Siege of France
Vichy France had fallen, it was now once again Free France, but the north of France was still under the Nazi boot, and the situation was a precarious one, as Eisenhower after such initial gains fully expected a complete counter attack any day. He gave the order for all troops to move to the borders and dig in. Patton's armor was ordered to halt its advance and station itself in Vichy. The 101st would join it in a day to man area around the vital city until the French could get troops there as well. Krueger's XLII Corps he ordered north to garrison the area around Limoges, while Truscott's XXIII positioned itself to hold the line from Auch to Perigueux. The Germans had a corps size force in both Bordeaux and La Rochelle which posed the most immediate threat.
The Resistance in the north soon began to report a lot of commotion on the Atlantic Wall. It seemed Hitler was quite serious about throwing back the advance in the south by stripping the Wall of considerable manpower. Eisenhower and Marshall began to wonder just how far Hitler would go in weakening this most vital spot.
Bradley's Eighth Army, still in garrison of the English coastline from Scapa Flow to Coventry, was still open for assignment. During their stay in Britain, Bradley's staff along with the English had long studied the French coast across the Channel, trying to draw up various invasion plans for the day they might become necessary. When Fourth Army was brought over to begin definitive offensive operations on the continent, once a Mediterranean entrance was decided upon, Eighth Army was on standby either to aid Fourth Army in Southern France, or to launch an invasion across the Channel to open up a second front. Bradley had concentrated his efforts since his arrival in planning for a cross channel invasion, in either Cherbourg or Normandy. As intelligence over time pointed towards Normandy as being the path of least resistance, his efforts were more fully focused on a landing around the Caen area.
Chess Match
With the reports of the coastal defenses being stripped for operations in Southern France, the Allies stepped up fighter reconnaissance along the coast to try to ascertain the full scale of the troop movement as well to decide where along the Channel to land Eighth Army in the event an amphibious landing was approved. With considerable Axis manpower being pulled off the Atlantic wall, Bradley frantically went over last minute details for a Normandy invasion plan, and at once it seemed all of England was abuzz and on standby.
The German intelligence was rather unsure of what the goal of Eighth Army was. With so much abuzz in England in the past week, they were aware something big was on the horizon. They had reports obviously of a landing across the Channel, increased reconnaissance flights over the area gave credence to this theory. However, they also had reports flowing in that Eighth Army would be reinforcing Fourth Army via the Mediterranean. German commanders in the area agreed that the Allies in their expanded front in southern France were overdrawn and did not have enough units to properly man their new extended front. This was indeed the case, especially in light of the large amounts of reinforcements the Germans were sending to the area. It seemed the logical choice that the two U.S. Armies would work side by side, better solidifying their lines.
One other item to strengthen this notion was the crosstalk American counter-intelligence allowed to get out, that Bradley would give up command of Eighth Army to Patton who was already in Southern France, while Bradley would then assume control of the fictional Army Group South as overall commander of American forces in Southern France. The Germans quickly bought into this, for it did not seem logical to them that what they perceived to be America's best general would be limited to the role of Corps commander in such a critical operation. This misinformation on the part of American counter-intelligence helped to ensure Hitler's stripping of the Atlantic Wall for a counter-attack in the south would continue full steam without concern of an Allied landing up north that might make them leave more defenders in Normandy.
Counterattack
The German response to Vichy's fall did not take long. On December 22nd, Gen. Von Hubicki attacked Limoges out of New Rochelle. The strike force was comprised of the 19. Lettische SS-Freiw Division and the Kraftfahrjagerdivision. Defending against the attack was MacGruder's 5th Armored Division, the same which had been repulsed from La Rochelle days before. In the first true defensive stand of the European campaign for the Americans their armor sadly proved no match for the German guns. The Germans were primed, well armed and well coordinated. The two divisions did a pincer movement on the sole defending division and after complete decimation MacGruder ordered a complete withdrawal.
