, showing once again that it is easier for armoured units to conquer positions than to hold them. The 9. SS-Panzer Hohenstaufen (Sylvester Stadler) is pushed back as far as the bridge at Villers-sur-Meuse. The rain of the last few days had turned the roads, many of which are still dirt, into torrents of mud from which non-tracked vehicles have great difficulty getting out, and the 29th has suffered a great deal during its counter-attack. It too is beginning to spread dangerously.
.........
With the withdrawal of the German infantry, XIX US Army Corps can begin to move northwards. The 8th Infantry Golden Arrow (William MacMahon) approaches Bar-le-Duc and the Marne-Rhine canal, but fails to reach it.
The 5th Armored also begins to feel out the LVIII. PzK and more particularly the 14. SS-PzGr Götz von Berlichingen (Werner Ostendorff): cornered in the valley bottom at Noyers-Auzécourt, it seems an easy target. But it is a failure: the German grenadiers lead an orderly retreat that is made easier by their small numbers, while the Victory loses around ten tanks from the 81st Tank Btn. But the American armoured division holds its ground. This is not the case everywhere...
Worried about the withdrawal of the 10. SS-Panzer, Fritz Witt ordered his Hitlerjugend to firmly hold Charmont against a combined assault by the 6th Armored Super Sixth (Robert Grow) and the 5th Infantry Red Diamond (Stafford LeRoy Irwin). After the first assault, the German division seems close to cracking when the 6th is surprised by an unexpected enemy on its flank: Oberst Max Sperling's 9. Panzer, which has no desire to be stuck here! The Super Sixth holds out but has to let go of its prey and the two panzer divisions, much reduced in strength, speed off into the darkness. They pass under the 5th Armored's nose thanks to a forest road in the Gérard valley, which allows the Hitlerjugend to redeploy while the 9. Panzer stands guard at Sommeilles (an oddity that does not make the Germans laugh).
.........
Finally, VI US Army Corps begins to cross the Marne. The 3rd Infantry Rock of the Marne is the first (it was appropriate after all), and the 28th Infantry Keystone follows. With the 4th Armored already in action, the need to commit the 1st Armored is less pressing than expected - so much the better for logistics, which would already be hard-pressed to support two complete army corps properly.
Kesselring: pessimism
Kesselring HQ (Metz) - American losses are visibly heavy, but their formations are much stronger than expected, and those fatheads trapped in Verdun refuse to lay down their arms! Wacht am Rhein turns out to be much harder than expected, and after Fredericus II, the SS tankers are beginning to know the drill and how this sort of thing ends. Apart from the armoured division that has just swooped in like the proverbial dog in a bowling alley, we have yet to see any major American reinforcements, but that is only a matter of time. And the weather forecasters don't know how much longer the rain will last...
At last! If the SS keep up the pace of their assault for another two or three days, Patton would have to surrender for lack of ammunition! It must work, Kesselring thinks, but he is no longer so sure that Wacht am Rhein could achieve its objectives. He knows that if he doesn't succeed in seriously amputating the American armies, the Westheer would be condemned to trying to plug more and more holes... and, inevitably, to failure.
Patch: back to the front
Reims - The GIs of the 3rd Armored Spearhead (Doyle Hickey) enter an erupting Reims. Far from the concerns of strategists on either side, the city of the coronations has been the prey of score-settling that has often turned deadly since the withdrawal of the last German troops a few days earlier. The local FFI were often unable to restore order, as they themselves gave free rein to their grudges, and the lack of supervision****** only made matters worse. The gendarmerie did try to intervene, but they had been disarmed by the occupying forces and were hard pressed to control men who were often better equipped than they were! In other words, the Spearhead Shermans are extremely useful in calming everyone down.
Further south, still in the process of crossing the Montagne de Reims, the rest of IV US Corps is still behind. Willis Crittenberg has already shown that he was not as experienced as Patch and that it would be more difficult for him to maneuver his units.
1st French Army - Operation Marguerite
I Corps (Vesoul) - Alphonse Juin, whose first troops are beginning to approach the southern Vosges, requests authorisation to carry out an operation to rescue the local population, once the banks of the Moselle had been secured. He cannot allow the Nazis to massacre good French people while standing by! This is the source of a marked enmity between De Lattre and Juin, especially as the latter repeats verbatim the arguments Hauteclocque had used the day before...
Juin takes advantage of the situation to seize control of the 2nd DB, which De Lattre allowed to happen (he might as well have been glad to be rid of it), but also of the 1st DIM, which had indeed been intended for him, but not so soon. Much to his chagrin, when De Lattre tries to contact the 1st Army headquarters, the chief of staff, Charles Raoux, endorses Juin's action. In fact, Raoux, a former member of the Alps army, understands Juin's intention perfectly and approves of it.
II Polish Corps (Lorraine) - Worried for a moment by the sudden withdrawal of the Landsers of LXXXVI. AK through Bar-le-Duc, Anders is reassured when reconnaissance by the two armoured brigades assure him that the Germans are fleeing northwards. In return, Stanislas Maczek receives thanks and his appointment as commander of the 1st Polish Armoured Division, which is supposed to combine the two brigades. No doubt this "armoured division" only exists in theory, for show: the two brigades are too different in organisation and equipment to really operate together. However, the Polish government continues to push - discreetly but steadily - for the expansion of a large Polish army in Western Europe. An army that everyone realises would have a rival, if not an adversary. In any case, Maczek has every right to his new rank. With his personal staff, he would be able to direct the manoeuvres of the two brigades, according to the orders of II Corps.
.........
But the Polish corps commander's attention is focused on Toul: the first assault, launched from the west and Pagny-sur-Meuse, produces mixed results.
It is necessary to cross the Foug threshold, a series of parallel, folded and steep reliefs separating the Meuse and Moselle valleys, 7 km apart at this point. The site is crossed by the N4 trunk road, the Paris-Nancy railway line and the Marne-Rhine canal. Normally, these are all mobility corridors that allow fire to penetrate and concentrate in enemy lines. However, the road and railway run through numerous tunnels that serve as shelters for the German troops, who are fortunately not very well-motivated. The commune of Foug is taken, but not the tunnels, and without controlling them, crossing the Moselle is out of the question.
To the north, there is more success: the forts in the sector north-west of Toul are all taken despite artillery support from the fort at Domgermain, as are the positions at Trondes, Brûley and Lucey, which were not defended. However, the fort at Ecrouves, which dominates the western approaches to Toul, is still holding out.
In the evening, after numerous exchanges of fire, the defenders of the Foug tunnels surrender, running out of ammunition and partially smoked out through air vents discovered by the Resistance.
A second assault sweeps away the last major fortified positions. The fort at Blénod-les-Toul and the high ground are turned and occupied. Fort Domgermain surrenders after intense shelling, its garrison absolutely exhausted. The 2nd Armoured Brigade effectively supports the infantrymen of the 5th Infantry Division and the German troops can only temporarily hold on to two forts, Chanot and Tillot, before crossing the Moselle.
The Polish advance is momentarily thwarted by fire from Fort Saint-Michel, on the mountain of the same name. Effective counter-battery fire from Allied artillerymen muzzles the guns and turrets, allowing the assault troops to enter Toul. Reconnaissance vanguards cross the river on locks forgotten by the German troops and not sabotaged. The road bridge at Dommartin-lès-Toul, sabotaged, is impassable but not destroyed. If the engineers intervene, it could be used again.
After 36 hours of assault, only two forts remain, as well as the north-eastern sector, around the works and forts of the Vieux Canton. Toul, which had already been shelled and 40% damaged in 1940 (when the 227th Infantry Regiment and the Dubuisson Group held out for five days against an army six times more numerous), suffers little further damage. At the end of the day, the 266. ID is pushed back to a line running from Villey-le-Sec (and its fort) to Gondreville, held by two Kampfgruppen. For its part, the 334. ID is already preparing the defense of Nancy itself.
IV CA (Alsace) - The 9th DIC arrives at the end of the surge: wedged between the remnants of the 39. ID to the east, the 232. VGD in the same area and, to the south, the 363. ID entrenched in Belfort, the division is forced to switch to flank-guard and become passive for a few days. Not that the marsouins are complaining...
The 83rd DIA is therefore the main unit to lead the assault: supported by the corps artillery from Faymont, it finally manages to dislodge the Landsers from Mont-Vaudois and its impressive fortifications. The next stop is Fort Essert, the last major position held by the 363. ID west of Belfort.
