Table Of ContentUTAH BEACH
TO
CHERBOURG
6 - 27 JUNE 1944
MIlJTARl' l~
CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY
UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C. , 1990
First printed by the Historical Division, War Department,
for the American Forces in Action series, 1948
CMH Pub 100-12
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402
Foreword to CMH Edition
Utah Beach to Cherbourg is one of a series of fourteen studies of
World War II operations originally published by the War Department's
Historical Division and now returned to print as part of the Army's
commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of that momentous clash
of arms. These volumes, prepared by professional historians shortly
after the events described, provide a concise summary of some of the
major campaigns and battles fought by American soldiers. The skill-
ful combination of combat interviews with primary sources, many
of which are now lost, gives these unassuming narratives a special im-
portance to military historians. The careful analysis of key operations
provides numerous lessons for today's military students.
I am pleased that this entire group of studies will once again be
available. I urge all military students and teachers to use them to
enhance our collective awareness of the skill, leadership, daring, and
professionalism exhibited by our military forebears.
Washington, D.c. HAROLD W. NELSON
15 September 1989 Colonel, FA
Chief of Military History
111
FOREWORD
In a nation at war, teamwork by the whole people is necessary for victory.
But the issue is decided on the battlefield, toward which all nalional effort
leads. The country's fate lies in the hands of its soldier citizens; in the clash
of battle is found the final test of plans, training, equipment, and-above
all-the fighting spirit of units and individuals.
AMERICAN FORCES IN ACTION SERIES presents detailed accounts
of particular combat operations of United States forces. To the American
public, this "ecord of high achievement by men who served their Nation well
is presented as a preface to the full military history of World War II. To
the soldiers who took part in the operations concerned, these narratives will
give the opportunity to see more clearly the results of orders which they
obeyed and of sacrifices which they and their comrades made, in perform-
ance of missions that find their meaning in the outcome of a larger plan of
battle.
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Chief of Staff
United States Army
v
Department of the Army
Historical Division
Washington 25, D. C.
1 October 1947
Utah Beach to Cherbo!lrg, thirteenth in the series called American Forces
iI. Action, is the last of three narratives dealing with U.S. military operations
in Normandy. Intended as a companion volume to Omaha Beachhead, pub-
lished in 1946, the present study rounds out the account of the landings at corps
level and below and relates the course of VII Corps combat operations which
resulted in the capture of Cherbourg on 27 June 1944. The third volume,
St-La, relates the operations of a single corps in the First Army's offensive
during the first three weeks in July, designed to deepen the lodgment area
preparatory to the great breakthrough from Normandy.
Utah Beach to Cherbo!lrg is the work of Maj. Roland G. Ruppenthal,
member of the 2d Information and Historical Service, attached to the First
Army. The manuscript was edited under the supervision of Lt. Gordon Har-
rison of the Historical Section, European Theater of Operations, and in the
Historical Division, War Department Special Staff. Although as published this
book contains no documentation, the original manuscript, fully documented,
is on file in the Department of the Army. The sources on which the narrative is
based consist primarily of the official records of the units involved and of data
collected by the writer and other historical officers in the field through inter-
views with participants in the action. Material on the enemy was derived
chiefly from the War Diary of the German Seventh Army, which was cap-
tured in August 1944 by Polish forces at Falaise; from interviews with high-
ranking German commanders; and from the war diaries of divisional units en-
countered in the Cotentin Peninsula. Of the American division records, only
those of the 9th and 4th Divisions constitute adequate historical evidence. Only
the barest outline of the 79th Division's operations is obtainable from official
documents, and there were only scattered official records of the two airborne
divisions. The gap in the records of the airborne division was largely filled by
voluminous material gathered in interviews by Col. S. L. A. Marshall in the field
shortly after the action. Supplementary data on the 9th and 4th Divisions were
gathered by the author in the field, and additional material on the 4th Division
made available by its historian, Lt. Col. William T. Gayle. No interviews were
held in the 90th Division, and in the 79th Division a first-hand account of one
regiment's action was not obtained until 1947. The paucity of material on these
two divisions was keenly felt because of the inadequacy of their official records.
VI
Despite prolonged research and care exercised in the assembly of materials,
it is recognized that the information is not complete in all details and may
involve minor errors of fact. Since the present narrative constitutes a prelimi-
nary study on which will be based a portion of the final Department of the
Army history now in preparation, readers who have additional or corrective
information are urged to send it directly to the Historical Division, Depart-
ment of the Army, Washington 25, D. C.
The maps were prepared in the Cartographic Section of the His-
torical Division, under the supervision of Mr. Wsevolod Aglaimoff.
Photographs were selected by Capt. Robert Bodell from the following
sources: Army Signal Corps, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast
Guard, Acme News Pictures, The Associated Press, and Life.
VII
CONTENTS
Page
LAUNCHING THE INVASION . 1
Tactical Aspects of the Terrain )
Enemy Defellses 4
Tbe VII Cor!" Pia" . 7
MoulIting tbe Operatiou 12
THE AIRBORNE ASSAULT 14
T be 101 sl Airborne Division La"ds 14
Figbti1tg for tbe Nortbern Beacb Exil! 17
Cal)/ure 0/ tbe Sou/bern Df:Qch Exits . 20
Securing the Southern Flan/{ . . . . 2)
The 82d Airborne Division AstTitle /be Men/erct . )0
Tb(, Ca/J lure of Sic. Mhe-Eglise . . . . . . . )1
Along Ibe Merder,t . . . . . . . . . . J4
The Airbortl(, Divisions at fIx End of D Day 41
THE SEABORNE ASSAULT . . . . . . . . 4)
Task. Force U Moves 111 4)
Clearing tbe Beacbcs . 47
The 4th Division Pusbes /nlo m/ 50
The Landing in Relros/)('c/ . . 55
GeTman Reaction 10 Ibc Landin gs 57
SECURING THE BEACHHEAD (D PLUS I) 61
Tbe 82ml Division at SIc. Mi:re-Eglise . .. 61
The I21b and 22d Infantr)1 Regim ents Pursue' T!Jrir D-Day Objrcth'l's . 65
T/;" Sou/bern FJall/{ 011 D Plus J . . . 7 1
Tbe Bc(/cbheod at tbe Eud of D PIll S 1 74
THE BATTLE FOR CARENTAN (8-15 JUNE ) 77
St . Come-dl/-Moul . .... 77
Tbe Causeway AI/ad?. . . . . . . . . . . . 78
The Left-\'(Iillg Attack on Carentan . .... . 87
Securing Carentau 90
IX
