The American sector
The liberation of Trévières
Still in German hands since the American landing at Omaha, Trévières awaited its liberation. Things seemed to be getting clearer on June 9 when General Gerow's 5th Corps accelerated its march south of the bridgehead. The 2nd Infantry Division, which had landed on June 7, arrived in front of the town but still came up against German defenses on June 9. While the 38th Regiment crossed the Aure to the north, the 9th Regiment crossed the river further east. The simultaneous attack by the two armed groups took place during the night. By dawn, the village was completely liberated, while the survivors of the German 352nd Division withdrew to the Elle.
New American reinforcements
Attached to General Collins's 7th US Corps, General Eddy's 9th Infantry Division landed at Utah Beach on June 10. Its first mission was to "clear" all enemy coastal positions up to Quinéville. However, the division would have to wait until June 15, when all its regiments had arrived in Normandy, to be able to participate in a large-scale operation. Alongside it, but on Omaha Beach, the first elements of General Hobbs' 30th Infantry Division also landed that day. Once assembled, this new division would seize the heights overlooking the Vire and Taute Rivers before participating in the Battle of Saint-Lô.
General Bradley takes up his quarters ashore
At the head of the First American Army that landed in Normandy, General Bradley had not left the bridge of the heavy cruiser USS Augusta since leaving Portsmouth on the eve of D-Day. It was from this position at sea that he witnessed the bloody battle on Omaha Beach on June 6. On June 10, followed by his staff, he finally left his cabin and decided to set up his new command post on land at Grandcamp, before going to a first meeting with Field Marshal Montgomery and General Dempsey at Port-en-Bessin, with the agenda being the preparation of the next pincer attack on Caen.
The Battle of the Carentan Causeway
In the battle to capture Carentan, still held by von der Heydte's paratroopers, the "Battle of the Carentan Causeway and the Cabbage Patch" holds a special place. In reality, it concerns the advance of the 502nd Parachute Regiment towards the north of Carentan from June 10. The mission entrusted to the 3rd Battalion of the regiment consists of, from Saint-Côme-du-Mont, making the best use of the causeway overlooking the marshes and crossing the 4 successive bridges to the Pommenauque farm. The battalion sets off shortly after midnight on the night of the 9th to the 10th, but must halt its advance around 5:30 a.m. in front of the German defenses. The attack resumes in the afternoon, the Douve is crossed on a makeshift bridge. To cross the 4th and final line, the American paratroopers had to engage in serious fighting between 16:00 p.m. and 23:00 p.m. These battles would continue until dawn on June 11. The Battle of Carentan was well and truly underway.
The liberation of Picauville
A few kilometers from Pont-L'Abbé, not far from the drop zone of the 508th Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division, Picauville was firmly held by the Germans four days after the D-Day landings. The village castle even housed the command post of the 91st Airborne Division, a division actually used as an infantry division. For three days, nearly 500 American paratroopers assembled by Lieutenant Colonel Shanley attempted to break the German resistance. In vain. On June 9, reinforcements from their comrades from the Pont de la Fière bridge changed nothing. It was not until the arrival of the 358th Regiment of the 90th American Infantry Division—which had just arrived in Normandy the day before—that the Germans finally evacuated Picauville on June 10, 1944.
The Anglo-Canadian sector
In Bény-sur-mer, a runway for the Royal Canadian Air Force
It was outside Bény-sur-Mer, which the Régiment de la Chaudière liberated on June 6, that the Allies decided to build a field airfield. The chosen location was on the Bernières road at the intersection with the Courseulles road. The ALG B4 runway was built by the 25 Airfield Construction Group starting on June 10. It was completed five days later while the nearby Basly radar station was still in German hands. The dirt runway was to accommodate two squadrons of the Royal Canadian Air Force's 5 Wing, 426, 401, and 411 squadrons. Air Landing Group B 412 was operational from June 4 to August 18, 7.