In the town's citadel, Baron von Hirschberg realises that he is losing his foothold, but he still holds all the forts to the east of the town and can rely on the Savoureuse to hinder the enemy's advance. He makes his decision as soon as the first fire begins to fall on Fort Essert. Smaller and less well armed than Mont Vaudois, its garrison stands no chance. During the night, its stores of explosives are emptied to blow up all the bridges over the river, and Hirschberg waits with bated breath for the "Africans" (this nickname still has some relevance, given that they are two divisions of colonial infantry).
South of Belfort, surrounded by the numerous firing positions and anti-tank teams that had been scattered between Belfort and Delle since the previous day, the 3rd DB is unable to act in support of the 2nd RSA, which is already in Alsace itself.
In fact, after their spectacular attack the previous day, the Spahis begin to scatter across the plain. The unit is too weak to liberate Mulhouse on its own, but the cavalrymen are beginning to gather around them members of the Groupement Mobile d'Alsace-Sud. The corps commander, Colonel Lecoq, is already planning to take Altkirch, which would provide an excellent base from which to start. At the same time, the 113th Infantry Regiment, which has also slipped through Delle into the Alsace plain, is approaching Huningue and Kembs, which are undefended. The aim is to seize the town's railway bridge and the Kembs hydroelectric power station, whose turbines provide access to the Rhine island and rapids on the river that could, if necessary, allow a bridge to be built.
Allied strategy
What next?
SHAFE, Grand Trianon (Versailles) - After the difficult exchanges of the previous evening, which preceded a somewhat more diplomatic evening - if not a cordial one, as no one is here to party - the exchanges resume, with a markedly different dynamic. In other words, more lively and more... frank. The influence of the rain, no doubt.
The American delegation is back - in better shape, given that the operations in Moselle finally seem to be moving towards a favourable outcome (just barely! but favourable nonetheless). Nevertheless, despite Walter Bedell-Smith's long-standing plea for 'controlled transparency' on certain issues with regard to America's allies, it is clear that V Corps has been bled dry and XIX Corps is well and truly worn out. The bulk of Patton's 1st Army is out of action, at least for attacking! A powerful argument for the British, who are quick to come back to the charge.
Auchinleck: "Gentlemen, now that we're finally at peace, knowing that the Huns have been stopped, we can talk about what to do next. You propose Downfall, we always propose Undertone. Undertone has the double advantage of being able to be launched more quickly, against a weaker opponent, and without needing many more resources."
Against this opening, Bedell-Smith - who had spent the night having his staff study ways of diplomatically refusing Undertone - unleashes a rapid salvo of technical arguments designed to saturate the space: "Sir Claude, I'm sorry, but we don't believe in Undertone. Or at least, we have serious reservations about its chances of success in our current configuration. You'd have to clear the port of Antwerp first, if you can't find another large anchorage that's already operational. The wet sections are not as wide as the Rhine, but they are numerous - these successive barriers will wear down your potential before you reach Germany. Last but not least, at the 21th AAG you don't have the means to advance by keeping your flank on the Luxembourg or Ardennes side. We all know today that this is not the best idea."
That's fair enough. But the English have long anticipated these arguments. Sir Alan Brooke: "That is why we are asking that the US IV and VIII Corps be made available to the 21st AAG for Undertone.
Stupor among the Americans. Bradley, who was already anticipating with finesse what his chief was going to say: "Attach the 7th Army to your 21st AAG? Impossible.
- And why not?" Brooke pretends to ask.
Eisenhower then uses his stature to intervene, diplomatically but also firmly: "Sir Allan, with all due respect, such a maneuver is unacceptable. It calls into question the very structure of our command. More than half of the allied forces would then come under your authority. You are asking us for the 7th Army for the left flank - it is precisely what is needed to support the 1st Army on the right flank. Without it, Patton's forces would be forced into a strict defensive role, unable to help our French friends in their campaign to liberate Alsace.
And above all, this means burying FUSAG, and therefore the primacy attributed to the American command - but Ike prefers to keep this quiet in order to win over the French instead!
But Brooke continues: "We realise that our proposal cannot be carried out without a major redistribution of forces in France. Joseph Collins' VII Corps, for example. The latter has to leave Brittany as quickly as possible to take up a position in the Nancy sector, where it would join the VIII Corps. In this way, the French army would have ample means of retaking Strasbourg. What's more, it seems to me that the intelligence is clear: the German 19. Armee is in retreat, and the 1. Armee is now out of action. The 1st Army no longer needs support. You had already planned to send IV Corps to Luxembourg, by the way. You see, everything fits!
Frère, Altmayer and Bougrain now have the unpleasant impression of being in the middle of a battle that only indirectly concerns them... And, in this battle, of being used as a wrecking ball that is constantly being passed back and forth.
What's more, Brooke is now addressing them directly, with a wry smile: "What do our French friends think?" Frère can only cautiously hazard: "It's not for me to decide on behalf of my government. Having said that, I must remind you that, despite all our efforts, the French army is not yet in a position to take over completely from the pockets of the Atlantic.
Bedell-Smith jumps at the chance: "Not to mention our logistical train, which has to come to the rescue of the population! Sir Allan, most of our logistics chain from Normandy is already assigned to your troops. It seems impossible to me, for obvious reasons of efficiency, that you can expect to absorb all the reinforcements coming from England for such an uncertain operation.
- General Bedell-Smith, with all due respect, I'm afraid that you are essentially refusing our proposals for reasons that have nothing to do with military matters. We are allies, and therefore equals. Need I remind you of the terms of the agreements binding our governments?
- And with all due respect, I'm not sure you're really thinking in purely military terms either. The truth is that until Antwerp is cleared and several ports on the Channel and the Atlantic are rehabilitated, you are taking an enormous risk. I refuse to speculate on the reasons why! Nevertheless, one truth remains: at this time, your forces are in... disarray.
- And yours just as much, if not outright out of combat!
The outraged hubbub turns into cacophony. Eisenhower's preferred method of command, based on a certain amount of trust - even a certain amount of freedom - given to subordinates who are far too restless in an army that is far too big to be managed closely, is now reaching its limits. Ike then intervenes again, this time with a certain haughtiness, standing up abruptly but without bursting his voice to call for calm. He understands that this is the decisive moment. The moment when he might well be threatened, or even sacrificed if he slips up too badly to be repaired. Who knows if tomorrow, in an apparent gesture of appeasement, someone much more authoritarian than he will be put in his place? A Patton, a Bedell-Smith, or even... well, good old Omar Bradley, as affable as ever and perhaps smiling as he bides his time.
In such a scenario, who would support him? Not the English! Too happy to see him get out of the way, so they can arrogantly try to impose their alternative strategy at a later date. Not the French either! These courageous pretentious people are still vexed that the likeable Aubert Frère has not taken the lead of the Allies in France. So what to do?
With a political acumen he didn't know he had, Ike concludes: "Gentlemen, we've heard everyone's arguments. In view of what is at stake, I propose that we refer the matter to our respective governments."
In the event of a problem, always refer to the higher authority. The one who, not so long ago, was able to elevate him to his current position.
* Released in 1946 without prosecution, his behaviour having been Korrect during his posting to France - compared to his colleagues, no doubt, and his time on the Eastern Front was never mentioned - Mahlmann worked for the American army as a... biologist, before becoming a freelance journalist. A member of the FDP, West Germany's liberal-democratic party, he was called several times as a witness in trials of former Waffen SS. He died at his home in Munich in 1963.
** This last position held out until the German surrender!
*** The Lorient submarine base is now a naval museum, housing - in addition to the traditional memorial exhibitions - a decommissioned French diesel submarine. No-one ever thought it worth demolishing such a structure... What's more, no trace has yet been found of the torpedo stockpile, which still sleeps somewhere along the Ter, at the bottom of bunkers whose accesses have long since been lost or filled in!
**** Except for one... a reinforced concrete decoy, resembling a bell tower, which did not receive a sufficient dose of explosives. Nicknamed "the leaning tower" for fairly obvious reasons, it is now a small local attraction.
***** The decoration was extended after the battle to the whole of the 2nd Infantry, "for its spirit of sacrifice and its magnificent conduct in battle", which explains why Robertson wore both the decoration and the fourragère.
****** Champagne was not exactly at the bottom of the list of priorities for the management of maquis, but not far off. Unfortunately, unlike the maquis in the South, Paris or Alsace-Moselle, there were not many demobilised officers available in the region. This obviously led to a more muddled Resistance than elsewhere, with more mistakes and therefore more effective repression.
