Barkmann's Corner

The 2nd SS-Panzer Regiment, after a harrowing cross-country march through the heartland of the Maquis, assembled with the rest of the division south of Saint Lo to meet the American threat. Having lost two tanks in the sharp fighting of the past two weeks, SS-Unterscharfuehrer Ernst Barkmann set out …

1944-07-27

DASL15

D15

The 2nd SS-Panzer Regiment, after a harrowing cross-country march through the heartland of the Maquis, assembled with the rest of the division south of Saint Lo to meet the American threat. Having lost two tanks in the sharp fighting of the past two weeks, SS-Unterscharfuehrer Ernst Barkmann set out at dawn in his refurbished Panther to rejoin his company. But coming out of the village of le Lorey, he encountered infantery and rear-area troops running in the opposite direction shouting that the Americans had broken through along the main road from St. Lo and were right behind. Rallying a small group of infantry to give him cover and appropriating an AT gun and crew from the withdrawal, Barkmann went to battle stations.

Le Lorey, 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.

American

German

Scenario Type = Deluxe