A week later, Harzer's 41st Waffen Panzer Grenadiers attacked the American 37th and 95th divisions at Auch. The Americans were completely unable to thwart the attack, and had to retreat across the Garonne River back to Toulouse. On the same day the 11th South African Division was driven out of Chateauroux by Von Falkenhorst. The defensive lines were imploding back towards the Mediterranean. Only Patton's Corp held in Vichy France, and that would soon be under siege by the Germans as well. The Germans were wasting no time in sending in the counterstrike, and it was clearly to their advantage as the Allied troops were still consolidating and coordinating their command structure in the midst of replacing the government and overall administration of the area.
December 31, 1943 - The Wall is Breached
The French population had been under the boot of their German oppressors for several years now. Their way of life turned inside, the conquerors showed little mercy to opposition or resistance. With all the personal goods shortages a foreign occupation in the midst of a war brings, along with the curtailment of certain liberties, there was very little reason or will to celebrate things as the people had done in times past. For the people of southern France, Christmas 1943 was indeed a memorable one, the first one with British and American soldiers garrisoning their towns rather than Germans. While their southern brethren celebrated, the people along the northern coast could only be envious and wait their turn. They of course had a much quieter, less joyful Christmas, with little expense put into it. As the New Year approached, they likewise planned their smaller, more subdued celebration of that holiday as well.
For those living along the coast, looking out into the Channel it was not unusual over the past few years to see the British Navy sailing past, at times lobbing shells at some of the German fortifications, or making war with a U-Boat. Occasionally a squadron of British fighters could be seen to fly overhead as well, many times doing battle with their German counterparts. But on New Year's Eve, what greeted the eyes of the French civilians along the Normandy coast was quite different. People from Bayeux to Ouistreham and even LeHavre lined up to look out at the immense armada of the American Navy which had appeared off the horizon. Larger than any mass of ships they had yet seen, many made note this fleet was not moving nor passing by. It was coming nearer.
Planes, the sounds of planes suddenly, British planes, far more than they had heard in some time, appearing from above the ships and quickly flying inland over their heads. Anti air batteries began spewing their flaming lead into the sky while the British pilots began firing back at the German fortifications as well. While some dove to drop their bombs near the beaches and inland, other more fleet ones circled high above the battlefield, like great protectors, looking for any German resistance from the air to shoot down. There was very little German air resistance, as most had been knocked down in this area over the recent months, or transferred to the battle in the south of France.
As the ships moved ever closer to shore, ever more visible, the British planes dropped their last sorties of bombs and returned across the Channel for home. The fighters then flew above the approaching fleet as guardian angels. Now in the evening darkness, the New Year but a few hours away, the absolute darkness was quickly destroyed by flares high overhead, illuminating the entire coastline like day. With a clear view of their target, the massive guns of the American Navy began to open up on the German defenses with everything they had. To confuse the defenders as to where the actual invasion would come, the American navy hit the entire coastline, from Cherbourg all the way east to Dieppe. But the brunt of the shelling took place along the coast near Bayeux and Ouistreham.
It is safe to say that no New Years eve celebration in Normandy has before or since has come close to the fireworks show that was displayed that night. The sky was lit by flares, by rockets, by the fires of ruined buildings up and down the coast.
In America's War of Independence, while the English and Hessian troops celebrated Christmas, rather than celebrating the holiday themselves, General Washington had his troops cross the Delaware that night, and attack the over imbibed enemy in a surprise attack. New Year's Eve, 1943 saw General Omar Bradley, commander of the U.S. Eight Army take a chapter out of history and duplicate it. The defending enemy having spent guard duty on these shores for four years without incident, with such little risk they had grown used to letting their guard down on certain holidays. Despite in war time mode, complacency set in, as it would for any garrison which spent its past four years looking at nothing but open water. Between taking time out to celebrate the holidays, and Hitler stripping so many troops from the Normandy defense in the past few days, suffice to say the Germans were completely ill prepared for what was coming.
