The Battle of Saint-Lô 1944 | Hill 192, Normandy Bocage & the Major of St-Lô (Animated)

The Battle of Saint-Lô, July 1944. Six weeks after D-Day, the Allied advance through Normandy had stalled in the bocage - hedgerow country where every field was a fortress and every advance was paid for by the yard. To break out of Normandy, the American First Army needed Saint-Lô, the road junction of lower Normandy and the springboard for Operation Cobra. This animated map documentary follows the battle through the units that fought it: the 30th Infantry Division's defence of the Vire bridgehead against the Panzer Lehr Division; the 2nd Infantry Division's assault on Hill 192 against the paratroopers of the 3rd Fallschirmjäger Division; the 29th Infantry Division's drive down the Martinville Ridge and the rescue of the Lost Battalion at La Madeleine; the 134th Infantry, 35th Division at Hill 122; and Task Force C's entry into the ruined town on 18 July 1944 - led by Brigadier General Norman Cota, and carrying the body of Major Thomas Howie, the Major of Saint-Lô. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Front 0:27 Panzer Lehr Strikes the Vire 1:35 Hill 192 3:13 The Martinville Ridge & the Lost Battalion 4:27 Major Howie's Relief 5:35 Hill 122 6:56 The Fall of Saint-Lô 7:56 The Capital of Ruins SOURCES & FURTHER READING Martin Blumenson — Breakout and Pursuit (U.S. Army Center of Military History) St-Lô (7 July – 19 July 1944), CMH Pub 100-13 (U.S. Army Center of Military History) Joseph Balkoski — Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy Glover S. Johns — The Clay Pigeons of St. Lô IMAGE CREDITS Major Thomas Howie, Saint-Lô — U.S. Army Signal Corps, National Archives (111-SC-191896), public domain. Ruins of Saint-Lô — Conseil Régional de Basse-Normandie / National Archives USA. #WW2 #History #Normandy #SaintLo #WWII #BattleOfNormandy #MilitaryHistory #AnimatedHistory