The "Desert Rats" prepare for attack
As part of Operation Perch (an attempt to outflank Caen from the West and East and neutralize the Panzer Lehr between Caumont and Villers-Bocage), which was to be launched on June 11, Major General Erskine's 7th Armored Division took up position in front of Tilly-sur-Seulles. The 7th Armored Division arrived in Normandy on June 7, where its first battles helped reduce German resistance at Port-en-Bessin. It was an experienced unit, having participated in most of the operations conducted in North Africa before being employed in Sicily and Italy. For Normandy, the division was re-equipped not with Sherman tanks (except for the Firefly tanks) but with Cromwell tanks. It was therefore with great confidence that Field Marshal Montgomery placed it at the forefront of the attack line for Operation Perch. However, what followed was to hold many surprises for him.
German artillery unleashes fire on the Commandos
While the 185th Brigade (British 51st Infantry Division) was preparing to reinforce Lord Lovat's First Special Brigade east of the Orne, the Germans launched their first major counterattack in this sector. This was conducted from Bréville towards Ranville, a key position for the British paratroopers. The assaults by the grenadiers of the 857th Regiment (General Diestel's 346th Infantry Division, which had arrived from Le Havre) and the tanks of the 21st Panzer Division were preceded by unprecedented artillery fire on the positions of the No. 4 and No. 6 Commandos, including those held by Commando Kieffer at Amfreville. The French lost 29 additional men in the morning alone, including three killed. With the arrival in the evening of the British 27th Armoured Brigade, the paratroopers of General Hill's 3rd Brigade finally managed to halt the German attack.
German forces
Armored Forces HQ in Normandy Destroyed
On June 6, 1944, General Geyr von Schweppenburg commanded the armored troops in the West, approximately 400 tanks for Normandy. Since the D-Day landings, he had taken his orders not from the commander of Army Group B, General Rommel, but directly from the Führer. June 10 was an important day for Geyr von Schweppenburg, who had decided to gather his entire staff at his headquarters at the Château de la Caine near Thury-Harcourt, south of Caen. The aim was to prepare for the major, decisive counterattack that would reverse the course of events in Normandy. The German officers had barely gathered around the maps when an air raid alert was given. Several Typhoons from the 83rd Group of the Royal Air Force outpaced the anti-aircraft batteries positioned around the headquarters and, within minutes, wiped out the command post. Eighteen men were killed instantly: his chief of staff and 18 other officers. The sole survivor of this targeted attack, Geyr von Schweppenburg, was unable to resume his command before the end of the month. Panzer Gruppe West no longer existed. The entire chain of command had been interrupted, to the point that the 17th Army, to which Geyr von Schweppenburg belonged, only learned of the deadly raid 7 hours later. As for the German counterattack called for by Hitler, it had to be postponed once again. Everything that remained of the armored forces headquarters in Normandy was transferred to the main command post in Meaux, near Paris.
The entry of the 77e division
The 8 fighters of the 700e General Stegmann's infantry division was put on alert on June 7 in the Saint-Malo sector where they were stationed. This division was formed in January 1944 from other German units annihilated on the Eastern Front and included a battalion of Ostruppen. The division set off immediately and after three days of forced marches, reached the Normandy front. It was sent directly to Cherbourg to reinforce the German defenses.
Civilians in war
Bombings on Montebourg
An important crossroads on the RN 13, Montebourg was one of the objectives of the 4th Infantry Division, which was to march on Cherbourg. The city was first bombed on June 8 by the American Air Force and Navy. On June 9, the 12th Infantry Regiment managed to bypass Azeville's defenses to advance in front of Montebourg. The city was solidly defended by the German 243rd and 709th Divisions. On June 10, the Allies launched a second wave of bombing raids on the city, a prelude to a new American attack. Fires caused by phosphorus bombs and naval shells once again forced residents to leave the city, take shelter, or bury themselves in cellars. Montebourg was again pounded by Allied aircraft on June 12 and 14. By the time it was liberated on June 19, the city was more than 90% destroyed.
