Take a Bath

Fearing for his left flank, the boundary with the British, General Gerow had kept his V Corps advance on a tight rein. But the success of the British BLUECOAT offensive and weakening German resistance persuaded him to change his policy to an all-out charge forward. The corps was …

1944-07-31

AP036

Fearing for his left flank, the boundary with the British, General Gerow had kept his V Corps advance on a tight rein. But the success of the British BLUECOAT offensive and weakening German resistance persuaded him to change his policy to an all-out charge forward. The corps was to “drive strong and hard”. His commanders were to “bypass everything.let’s get down and take a bath in the Vire.” In his enthusiasm, Gerow personally ordered one of 5th Division’s regimental commanders to mount his infantry on tanks and rush them forward. But the way ahead was not easy. The low hills were covered with thick bocage, and the rearguard groups covering the withdrawal of Meindl’s Fallschirmjager Korps were adept at striking from ambush, then slipping away.

Torigni-sur-Vire, France

Operation Bluecoat was a British offensive in the Battle of Normandy, from 30 July until 7 August 1944, during the Second World War. The geographical objectives of the attack, undertaken by VIII Corps and XXX Corps of the British Second Army (Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey), were to secure the road junction of Vire and the high ground of Mont Pinçon. The attack was made at short notice to exploit the success of Operation Cobra by the First US Army after it broke out on the western flank of the Normandy beachhead and to exploit the withdrawal of the 2nd Panzer Division from the Caumont area, to take part in Unternehmen Lüttich (Operation Liège) a German counter-offensive against the Americans.

American

German

Scenario Type = Standard