Old Hickory

The Germans did not expect to encounter much resistance in the town of Mortain. The Big Red One was being replaced in the line by the 30th Infantry Division, a proud unit with a rich heritage originally from the North Carolina National Guard. The 30th was just moving …

1944-08-07

AP039

The Germans did not expect to encounter much resistance in the town of Mortain. The Big Red One was being replaced in the line by the 30th Infantry Division, a proud unit with a rich heritage originally from the North Carolina National Guard. The 30th was just moving in from Tessy, and as they took their positions in and around Mortain in the afternoon of 6 August they thought they would be getting a break from the hard fighting which they had endured across Normandy. Their rest was interrupted this foggy night by the sound of armor moving in on their positions.

Mortain, France

Operation Lüttich was a codename given to a German counter-attack during the Battle of Normandy, which took place around the American positions near Mortain in northwestern France from 7 August to 13 August 1944. The offensive is also referred to in American and British histories of the Battle of Normandy as the Mortain counterattack. The assault was ordered by Adolf Hitler, to eliminate the gains made by the First United States Army during Operation Cobra and the subsequent weeks, and by reaching the coast in the region of Avranches at the base of the Cotentin peninsula, cut off the units of the Third United States Army which had advanced into Brittany. The main German striking force was the XLVII Panzer Corps, with one and a half SS Panzer Divisions and two Heer Panzer Divisions. Although they made initial gains against the defending U.S. VII Corps, they were soon halted and the Allies inflicted severe losses on the attacking troops, eventually destroying most of the German tanks involved in the attack. Although fighting continued around Mortain for six days, the American forces had regained the initiative within a day of the opening of the German attack.

German

American

Scenario Type = Standard