Rather than waiting until the first light of dawn to launch the invasion, Bradley wanted to capitalize on the situation, as limited troops began making their way ashore in Caen just as the new year struck. Intelligence had confirmed that the coast in lower Normandy from Omaha Beach to Le Havre had nearly been completely stripped of its entire defenses by Hitler, most of which were now marching south past Orleans. Minimal manpower was left to man critical machine gun nests and anti air in these regions, but it was hardly enough to put up a fight against what the Allies would be throwing at them. The opening wave at midnight consisted of three total divisions. On the right flank Bradley's 35th Infantry division began coming ashore. It landed three regiments abreast, the 134th to the right on Omaha, 137th in the center and 320th on the left flank. General Rankin's 26th Infantry landed to the west of Ouistreham. Also landing three regiments abreast, the 101st was on the right, 104th in the center and 328th on the left, with orders to land and then secure Ouistreham.
First Wave of the Assault - Midnight
Nearly as soon as the first boats came ashore, the sound of many planes could once again be heard in the night, with a much deeper drone to them. It was an enormous amount of planes that approached, all in formation like a bombing run. Much slower moving than fighters or dive bombers, the citizens at Caen looking up at them in the darkness soon realized they were not there to carpet bomb the German defenses. White parachutes as far as the eye could see began descending down around the Normandy capital. Lt. General Matthew Ridgeway's 82nd Airborne Division were making the first ever American parachute drop behind enemy lines.
Many of the planes found themselves off course in the darkness, and as a result the paratroopers were much more spread out than had been originally intended, but because of the lessened German garrison in the area, it did not prove detrimental. Scattered over a wider range, the defenders estimated them to be considerable more than what they were, forcing the Germans to give them additional attention.
The first few waves of the 35th and 26th infantry came ashore in the darkness with but the lightest of casualties, the defenders clearly not being there in sufficient numbers. Quickly moving inland to secure a beachhead, they tried to set up a proper defensive perimeter well advanced of the water while the next waves of boats came in. Both divisions found little trouble in achieving their objectives, quickly forming an advanced perimeter, the 35th covering the far right flank of the invasion against any incursion by the Hungarians and Romanian forces in Cherbourg. The 328th Regiment, 26th Division focused on securing the left flank of the operation by seizing the town of Ouisterham, while the 104th Regiment moved inland toward Caen to link up with the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne. As the first lights of dawn began to spread across the sky, and the Romanian commanders in the area tried to make heads and tails of what was happening, the lead elements of both landing divisions had moved inland two miles while the armor began to come ashore. There were no Panzers to greet them at the water, all German armor was on its way towards Vichy at the moment.
The 82nd Airborne did what it was supposed to do, cause complete confusion among the rear echelon defenders. So few in number, this made the American's task so much easier. A division falling out of the sky behind them, the Romanian commanders hesitated at sending their troops towards the shore to fight the invasion, and by time they made up their mind to do so, it was too late to make a difference. Special demolition units of the airborne instantly began working deeper inland looking to wire bridges and cut lines to further delay any enemy reinforcements. In all, every one of the seven divisions of Eighth Army were ashore by the end of the day on January 1st, with merely 250 casualties among ground troops due to enemy fire.
Rest of Army Comes Ashore - Morning Jan 1
A landing on the well fortified Atlantic Wall with only 250 battle casualties was something none of the American field commanders could ever have envisioned. Suffice to say after working on the Wall's defense for years, Rundstedt, Rommel and Heinrici could also have never believed so few Allied casualties in a successful breach of the wall. Such was the will of Hitler, that when he said retake Vichy at all costs, it meant leaving considerable stretches of the Atlantic Wall completely undefended, against all common military logic. Somebody had to break the news to Hitler that his direct order to strip the wall had resulted in a nearly unopposed landing by the Americans who now had a full Army in Normandy. Having been relieved of his command the week prior, Rundstedt sat in his room in Berlin with an early morning glass of brandy thanking the good Lord that it was not his task to send this message to the Fuehrer.
