WWII: Cherbourg Liberated - 1944 | Today in History | 27 June 16

Thank you my friend SGT (Join to see) for posting the documentary focused on the liberation of the port Cherbourg, France from Nazis and Vichy French occupation.
IN addition to other capabilities, Cherbourg had submarine pens which enabled U-boats to conduct raids and return to a port on the coast of the English Channel.
Losing this capability hurt the Kriegsmarine efforts.
This enabled the allies repair the severely damaged port and use it. 'It would take Allied engineers three to four weeks before small ships could make use of the docks, and two months before larger ships could enter. The waters were also ridden ridden with German naval mines, requiring deep-sea divers to clear. "The work of the mine sweepers and the deep-sea divers in Cherbourg Harbor was dramatic and courageous", Eisenhower later said of the operations to restore the usefulness of the harbor for Allied causes.'

BATTLE OF CHERBOURG, FRANCE ; GEN. DWIGHT D. EISNHOWER VISITS 2ND INF DIV, FRANCE 7/1/ - LMWWIIHD149
Filename: LMWWIIHD149 - To order in HD Prores 422 - 4:3 Pillarbox visit HDArchives.com
Battle of Cherbourg, France, Eisenhower visit the 2nd infantry division in Cerisy, France, July 2, 1944; Invasion Preparations on ship June 5, 1944; Eisenhower visits the 101st june 5, 1944
"DESTROYED BOMBED OUT CHERBOURG SMOKE IN DISTANCE CHERBOURG US SOLDIERS WALKING IN CHERBOURG IKE IN JEEP SALUTES AS PASSING IN FRANCE MEETING 2ND INFANTRY DIVISION BRADLEY, IKE IKE, 2ND INF DIV, NEAR CRISY-LA FORET 7.2.44 6.5.44 JUST BEFORE DDAY PREPARING US SOLDIERS JUMPING JACKS ON SHIP US SOLDIERS PUNCHING ON SHIP US SOLDIER AEROBICS ON SHIP US SOLDIERS PREPPING MACHINE GUN IKE VISITS AND TALKS TO THE 101ST AIRBORNE JUNE 5, 1944 "
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dlhngRnQEg

Images:
1. Aerial reconnaissance photograph of Cherbourg city and harbor, taken on 21 June 1944
2. Captain Earl Topley looking at a German soldier who had killed three of his men before his own death, Cherbourg, France, 27 Jun 1944
3. View of the railway ferry terminal in the harbor of Cherbourg, France, 8 Jul 1944, showing German gun emplacements and damage from demolitions and bombs
4. Unfinished German submarine pen at Cherbourg, France, 30 Jun 1944

Background from {[ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=2]}
Cherbourg
18-29 Jun 1944
Cherbourg was a major port on the Cotentin Penninsula, with waters deep enough for large Allied transports to dock and transport in large amounts of supplies. By 18 Jun, Major General Collins of the US Army led his VII Corps and took control of all major roads leading into Cherbourg, starting the siege on the German defenders in that port city. Despite the stubborn bravery and the effective use of pillboxes and artillery positions on the part of the Germans, the Americans made slow progress. On 19 Jul, German General Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben pulled back all his forces into the city itself to concentrate his remaining forces. The German forces were well-dug in along a series of hills, field fortifications, bunkers, and former V-1 rocket launching sites. To soften the defenses, the Allies bombarded the area heavily. Starting at 1240 hours 22 Jun, Typhoon and Mustang aircraft of the 2nd Tactical Air Force of the Royal Air Force conducted 25 minutes of intense rocket and strafing attacks, followed by 55 minutes of bombing and strafing by 562 American P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang aircraft, and then 11 groups of B-26 Marauder bombers of the US 9th Air Force bombed the general area at 1400 hours. The ground troops advanced during the air attack, and they reported that the Germans were so well dug in that the aerial bombardment seemed to have done little to loosen the defenses. It took two days of hard fighting for the Americans to breach the outer defenses.

