The Road To St. Lô

Between the Normandy invasion on D-Day and the Breakout from the hedgerow country during Operation Cobra, there occurred a hard, slow fight moving from hedgerow to hedgerow and from town to town. One of the major objectives of this battle was St. Lo. In the hedgerow country with limited visibility, …

1944-07-16

DASL30

OA01

Between the Normandy invasion on D-Day and the Breakout from the hedgerow country during Operation Cobra, there occurred a hard, slow fight moving from hedgerow to hedgerow and from town to town. One of the major objectives of this battle was St. Lo. In the hedgerow country with limited visibility, any small hill took on great importance as it provided vital observation. 116th Infantry had just taken one such hill known as Martinville Ridge and dug in to consolidate. German tactical doctrine called for immediate counterattack before an enemy could reinforce any recently taken position. Martinville Ridge would be no exception.

Martinville Ridge, France

The Battle of Saint-Lô is one of the three conflicts in the Battle of the Hedgerows, which took place between July 7–19, 1944, just before Operation Cobra. Saint-Lô had fallen to Germany in 1940, and, after the Invasion of Normandy, the Americans targeted the city, as it served as a strategic crossroads. American bombardments caused heavy damage and a high number of casualties, which resulted in the martyr city being called "The Capital of Ruins", popularized in a report by Samuel Beckett.

German

American

Scenario Type = Deluxe