With the resistance on the coast nearly non existent and the tanks ashore without a hitch, Bradley thought to seize the opportunity while the Germans' backs were turned. He immediately ordered the tanks to advance "with all speed" to the south, 3rd Armored heading for Orleans and Crittenberger's 4th Armored to head for the jewel of France, undefended Paris. The 82nd Airborne, now gathered up on the ground and reorganized were ordered to follow the 4th Armored into Paris to help strengthen its defense. Freeman's 5th Motorized Infantry was sent east across the Seine to seize Rouen. Bradley wanted to take as big a bite out of northern France as he could in the opening days, so the Germans heading south took notice and wheeled around, potentially saving the collapsing pocket of Fourth Army. He knew most of the gains, particularly Rouen and Orleans were temporary gains, as they had not the sufficient force to withstand a German counterattack. His hope was to delay the German advance towards Normandy to afford the British time to ferry reinforcements across the Channel to help with the beachhead. As it turned out, the race to seize Rouen was lost, as the 5th Motorized faced serious obstacles laid down by the Germans, and the delays afforded Manteuffel the opportunity to rush out from Lille and take up defensive positions before the Americans arrived. After a very brief battle, outnumbered and overpowered, Freeman turned his division around and returned to Caen.
Battle of Vichy
On January 5th, the attack on Vichy finally came. It was in the midst of an extreme cold front that the Germans attacked, ice covering most of the roadways. On the Allied side, the defense was made up of Patton's 5th Armored Division, the 101st Airborne, the 76th Infantry, and the British 66th Infantry under Heath. Because of the rapid fall of Vichy and the quick allied advance coupled with the poor weather in the south, as well as snares and foul ups in the logistics departments, supplies had been slow to trickle into the city, and the defenders were already feeling the pinch both in food and ammo before the Germans even arrived. On the Axis side, five divisions were used in the attack, led by Hungarian Field Marshall Horvath. It was comprised of one Panzer division, a Panzer Grenadier, one Hungarian and two Romanian infantry divisions. Several of these divisions weeks before had been doing coastal defense along the Atlantic Wall, consequently they were well put together and well armed.
Despite the weather, it was a very one sided affair. Without time to properly use the defenses of the city to their proper advantage as well as in the midst of setting up a change in the government of the capital, they were ill prepared for so soon an attack. The American troops took considerably heavy casualties on all fronts and Patton called a complete retreat within a few hours, vacating the city. The Germans now had Vichy, and the Americans held Paris.
Situation in France - Jan 4, 1944
Vichy France had fallen, it was now once again Free France, but the north of France was still under the Nazi boot, and the situation was a precarious one, as Eisenhower after such initial gains fully expected a complete counter attack any day. He gave the order for all troops to move to the borders and dig in. Patton's armor was ordered to halt its advance and station itself in Vichy. The 101st would join it in a day to man area around the vital city until the French could get troops there as well. Krueger's XLII Corps he ordered north to garrison the area around Limoges, while Truscott's XXIII positioned itself to hold the line from Auch to Perigueux. The Germans had a corps size force in both Bordeaux and La Rochelle which posed the most immediate threat.
The Resistance in the north soon began to report a lot of commotion on the Atlantic Wall. It seemed Hitler was quite serious about throwing back the advance in the south by stripping the Wall of considerable manpower. Eisenhower and Marshall began to wonder just how far Hitler would go in weakening this most vital spot.
Bradley's Eighth Army, still in garrison of the English coastline from Scapa Flow to Coventry, was still open for assignment. During their stay in Britain, Bradley's staff along with the English had long studied the French coast across the Channel, trying to draw up various invasion plans for the day they might become necessary. When Fourth Army was brought over to begin definitive offensive operations on the continent, once a Mediterranean entrance was decided upon, Eighth Army was on standby either to aid Fourth Army in Southern France, or to launch an invasion across the Channel to open up a second front. Bradley had concentrated his efforts since his arrival in planning for a cross channel invasion, in either Cherbourg or Normandy. As intelligence over time pointed towards Normandy as being the path of least resistance, his efforts were more fully focused on a landing around the Caen area.
Chess Match
With the reports of the coastal defenses being stripped for operations in Southern France, the Allies stepped up fighter reconnaissance along the coast to try to ascertain the full scale of the troop movement as well to decide where along the Channel to land Eighth Army in the event an amphibious landing was approved. With considerable Axis manpower being pulled off the Atlantic wall, Bradley frantically went over last minute details for a Normandy invasion plan, and at once it seemed all of England was abuzz and on standby.
