The Breakthrough at St. Lo
After three weeks of fighting, many of the men who'd trained together for over two years were gone and the whole face of the Regiment was changed. Replacements arrived, 50 to 60 per company, and about the time they signed in on the roster, it was time to move out again. Objective orders for 10 July were to take the ground about 1000 yards southeast of "Hill 84." The G2 reported that the "Der Fuehrer" Panzergrenadier Regiment of the "Das Reich" SS Panzer Division (the best Hitler had in the west) awaited them. The "Der Fuehrer" was very ruthless. They had just massacred the adult population of the villages of Tulle and Oradour-sur-Glane. 3rd BN led off the Regiment in columns. By nightfall, 3rd reached the objective. The 314th Regiment was the only unit on the Corps front line to do so. 1st BN moved to 3rd's rear and held the forward slopes of "Hill 84." 11 July, 1st BN led off the southwestward push to the next objective, 1200 yards beyond the 10 July line. C/Co met a pocket of resistance that kept it held up for most of the day, and both sides exacted heavy losses.
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On 12 July, late orders arrived for the 314th
to take the east/west line about 500 yards north of La Picorie.
On 13 July, at 0800, 1st BN led off, 2nd in the middle of the column,
and 3rd bringing up the rear. They met heavy resistance, and gained
no ground until tank support arrived. 2nd BN would see progress,
but then would stall out west of Hierville. With the objective in
sight, the advance went quickly the morning of 14 July, and by 1130
the new line was consolidated. The rest of the day was spent patrolling
the Ay River. |
15 July, the 314th was relieved by the 315th, and fell back to an area 500 yards south to rest. The location was called "Dirty Gertie's" after the dirty old woman seen rummaging about the garbage and rubble. One remarked that it appeared she hadn't washed since the fall of France. The 314th got a much needed rest, hot chow, showers, mail and church services.
A mission brief by the 314th's commander, Colonel Warren Robinson came on 17 July. The destination was a concealed bivouac area near Les Puits Rault. The move was to begin late 19 July undercover of darkness to be in position to relieve the 8th Division's 137th Infantry on 21 July. The 314th secured the line between le Bocage and la Uilaumerie. The Regiment closed in and regrouped at 0225, 20 July. They spent the next five days patrolling the Ay River. CP devised plans for the exchange of support fire between the 8th's positions and the 314th.
On 25 July, 3000 Allied Bombers laid the way to begin the breakthrough at St. Lo. Ground troops drove the Germans westward toward the coast with the 314th "maintaining pressure." 314th's 1st and 3rd BNs moved up on 26 July - 1st on the slopes beyond La Banserie, 2nd BN established a bridgehead across the Ay near Pissot. the 3rd BN piled into the rear of the 28th Infantry because they hadn't advanced as far as the reports indicated. 3rd went to an assembly area north of La Banserie for the night. 1st BN swung west, but all three battalions ran into heavily mined areas. A/Co lost 36 men.
Regimental CP, on the morning of 27 July, relayed
to the battalion positions that the 28th never reached its objective.
The 314th was dispatched around the stalled advance and reached
the original objective, the la Bocage line, at 1840. This operation
book marked the breakthrough which would reach all the way to the
Seine. |
Street in St. Lo |
The assault column made another eleven miles advance on 28 July, with the 314th reaching Coutances by nightfall. 29 July, they waited and watched as the 6th Armored Division raced through the position hot on the enemy's heels. A fifteen-mile gain towards Avrances took place on 30 July. Along the way, the destruction of the Allied Air Corps was everywhere.
On 1 August, 1944, the 79th Division (as a unit, belonged to VIII Corps) went under control of General Patton's 3rd Army at midnight. The assignment was to march down the Britany Peninsula behind the 6th Armored, but the 79th's mission changed. On 2 August, they would join XV Corps to protect the 3rd Army's flank on an approach to the German communications center at Fougeres. The 314th, on a southern course, headed for an assembly area south of St. James.
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City of Fougeres |
They were greeted by flower-laden French townspeople
and three ragged French buglers in worn out uniforms playing the
Star Spangled Banner. Fougeres was secured early in the morning
of 3 August. |
The mission was to set up a defense around the town, and after spending two days preparing, 5 August brought orders to march 35-40 miles south to Laval.
After the 314th, accompanied by the 313th Regiment, arrived in Laval, they were sent to Change, just north of Laval. En route, orders changed and the destination became the hills leading to the Mayenne River. At 1115, the 1st and 3rd BN's attacked and established a bridgehead by late in the day. No resistance was met on this latest push, so the 79th moved onward to Le Mans. Talk of Paris, only 125 miles away, began to circulate among the troops. After a light fire fight, the 79th reached Le Mans on 8 August. Word came that at Le Mans the 79th would revert to Corps reserves with the 90th Division and 5th Armored in relief. Two days of rest was had in Le Mans by the 79th/314th.
On 10 August, orders sent the 79th along with the 90th, 5th Armored and the 2nd French Armored to the southern edge of the Falaise Gap after the damaged remnants of the German 15th Army. The 314th moved out, with it's Regimental combat team of the 311th Field Artillery, B/Companies of the 749th Tank and 304th Medical BNs, and B/Co of the 304th Engineers. The column led off with the I&R (Intelligence and Reconnaissance) guys leading the way, arrived just southwest of Bonnetable that night.
The 314th moved up behind the 5th Armored to prepare a defensive position on 11 August just south of the Foret de Perseigne. Original plans for an aerial attack on the region were called off and the troops re-routed around the Foret and moved on to La Mele-sur-Sarthe. During this move, the 2nd BN in the column's lead, was strafed by an unidentified plane, suffering eleven wounded. The battalions regrouped northwest of La Mele, and billeted for two days. On 15 August, orders arrived from Division for an advance on Versailles and Paris immediately. XV Corps took off in two columns - 5th Armored on the left, 79th following the 106th Cavalry on the right. A 77-mile advancement placed the Divisions near Nogent le Roi.
The 313th and 315th established bridgeheads across the Evre River on 16 August, while the 314th drew reserve and enjoyed some much needed time off. The main topic of conversation was laying 60 miles away - Paris. It was almost destined, to them at least, that the 79th Division would be the liberating unit.
On 18 August, orders for the 79th to move north and take over Mantes-Gassicort were issued. Located 40 miles outside of Paris, it was the key point of German escape routes across the Seine after the Falaise Pocket disaster.
On 15 August, the German 15th Army had been
cut off and surrounded. They were attempting to escape through a
small gap near Falaise when attacked by heavy Allied forces. The
results were high losses on both sides: several entire German divisions,
including Panzer and SS, were destroyed. |
Troops headed to the Falaise Gap |
XV Corps, with 5th Armored on the left and the 79th on the right, moved out.