American sectors
Omaha Beach and Pointe de Hoc
Cleaning up Pointe du Hoc
Since the June 6 assault, the Rangers have remained isolated and deprived of reinforcements on Pointe du Hoc. Contact is established by the relief column blocked the day before at Saint-Pierre-du-Mont (1st Battalion of the 116th Infantry Regiment) and the handful of Rangers under Colonel Rudder who survived the fighting. The final assault on the Pointe is launched late in the morning. At 12:00, the position is finally cleared after the attack launched by the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 116th Infantry Regiment, and the 5th Rangers, supported offshore by gunfire from the destroyer Ellyson. Of the 225 Rangers on June 6, only 90 are still able-bodied. For the time being, the Germans have retreated westward toward Grandcamp-les-Bains.
The liberation of Grandcamp
West of Pointe du Hoc, Grandcamp still awaits liberation. After coming to the aid of their comrades at Pointe du Hoc, the infantrymen of the 116th Regiment of the 29th American Division arrived in front of Grandcamp by taking the coastal road. Joining them were the 5th Rangers and the 743rd Tank Battalion. But the village remained fiercely defended by the German 352nd Infantry Division. The intervention of the American Navy was then requested. From the open sea, the battleship USS Texas and the cruiser HMS Glasgow pounded German positions around the small port city during the afternoon. No fewer than 113 shells fell on enemy strongpoints. Between 15 and 16 p.m. In the early evening, the battles for the liberation of Grandcamp were led by the 00rd Battalion of the 3th Infantry Regiment and the tanks of the 116rd Battalion. Enemy resistance ended by nightfall. On the evening of June 743, General Bradley was able to set up his first command post there, while the first work began on restoring the port.
Collateral damage for the 175th Infantry Regiment
On the evening of June 7, the 175th Infantry Regiment (29th U.S. Infantry Division) and its attached tanks were tasked with capturing Isigny. At 2:00 a.m., the 175th Infantry Regiment entered Englesqueville before pushing south to reach the RN 13. La Cambe was reached an hour later, but the Americans were unable to advance, their attempt having been repelled by anti-tank fire shortly before dawn. A new attack enabled the liberation of La Cambe in the morning. The 175th Infantry Regiment ended the day in mourning after a tragedy. Through an incredible mistake, the Allied air force mistakenly machine-gunned La Cambe and the 175th Infantry Regiment's front line established between La Cambe and Cardonville. During this machine-gunning, 6 men were killed and 18 others seriously wounded.
The liberations of Tour-en-Bessin and Formigny
To expand their still too fragile bridgehead (3 km deep), the Americans concentrated on Formigny at the crossroads of the N 13 and the road leading to Saint-Laurent and Vierville-sur-Mer, thus controlling the exit from Omaha towards Trévières. Stopped on June 7 at 800 m from the crossroads by a strong German resistance, the advance of the 3rd Battalion of the 26th RI was then relayed by the entry into action of the 18th RI which had already succeeded in crossing the national road. Attacking from the south-east, the 18th RI finally liberated the town on June 8 at dawn. West of Bayeux on the RN 13, Tour-en-Bessin was still in German hands two days after the Landing. The 26th Regiment of the 1st American Infantry Division was to capture it after crossing the Aure River the previous night. A patrol from the 2nd Battalion entered the town shortly before noon, which the Allies had carefully bombarded shortly before 9:00 a.m. With these advances on the ground and the liberation of Tour-en-Bessin, the junction was established between the British forces landed at Gold and the American forces at Omaha.
Utah Beach
The liberation of Saint-Côme-du-Mont
Since June 6, the Germans of the 6th Parachute Regiment have held the village firmly. From the village bell tower, the commander of the German regiment, Colonel von der Heydte, has managed to repel all attacks by American paratroopers. Four battalions of the 506th Regiment of the 101st Division attacked Saint-Côme-du-Mont at 4:45 a.m. after preparatory fire. The village was liberated by Colonel Sink's men that afternoon after the Germans abandoned their positions.
