Posted on 08/15/2014 4:29:23 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1944/aug44/15aug44.htm#
Allies land in southern France
Tuesday, August 15, 1944 www.onwar.com
Free French tanks come ashore in southern France [photo at link]
In Southern France... Allied forces launch a secondary invasion of France (Operation Dragoon, formerly Anvil) between Toulon and Cannes. Most of the initial assaults are carried out by forces of US 6th Corps (Truscott) as part of US 7th Army (Patch). Also included in the initial landings are French commandos. Three American division come ashore in the first wave at three beaches: Alpha Beach (US 3rd Division) on the left flank; Delta Beach (US 45th Division); and, Camel Beach (US 36 Division) on the right flank. In addition to the main landing sites, there airborne landing at Le Muy by 5000 French troops inland from Delta Beach and a sea borne landing on Levante Island. Over 1500 aircraft are engaged in air support for the operation. Admiral Hewitt command the naval support, including 5 battleships, 7 escort carriers, 24 cruisers and 91 destroyers. There is almost no resistance to the lands. Allied forces suffer 183 casualties. Prime Minister Churchill is present during the initial landings, on board a destroyer offshore. The German forces in southern France consist of the 19th Army (Weise) with 7 infantry divisions and the 11th Panzer Division.
On the Western Front... Elements of British 8th Corps (part of British 2nd Army) enter Tinchebray from the north. Allied forces of Canadian 1st Army are attacking along a line from Tinchebray to Falaise. From south of Tinchebray to Argentan the US 7th and 5th Corps (elements of US 1st Army) are attacking northward. Most of the German 7th Army as well as elements of 15th Panzer Army and Panzer Group Eberbach are now threatened with encirclement. These forces now begin a withdrawal eastward. Field Marshal Kluge is touring the front during the day. Allied aircraft are heavily engaged in ground attacks throughout the day.
http://www.etherit.co.uk/month/thismonth/15.htm
August 15th, 1944 (TUESDAY)
UNITED KINGDOM: The US Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 554: 932 bombers and 443 fighters, in 4 forces, are dispatched to attack 11 airfields in northwestern Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium in conjunction with 1,000 RAF heavy bombers and Mosquitos raiding 9 airfields in the Netherlands and Belgium; 16 bombers and 5 fighters are lost; numbers in parenthesis indicate the number of bombing attacking.
(1) B-17s bomb German airfields at Cologne/Ostheim (108), Frankfurt/Eschborn (65) and Wiesbaden (38); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 9 B-17s are lost; escort is provided by 112 P-51 Mustangs; 1 P-51 is lost.
(2) B-24 Liberators attack German airfields at Wittmundhaafen (91), Zwischenahn (90), Vechta (67), Plantlunne (54) and Hopstein (10); 4 B-24s are lost; escort is provided by 163 P-38s and P-51s; 2 P-38s and 2 P-51s are lost.
(3) B-17s bomb Dutch airfields at Handorf (109), Venlo (104) and Twente/Enschede (75); 3 others hit targets of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost.
(4) In Belgium, 59 65 B-24s hit Florennes/Juzaine Airfield and 1 hits a target of opportunity; 1 B-24 is lost. Forces (3) and (4) are escorted by 118 P-51s.
- 33 P-47 Thunderbolts dive-bomb and skip-bomb a repair shop and locomotives in the marshalling yard at Braine-le-Comtes; 1 P-47 is lost.
- 12 B-24s fly CARPETBAGGER missions during the night.
ENGLISH CHANNEL: U-741 (German) unknown depth, Depth charged; northwest of Le Havre, in position 50.21N, 00.35W, by depth charges from the RN corvette HMS Orchis. Only one of 49 crewmen survives by self escape with Drager gear during sinking without an air lock, PoW. (Mark Horan and Jack McKillop)
U-741 damaged HMS LST 404 in Convoy FTC-69.
FRANCE: Paris: The police go on strike, in a move to prepare an alibi by disassociating themselves from their past collaboration and so curry favour ahead of time with the FFI. Prisoners held by the French are released by the strike.
A final trainload of deportees is loaded and dispatched to Germany.
The British VIII Corps enters Tinchebray, France. From here to Falaise there is heavy fighting by other British and Canadian units.
South from Tinchebray to Argentan the US VII and V Corps attack to the north. They have trapped the German 7th Army, the 5th Panzer Army, and Panzer Group Eberbach. A desperate retreat to the east begins for these units.
Field Marshall Kluge attempts to visit the front and spends most of the day dodging Allied air strikes. His unavailability increases Hitler’s suspicions that Kluge is attempting to defect to the Allies.