Last edited:
20/06/44 - Western Front
New
June 20th, 1944
Liberation and Liberators
The Brittany Festungen
Lorient - Ira Wyche's 79th Infantry Cross of Lorraine moves off towards Brest. It leaves only Manton Eddy's 9th Infantry, which has given so much, particularly at Lanester, with the sad task of sorting out the last contingencies on the rubble heaps, then keeping watch in anticipation of the likely arrival of French troops.
Benefiting from absolute priority on the small roads of Brittany, which are not too badly ravaged, the Cross of Lorraine should arrive near Brest in three or four days' time. Early enough, therefore, to take part in the final fireworks. This is because Joseph Collins, under very heavy pressure from very high up - and who has not, however, been unworthy - considers it essential to settle the Brest case very quickly by striking a single blow. After all, it seems to be working well for the Canadians!
Brest - The American forces in the sector begin a new phase of intense shelling, now that it is thought that the Germans would not be able to retreat any further... and that resources from all over have been made available, in particular by the fall of Lorient. So it is Erwin Rauch's turn to be subjected to a veritable deluge of fire designed to make him fold. Unfortunately, for the time being, it is the town that takes the brunt of it.
.........
The U-188 (Type-IXC/40) returns during the night from a cruise in the Indian Ocean. While there, it sank several cargo ships and was able to take on a cargo of tin, tungsten, opium and quinine in Singapore. The submarine was originally intended for Bordeaux. At the end of May, instructions from the BdU diverted it to Brest. Then the onboard radio broke down...
When it arrives in the harbour, at night given the air threat and having, by sheer luck, escaped the Allied patrols, its commander, Kpt-Lt Siegfried Lüdden, notices on entering the roadstead that the situation is anything but normal. The first semaphores he tried to contact with the Scott searchlight do not respond... And when he finally gets a reply, he is ordered to look elsewhere - to Saint-Nazaire if possible.
He doesn't succeed. The destroyers on patrol offshore, which had missed him on his arrival, would not miss him on his departure...
Saint-Nazaire - The U-853, which left Norway in May on a quiet weather mission, has an eventful end to her cruise. After attempting to torpedo the Queen Elizabeth (no less!), which gave her the slip, it eluded several destroyers for an entire afternoon and night. However, in the early hours of the morning, Kapitänleutnant Helmut Sommer has to surface because of battery problems. It is then that he is spotted by two Wildcats from the escort carrier USS Croatan, whose aircraft had been ordered to the area. The two fighters strafe it copiously. The U-boot is able to make an emergency dive with two dead and twelve wounded, including Sommer, who was hit no less than 28 times by bullets or shrapnel!
Under the command of the very young Oberleutnant zur See Helmut Frömsdorf (23 years old), the U-853 initially tries to take refuge in Lorient for repairs. But when it is informed by radio that the port has fallen, it is able to divert to Saint-Nazaire. It arrives there in the middle of the night of June 20th-21st, in a terrible state. Deemed beyond repair, U-853 was left there. As for its wounded commander, Helmut Sommer, he is declared disabled and will calmly await the end of the war.
The Atlantic Festungen
Atlantic coast - While the allies grow impatient and the Festungen hang on, the French army begins to take over around what are now known, somewhat fatalistically, as the Atlantic pockets - of which it is hoped there would soon be only two left.
To do this, it plays a bit of musical chairs: the arrival at La Rochelle (where there is a truce, if not peace!) of General Boivin's new 23rd DI - a unit that is new, to say the least, and that some even described as a training camp with a unit name! - frees General Larminat's 1st DI. The latter, slightly less inexperienced but a little better supplied, is therefore free to move northwards towards Saint-Nazaire.
In General Frère's mind, the aim is to free the 4th Infantry Ivy (Raymond Barton) as quickly as possible, as the Americans are clamouring to get it back in line. He also has to carry out the final clean-up around Saint-Nazaire, with Alain de Cadoudal's new 25th DI, which has just been formed.
In this, Frère is of course obeying the very political considerations of the French government, which rightly considers that, while the liberation of the entire national territory obviously remains a priority, it should as far as possible be carried out by the French army. All the more so since, according to rumour, the latter sometimes operates with a little more... discernment than other allied troops. In fact, we hope that our compatriots will be more delicate than the Americans.
That said, these units are no less young. Very young indeed. And essentially made up of former FFIs led by reserve officers, or even convalescents or invalids. What's more, there is a shortage of equipment. On the other hand, the enthusiasm (and even the rage...) is there. It remains to be seen whether this will be enough in the face of concrete blocks and barbed wire.
North - Operation Undergo
Calais - Bomber Command is in the thick of things last night, dropping hundreds of tonnes of bombs on the German strong points in accordance with the doctrine that had been in vogue since Salonika.
Then, in the morning - as the moor burns but the first rains begin to clear the smoke - the 4th Canadian Armoured (George Kitching) and 3rd Canadian Infantry (Rod Keller) relaunch the assault with determination, wave after wave, supported by flamethrowers. Fort-Lapin falls after the fiercest of battles. The little nineteenth-century redoubt had held out for almost 72 hours, without anyone - not even the commandos dispatched that night - managing to take it on the hoof. Then it is Fort Nieulay's turn to be attacked. Surrounded, the position is neutralised: its redoubts were all blinded by fire and flaming petrol.
The 5th Canadian Armoured (Guy Simonds) can then enter the town in the lead and march on its first objective: the factory district, defended by several battalions of the 47. ID. Max Bork realises that his most immediate survival lay here. A fierce battle is therefore expected. Thank God, this sector is not the most crowded with refugees.
Ardennes - You don't make the same mistakes twice
Dinant - After I Corps (John Crocker), it is the turn of XII Corps (Alfred Godwin-Austen) to enter the Ardennes. The 56th Infantry London (Gerald Templer) liberates Dinant. The old fortress on the Meuse was not defended - who remembers that for three days French troops had held out heroically? Not everyone does.
And Reade Godwin-Austen, his right wing now almost in line with Crocker's left wing, continues eastwards, with Liège in his sights.
Wacht am Rhein - But suddenly, the American eagle trumpets
First US Army (Lorraine) - The 4th Armored Division has taken control of the Valmy plain by repelling the Frunsberg the day before. The American engineers have now built no fewer than three makeshift bridges over the Marne and as many Bailey bridges over the canal from the Marne to the Saône, making a total of six bridges over which a torrent of troops is pouring.
The few German prisoners taken the day before are aghast at the sight: they were supposed to be the elite of the elite, the spearhead of the German army, above all other human races, and in front of them full infantry divisions are advancing as if on parade, with their lorries, towed guns and supporting armoured vehicles... And these GIs from VI Army Corps are nothing like those they had faced the day before: they are clearly veterans. A Rottenführer finally understands and provoked the despair of his young comrades by explaining: "These are from the south of France, they've been fighting for nine months. Before that, we only fought rookies from England!" The dozen or so SS men around him are the first to realise that the second battle of Verdun would be a second German defeat, and nerves are frayed - the youngest (under 20) begin to cry.
John Lucas's divisions almost complete their crossing during the day, in an uninterrupted tide of vehicles and troops. Still in the lead is Lucian Truscott's Rock of the Marne, which takes up position at Valmy, joining Wood. The latter quickly makes contact with Lucas and heads for Villers-en-Argonne, avoiding the Sainte-Ménehould bottleneck, where the tanks would not be at their best. Opposite him is the 103. SS-schw PzAbt which leads a rearguard action to cover the withdrawal of the LVIII. PzK and the II. SS-PzK, but it is a losing battle: the 4th Armored is certainly not the most experienced of the US armoured divisions, but it wants to show its worth, and above all Wood wants to break the encirclement of Verdun as quickly as possible! The 103. Abt loses several vehicles and their precious crews and have to evacuate as far as the Aisne, even risking being overrun. It is saved - albeit unwittingly - by the survivors of the 25th Cavalry, who had been made cautious by their losses the previous day and immediately report to Wood the presence of numerous tanks between the Aisne and Hardillon. In fact, it is the 9. Panzer that had evacuated its positions at Sommeilles during the night, following the Hitlerjugend. The division hides as best it can to gain a few precious hours of rest, but it does not escape the eyes of the American scouts. However, Wood thinks it is the Frunsberg and is preparing an ambush - so he digs in at Villers until the end of the day.
Further south, the outcome is clear: the Hitlerjugend, the Götz von Berlichingen and what is left of the Lehr regroup on the Vaux-Mihiel plain. Hans-Karl von Esebeck knows he has to hold out here, otherwise XIX US Corps would have plenty of time to attack the II. SS-PzK, already disjointed between its division south of Verdun and the other, which is guarding its own flank. The Frunsberg is deployed at Nubécourt.
