The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (130 page)

After nearly seven weeks
:
TSC
, 189–93; Everett S. Hughes to wife, July 22, 1944, Hughes papers, LOC, box 2;
VW
, vol. 1, 353 (“
Allies in France Bogged Down
”); Daglish,
Operation Goodwood
, 11 (“
limited meaning
”); Trafford Leigh-Mallory, “Daily Reflections on the Course of the Battle,” July 28, 1944, UK NA, AIR 37/784 (“
The fault with us
”).

“
Then we must change our leaders
”: “Excerpts from Diary, D/SAC,” July 21, 1944, NARA RG 319,
TSC
background files, 2-3.7 CB 8; Orange,
Tedder: Quietly in Command
, 271 (“
I do not believe
”); Tedder,
With Prejudice
, 566; Kershaw,
Hitler, 1936–45: Nemesis
, 693 (
at least two hundred others
); Warlimont,
Inside Hitler’s Headquarters
, 477; Evans,
The Third Reich at War
, 642–43; Megargee,
Inside Hitler’s High Command
, 222 (
stiff-armed Nazi
Heil). Martin Gilbert put the number of executed at more than five thousand (
The Second World War
, 558). Andrew Roberts reports that fifty-eight hundred linked to the plot were arrested in 1944, and a similar number in 1945 (
The Storm of War
, 482).

“
What do your people think
”: D’Este,
Decision in Normandy
, 398; Chandler, 2020(n) (“
get on his bicycle
”), 2018–19 (“
Time is vital
”), 2026 (“
I could lie down
”).

The Bright Day Grew Dark

Wearing the West Point bathrobe
: corr, Chester B. Hansen to wife, n.d., CBH, MHI; diary, CBH, July 28 & 12, 1944, MHI, box 4 (
sedatives at bedtime
and “
biggest thing
”); Pyle,
Brave Men
, 213 (“
frightful country ahead
”); Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 330; OH, ONB, June 7, 1956, CBM, NARA RG 319, OCMH, 2-3.7, box 184; Whitehead, “
Beachhead Don
,” 136 (
long beech twig
).

“
Take all the time you need, Brad
”: OH, M. Dempsey, March 28, 1952, B. H. Liddell Hart, UK NA, CAB 106/1061; OH, J. Lawton Collins, 1972, Charles C. Sperow, SOOHP, MHI, 195 (
bocage copse
); Weigley,
Eisenhower’s Lieutenants
, 162–63; memo, B. L. Montgomery to ONB, July 21, 1944, NARA RG 407, ML, box 24143; DDE to ONB, July 24, 1944, in
BP
, 331 (“
Pursue every advantage
”). The attack sector chosen by Bradley also avoided the area’s larger rivers. Prados,
Normandy Crucible
, 86.

That advantage lay mainly in airpower
: Davis,
Bombing the European Axis Powers
, 386; Carafano,
After D-Day
, 102 (
more than one hundred howitzers
); Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 341 (
fifteen hundred heavies
);
AAFinWWII
, 231 (
swatch five miles wide
); diary, CBH, July 19, 1944, MHI, box 4 (
bomb every sixteen feet
).

Very little in Bradley’s vision appealed
: Report of Investigation, Aug. 14, 1944, HQ, USSAFE, Frederick L. Anderson Papers, HIA, box 84, folder 10, 1–2, 5–6; “Handbook for Bombardiers,” TM 1-251, March 31, 1941, Frederick L. Anderson Papers, HIA, box 93; “Use of Heavy Bombers in a Tactical Role,” Oct. 1944, SHAEF, NARA RG 334, E 315, ANSCOL, box 94 (
Only if the planes attacked perpendicular
); report, signature illegible, July 27, 1944, UK NA, AIR 37/762 (“
between the Army’s legs
”).

Bradley agreed to pull his assault battalions
:
BP
, 220–21. An AAF colonel reported warning Bradley that 3 percent of the bombs would fall short, but he mistakenly believed that Bradley had acceded to a perpendicular flight path, whereas Bradley still believed the bombers would attack parallel to the road, which would make “short” drops less risky. OH, John R. De Russey, Eighth AF liaison officer, Sept. 9–12, 1947, NARA RG 319,
CCA
background files.

“
nothing more than tools to be used
”: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 154; Pyle,
Brave Men
, 214 (“
I’ve spent thirty years
”).

Pyle spent Monday night, July 24
: Pyle,
Brave Men
, 296; Tobin,
Ernie Pyle’s War
, 199 (“
your own small quota
”); Cawthon, “July, 1944: St. Lô,”
American Heritage
(June 1974): 4
+
(“
they area
”).

