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On June 30, 1944 during World War II, the Battle of Cherbourg ended with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces. An excerpt from the article:
"The battle of Cherbourg (19-30 June 1944) saw the Americans capture the first major port to fall into Allied hands after D-Day, but although Cherbourg fell fairly quickly, the Germans had still managed to almost cripple the port facilities.
When Normandy had been selected as the target for Overlord, the plan was to land supplies over the beaches and using the two Mulberry harbours, but also to capture the port of Cherbourg, which was expected to act as a major supply base. The planners for Overlord believed that the capture of an intact major port was essential if they were to be able to build up their forces faster than the Germans, and Cherbourg was the only such port in the Normandy area. The Germans were also aware of this, and had strongly fortified every major port in the possible invasion areas, in the hope that this would allow them to overwhelm the Allies on the beaches. The task of taking Cherbourg was given more urgency by the great storm that broke out on 19 June and lasted for four days. This storm destroyed the Mulberry harbour on Omaha Beach, and almost stopped the Allied build-up until 23 June.
Once the American beachheads had been secured, and connected by the capture of Carentan, their next main target was Cherbourg. The plan was to push west across the Cotentin peninsula, then turn north towards Cherbourg. At first progress was slow, as the Americans had to fight their way through the strong German defences in the east of the peninsula. However when they began to push west from their bridgehead across the Merderet, in the centre of the peninsula, they shattered the resistance of the only German division in the area. Hitler’s refusal to allow troops to be moved from the defensive lines north of Utah Beach to fill the gap meant that the Americans reached the west coast on 18 June, after an unexpectedly rapid attack."
"The battle of Cherbourg (19-30 June 1944) saw the Americans capture the first major port to fall into Allied hands after D-Day, but although Cherbourg fell fairly quickly, the Germans had still managed to almost cripple the port facilities.
When Normandy had been selected as the target for Overlord, the plan was to land supplies over the beaches and using the two Mulberry harbours, but also to capture the port of Cherbourg, which was expected to act as a major supply base. The planners for Overlord believed that the capture of an intact major port was essential if they were to be able to build up their forces faster than the Germans, and Cherbourg was the only such port in the Normandy area. The Germans were also aware of this, and had strongly fortified every major port in the possible invasion areas, in the hope that this would allow them to overwhelm the Allies on the beaches. The task of taking Cherbourg was given more urgency by the great storm that broke out on 19 June and lasted for four days. This storm destroyed the Mulberry harbour on Omaha Beach, and almost stopped the Allied build-up until 23 June.
Once the American beachheads had been secured, and connected by the capture of Carentan, their next main target was Cherbourg. The plan was to push west across the Cotentin peninsula, then turn north towards Cherbourg. At first progress was slow, as the Americans had to fight their way through the strong German defences in the east of the peninsula. However when they began to push west from their bridgehead across the Merderet, in the centre of the peninsula, they shattered the resistance of the only German division in the area. Hitler’s refusal to allow troops to be moved from the defensive lines north of Utah Beach to fill the gap meant that the Americans reached the west coast on 18 June, after an unexpectedly rapid attack."
Battle of Cherbourg, 22-29 June 1944
Posted from historyofwar.org
WWII World War Two
World History
American History
Military History
Combat
Posted >1 y ago
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