XIX US Corps tries to regain contact, but cautiously, and it takes all day for the scouts to determine the extent of the enemy tankers' withdrawal. The 8th Infantry finally reaches Bar-le-Duc, abandoned by the LXXXVI. AK... at least in part. The 182. ID (Richard Baltzer), less damaged than its two sisters, is tasked by Felix Schwalbe with slowing the American advance to give the 255. and 243. ID to redeploy further north. It takes all day to force Baltzer to abandon Bar-le-Duc, not without first, of course, destroying the bridges over the Ornain and then over the Marne-Rhine canal. The entire LXXXVI. AK withdraws to the line of forts on the Meuse.
Still in Verdun, the 83rd Infantry begins to have to ration its ammunition severely. It digs in as best it can on the outskirts of the town, in the hope that the siege would soon be lifted. The 541. VGD and the 101. Panzer Brigade are fortunately too inexperienced to understand the opportunity before them, unless their leaders have realised that in the event of hand-to-hand combat, the Volksgrenadiers could - unholy thought! - not have the upper hand.
The 2nd Infantry is also at the end of its tether: the 9th Infantry Rgt had suffered more than 70% casualties, including the wounded and missing, and only the intervention of the 38th RCT temporarily restored the situation. As Walter Robertson notes in the evening, although we have not come far from disaster, the German attack of the day has been less powerful than expected... and there has only been one, whereas the day before we had taken no less than four drawer assaults. What he can't know is that the Das Reich was also at the end of its tether: the Indianhead had fought very well despite its losses, and the tribute to the gods of war is also beginning to be very heavy for the Black Order.
The 30th Infantry Old Hickory and the 1. SS LAH stare each other down, but neither dares to act, in both cases due to the exhaustion of their men and a lack of ammunition (German logistics are also very complicated in the sector).
Finally, the 29th Infantry Blue and Gray once again faces a full-scale attack from the Hohenstaufen. Drained by losses and short of ammunition, the division has to abandon the field quickly and retreat as far as Dugny. Breaking contact is difficult, a lot of equipment is left behind and the American division cannot hold out much longer at this rate.
In the citadel, Patton receives some very encouraging news: from tomorrow, the rain would ease off and should stop completely on the 22nd. The Dakotas would immediately resume their deliveries of ammunition and supplies - to which he replies that they would have to include food! V US Corps is beginning to run out of food, and the civilian population (there are still some left!) also has a belly.
Kesselring and Rundstedt are worried
Kesselring HQ (Metz) - The news is not good. Not good at all: the LVIII. PzK has been pushed back, the famous SS corps, so vaunted by Berlin, are unable to break through... Kesselring does his best to coordinate the 1. Armee and the three SS corps, not to mention the 'events' south of the Alsace plain and the defence of Nancy, where the 19. Armee is showing dangerous signs of weakness. He is therefore not surprised when a car pulls up in front of the Jesuit college of Saint-Clément, where he has set up his headquarters - the military governor's palace has already been occupied by von Rundstedt. As expected, it is von Rundstedt who gets out of the car in the drizzle.
- Herr Generalfeldmarschall.
- Herr Generalfeldmarschall.
- Wacht am Rhein isn't going according to plan, is it?
- The Americans are indeed stubborn. But they will soon run out of ammunition.
- And where do we stand? You said you could surround the Americans in front of Verdun, not in it. Even if we ran out of ammunition, we'd need at least a week to force them to surrender. We don't have that week. Even if the weather stays on our side - and nothing is less certain - that's more time than the Americans need to call up a relief corps: they have no shortage of them, their entire 7th Army seems to be at rest!
- Of course, but it would take them a long time to get them to the front...
- Remember Dollman, Herr Generalfeldmarschall,," tartly says von Rundstedt. "He too thought he could move his divisions faster than the Americans. And ask yourself where our 7. Armee is today. I'll give you tomorrow to try to restore the situation. Otherwise we'll have to go back to my idea of Wacht am Rhein, with reduced resources and perhaps with the allied air force in the air.
Kesselring can only nod in agreement... especially as he basically agrees with von Rundstedt. There is no point in sacrificing good soldiers if the battle seems lost. He therefore orders a halt to the assault on Verdun and waits for the besieged to run out of ammunition. But stopping the shellings is out of the question. Their morale has to be broken and they have to play for time by slowing down the relief efforts from the Marne.
1st French Army - Operation Marguerite
II Polish Army Corps (Lorraine) - The Mont Saint-Michel and Ecrouves forts are stormed. The resistance was symbolic: once the last 40 defenders had been pushed back into the reduced area of the Ecrouves fort, they soon surrendered. The fort at Gondreville is also taken at dawn, thanks to an assault from boats on the Moselle. The larger Villey-Le-Sec fort is bombed while Polish grenadiers try to infiltrate through a connecting tunnel, guided by FFI troops.
In short, the last German positions west of the Haye forest collapse. But this does not mean that the liberation of Nancy would be easy: the recent rains have turned the fields into quagmires, if not potholes, and the German forces have taken the time to trap the forest thoroughly.
In Nancy itself, the gradual withdrawal of the Germans from the western heights did not go unnoticed, and several FFIs, including Marius Piant and René Guyot, manage to pass on the information to the Poles. Anders, who has been informed, cannot cope: he first has to secure the banks of the Moselle and the Nancy forest before he can continue. However, the ducal city is already on fire, and columns of smoke rise into the sky. The railway installations in Nancy and Jarville, the military quays, the Grands Moulins de Nancy, some barracks, the Champigneulles brewery, the Compagnie Générale Électrique factory, the Varangéville salt mine, the soda factory at La Madeleine and the Transporteur Aérien (18 km of suspended wagon transport line between the quarries to the north at Maxéville and the soda factory to the south) all burn or explode. Destruction remains limited, however: some destruction Kommandos botched their work in order to escape more quickly, while others were harassed or even annihilated by the population on the verge of rising up. However, the advance of the 5th DIP and the 1st DBP is slowed down by a number of German supports left behind in the forest.
This concentration of resources to the west diverts the attention of the 3rd DIP, which is securing the Moselle loop as far as Maizières. The booby-trapped Crépey ammunition depot would later have to be secured by deminers, while the Ochey site had already been abandoned by JG 26 and its rolling echelon. And while Fort Pélissier, at Bainville-sur-Madon, is still in enemy hands and prevents any passage through Pont-Saint-Vincent, the fort at Flavigny does not seem to be well defended. The 8th Battalion of Carpathian Fusiliers is detached to capture it, but it is a bloody failure: the 106. Panzerbrigade Feldherrnhalle, after its losses to the 2nd DB, had been moved further north and was waiting for an adversary of this kind to give it a chance to harden its mettle. However hard the battalion fights, it succumbs to the numbers and artillery support of the 91. Luftlande puts an end to its resistance. The survivors have to cross the bridge again*.
The Germans' triumph is short-lived: at the same time, at Crèvechamps and Bayon, the 4th DIP secures two bridgeheads, directly threatening the panzer flank... and Lunéville, which is defenceless!
IV Army Corps (Alsace) - The 83rd DIA enters Belfort, or at least part of the town. The old Vauban bastion had been abandoned by the enemy because it could not be defended (the railway line uncovered its rear!) and the first infantrymen approach the Savoureuse, although the citadel on its cliff still overlooks the town. Of course, the bridges had been blown up, and from the fortress the snipers have no trouble lining up any khaki uniforms that are too exposed.
However, the Germans' withdrawal condemns them in the short term: it enables the 3rd DB to deploy the Chomel Brigade as far as Trévenans and the Gonfreville Brigade (which Jean Touzet du Vigier had already left to take charge of his new unit, under the leadership of Rabanit, who has not yet left) as far as Héricourt. However, the 10th DI is unable to infiltrate, as the German front has already been consolidated by the redeployment of the 5th FJD to Grosne and Suarce.
At the same time, the 2nd RSA begins its approach to Altkirch, only to be blocked by a German infantry division! Or at least, by an infantry unit labelled a division, even though it is barely a regiment.
The last reserve available to the Germans in Alsace, the 600. ID (Serguei Bunyachenko) was deployed as a matter of urgency to defend Mulhouse and prevent the Spahis from creating havoc in the German rear. Although the 'division' is not the cream of the Wehrmacht and has not yet completed its training (it had been training in the Jura), its men seem highly motivated: they are mainly Hiwis (Hilfswilliger, volunteers from Eastern Europe), who are prepared to do anything to avoid falling into the hands of the Allies, suspecting that the latter would hand them over to the Soviets. Their armament is hardly threatening for armoured vehicles (with the exception of the Panzerschrecks, which are becoming increasingly numerous), but the M7Fs are still vulnerable to the handful of small anti-tank guns available to the 600. ID.