Failures on the Merderet and at Crisbecq
Flooded by the Germans in the winter of 1941-1942, the marshes and the Merderet River, which flows into them, constituted a natural line of defense for the Germans, which the Americans had to cross before pushing toward Cherbourg. Two attempts were made on June 8. The first, which was to rescue the 2nd Battalion of the 507th Regiment, isolated east of Amfreville, ended in failure around 23:00 p.m. The second, which allowed the crossing of the railway line north of La Fière, ended with the American battalion withdrawing before nightfall.
New attempt on the Crisbec-Saint-Marcouf battery
Since June 6, and despite numerous attacks, the Crisbec-Saint-Marcouf batteries have remained held by the Germans. Around 13:30 p.m., a new attack is launched by units of the 4th American Division, accompanied by a heavy artillery barrage. The offensive is broken once again by the resistance of the German garrison combined with the fire of the German battery at Azeville, which can still count on its only intact 105 mm gun.
British sectors
Sword
New failure in front of Cambes-en-Plaine
Among the objectives of the 3rd British Infantry Division on June 6, Cambes-en-Plaine, north of Caen, was held by the Germans of the 21st Panzer. On June 8, a new attack was launched by the 9th Brigade (3rd British Division). The village was invested before being quickly abandoned to the enemy in the face of the arrival of the 25th Regiment of the 12th SS Panzer, recently arrived at the Normandy front. Cambes remained in no man's land for a month until the terrible Allied bombings of July 7, 1944, which crushed the front between Lébisey and Saint-Contest, a prelude to the liberation of part of Caen.
Heavy fighting east of Orne
In the morning, the British 6th Commando received orders to clear Bréville—which had formed a salient threatening Ranville since June 6—with the support of the men of Commando Kieffer. The fighting in the burning Bréville was extremely intense, even as far as the village cemetery. Not far from Bréville, at Château Saint-Côme, the fighting between Lieutenant-Colonel Otway's paratroopers and the Germans was just as fierce as the attempt to capture this high ground. At Le Mesnil, the duels intensified, and the Canadians inflicted heavy losses on the enemy ranks. But throughout this fragile British bridgehead, German resistance remained strong against attacks by paratroopers and commandos who, without reinforcements since June 6, were exhausted trying to hold their line.
Philippe Kieffer leaves his men
Wounded twice during June 6th—in the thigh and the arm—the head of the French commandos, Commander Philippe Kieffer, was never properly treated. Threatened with gangrene and possible amputation, Kieffer reluctantly accepted being evacuated for treatment in an English hospital. Since the spring of 1942, he had led the first French volunteers who were to form the 1st Battalion of the Free French Marine Fusiliers Commandos. Kieffer was immediately replaced by his second-in-command, Alexandre Lofi, who had been engaged in Free France since the summer of 1940 and was a marine fusilier by training. Lofi would command the French commandos in the Amfreville-Bréville-Bavent sector until Kieffer's return to Normandy on July 16, 1944.
Gold
Port-en-Bessin finally liberated
Around 4:00 a.m., after several hours of fighting, the British commandos of the 47th Royal Marine Commando captured Port-en-Bessin. Having landed on June 6th 2 km east of Le Hamel, the British had had to halt their slow advance at nightfall. After pausing at Hill 72, the Commando resumed its march towards Port-en-Bessin, which was reached in the evening thanks to the support of naval artillery. By the evening of June 7th, the British controlled the western heights of the port. Launched in the early morning, a final assault allowed the commandos to capture nearly 300 German prisoners and completely liberate Port-en-Bessin. This port was of great importance: it was necessary to ensure the supply of the landing troops until the two artificial ports of Arromanches and Saint-Laurent came into operation. It was also from here that the Allies decided to launch their Pluto (Pipeline Under The Ocean) pipeline system inland, which was to be put into service on June 25.
Montgomery settles in Normandy
Commanding all ground forces (the 21st Army Group), General Montgomery arrived in Normandy and set up his tactical headquarters trailers in the grounds of the Château de Creullet near Creully. He remained there until June 22, 1944. During this period, he hosted General de Gaulle on June 14, and before that, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and then King George VI of England on June 16.
Bazenville Airfield
It was at Bazenville, not far from Arromanches, that the British decided to set up a field airfield, coded B2. Developed from June 8, the runway was completed the next day and immediately assigned to the 127th Squadron of the 83rd Group. It was at this airfield, a few days later, that the French "ace" of the Royal Air Force, Pierre Clostermann, landed his Spitfire IX for his grand return to Normandy since the beginning of the Occupation, making him the first French pilot to land on national territory that day.