Now he had returned to the front
: Field Order 44, 305th Bomb Group, July 25, 1944, NARA RG 18, AAF WWII, 190/58/17/1, box 925; “Investigation of Bombing of Ground Troops,” Aug. 16, 1944, FUSA IG, NARA RG 338, FUSA AG gen’l corr., box 216;
BP
, 222–23 (
Allied white-star insignia
); corr, J. H. Phillips to Ray E. Porter, WD, May 6, 1944, James H. Phillips papers, HIA (
geometric design
).

“
like kids at a football game
”: Carafano,
After D-Day
, 119; Nichols, ed.,
Ernie’s War
, 333; Tobin,
Ernie Pyle’s War
, 195 (“
heavy rip
”).

Not much had gone right with
COBRA
: “World Battlefronts, Western Front,”
Time
(Dec. 4, 1944) (
three barometers
).

Flying from Stanmore
: Sullivan, “The Botched Air Support of Operation COBRA,”
Parameters
(March 1988): 97
+
; Davis,
Carl A. Spaatz and the Air War in Europe
, 470–72; AAR, 305th Bomb Group, July 24, 1944, NARA RG 18, AAF WWII, 190/58/17/1, box 925 (“
not to bomb short
”); memo, “Bombing Errors Committed on the Normandy Battle Front, 24 July 1944,” HQ, Eighth AF, July 30, 1944, Frederick L. Anderson papers, HIA, box 84, folder 10 (
chaff bundle smacked the nose
); “The Effectiveness of Third Phase Tactical Air Operations,” AAF Evaluation Board, Aug. 1945, NARA RG 334, E 315, ANSCOL, box 15; “Investigation of Bombing of Ground Troops,” Aug. 16, 1944, FUSA IG, NARA RG 338, FUSA AG gen’l corr, box 216 (“
As a fiasco
”).

Bradley’s fury knew no bounds
: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 347; Bradley and Blair,
A General’s Life
, 278–79; memo, ONB, July 25, 1944, in diary, CBH, MHI, box 4 (
At 10:30
P.M.
he phoned Bradley
); T. Leigh-Mallory to ONB, July 19, 1944, UK NA, AIR 37/762 (
had left that meeting early
);
BP
, 229–37.

From his farmyard redoubt
: Tobin,
Ernie Pyle’s War
, 198; Pyle,
Brave Men
, 298–301 (“
Goddammit
”).

The star-crossed 30th Division took more casualties
: Hewitt,
Workhorse of the Western Front
, 36–37.

“
that awful rush of wind
”: Sullivan, “The Botched Air Support of Operation COBRA,”
Parameters
(March 1988): 97
+
;
History of the 120th Infantry Regiment
, 35–36 (
Bombs entombed men
); Alosi,
War Birds
, 64 (
cows into trees
); Regan,
Blue on Blue
, 166–67 (“
beating you with a club
”); “Investigation of Bombing of Ground Troops,” Aug. 16, 1944, FUSA IG, NARA RG 338, FUSA AG gen’l corr, box 216 (
body part
); “Operations of 30th Infantry Division, 24 Jul–1 Aug 1944,” n.d., CMH, 8-3.1, part 5, 6–7 (“
American Luftwaffe
”).

Just over fifteen hundred heavies dropped
: Sullivan, “The Botched Air Support of Operation COBRA,”
Parameters
(March 1988): 97
+
;
BP
, 236–37 (
three dozen bombed American troops
);
AAFinWWII
, 233–34 (
forty-two medium bombers
); Juliette Hennessy, “Tactical Operations of the Eighth Air Force,” 1952, AFHRA, historical study no. 70, 53–56 (
Red marking smoke
); diary, July 25, 1944, Hoyt S. Vandenberg papers, LOC MS Div, box 1 (
five-knot southerly breeze
); Sylvan, 68–71; diary, CBH, July 25, 1944, MHI, box 4 (
corpse was spotted sixty-five feet away
); DDE to GCM, July 26, 1944, GCM Lib, box 67, folder 10 (“
I warned him time and again
”); Individual Deceased Personnel File, Lesley J. McNair, a.p. under FOIA, U.S. Army Human Resources Command, Dec. 2008 (“
6 Lt. Gen. stars
”).

By the time the last medium bomber flew off
:
BP
, 222–23; Pyle,
Brave Men
, 301 (“
Anybody makes mistakes
”).

“
That’s a job for artillery
”: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 349.