Cautious, the Spahis are content to probe enemy defences by reconnaissance in jeeps, in accordance with French doctrine. Although the Ill is flowing alongside the tanks, Strasbourg is still a long way off...
At the same time, the 113th Infantry Regiment is approaching Huningue, which appears to be lightly defended, but there is always a chance of a nasty surprise.
"The regiment's 7th Company, even more of a daredevil than the other companies of the 113th, quietly approached the Place d'Armes. The first men of Warrant Officer Chaudard's section** were already infiltrating the alleyways around the garrison church, while the group leader, Master Corporal Pithiviers, observed the supposedly deserted square. Suddenly, one of his men stumbled and fell; he was pulled back by a comrade, just fast enough to avoid the bullet from a sniper ambushed on the top floor of the post office opposite. The soldier's only excuse was that he had slipped." (The campaigns of the 113th, Volume 2, by A. Heorl)
Finally, the 113th Infantry Regiment is able to clear the few enemy elements that had become trapped on this side of the river. Trapped, yes: first, on the other side, the feldgendarmes had destroyed the boat bridge in a hurry; then, as two French sappers began to climb onto the railway bridge, three simultaneous explosions shook the deck and its spans, which shook before the eyes of civilians and soldiers from both sides, before collapsing and breaking at the site of two of the three explosions. One of the brick piers, dragged down by the metal structure that had remained attached to it, collapsed in its turn, and then the whole thing froze, with a few beams and arches still visible, like a half-submerged skeleton.
1st Army HQ (Lyon) - Alfred Montagne has had no direct contact with his superior Aubert Frère since the latter left for Versailles. But the news from Anders and Kœltz is encouraging - more than encouraging, it is unexpected! To be almost at Mulhouse on Jun 20th, when we weren't expecting to enter Alsace until July, and to be close to breaking another enemy army corps without destroying Nancy in the process, is exceptional!
He then makes a crucial decision: Marguerite is to be completed as soon as Nancy has been liberated and the Belfort lock has been reached. But Kœltz had announced that Alsace was to be opened up between mid-June and the end of the month, and the deadline was met with a great deal of patience. This makes it possible to launch an Alsace campaign: if Anders is able to liberate Nancy as quickly as planned, II CA could flank and guard III CA, which is in the process of leaving its positions to I CA. Alphonse Juin has to press the Germans in the Vosges and De Lattre to charge towards Saverne, while Kœltz envelops the German divisions from the east. If it works, the trap would take at least 120,000 German soldiers, destroying the 19. Armee for good. The weather forecast is for fine days ahead and the air force would be able to prevent any escape attempts.
With a pinch of salt, Montagne can't help but think that he is in the process of organising in reverse the trick the Boche had played on Laure and his Xth Army in 1940. Schadenfreude, they would say.
Allied strategy
What happens next?
Washington D.C. (in the night) - With the time difference, it's about one o'clock in the morning on this side of the Atlantic. But that doesn't stop George Marshall, five-star general and Chief of Staff of the US Army, a glass of bourbon firmly in his hand, from giving his principal subordinate (who has just got up...) an unambiguous opinion.
- No, no and no! The White House position is perfectly clear, Ike. You do not give in on anything. Do you hear me? On nothing! If those damn English want to play at imperial greatness, that's up to them. But we will not put our boys' lives in their hands. They already did that to us in '18. Who do they take us for? For auxiliaries just good for replenishing their lines***, like their Indians? Downfall will happen, with or without them. After all, we don't even need the 21st AAG. They can stay and wade between the Channel and Holland if they like, I don't care! Is that clear, Ike?
- Perfectly clear, George!
- Brilliant! We've already let them have their fun in Hungary. That's fine, it doesn't cost us a penny. But don't let them come here today and ask us for the troops they sent over there!
- And the French?
- They'll do as they're told. They have no choice - after all, we're the ones who rearmed their bloody army before allowing them to return to their country! The State Department is planning to discuss this with them. Not so they can act as referees, but we'll see if Mr... if the people of London are still proud, in the splendid isolation of their little island.
A bath at 10 Downing Street (London), 22:00 - "There's no question of giving in, Sir Claude! We're not going to give in to our former colonies, are we? Besides, those bloody cowboys don't want to see the danger of letting the Reds have their way in the Baltic. It practically belongs to them, and they already had the Black Sea. There's no question of giving up. Undertone will be built, it's a necessity for the Kingdom.
- Rule Britannia, Sir Winston?
- And long live the Empire. We've been fighting for five years, twice as long as the Americans. So it's a bit late for them to be giving us lessons.
And as Churchill hangs up the phone, he thinks that Sir Claude would make an excellent SACEUR, should things turn out well.
Quai d'Orsay (Paris), 18:00 - Léon Blum would really have preferred to talk about reconstruction and preparing for world peace. But he finds himself in the middle of a major inter-allied crisis. In this case, he has in his hands an urgent cable from the US State Department, which expresses alarm at ‘the spirit of misunderstanding that seems on the point of imposing itself in European capitals’ (London is not mentioned by name, but it is all the same). ‘In this context’, and at a time when ‘the United States of America is demonstrating and will continue to demonstrate to France its unfailing and disinterested friendship’ (are we talking about the loans being discussed to finance reconstruction?), ‘a demonstration of support for FUSAG's projects would be greatly appreciated’.
Yes, Blum certainly knows what he is talking about: support Eisenhower or pay the price. Let's see what the General has to say. After all, this is a military matter - so it is primarily a matter for him and the other generals involved. Diplomacy can only transcribe, coat, embellish, pass on... and repair, if need be.
A drawing room at 10 Downing Street (London), 22:00 - The butler holds up a black Bakelite telephone that rings: "Paris's calling, Sir". Of course, the Bulldog quickly picks up.
- Allo! Ah! My dear Gaulle! How do you do, my friend?
- Very well, my dear Winston, and you?
- Very well. But I can't wait to come and see you in Paris!
This is followed by a few banalities that were clearly friendly, but above all of no consequence. Then we plunge into the heart of the matter, in the French-English sabir that the two men have become accustomed to.
- I suppose you call me because of the Americans.
- That's right. General Frère has informed us that the two proposed operations are... difficult to reconcile: Deluge and Nuance, right?
- Yes, and what did your general tell you?
- ... Ah, my dear Winston. I'm not going to lie to a friend. Nuance seems difficult to execute without a logistical overhaul of a major port. And above all, we don't have the forces to support it immediately. But the liberation of Alsace cannot wait for us. It's a major political issue.
Precisely the American arguments! The Bulldog's disappointment is painful and palpable.
- I see. But you know, there's nothing to stop you moving towards Strasbourg.
- Not without American support. It is very important for us that this province returns to our fold as quickly as possible. It has been annexed for four years. Its resources have been plundered, its patriots hunted like rabbits - even as we speak! Its plain has been Germanised. They've even mobilised part of our population against their will against us or our Russian allies!
- Very regrettable indeed.
- What would you say, Winston, if tomorrow Denmark tried to wrest Sussex from you on vague historical pretexts, and then tried to... danise your own citizens against you?
- Mmm... We have civilians under Occupation, too.
- And we promise you our full support in freeing them, if that pleases you.
- Of course we do. That said, you can't deny that Undertone was also responding to major political issues. Have you seen Poland?
- We all know, Winston. I suggest we talk about it in person.
- Deal. In Paris, then.
- Yes, in Paris. You'll be very welcome. Bonne nuit, cher ami.
- Good night, my friend.
As he hangs up the receiver, Churchill chews his precious cigar in disappointment. The French are letting him down... Well, that is probably fair enough. He knows all about the call of the open sea too. But for all that, the Bulldog has not said his last word.
* A memorial now stands near the bridge, decorated of course with the pine tree of the 3rd Polish Infantry Division.
** Chaudard joined the 113th Infantry Regiment with two former signallers like himself, in view of his many exploits on the German rear in June 1940, exploits attested to by Lieutenant Duvauchel, whom they rescued from his burning MS-406. In September 1943, Chaudard and his section parachuted into the Var with the Belgians. Reports say that he and his men were so eager to fight that they jumped out of the plane even before the red light went on!
*** Reference to the attempt in 1917 to integrate Americans in sections or companies into large French or British units, to compensate for the heavy losses suffered previously. Pershing had had to fight hard to obtain divisions, then an autonomous army.