The German intelligence was rather unsure of what the goal of Eighth Army was. With so much abuzz in England in the past week, they were aware something big was on the horizon. They had reports obviously of a landing across the Channel, increased reconnaissance flights over the area gave credence to this theory. However, they also had reports flowing in that Eighth Army would be reinforcing Fourth Army via the Mediterranean. German commanders in the area agreed that the Allies in their expanded front in southern France were overdrawn and did not have enough units to properly man their new extended front. This was indeed the case, especially in light of the large amounts of reinforcements the Germans were sending to the area. It seemed the logical choice that the two U.S. Armies would work side by side, better solidifying their lines.
One other item to strengthen this notion was the crosstalk American counter-intelligence allowed to get out, that Bradley would give up command of Eighth Army to Patton who was already in Southern France, while Bradley would then assume control of the fictional Army Group South as overall commander of American forces in Southern France. The Germans quickly bought into this, for it did not seem logical to them that what they perceived to be America's best general would be limited to the role of Corps commander in such a critical operation. This misinformation on the part of American counter-intelligence helped to ensure Hitler's stripping of the Atlantic Wall for a counter-attack in the south would continue full steam without concern of an Allied landing up north that might make them leave more defenders in Normandy.
Counterattack
The German response to Vichy's fall did not take long. On December 22nd, Gen. Von Hubicki attacked Limoges out of New Rochelle. The strike force was comprised of the 19. Lettische SS-Freiw Division and the Kraftfahrjagerdivision. Defending against the attack was MacGruder's 5th Armored Division, the same which had been repulsed from La Rochelle days before. In the first true defensive stand of the European campaign for the Americans their armor sadly proved no match for the German guns. The Germans were primed, well armed and well coordinated. The two divisions did a pincer movement on the sole defending division and after complete decimation MacGruder ordered a complete withdrawal.
A week later, Harzer's 41st Waffen Panzer Grenadiers attacked the American 37th and 95th divisions at Auch. The Americans were completely unable to thwart the attack, and had to retreat across the Garonne River back to Toulouse. On the same day the 11th South African Division was driven out of Chateauroux by Von Falkenhorst. The defensive lines were imploding back towards the Mediterranean. Only Patton's Corp held in Vichy France, and that would soon be under siege by the Germans as well. The Germans were wasting no time in sending in the counterstrike, and it was clearly to their advantage as the Allied troops were still consolidating and coordinating their command structure in the midst of replacing the government and overall administration of the area.
December 31, 1943 - The Wall is Breached
The French population had been under the boot of their German oppressors for several years now. Their way of life turned inside, the conquerors showed little mercy to opposition or resistance. With all the personal goods shortages a foreign occupation in the midst of a war brings, along with the curtailment of certain liberties, there was very little reason or will to celebrate things as the people had done in times past. For the people of southern France, Christmas 1943 was indeed a memorable one, the first one with British and American soldiers garrisoning their towns rather than Germans. While their southern brethren celebrated, the people along the northern coast could only be envious and wait their turn. They of course had a much quieter, less joyful Christmas, with little expense put into it. As the New Year approached, they likewise planned their smaller, more subdued celebration of that holiday as well.
For those living along the coast, looking out into the Channel it was not unusual over the past few years to see the British Navy sailing past, at times lobbing shells at some of the German fortifications, or making war with a U-Boat. Occasionally a squadron of British fighters could be seen to fly overhead as well, many times doing battle with their German counterparts. But on New Year's Eve, what greeted the eyes of the French civilians along the Normandy coast was quite different. People from Bayeux to Ouistreham and even LeHavre lined up to look out at the immense armada of the American Navy which had appeared off the horizon. Larger than any mass of ships they had yet seen, many made note this fleet was not moving nor passing by. It was coming nearer.
Planes, the sounds of planes suddenly, British planes, far more than they had heard in some time, appearing from above the ships and quickly flying inland over their heads. Anti air batteries began spewing their flaming lead into the sky while the British pilots began firing back at the German fortifications as well. While some dove to drop their bombs near the beaches and inland, other more fleet ones circled high above the battlefield, like great protectors, looking for any German resistance from the air to shoot down. There was very little German air resistance, as most had been knocked down in this area over the recent months, or transferred to the battle in the south of France.