On 25 Jun, a German medical officer accompanied by a captured American pilot came out under a white flag to request that the German naval hospital be spared from shelling, and he also asked for a supply of plasma to treat the wounded. The officer was allowed to return with the plasma he requested, and he also brought back into Cherbourg a letter demanding immediate surrender. At this time, although besieged, Schlieben believed that his men could hold up for at least another month or two due to the terrain and fortifications that favored the defenders. However, even as Schlieben was reading the demands, Americans had begun another assault, and the German defenses suddenly crumbled. German officers ordered port facilities burned, and the fires lit up the skies. On 26 Jun, men of the US 9th and 79th Divisions silenced the German artillery positions at Fort de Roule after a tough fight. On the same day, street fighting within Cherbourg began. Adding to the frustration of house-to-house urban fighting was the presence of coastal guns that were still firing on American positions. As the Americans learned from captured German soldiers that Schlieben was commanding the defense from a bunker in St Sauveur, the Americans focused their attacks at that direction. As they reached near the tunnel entrance to the bunker, the Americans sent a German prisoner into the bunker to demand surrender, which was refused. M-10 tank destroyers were brought forward to fire high explosive rounds at the bunker, which finally broke the German spirit. 800 German officers and men surrendered, including Schlieben, Admiral Hennecke, and their staff officers. The remaining German forces around the city gradually gave up as they learned the news of Schlieben's surrender. Cherbourg fell under Allied control on 29 Jun, capturing 10,000 German prisoners in the final days of combat in that city.

Though the city was targeted for its deep water ports, the capture did not provide immediately benefits due to the extensive damage caused by German sabotage that began during the night of 25-26 Jun. It would take Allied engineers three to four weeks before small ships could make use of the docks, and two months before larger ships could enter. The waters were also ridden ridden with German naval mines, requiring deep-sea divers to clear. "The work of the mine sweepers and the deep-sea divers in Cherbourg Harbor was dramatic and courageous", Eisenhower later said of the operations to restore the usefulness of the harbor for Allied causes."

Timeline
14 Jun 1944 American troops captured Carentan, France.
15 Jun 1944 Before dawn, 325 Lancaster bombers of RAF Bomber Command attacked Le Havre, France sinking the torpedo boats Falke, Jaguar, and Möwe of the German 5th Torpedo Boat Flotilla and 14 other smaller schnellboots of the 5th and 9th Flotillas, plus many auxiliary naval craft and harbour vessels. During the day, US VIII Corps (Major General Troy Middleton) became operational with the 90th Infantry Division and both US Airborne Divisions under its command, and was tasked with protecting the rear of the imminent attack to capture Cherbourg.
17 Jun 1944 Omar Bradley's American troops succeeded in reaching the sea on the western shore of the Cotentin Peninsula at Barneville, slicing the peninsula completely across and cutting off France's major naval base and arsenal at Cherbourg from the German army to the south.
18 Jun 1944 US First Army isolated Cherbourg, France.
19 Jun 1944 The US Mulberry Harbor at Omaha Beach off Normandy, France was wrecked by a storm. By this date, however, the Allies had 20 divisions ashore in France, while the Germans fielded only 16 in the region.
20 Jun 1944 The Americans launched their first attack on Cherbourg, France.
22 Jun 1944 The Americans launched a major attack on Cherbourg, France. Allied aircraft dropped over 1,000 tons of bombs on the city during the attack.
25 Jun 1944 Operation Epsom began with British Second Army's offensive near Caen, France. To the west, with naval gunfire support, American ground forces engaged in street fighting in Cherbourg.
26 Jun 1944 General von Schlieben, commander of the German garrison in Cherbourg, France, was captured by US troops.
27 Jun 1944 In France, US troops captured Cherbourg while British forces took Hill 112 near Caen. Elsewhere in France, the British 3rd Infantry Division and tanks launched Operation Mitten to seize two German occupied chateaus, la Londe and la Landel; the evening assault was repulsed."

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC (Join to see) Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen LTC Greg Henning LTC Jeff Shearer LTC (Join to see) LTC Wayne Brandon Maj Robert Thornton Maj William W. 'Bill' Price Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj Marty Hogan MSgt Robert "Rock" Aldi SMSgt Lawrence McCarter SPC Margaret Higgins SGT Steve McFarland CPL Dave Hoover Cpl (Join to see) Cpl Bryan Kirk PVT Mark Zehner

Excellent WWII history share brother David

Thanks for The History Share