The Canadian sector
The Massacre of Canadian Prisoners
To avoid the encirclement of the Canadian brigades in front of Putot-en-Bessin and Norrey-en-Bessin, reinforcements were sent to Putot: the Canadian Scottish Regiment (7th Brigade) was sent to reinforce Putot, supported by the 8th Armoured Brigade and the 1st Hussars. During the attack, 45 Canadian soldiers were captured at Putot-en-Bessin. They were executed by soldiers of the 12th SS a few hours later near Audrieu. On June 7 and 8, about twenty Canadian soldiers from the North Nova Scottia Highlander and the Sherbrooke Fusiliers were taken prisoner during the attack on Carpiquet. They were shot and hastily buried in the gardens of the Abbaye d'Ardenne near Caen by the SS of Kurt Meyer's 25th Panzergrenadiers.
The B 3 airfield of Sainte-Croix-sur-Mer
Liberated on June 6 by Canadian tanks of the 6th Armoured Regiment, the village of Sainte-Croix-sur-Mer was chosen by the Canadians to establish a field airfield, called B3. Two parallel 1200 m runways – one covered with wire mesh, the other dirt – were thus built to accommodate aircraft of the Royal Canadian Air Force. On June 10, Spitfires from 441 Squadron of the RCAF were the first to land on the runway. The village of Sainte-Croix also housed the tactical headquarters of General Montgomery's 21st Army Group from June 8.
The resistance of the Douvres-la-Délivrande radar station
On the road from Courseulles to Caen, 1 m west of Dover, two defensive positions had been set up by the Germans: a two-story underground radar factory and a blockhouse with a telephone exchange forming the Basly-Douvres-la-Délivrande radar station. Still in German hands on June 200, this strongpoint, belonging to the Air Force and defended by 8 airmen, was reinforced following a counterattack by German infantry led by the 230rd Canadian and British divisions, which had still not linked up. Threatening the Juno bridgehead with its three anti-tank guns, three 3 mm cannons, and a dozen flamethrowers, the Dover radar, commanded by Lieutenant Igle, remained a serious thorn in the side of the Anglo-Canadians until its fall on June 50.
German Forces
German reinforcements arrive at the front
At dawn, the reconnaissance battalion of General Ostendorff's 17th SS Division reached Balleroy, on the edge of the Cerisy Forest. At 11:00 a.m., General Schimpf's 3rd Parachute Division set off northeast of Saint-Lô. It would take 10 days to reach the Cerisy Forest.
General Mahlmann's 353rd Infantry Division (14 men) sets out from Brittany, delayed by Resistance attacks. It will take 132 days to establish itself in Normandy.
Having left the Le Mans region late on June 6, General Bayerlein's Panzer Lher, seriously battered during its advance towards the Normandy front, arrived at its positions west of the 12th SS Panzer. In front of Tilly-sur-Seulles, it prepared for an attack to retake Hill 103 north of Tilly. Facing it were the Sherwood Rangers and the 6th Durham Light Infantry. In the middle of the afternoon, Sepp Dietrich (1st SS Corps) ordered it to launch a counterattack towards Bayeux. The German tanks then advanced to within 5 km of the capital of Bessin before being stopped by the British.
Meanwhile, the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich advanced from the Montauban region towards Normandy. It took 17 days to reach the Normandy front.
German counterattacks
Having been badly beaten on June 6, the German units regroup to regain the advantage, with the ultimate objective of driving the Allies back into the sea. At nightfall, a tactical group under the command of Meyer-Wunsche (1 tank company, 1 grenadier company) launches an attack on Rots, Norrey and then Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse, defended by the Regina Rifles Regiment. Faced with the significant number of losses and the effectiveness of the Canadian anti-tank defense, the German withdrawal was ordered around 4:30 a.m. A counterattack was also launched in the Putot-en-Bessin sector in the middle of the afternoon: three Canadian companies from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles (7e infantry brigade) are decimated by the 25the 12th Regimente SS Panzer. The railway is again held by SS grenadiers.
