Operation Cobra

The grind of the bacage fighting in western France and the battle of attrition to the east was weighing heavily upon the allied command. Clearly, something had to be done. General Omar Bradley, usually known to be methodical and conservative in his planning, came up with an ambitious plan to break out of the grind. Operation Cobra was to apply the highest level of artillery and air power ordinance into a roughly one by three mile box outside of Avranches. The plan started out slowly at first, but then turned into a rout of the Germans. Territorial gains which previously took weeks were accomplished in days and hours.

The germans headed east as fast as they could. Then, under a direct command from Hitler, they regrouped and performed a counter attack. Operation Luttich was intended to regain Avranches, but the Americans stopped the drive west in Mortain. The Americans held them back, but the ci\ost was high for those holding ground by the Chapelle Pettite on a hilltop east of town.

We ended the day’s tour with a stop at a British Commonwealth cemetery where we paid our respects to the brave young men from Britain, Canada and Australia.