Hollywood actor Art Carney, who is currently serving in the US Army’s 28th Division in position around St. Lô as part of a 30 calibre machine gun squad is hit in the right leg by mortar shrapnel. (Drew Halevy)
In northern France, 330+ A-20 Havocs and B-26s with fighter escort bomb Marseille-en-Beauvaisis and Foret de Chantilly ammunition and fuel dumps, rail bridges at Auvers-sur-Oise and L’Isle-Adam, Serqueux marshalling yard, and coastal defence at Saint-Malo; fighters fly cover for 5 infantry and armored divisions, and fly extensive armed reconnaissance over northern and western France.
Between Toulon And Cannes, in southern France, Operation Dragoon begins.
The troops are General Alexander Patch’s US 7th Army. General de Lattre’s French II Corps will be the follow on troops. The defending German troops are General Weise’s 19th Army of 7 weak infantry division and 11 Panzer divisions for the whole south and southeast of France.
The US Seventh Army stormed the beaches of the French Riviera at 8am today to open a second front in France. Three divisions of General Lucien Truscott’s US VI Corps led the way, but they were backed by the French Army B under General Jed de Lattre de Tassigny, whooping for joy as they joined in Operation Dragoon.
- In the US Ninth Air Force’s 50th and 53d Troop Carrier Wings, on loan to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force (MAAF), participate in the invasion of southern France as part of the Provisional Troop Carrier Air Division.
- During the night of 14/15 August, the US Twelfth Air Force based in Italy, dispatches A-20s to bomb Le Vallon, Istres, and Orange/Plan de Dieu Airfields and other Rhone Valley targets while the US Seventh Army carries out preliminary operations to isolate Operation DRAGOON invasion beaches;
The US Special Service Force invades Levant and Port-Cros Island and secures the left flank of the assault area;
French commandoes land east of Cap Negre and clear coastal defenses, the French Naval Assault Group lands southwest of Cannes and secures the right flank;
The 1st Airborne Task Force comprising the US 517th PRCT, 509th PIB and 551st PIB, drop in the rear of assault beaches and blocks off the invasion area from the interior; the main force, the US VI Corps, lands 3 divisions abreast between Nice and Toulon at 0800 hours local;
A-20s bomb barracks in the invasion area while B-25s, B-26s, P-38s, and P-47s, supporting the invasion, pound beaches, enemy concentrations, and gun positions in coastal areas and later in the day move attacks inland to interdict enemy communications lines successfully hitting numerous bridges; fighters maintain constant patrol over the convoys and invasion area.
The Germans were taken by surprise when six battleships and 21 cruisers began their barrage during the night. 5,000 tons of bombs fell on coastal gun emplacements before paratroops landed in dense fog. Three American infantry divisions were first ashore, securing a beach-head between Cannes and St. Tropez with the help of French commandos and the Resistance. Allied casualties are very light: of the 400,000 men involved in the landings, just 320 are reported killed. The Free French forces are already fanning out, heading west for the ports of Marseilles and Toulon. De Tassigny has insisted on this task - promising to take both cities within a fortnight.
Southern FRANCE: Lieutenant Audie Murphy, the 20-year-old son of a poor Texan share-cropper, captured a hill here today, single-handed. Murphy lost his temper after Germans - their hands raised in surrender - killed one of his men. He rushed the hill, hurling oaths and grenades, a captured a machine-gun post. Still mad, he grabbed the gun and wiped out the other Germans. He was recently criticized for punching a private. Said Murphy: “The regulations were too goddamned heavy to carry.”
Infantry landing ships HMCS Prince David and Prince Henry participate in the landings.
GERMANY: FW Helmut Lennartz shot down a lone straggler B-17 from the 303rd BG near Stuttgart. This would be the only ‘viermot’ (4-motor) kill claimed by the unit. (Russ Folsom)
U-3504 launched. U-2339 and U-3512 laid down.
ITALY: Allied troops advance to the Gothic Line between Pisa and Rimini.
The US Fifteenth Air Force in Italy flies its first night raid; 252 B-17s and B-24s after a predawn takeoff pound beaches in the Cannes-Toulon, France area in immediate advance of Operation DRAGOON; 28 other fighter-escorted B-17s bomb highway bridges over the Rhone River; B-17s sent against coastal gun positions abort the mission owing to poor visibility; and 166 P-51s escort Mediterranean Tactical Air Force (MATAF) C-47 Skytrains carrying airborne invasion troops.