As the ships moved ever closer to shore, ever more visible, the British planes dropped their last sorties of bombs and returned across the Channel for home. The fighters then flew above the approaching fleet as guardian angels. Now in the evening darkness, the New Year but a few hours away, the absolute darkness was quickly destroyed by flares high overhead, illuminating the entire coastline like day. With a clear view of their target, the massive guns of the American Navy began to open up on the German defenses with everything they had. To confuse the defenders as to where the actual invasion would come, the American navy hit the entire coastline, from Cherbourg all the way east to Dieppe. But the brunt of the shelling took place along the coast near Bayeux and Ouistreham.
It is safe to say that no New Years eve celebration in Normandy has before or since has come close to the fireworks show that was displayed that night. The sky was lit by flares, by rockets, by the fires of ruined buildings up and down the coast.
In America's War of Independence, while the English and Hessian troops celebrated Christmas, rather than celebrating the holiday themselves, General Washington had his troops cross the Delaware that night, and attack the over imbibed enemy in a surprise attack. New Year's Eve, 1943 saw General Omar Bradley, commander of the U.S. Eight Army take a chapter out of history and duplicate it. The defending enemy having spent guard duty on these shores for four years without incident, with such little risk they had grown used to letting their guard down on certain holidays. Despite in war time mode, complacency set in, as it would for any garrison which spent its past four years looking at nothing but open water. Between taking time out to celebrate the holidays, and Hitler stripping so many troops from the Normandy defense in the past few days, suffice to say the Germans were completely ill prepared for what was coming.
Rather than waiting until the first light of dawn to launch the invasion, Bradley wanted to capitalize on the situation, as limited troops began making their way ashore in Caen just as the new year struck. Intelligence had confirmed that the coast in lower Normandy from Omaha Beach to Le Havre had nearly been completely stripped of its entire defenses by Hitler, most of which were now marching south past Orleans. Minimal manpower was left to man critical machine gun nests and anti air in these regions, but it was hardly enough to put up a fight against what the Allies would be throwing at them. The opening wave at midnight consisted of three total divisions. On the right flank Bradley's 35th Infantry division began coming ashore. It landed three regiments abreast, the 134th to the right on Omaha, 137th in the center and 320th on the left flank. General Rankin's 26th Infantry landed to the west of Ouistreham. Also landing three regiments abreast, the 101st was on the right, 104th in the center and 328th on the left, with orders to land and then secure Ouistreham.
First Wave of the Assault - Midnight
Nearly as soon as the first boats came ashore, the sound of many planes could once again be heard in the night, with a much deeper drone to them. It was an enormous amount of planes that approached, all in formation like a bombing run. Much slower moving than fighters or dive bombers, the citizens at Caen looking up at them in the darkness soon realized they were not there to carpet bomb the German defenses. White parachutes as far as the eye could see began descending down around the Normandy capital. Lt. General Matthew Ridgeway's 82nd Airborne Division were making the first ever American parachute drop behind enemy lines.
Many of the planes found themselves off course in the darkness, and as a result the paratroopers were much more spread out than had been originally intended, but because of the lessened German garrison in the area, it did not prove detrimental. Scattered over a wider range, the defenders estimated them to be considerable more than what they were, forcing the Germans to give them additional attention.
The first few waves of the 35th and 26th infantry came ashore in the darkness with but the lightest of casualties, the defenders clearly not being there in sufficient numbers. Quickly moving inland to secure a beachhead, they tried to set up a proper defensive perimeter well advanced of the water while the next waves of boats came in. Both divisions found little trouble in achieving their objectives, quickly forming an advanced perimeter, the 35th covering the far right flank of the invasion against any incursion by the Hungarians and Romanian forces in Cherbourg. The 328th Regiment, 26th Division focused on securing the left flank of the operation by seizing the town of Ouisterham, while the 104th Regiment moved inland toward Caen to link up with the paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne. As the first lights of dawn began to spread across the sky, and the Romanian commanders in the area tried to make heads and tails of what was happening, the lead elements of both landing divisions had moved inland two miles while the armor began to come ashore. There were no Panzers to greet them at the water, all German armor was on its way towards Vichy at the moment.
