St Lô 1944

The Battle of the Hedgerows

St Lô 1944 cover

St Lô 1944

The Battle of the Hedgerows

Description

A highly illustrated study of the attritional fighting in the bocage country for the vital crossroads of St Lô, for any enthusiast of land warfare in World War II.

Following the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, the First US Army engaged in a six-week struggle to break out of the Normandy beach-head. The hedgerow country of lower Normandy, called the Bocage, presented unanticipated tactical problems since it proved to be ideal for German infantry defense.

This book examines the brutal attritional struggle in June-July 1944 to overcome the determined German defense and secure St Lô. The city was the site of a crucial cross-roads and was thus a vital target for the invading Allied forces; the initial bombing attacks were so severe that the journalist and poet Samuel Beckett would later report that it had been 'bombed out of existence in one night'. The attack by ground forces turned into a brutal attritional struggle to overcome the determined German defense.

Using full-colour artwork, photographs and maps, this is the engaging story of one of the key engagements in the Battle of Normandy.

Table of Contents

Origins of the campaign

Chronology
Opposing commanders
Opposing armies
Orders of battle
Opposing plans
The campaign
Aftermath
The battlefields today

Further reading
Index

Product details

Published 29 Jun 2017
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 96
ISBN 9781472816948
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations 50 b/w; 8 col
Series Campaign
Short code CAM 308
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Steven J. Zaloga

Steven J. Zaloga received his BA in History from U…

Illustrator

Johnny Shumate

Johnny Shumate works as a freelance illustrator li…

Resources

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