4. Normandy, France, June – July 1944
The Battle for Normandy which began on June 6 1944 is generally agreed to have lasted until the third week of July. Allied troops fought their way ashore on the Normandy beaches and began moving inland almost immediately, where they encountered something the planners had not adequately taken into account – the hedgerows of the bocage country. While the British concentrated on taking the French town of Caen, which delayed the advance into France for several weeks, the Americans turned toward the capture of the port of Cherbourg. The foothold of the beachhead was expanded rapidly and troops and supplies continued to pour ashore, using the beaches themselves and two artificial harbors, called “mulberries”. But the advancing troops met heavy German resistance at all points, and poor weather often grounded their air support.
Winston Churchill had predicted that the combined casualties of the Allied troops, which included French commandos, and troops from other allied nations, would be about 20,000. The casualties for the first day were heavy, particularly at the American sector of Omaha Beach, and the fighting on French soil, particularly in the bocage – which were ideal for defensive fighting – continued to be high throughout the end of the battle for Normandy. When the operation ended in July, to be soon replaced by the battle across France, 16,293 Americans had been killed in the battle, ranking as the highest of the war to that date, higher than any of the battles of the Pacific War. The fighting continued in the battle of France, which yielded yet higher casualties among the Americans before the end of the year.