Operation Cobra: The Battle After D-Day Everyone Forgets About

ABATTBQ87 said:

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Operation Cobra: The Battle After D-Day Everyone Forgets About

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and the 200 some odd American casualties inflicted by friendly fire pre attack bombing runs.

In all, short bombs killed 111 Americans, including Lt. Gen. Leslie J. McNair who had come to Europe to assume command of the newly forming American Ninth Army and wounded 490 more. Moreover, the close proximity of American troops to the intensive bombing caused 164 post-traumatic shock cases in the 30th Infantry Division, further reducing their combat efficiency.

Thanks for posting this.

A couple of years ago, I finally sat down with ancestry.com and did a family tree. I got all the way back to the 1300s. But of more recent vintage, I learned that my paternal grandfather had a brother who was KIA 25-July-1944 at St. Lo, France. Looks like this is probably the battle in which he was killed.

My dear old Dad served in 330th Inf, part of 83rd Div. They were just west of the boxed area about 800 yards from pieres st lo highway. Their assignment was to cut the road as soon as the bombing was over. When the time to move out came they got 50 yards then were stopped. Took three days to get across the road. Then all the Nazies bugged out and that was that.

When at Army Command and Staff Collage, down in the WW2 archives at Fort Leavenworth, I remember finding an amazing quote from a German officer who was recounting the intense ferocity of the American attack during COBRA. The quote was from a post war interview. I'll try to find and post the quote.

interested in this..