“
I fired three rounds and they all bounced off
”: Hewitt,
Workhorse of the Western Front
, 37;
History of the 120th Infantry Regiment
, 37 (“
Just his legs
”);
BP
, 246 (
no more than a mile
); Kenneth W. Hechler, “VII Corps in Operation COBRA,” n.d., CMH, 8-3.1 AK, part 2 (“
enemy artillery was not touched
”).

Africa veterans like Eisenhower and Bradley
: Reardon, ed.,
Defending Fortress Europe
, mss, 179 (“
worn out
”);
BP
, 240 (
flipping tanks
); James Hodgson, “Thrust-Counterthrust: The Battle of France (21 Jul–25 Aug 44),” March 1955, NARA RG 319, R-58, 20–21 (“
half-crazed soldiers
”); Spayd,
Bayerlein
, 167 (“
Everything was burned
” and “
Only the dead can still hold
”); “Air Power in the ETO,” USFET General Board study no. 56, n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, 97-USF5-0.30, 16–17 (
70 percent of his men
). An Eighth Air Force study put German physical casualties at less than 10 percent. Kenneth W. Hechler, “VII Corps in Operation COBRA,” n.d., CMH, 8-3.1 AK, part 2 (“
conveyor-belt bombing
” and “
feeling of helplessness
”).

Unaware of the size of the American host
: Kenneth W. Hechler, “VII Corps in Operation COBRA,” n.d., CMH, 8-3.1 AK, part 2; Bennett,
Ultra in the West
, 43; Hinsley, 500 (
thirty Allied divisions
).

“
The front has, so to speak, burst
”: James Hodgson, “Thrust-Counterthrust: The Battle of France (21 Jul–25 Aug 44),” March 1955, NARA RG 319, R-58, appendix, 30.

Collins had massed 120,000 troops
: Kenneth W. Hechler, “VII Corps in Operation COBRA,” n.d., CMH, 8-3.1 AK, part 2; “List of Weapons Available to VII Corps for the Attack of July 25,” Aug. 4, 1944, NARA RG 407, AFIA, 2-3.7 BG (
six hundred artillery tubes
); “Artillery in Operation Cobra,” n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427, ML #2229 (
140,000 rounds
); Cooper,
Death Traps
, 51–52 (
rugged tusks
); Mark J. Reardon, “Conquering the Hedgerows,” ts, 2009, a.p.; Mayo,
The Ordnance Department
, 254–55 (
oxygen acetylene cylinders
);
AAFinWWII
, 239–41 (“
hazing the Hun
”).

Collins had not planned to launch
: Persons, “St. Lô Breakthrough,”
Military Review
(Dec. 1948): 13
+
; OH, J. Lawton Collins, 1972, Charles C. Sperow, SOOHP, MHI, 196–99; Collins,
Lightning Joe
, 242–43;
BP
, 246; Hewitt,
Workhorse of the Western Front
, 41 (
feeling for booby traps
).

With the new day, the American onslaught
: Doubler,
Busting the Bocage
, 58 (“
Russian style
”); Weigley,
Eisenhower’s Lieutenants
, 155 (
under three minutes
); “Operations of 30th Infantry Division, 24 Jul–1 Aug 1944,” n.d., CMH, 8-3.1, part 5, 18 (
sunken road to St.-Gilles
);
BP
, 253–54, 275 (
killed the Das Reich commander
); Seventh Army documents, July 26, 1944, NARA RG 407, ML #488, box 24154 (
seven punctures
); Hart,
Clash of Arms
, 390 (
abandonment of two Panther companies
); Kenneth W. Hechler, “VII Corps in Operation COBRA,” n.d., CMH, 8-3.1 AK, part 2 (
no further reinforcements
).

“
Rem
”
—remnants
: Benjamin A. Dickson, “G-2 Journal: Algiers to the Elbe,” MHI, 130;
BP
, 250–51 (“
busted wide open
”).

French farmers flitted
: Schrijvers,
The Crash of Ruin
, 194; George E. McIntyre, “As Mac Saw It,” ts, n.d., MHI, 273–74 (
copies of
Life); Hastings,
OVERLORD
, 261–62 (“
holes in his head
”).

On Friday enemy forces leaked to the rear
:
BP
, 278–79, 287 (“
Things on our front really look good
”).

Ahead lay Avranches
: Abram et al.,
The Rough Guide to France
, 389;
BP
, 308 (“
We face a defeated enemy
”), 323 (“
It’s a madhouse here
”), 333 (
ten thousand tactical air sorties
).

Ministers of Thy Chastisement