History - War at a Glance

Operation Cobra: Breaking out of the Bocage The Allies have made good progress in Normandy, but the timetable set out by Montgomery before the invasion is lagging. While the Americans have captured Cherbourg and Saint-Lô, British and Canadian efforts to take Caen have been blunted by the Germans. The effort to break out falls to U.S. VII and VIII Corps. It is Bradley’s Operation Cobra that finally breaks the stalemate once and for all. The Cobra offensive leads to the long-awaited breakout from the bocage. Bradley characterizes the hedgerow battle as “... a slugger’s match, too slow a process”; Cobra is the solution. The assault begins on July 25 with a massive air bombardment west of Saint-Lô that decimates Panzer Lehr, the only panzer division behind the front line. Some of the bombs fall short, killing more than 100 Americans. This is followed by a concentrated attack that initially meets with little success as veterans of the hedgerow battle find it difficult to overcome the caution they have learned there in two months of bocage fighting. “Rhino” tanks play a significant role in the ongoing attack, speeding the process of penetrating the hedgerows. The German opposition is no longer organized in depth; without reinforcements they can only form a very tough but discontinuous crust against the onslaught and repeatedly find themselves outflanked or bypassed. With a significant portion of the German forces heavily engaged against the British and Canadians to the east, the Americans make rapid progress. Another reason the attacks surpass expectations is that many German commanders, including Hitler, still believe the Normandy invasion is a diversion. The main blow, they insist, will still come at Calais, so troops that could be used to fight in Normandy still defend against a landing that will never come. It will be early July before these forces are shifted south to join the battle. As a result, when VII and VIII Corps hit the Germans on July 25, there are no enemy troops behind the defensive crust of the front line. Once the German line is breached, the Americans start racing south. By the end of July, Cobra is clearly a success. It allows the Americans to break out of the Normandy beachhead at last. They soon found themselves in the battle of movement they have longed for, moving rapidly out of the bocage, toward the Seine - and Paris. See Next Patton Unleashed Trapped in the Pocket Racing Toward the Rhine