The 82nd Airborne did what it was supposed to do, cause complete confusion among the rear echelon defenders. So few in number, this made the American's task so much easier. A division falling out of the sky behind them, the Romanian commanders hesitated at sending their troops towards the shore to fight the invasion, and by time they made up their mind to do so, it was too late to make a difference. Special demolition units of the airborne instantly began working deeper inland looking to wire bridges and cut lines to further delay any enemy reinforcements. In all, every one of the seven divisions of Eighth Army were ashore by the end of the day on January 1st, with merely 250 casualties among ground troops due to enemy fire.
Rest of Army Comes Ashore - Morning Jan 1
A landing on the well fortified Atlantic Wall with only 250 battle casualties was something none of the American field commanders could ever have envisioned. Suffice to say after working on the Wall's defense for years, Rundstedt, Rommel and Heinrici could also have never believed so few Allied casualties in a successful breach of the wall. Such was the will of Hitler, that when he said retake Vichy at all costs, it meant leaving considerable stretches of the Atlantic Wall completely undefended, against all common military logic. Somebody had to break the news to Hitler that his direct order to strip the wall had resulted in a nearly unopposed landing by the Americans who now had a full Army in Normandy. Having been relieved of his command the week prior, Rundstedt sat in his room in Berlin with an early morning glass of brandy thanking the good Lord that it was not his task to send this message to the Fuehrer.
With the resistance on the coast nearly non existent and the tanks ashore without a hitch, Bradley thought to seize the opportunity while the Germans' backs were turned. He immediately ordered the tanks to advance "with all speed" to the south, 3rd Armored heading for Orleans and Crittenberger's 4th Armored to head for the jewel of France, undefended Paris. The 82nd Airborne, now gathered up on the ground and reorganized were ordered to follow the 4th Armored into Paris to help strengthen its defense. Freeman's 5th Motorized Infantry was sent east across the Seine to seize Rouen. Bradley wanted to take as big a bite out of northern France as he could in the opening days, so the Germans heading south took notice and wheeled around, potentially saving the collapsing pocket of Fourth Army. He knew most of the gains, particularly Rouen and Orleans were temporary gains, as they had not the sufficient force to withstand a German counterattack. His hope was to delay the German advance towards Normandy to afford the British time to ferry reinforcements across the Channel to help with the beachhead. As it turned out, the race to seize Rouen was lost, as the 5th Motorized faced serious obstacles laid down by the Germans, and the delays afforded Manteuffel the opportunity to rush out from Lille and take up defensive positions before the Americans arrived. After a very brief battle, outnumbered and overpowered, Freeman turned his division around and returned to Caen.
Battle of Vichy
On January 5th, the attack on Vichy finally came. It was in the midst of an extreme cold front that the Germans attacked, ice covering most of the roadways. On the Allied side, the defense was made up of Patton's 5th Armored Division, the 101st Airborne, the 76th Infantry, and the British 66th Infantry under Heath. Because of the rapid fall of Vichy and the quick allied advance coupled with the poor weather in the south, as well as snares and foul ups in the logistics departments, supplies had been slow to trickle into the city, and the defenders were already feeling the pinch both in food and ammo before the Germans even arrived. On the Axis side, five divisions were used in the attack, led by Hungarian Field Marshall Horvath. It was comprised of one Panzer division, a Panzer Grenadier, one Hungarian and two Romanian infantry divisions. Several of these divisions weeks before had been doing coastal defense along the Atlantic Wall, consequently they were well put together and well armed.
Despite the weather, it was a very one sided affair. Without time to properly use the defenses of the city to their proper advantage as well as in the midst of setting up a change in the government of the capital, they were ill prepared for so soon an attack. The American troops took considerably heavy casualties on all fronts and Patton called a complete retreat within a few hours, vacating the city. The Germans now had Vichy, and the Americans held Paris.
Situation in France - Jan 4, 1944
