The Avranches Breakthrough

On the morning of July 28 1944, following the initial breakthrough made by the 1St US Army, German troops of 84.Armee Korps found themselves virtually surrounded in the Roncey pocket. The following night, elite German units of Waffen-SS and paratroopers …

1944-07-28

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On the morning of July 28 1944, following the initial breakthrough made by the 1St US Army, German troops of 84.Armee Korps found themselves virtually surrounded in the Roncey pocket. The following night, elite German units of Waffen-SS and paratroopers made several attempts to breakthrough the thin American lines in the east. Only a few managed to escape, the others being destroyed or taken prisoners. The pocket now reduced, US troops were ready to charge towards Avranches and capture the bridges on the Sée and Sélune rivers. Once those were seized, the 3rd US Army, under the command of Patton, was activated and ready to resume its advance towards central France and Brittany.

Roncey, France

Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the United States First Army under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy campaign of World War II. The intention was to take advantage of the distraction of the Germans by the British and Canadian attacks around Caen in Operation Goodwood, and thereby break through the German defenses that were penning in their forces while the Germans were unbalanced. Once a corridor had been created, the First Army would then be able to advance into Brittany, rolling up the German flanks once free of the constraints of the bocage country. After a slow start, the offensive gathered momentum and German Resistance collapsed as scattered remnants of broken units fought to escape to the Seine. Lacking the resources to cope with the situation, the German response was ineffectual and the entire Normandy front soon collapsed. Operation Cobra, together with concurrent offensives by the British Second Army and the Canadian First Army, was decisive in securing an Allied victory in the Normandy campaign.

Wikipedia: Operation Cobra

German

American

Game Type: Breakthrough

Board Type: Countryside

Website Access: Classified