Bridgehead at Cauquigny

After capturing the manor at La Fiére, a small bridgehead was established in Cauquigny, a hamlet located at the other end of the causeway, west of the bridge over the Merderet. There, only a dozen men were left under Lieutenant …

1944-06-06

BP07

After capturing the manor at La Fiére, a small bridgehead was established in Cauquigny, a hamlet located at the other end of the causeway, west of the bridge over the Merderet. There, only a dozen men were left under Lieutenant Louis Levy, with orders to hold the bridge; it was assumed, wrongly, that the bridgehead was under no imminent threat. Fortunately, Levy eventually received reinforcements under the form of about forty soldiers of various outfits sent from headquarters. Unfortunately, that is when the Germans decided to counterattack, intent on retaking the bridge. - Stephane Tanguay

Cauquigny, France

The Normandy Landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France (and later western Europe) and laid the foundations of the Allied victory on the Western Front. Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception, codenamed Operation Bodyguard, to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on D-Day was far from ideal, and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours; a further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the invasion planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable. Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and of developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an Allied invasion. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt placed Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower in command of Allied forces.

Wikipedia: Normandy Landings

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