INDIA: RAF Air Marshall William A Coryton assumes command of the Third Tactical Air Force, a major component of the Eastern Air Command; tactical air force functions remain under Coryton until it is dissolved on 4 December 44.
U.S.A.: Escort carrier USS Kula Gulf launched.
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Submarines HMS United and Upright arrive Bermuda for ASW”>ASW training.
"Zuführung unbek Stärke" means the allies are feeding in more troops of an unknown strength.
Although not reported that he was in command of the Third Army for some reason, it looks like Patton was in charge of the swift advance through Le Mans and the blitz on Argentan.
Then for some inexplicable reason, they were stopped from closing the door on a huge portion of the German army. Seems like doing so could have hastened the war’s end. Seems like at that point, Falaise, not Paris, should have been the immediate objective.
At this particular point, it seems like politics got in the way of military objectives of winning the war quickly. The movie shows Patton’s lamenting, saying something like, “That’s what happens when you stop fighting as an American and start fighting as an...Ally.” Patton was obviously not a good overall army or Allied commander, as Bradly and IKE were, requiring patience and political considerations. But here, it looks to me like Patton should have been allowed to close the door on the Germans at Falaise.
Although not reported that he was in command of the Third Army for some reason, it looks like Patton was in charge of the swift advance through Le Mans and the blitz on Argentan.
Then for some inexplicable reason, they were stopped from closing the door on a huge portion of the German army. Seems like doing so could have hastened the war’s end. Seems like at that point, Falaise, not Paris, should have been the immediate objective.
At this particular point, it seems like politics got in the way of military objectives of winning the war quickly. The movie shows Patton’s lamenting, saying something like, “That’s what happens when you stop fighting as an American and start fighting as an...Ally.” Patton was obviously not a good overall army or Allied commander, as Bradly and IKE were, requiring patience and political considerations. But here, it looks to me like Patton should have been allowed to close the door on the Germans at Falaise.
Hollywood actor Art Carney, who is currently serving in the US Army’s 28th Division in position around St. Lô as part of a 30 calibre machine gun squad is hit in the right leg by mortar shrapnel.
SON OF J.P. KENNEDY KILLED IN ACTION
Don't forget the item about composer Richard Strauss on page 11.
The quote attributed to Patton should be compared to an actual quote from Churchill: “There is only one thing worse than to fight with allies, and that is to fight without them.” Hitler pinned his hopes on the coalition arrayed against him splitting. It was, historically speaking, not unrealistic. Coalitions are hard to maintain.
You’re very good!
Would Patton’s continuing north from Argentan to close the door have jeopardized the coalition, especially regarding Monty and the British, as Hitler hoped?
Ike kept such balance. Maybe he never let a seemingly exigent situation trump his overall awareness of the importance of the Allied coalition. Yet Ike would make decisions that Churchill didn’t like. I wonder if he deliberately made decisions Monty didn’t like. Seemed like Monty almost always got his way (like a squeaky wheel or a crying baby).
I also wonder if rattling around somewhere in the back of his mind Ike knew that England needed the Americans more than visa versa.
Given all of that, I’m puzzled why Patton was forced to stop at Argentan, thereby letting a significant portion of the German forces escape and almost certainly prolonging the war.
Patton was never an overall army nor Allied commander, so it's only speculation as to whether he'd be good at either roll.
Patton was Third Army commander, which performed well under his command.
At this phase, Operation Overlord is coming to a close. If you read on page 3 and match that up with Homer's map on post # 2, LTG Patch has landed his Seventh Army in Southern France.
With three armies in France (1st Army, previously commanded by Bradley, and now commanded by Hodges, Third Army commanded by the ghost commander we all know is Patton, and now Patches Seventh Army). Bradley has been promoted to an Army Group Commander. While this position is equivalent in scope to Montgomery's 21 Army Group, Monty remains the commander of all ground forces in France.
Monty's wishes are given a lot of preferential consideration by Ike. Ike is slow to change in his dealings with Monty. Market Garden is a major reason for change, but I doubt we will see any of that in the papers.
This whole series Homer is posting is fascinating, and I've followed everyday since he started these posts. The maps henkster post adds to all of this, as does everyone's input. However, newspaper articles are only one perspective, albeit an important perspective. We should never forget original sources.
16 million men served during World War II. There must be at least 16 million different stories to correspond.
Actually, Patton was running ahead of his supply lines. The truckers were dubious about running through enemy held areas.
They were also hauling a lot of stuff a long way. Everything was coming through Normandy. The Allies don't really get their logistics problems fixed for a number of months.
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