At the Breaking Point

On July 27th, 1944, the Allies overran the Panzer Lehr Division and began their breakout across France. As General Patton rapidly advances forward, Field Marshal von Kluge is ordered not to retreat but instead to use the 116th Panzer Division …

1944-07-27

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On July 27th, 1944, the Allies overran the Panzer Lehr Division and began their breakout across France. As General Patton rapidly advances forward, Field Marshal von Kluge is ordered not to retreat but instead to use the 116th Panzer Division to cut off Patton’s supply line. Pushing through Mortain, the Germans engage 700 men of the 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Division. Near Hill 317, German squads supported by a Panzer IV are sent to clear a hole in the American defense line.

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.

Wikipedia: Operation Lüttich

German

American