Liberation and Liberators
The Brittany Festungen
Lorient - Ira Wyche's 79th Infantry Cross of Lorraine moves off towards Brest. It leaves only Manton Eddy's 9th Infantry, which has given so much, particularly at Lanester, with the sad task of sorting out the last contingencies on the rubble heaps, then keeping watch in anticipation of the likely arrival of French troops.
Benefiting from absolute priority on the small roads of Brittany, which are not too badly ravaged, the Cross of Lorraine should arrive near Brest in three or four days' time. Early enough, therefore, to take part in the final fireworks. This is because Joseph Collins, under very heavy pressure from very high up - and who has not, however, been unworthy - considers it essential to settle the Brest case very quickly by striking a single blow. After all, it seems to be working well for the Canadians!
Brest - The American forces in the sector begin a new phase of intense shelling, now that it is thought that the Germans would not be able to retreat any further... and that resources from all over have been made available, in particular by the fall of Lorient. So it is Erwin Rauch's turn to be subjected to a veritable deluge of fire designed to make him fold. Unfortunately, for the time being, it is the town that takes the brunt of it.
.........
The U-188 (Type-IXC/40) returns during the night from a cruise in the Indian Ocean. While there, it sank several cargo ships and was able to take on a cargo of tin, tungsten, opium and quinine in Singapore. The submarine was originally intended for Bordeaux. At the end of May, instructions from the BdU diverted it to Brest. Then the onboard radio broke down...
When it arrives in the harbour, at night given the air threat and having, by sheer luck, escaped the Allied patrols, its commander, Kpt-Lt Siegfried Lüdden, notices on entering the roadstead that the situation is anything but normal. The first semaphores he tried to contact with the Scott searchlight do not respond... And when he finally gets a reply, he is ordered to look elsewhere - to Saint-Nazaire if possible.
He doesn't succeed. The destroyers on patrol offshore, which had missed him on his arrival, would not miss him on his departure...
Saint-Nazaire - The U-853, which left Norway in May on a quiet weather mission, has an eventful end to her cruise. After attempting to torpedo the Queen Elizabeth (no less!), which gave her the slip, it eluded several destroyers for an entire afternoon and night. However, in the early hours of the morning, Kapitänleutnant Helmut Sommer has to surface because of battery problems. It is then that he is spotted by two Wildcats from the escort carrier USS Croatan, whose aircraft had been ordered to the area. The two fighters strafe it copiously. The U-boot is able to make an emergency dive with two dead and twelve wounded, including Sommer, who was hit no less than 28 times by bullets or shrapnel!
Under the command of the very young Oberleutnant zur See Helmut Frömsdorf (23 years old), the U-853 initially tries to take refuge in Lorient for repairs. But when it is informed by radio that the port has fallen, it is able to divert to Saint-Nazaire. It arrives there in the middle of the night of June 20th-21st, in a terrible state. Deemed beyond repair, U-853 was left there. As for its wounded commander, Helmut Sommer, he is declared disabled and will calmly await the end of the war.
The Atlantic Festungen
Atlantic coast - While the allies grow impatient and the Festungen hang on, the French army begins to take over around what are now known, somewhat fatalistically, as the Atlantic pockets - of which it is hoped there would soon be only two left.
To do this, it plays a bit of musical chairs: the arrival at La Rochelle (where there is a truce, if not peace!) of General Boivin's new 23rd DI - a unit that is new, to say the least, and that some even described as a training camp with a unit name! - frees General Larminat's 1st DI. The latter, slightly less inexperienced but a little better supplied, is therefore free to move northwards towards Saint-Nazaire.
In General Frère's mind, the aim is to free the 4th Infantry Ivy (Raymond Barton) as quickly as possible, as the Americans are clamouring to get it back in line. He also has to carry out the final clean-up around Saint-Nazaire, with Alain de Cadoudal's new 25th DI, which has just been formed.
In this, Frère is of course obeying the very political considerations of the French government, which rightly considers that, while the liberation of the entire national territory obviously remains a priority, it should as far as possible be carried out by the French army. All the more so since, according to rumour, the latter sometimes operates with a little more... discernment than other allied troops. In fact, we hope that our compatriots will be more delicate than the Americans.
That said, these units are no less young. Very young indeed. And essentially made up of former FFIs led by reserve officers, or even convalescents or invalids. What's more, there is a shortage of equipment. On the other hand, the enthusiasm (and even the rage...) is there. It remains to be seen whether this will be enough in the face of concrete blocks and barbed wire.
North - Operation Undergo
Calais - Bomber Command is in the thick of things last night, dropping hundreds of tonnes of bombs on the German strong points in accordance with the doctrine that had been in vogue since Salonika.
Then, in the morning - as the moor burns but the first rains begin to clear the smoke - the 4th Canadian Armoured (George Kitching) and 3rd Canadian Infantry (Rod Keller) relaunch the assault with determination, wave after wave, supported by flamethrowers. Fort-Lapin falls after the fiercest of battles. The little nineteenth-century redoubt had held out for almost 72 hours, without anyone - not even the commandos dispatched that night - managing to take it on the hoof. Then it is Fort Nieulay's turn to be attacked. Surrounded, the position is neutralised: its redoubts were all blinded by fire and flaming petrol.
The 5th Canadian Armoured (Guy Simonds) can then enter the town in the lead and march on its first objective: the factory district, defended by several battalions of the 47. ID. Max Bork realises that his most immediate survival lay here. A fierce battle is therefore expected. Thank God, this sector is not the most crowded with refugees.
Ardennes - You don't make the same mistakes twice
Dinant - After I Corps (John Crocker), it is the turn of XII Corps (Alfred Godwin-Austen) to enter the Ardennes. The 56th Infantry London (Gerald Templer) liberates Dinant. The old fortress on the Meuse was not defended - who remembers that for three days French troops had held out heroically? Not everyone does.
And Reade Godwin-Austen, his right wing now almost in line with Crocker's left wing, continues eastwards, with Liège in his sights.
Wacht am Rhein - But suddenly, the American eagle trumpets
First US Army (Lorraine) - The 4th Armored Division has taken control of the Valmy plain by repelling the Frunsberg the day before. The American engineers have now built no fewer than three makeshift bridges over the Marne and as many Bailey bridges over the canal from the Marne to the Saône, making a total of six bridges over which a torrent of troops is pouring.
The few German prisoners taken the day before are aghast at the sight: they were supposed to be the elite of the elite, the spearhead of the German army, above all other human races, and in front of them full infantry divisions are advancing as if on parade, with their lorries, towed guns and supporting armoured vehicles... And these GIs from VI Army Corps are nothing like those they had faced the day before: they are clearly veterans. A Rottenführer finally understands and provoked the despair of his young comrades by explaining: "These are from the south of France, they've been fighting for nine months. Before that, we only fought rookies from England!" The dozen or so SS men around him are the first to realise that the second battle of Verdun would be a second German defeat, and nerves are frayed - the youngest (under 20) begin to cry.
John Lucas's divisions almost complete their crossing during the day, in an uninterrupted tide of vehicles and troops. Still in the lead is Lucian Truscott's Rock of the Marne, which takes up position at Valmy, joining Wood. The latter quickly makes contact with Lucas and heads for Villers-en-Argonne, avoiding the Sainte-Ménehould bottleneck, where the tanks would not be at their best. Opposite him is the 103. SS-schw PzAbt which leads a rearguard action to cover the withdrawal of the LVIII. PzK and the II. SS-PzK, but it is a losing battle: the 4th Armored is certainly not the most experienced of the US armoured divisions, but it wants to show its worth, and above all Wood wants to break the encirclement of Verdun as quickly as possible! The 103. Abt loses several vehicles and their precious crews and have to evacuate as far as the Aisne, even risking being overrun. It is saved - albeit unwittingly - by the survivors of the 25th Cavalry, who had been made cautious by their losses the previous day and immediately report to Wood the presence of numerous tanks between the Aisne and Hardillon. In fact, it is the 9. Panzer that had evacuated its positions at Sommeilles during the night, following the Hitlerjugend. The division hides as best it can to gain a few precious hours of rest, but it does not escape the eyes of the American scouts. However, Wood thinks it is the Frunsberg and is preparing an ambush - so he digs in at Villers until the end of the day.
Further south, the outcome is clear: the Hitlerjugend, the Götz von Berlichingen and what is left of the Lehr regroup on the Vaux-Mihiel plain. Hans-Karl von Esebeck knows he has to hold out here, otherwise XIX US Corps would have plenty of time to attack the II. SS-PzK, already disjointed between its division south of Verdun and the other, which is guarding its own flank. The Frunsberg is deployed at Nubécourt.
