5th Panzer Army

Allied Breakout From Normandy | Operation Cobra | 1944 | World War 2 Documentary

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• published: 03 Jun 2013
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►My channel: http://youtube.com/TheBestFilmArchives ►SUBSCRIBE: http://www.youtube.com/TheBestFilmArchives?sub_confirmation=1 ►Google+: http://plus.google.com/+TheBestFilmArchives ►Facebook: http://facebook.com/TheBestFilmArchives ►Twitter: http://twitter.com/BestFilmArch US Army documentary Film on Operation Cobra, in which American forces broke through Normandy after the D-day landings and began their push across Europe in 1944. *************** About Operation Cobra: Operation Cobra was launched by the First United States Army seven weeks after the D-Day landings, during the Normandy Campaign in 1944. American Lieutenant General Omar Bradley's intention was to take advantage of the German preoccupation with British and Canadian activity around the town of Caen, and immediately punch through the German defenses that were penning in his troops while the Germans were distracted and unbalanced. Once a corridor had been created, the First Army would then be able to advance into Brittany, rolling up the German flanks and freeing itself of the constraints imposed by operating in the Norman bocage countryside. After a slow start the operation gathered momentum, and German resistance collapsed as scattered remnants of broken units tried to escape to the Seine. Lacking the resources to cope with the situation, the German response was ineffectual, and the entire Normandy front soon collapsed. Operation Cobra, together with concurrent offensives by the Second British and First Canadian Armies, was decisive in securing an Allied victory in the Normandy Campaign. Having been delayed several times by poor weather, Operation Cobra commenced on 25 July with massive Allied air support. The air support had drawn the bulk of German armored reserves toward the British and Canadian sector, and coupled with the general lack of men and materiel available to the Germans, it was impossible for them to form successive lines of defense. Progress was slow on the first day, but opposition started to crumble once the defensive crust had been broken. By 27 July, most organized resistance had been overcome, and VII and VIII Corps were advancing rapidly, isolating the Cotentin peninsula. By 31 July, XIX Corps had eliminated the last forces opposing the First Army, and Bradley's troops were finally freed from the bocage. Reinforcements were moved west by Field Marshal Günther von Klugeand employed in various counteractions, the largest of which (codenamed Operation Lüttich) was launched on 7 August between Mortain and Avranches. It was mounted by already exhausted and understrength units and had little effect other than to further deplete von Kluge's forces. On 8 August, troops of the newly-activated Third United States Army captured the city of Le Mans, formerly the German Seventh Army's headquarters. Then Operation Cobra transformed into a rapid maneuver, and led to the creation of the Falaise pocket and the loss of the German position in northwestern France. About Operation Overlord: Operation Overlord was the code name for the invasion of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe in 1944. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune, commonly known as D-Day). A 1,200-plane airborne invasion preceded the amphibious landing involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than three million allied troops were in France by the end of August. The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion in 1944 was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, and General Bernard Montgomery was named as commander of the 21st Army Group, which comprised all the land forces involved in the invasion. The Normandy coast was chosen as the site of the invasion, with the Americans assigned to land at Utah and Omaha Beaches, the British at Sword and Gold Beaches, and Canadians at Juno Beach. German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was placed in charge of developing fortifications all along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion. The Allies failed to reach their goals for the first day, but gained a tenuous foothold that they gradually expanded as they captured the port at Cherbourg on 26 June and the city of Caen on 21 July. A failed counteraction by German forces on 8 August led to 50,000 soldiers of the German 7th Army and the Fifth Panzer Army being encircled by the Allies in the Falaise pocket. The Allies launched an invasion of southern France (Operation Dragoon) on 15 August, and the Liberation of Paris followed on 25 August. German forces retreated across the Seine on 30 August 1944, marking the close of Operation Overlord. Allied Breakout From Normandy | Operation Cobra | 1944 | World War 2 Documentary