XIX US Corps tries to regain contact, but cautiously, and it takes all day for the scouts to determine the extent of the enemy tankers' withdrawal. The 8th Infantry finally reaches Bar-le-Duc, abandoned by the LXXXVI. AK... at least in part. The 182. ID (Richard Baltzer), less damaged than its two sisters, is tasked by Felix Schwalbe with slowing the American advance to give the 255. and 243. ID to redeploy further north. It takes all day to force Baltzer to abandon Bar-le-Duc, not without first, of course, destroying the bridges over the Ornain and then over the Marne-Rhine canal. The entire LXXXVI. AK withdraws to the line of forts on the Meuse.
Still in Verdun, the 83rd Infantry begins to have to ration its ammunition severely. It digs in as best it can on the outskirts of the town, in the hope that the siege would soon be lifted. The 541. VGD and the 101. Panzer Brigade are fortunately too inexperienced to understand the opportunity before them, unless their leaders have realised that in the event of hand-to-hand combat, the Volksgrenadiers could - unholy thought! - not have the upper hand.
The 2nd Infantry is also at the end of its tether: the 9th Infantry Rgt had suffered more than 70% casualties, including the wounded and missing, and only the intervention of the 38th RCT temporarily restored the situation. As Walter Robertson notes in the evening, although we have not come far from disaster, the German attack of the day has been less powerful than expected... and there has only been one, whereas the day before we had taken no less than four drawer assaults. What he can't know is that the Das Reich was also at the end of its tether: the Indianhead had fought very well despite its losses, and the tribute to the gods of war is also beginning to be very heavy for the Black Order.
The 30th Infantry Old Hickory and the 1. SS LAH stare each other down, but neither dares to act, in both cases due to the exhaustion of their men and a lack of ammunition (German logistics are also very complicated in the sector).
Finally, the 29th Infantry Blue and Gray once again faces a full-scale attack from the Hohenstaufen. Drained by losses and short of ammunition, the division has to abandon the field quickly and retreat as far as Dugny. Breaking contact is difficult, a lot of equipment is left behind and the American division cannot hold out much longer at this rate.
In the citadel, Patton receives some very encouraging news: from tomorrow, the rain would ease off and should stop completely on the 22nd. The Dakotas would immediately resume their deliveries of ammunition and supplies - to which he replies that they would have to include food! V US Corps is beginning to run out of food, and the civilian population (there are still some left!) also has a belly.
Kesselring and Rundstedt are worried
Kesselring HQ (Metz) - The news is not good. Not good at all: the LVIII. PzK has been pushed back, the famous SS corps, so vaunted by Berlin, are unable to break through... Kesselring does his best to coordinate the 1. Armee and the three SS corps, not to mention the 'events' south of the Alsace plain and the defence of Nancy, where the 19. Armee is showing dangerous signs of weakness. He is therefore not surprised when a car pulls up in front of the Jesuit college of Saint-Clément, where he has set up his headquarters - the military governor's palace has already been occupied by von Rundstedt. As expected, it is von Rundstedt who gets out of the car in the drizzle.
- Herr Generalfeldmarschall.
- Herr Generalfeldmarschall.
- Wacht am Rhein isn't going according to plan, is it?
- The Americans are indeed stubborn. But they will soon run out of ammunition.
- And where do we stand? You said you could surround the Americans in front of Verdun, not in it. Even if we ran out of ammunition, we'd need at least a week to force them to surrender. We don't have that week. Even if the weather stays on our side - and nothing is less certain - that's more time than the Americans need to call up a relief corps: they have no shortage of them, their entire 7th Army seems to be at rest!
- Of course, but it would take them a long time to get them to the front...
- Remember Dollman, Herr Generalfeldmarschall,," tartly says von Rundstedt. "He too thought he could move his divisions faster than the Americans. And ask yourself where our 7. Armee is today. I'll give you tomorrow to try to restore the situation. Otherwise we'll have to go back to my idea of Wacht am Rhein, with reduced resources and perhaps with the allied air force in the air.
Kesselring can only nod in agreement... especially as he basically agrees with von Rundstedt. There is no point in sacrificing good soldiers if the battle seems lost. He therefore orders a halt to the assault on Verdun and waits for the besieged to run out of ammunition. But stopping the shellings is out of the question. Their morale has to be broken and they have to play for time by slowing down the relief efforts from the Marne.
1st French Army - Operation Marguerite
II Polish Army Corps (Lorraine) - The Mont Saint-Michel and Ecrouves forts are stormed. The resistance was symbolic: once the last 40 defenders had been pushed back into the reduced area of the Ecrouves fort, they soon surrendered. The fort at Gondreville is also taken at dawn, thanks to an assault from boats on the Moselle. The larger Villey-Le-Sec fort is bombed while Polish grenadiers try to infiltrate through a connecting tunnel, guided by FFI troops.
In short, the last German positions west of the Haye forest collapse. But this does not mean that the liberation of Nancy would be easy: the recent rains have turned the fields into quagmires, if not potholes, and the German forces have taken the time to trap the forest thoroughly.
In Nancy itself, the gradual withdrawal of the Germans from the western heights did not go unnoticed, and several FFIs, including Marius Piant and René Guyot, manage to pass on the information to the Poles. Anders, who has been informed, cannot cope: he first has to secure the banks of the Moselle and the Nancy forest before he can continue. However, the ducal city is already on fire, and columns of smoke rise into the sky. The railway installations in Nancy and Jarville, the military quays, the Grands Moulins de Nancy, some barracks, the Champigneulles brewery, the Compagnie Générale Électrique factory, the Varangéville salt mine, the soda factory at La Madeleine and the Transporteur Aérien (18 km of suspended wagon transport line between the quarries to the north at Maxéville and the soda factory to the south) all burn or explode. Destruction remains limited, however: some destruction Kommandos botched their work in order to escape more quickly, while others were harassed or even annihilated by the population on the verge of rising up. However, the advance of the 5th DIP and the 1st DBP is slowed down by a number of German supports left behind in the forest.
This concentration of resources to the west diverts the attention of the 3rd DIP, which is securing the Moselle loop as far as Maizières. The booby-trapped Crépey ammunition depot would later have to be secured by deminers, while the Ochey site had already been abandoned by JG 26 and its rolling echelon. And while Fort Pélissier, at Bainville-sur-Madon, is still in enemy hands and prevents any passage through Pont-Saint-Vincent, the fort at Flavigny does not seem to be well defended. The 8th Battalion of Carpathian Fusiliers is detached to capture it, but it is a bloody failure: the 106. Panzerbrigade Feldherrnhalle, after its losses to the 2nd DB, had been moved further north and was waiting for an adversary of this kind to give it a chance to harden its mettle. However hard the battalion fights, it succumbs to the numbers and artillery support of the 91. Luftlande puts an end to its resistance. The survivors have to cross the bridge again*.
The Germans' triumph is short-lived: at the same time, at Crèvechamps and Bayon, the 4th DIP secures two bridgeheads, directly threatening the panzer flank... and Lunéville, which is defenceless!
IV Army Corps (Alsace) - The 83rd DIA enters Belfort, or at least part of the town. The old Vauban bastion had been abandoned by the enemy because it could not be defended (the railway line uncovered its rear!) and the first infantrymen approach the Savoureuse, although the citadel on its cliff still overlooks the town. Of course, the bridges had been blown up, and from the fortress the snipers have no trouble lining up any khaki uniforms that are too exposed.
However, the Germans' withdrawal condemns them in the short term: it enables the 3rd DB to deploy the Chomel Brigade as far as Trévenans and the Gonfreville Brigade (which Jean Touzet du Vigier had already left to take charge of his new unit, under the leadership of Rabanit, who has not yet left) as far as Héricourt. However, the 10th DI is unable to infiltrate, as the German front has already been consolidated by the redeployment of the 5th FJD to Grosne and Suarce.
At the same time, the 2nd RSA begins its approach to Altkirch, only to be blocked by a German infantry division! Or at least, by an infantry unit labelled a division, even though it is barely a regiment.
The last reserve available to the Germans in Alsace, the 600. ID (Serguei Bunyachenko) was deployed as a matter of urgency to defend Mulhouse and prevent the Spahis from creating havoc in the German rear. Although the 'division' is not the cream of the Wehrmacht and has not yet completed its training (it had been training in the Jura), its men seem highly motivated: they are mainly Hiwis (Hilfswilliger, volunteers from Eastern Europe), who are prepared to do anything to avoid falling into the hands of the Allies, suspecting that the latter would hand them over to the Soviets. Their armament is hardly threatening for armoured vehicles (with the exception of the Panzerschrecks, which are becoming increasingly numerous), but the M7Fs are still vulnerable to the handful of small anti-tank guns available to the 600. ID.
Cautious, the Spahis are content to probe enemy defences by reconnaissance in jeeps, in accordance with French doctrine. Although the Ill is flowing alongside the tanks, Strasbourg is still a long way off...
At the same time, the 113th Infantry Regiment is approaching Huningue, which appears to be lightly defended, but there is always a chance of a nasty surprise.
"The regiment's 7th Company, even more of a daredevil than the other companies of the 113th, quietly approached the Place d'Armes. The first men of Warrant Officer Chaudard's section** were already infiltrating the alleyways around the garrison church, while the group leader, Master Corporal Pithiviers, observed the supposedly deserted square. Suddenly, one of his men stumbled and fell; he was pulled back by a comrade, just fast enough to avoid the bullet from a sniper ambushed on the top floor of the post office opposite. The soldier's only excuse was that he had slipped." (The campaigns of the 113th, Volume 2, by A. Heorl)
Finally, the 113th Infantry Regiment is able to clear the few enemy elements that had become trapped on this side of the river. Trapped, yes: first, on the other side, the feldgendarmes had destroyed the boat bridge in a hurry; then, as two French sappers began to climb onto the railway bridge, three simultaneous explosions shook the deck and its spans, which shook before the eyes of civilians and soldiers from both sides, before collapsing and breaking at the site of two of the three explosions. One of the brick piers, dragged down by the metal structure that had remained attached to it, collapsed in its turn, and then the whole thing froze, with a few beams and arches still visible, like a half-submerged skeleton.
1st Army HQ (Lyon) - Alfred Montagne has had no direct contact with his superior Aubert Frère since the latter left for Versailles. But the news from Anders and Kœltz is encouraging - more than encouraging, it is unexpected! To be almost at Mulhouse on Jun 20th, when we weren't expecting to enter Alsace until July, and to be close to breaking another enemy army corps without destroying Nancy in the process, is exceptional!
He then makes a crucial decision: Marguerite is to be completed as soon as Nancy has been liberated and the Belfort lock has been reached. But Kœltz had announced that Alsace was to be opened up between mid-June and the end of the month, and the deadline was met with a great deal of patience. This makes it possible to launch an Alsace campaign: if Anders is able to liberate Nancy as quickly as planned, II CA could flank and guard III CA, which is in the process of leaving its positions to I CA. Alphonse Juin has to press the Germans in the Vosges and De Lattre to charge towards Saverne, while Kœltz envelops the German divisions from the east. If it works, the trap would take at least 120,000 German soldiers, destroying the 19. Armee for good. The weather forecast is for fine days ahead and the air force would be able to prevent any escape attempts.
With a pinch of salt, Montagne can't help but think that he is in the process of organising in reverse the trick the Boche had played on Laure and his Xth Army in 1940. Schadenfreude, they would say.
Allied strategy
What happens next?
Washington D.C. (in the night) - With the time difference, it's about one o'clock in the morning on this side of the Atlantic. But that doesn't stop George Marshall, five-star general and Chief of Staff of the US Army, a glass of bourbon firmly in his hand, from giving his principal subordinate (who has just got up...) an unambiguous opinion.
- No, no and no! The White House position is perfectly clear, Ike. You do not give in on anything. Do you hear me? On nothing! If those damn English want to play at imperial greatness, that's up to them. But we will not put our boys' lives in their hands. They already did that to us in '18. Who do they take us for? For auxiliaries just good for replenishing their lines***, like their Indians? Downfall will happen, with or without them. After all, we don't even need the 21st AAG. They can stay and wade between the Channel and Holland if they like, I don't care! Is that clear, Ike?
- Perfectly clear, George!
- Brilliant! We've already let them have their fun in Hungary. That's fine, it doesn't cost us a penny. But don't let them come here today and ask us for the troops they sent over there!
- And the French?
- They'll do as they're told. They have no choice - after all, we're the ones who rearmed their bloody army before allowing them to return to their country! The State Department is planning to discuss this with them. Not so they can act as referees, but we'll see if Mr... if the people of London are still proud, in the splendid isolation of their little island.
A bath at 10 Downing Street (London), 22:00 - "There's no question of giving in, Sir Claude! We're not going to give in to our former colonies, are we? Besides, those bloody cowboys don't want to see the danger of letting the Reds have their way in the Baltic. It practically belongs to them, and they already had the Black Sea. There's no question of giving up. Undertone will be built, it's a necessity for the Kingdom.
- Rule Britannia, Sir Winston?
- And long live the Empire. We've been fighting for five years, twice as long as the Americans. So it's a bit late for them to be giving us lessons.
And as Churchill hangs up the phone, he thinks that Sir Claude would make an excellent SACEUR, should things turn out well.
Quai d'Orsay (Paris), 18:00 - Léon Blum would really have preferred to talk about reconstruction and preparing for world peace. But he finds himself in the middle of a major inter-allied crisis. In this case, he has in his hands an urgent cable from the US State Department, which expresses alarm at ‘the spirit of misunderstanding that seems on the point of imposing itself in European capitals’ (London is not mentioned by name, but it is all the same). ‘In this context’, and at a time when ‘the United States of America is demonstrating and will continue to demonstrate to France its unfailing and disinterested friendship’ (are we talking about the loans being discussed to finance reconstruction?), ‘a demonstration of support for FUSAG's projects would be greatly appreciated’.
Yes, Blum certainly knows what he is talking about: support Eisenhower or pay the price. Let's see what the General has to say. After all, this is a military matter - so it is primarily a matter for him and the other generals involved. Diplomacy can only transcribe, coat, embellish, pass on... and repair, if need be.
A drawing room at 10 Downing Street (London), 22:00 - The butler holds up a black Bakelite telephone that rings: "Paris's calling, Sir". Of course, the Bulldog quickly picks up.
- Allo! Ah! My dear Gaulle! How do you do, my friend?
- Very well, my dear Winston, and you?
- Very well. But I can't wait to come and see you in Paris!
This is followed by a few banalities that were clearly friendly, but above all of no consequence. Then we plunge into the heart of the matter, in the French-English sabir that the two men have become accustomed to.
- I suppose you call me because of the Americans.
- That's right. General Frère has informed us that the two proposed operations are... difficult to reconcile: Deluge and Nuance, right?
- Yes, and what did your general tell you?
- ... Ah, my dear Winston. I'm not going to lie to a friend. Nuance seems difficult to execute without a logistical overhaul of a major port. And above all, we don't have the forces to support it immediately. But the liberation of Alsace cannot wait for us. It's a major political issue.
Precisely the American arguments! The Bulldog's disappointment is painful and palpable.
- I see. But you know, there's nothing to stop you moving towards Strasbourg.
- Not without American support. It is very important for us that this province returns to our fold as quickly as possible. It has been annexed for four years. Its resources have been plundered, its patriots hunted like rabbits - even as we speak! Its plain has been Germanised. They've even mobilised part of our population against their will against us or our Russian allies!
- Very regrettable indeed.
- What would you say, Winston, if tomorrow Denmark tried to wrest Sussex from you on vague historical pretexts, and then tried to... danise your own citizens against you?
- Mmm... We have civilians under Occupation, too.
- And we promise you our full support in freeing them, if that pleases you.
- Of course we do. That said, you can't deny that Undertone was also responding to major political issues. Have you seen Poland?
- We all know, Winston. I suggest we talk about it in person.
- Deal. In Paris, then.
- Yes, in Paris. You'll be very welcome. Bonne nuit, cher ami.
- Good night, my friend.
As he hangs up the receiver, Churchill chews his precious cigar in disappointment. The French are letting him down... Well, that is probably fair enough. He knows all about the call of the open sea too. But for all that, the Bulldog has not said his last word.
* A memorial now stands near the bridge, decorated of course with the pine tree of the 3rd Polish Infantry Division.
** Chaudard joined the 113th Infantry Regiment with two former signallers like himself, in view of his many exploits on the German rear in June 1940, exploits attested to by Lieutenant Duvauchel, whom they rescued from his burning MS-406. In September 1943, Chaudard and his section parachuted into the Var with the Belgians. Reports say that he and his men were so eager to fight that they jumped out of the plane even before the red light went on!
*** Reference to the attempt in 1917 to integrate Americans in sections or companies into large French or British units, to compensate for the heavy losses suffered previously. Pershing had had to fight hard to obtain divisions, then an autonomous army.
