From D-Day to V-Day
June 1944
June 30, 1944 - D-Day + 24
On June 30, 1944, Field Marshal Montgomery, the Commander of the 21st Army Group, ordered the US First Army to attack enemy forces in the Villers-Bocage area while the British Second Army tried to conquer Caen.
more informationJune 29, 1944 - D-Day + 23
US VII Corps troops, with the 9th Infantry Division’s 47th Infantry Regiment on the right and the 60th Infantry Regiment in the center, attacked Cap de la Hague.
more informationJune 28, 1944 - D-Day + 22
The 79th Infantry Division of the US VII Corps, which made a significant contribution to the takeover of Cherbourg, was reassigned south to the US VIII Corps area. The 9th Infantry Division continued to prepare its attack on Cap de la Hague.
more informationJune 27, 1944 - D-Day + 21
It’s June 27, 1944. For three weeks now, a fierce battle has been underway between the Allied troops and the German defense forces in Normandy, France. The situation is becoming complicated because the front is not advancing as quickly as the commanders of the Allied Expeditionary Forces had wished.
more informationJune 26, 1944 - D-Day + 20
On the day after the US troops penetrated Cherbourg, the soldiers of the VII Corps added a very impressive name to their list of victories – Cherbourg.
more informationJune 25, 1944 - D-Day + 19
In the US VII Corps sector, the naval and land artillery that in recent days had been shelling targets in and around the besieged city of Cherbourg, finally fell quiet on June 25, 1944. In the course of the day, air bombing missions had also been halted as the defense line surrounding the city was broken and one US attack force after another started to make their way into Cherbourg.
more informationJune 24, 1944 - D-Day + 18
The soldiers of the US VII Corps finally entered Cherbourg on June 24, 1944. The 60th Infantry Regiment from the 9th Infantry Division cleared the northern part of the city bordering on the sea, while its “sister” 39th and 47th Regiments advanced to the center of the city (the 47th Infantry Regiment headed towards the fortress of Equeurdreville and the Redoute des Fourches, and the 39th Infantry Regiment towards Octeville).
more informationJune 23, 1944 - D-Day + 17
It’s June 23, 1944. The skies over the beaches of picturesque Normandy were starting to break; the storm that had been rocking the area for the past several days here destroyed Mulberry A, an artificial harbor on which the Allies had spent much long, hard work, located in the Omaha sector.
more informationJune 22, 1944 - D-Day + 16
It’s June 22, 1944 – the third anniversary since German troops launched its invasion of the Soviet Union. As the Commander of the US VII Corps has not received any reply to the ultimatum he sent to the German troops defending Cherbourg, he started the final attack on the city that the Germans had transformed into a small fort in the course of the past few years.
more informationJune 21, 1944 - D-Day + 15
In the course of the day, troops from the 9th and 79th Infantry Divisions of the US VII Corps reorganized and regrouped for the final attack on the strategic target located on the edge of the Cotentin Peninsula – the port of Cherbourg.
more informationJune 20, 1944 - D-Day + 14
It's June 20, 1944. On the previous day, a huge storm swept through the English Channel that destroyed the famed temporary harbor Mulberry A located within the Omaha Beach zone. Huge waves litterally had a crushing effect on individual sections of the artificial harbor. The damage was so extensive, the Allies decided not to restore the harbor and instead focused on bringing the second harbor, Mulberry B in Arromanches, into operation.
more informationJune 18, 1944 - D-Day + 12
On June 18, 1944, the Commander of the 21st Army Group, British General Montgomery, issued his first written order since the Normandy landings. It was short and to the point: move rapidly forward from the positions that have already been gained and take Caen and Cherbourg. The German army, however, didn’t intend to simply give up.
more informationJune 17, 1944 - D-Day + 11
For the eleventh day now, the Allies have been fighting SS and Wehrmacht troops along the coastal zone of Normandy, France, for control over the strategically critical bridgehead. Literally everything is at stake here for the Germans.
more informationJune 16, 1944 - D-Day + 10
On this day, the US VII Corps finished clearing the section east of the Douve River and built a bridgehead. As the German formations had retreated from the area, the corps’ offensive advanced very quickly.
more informationJune 15, 1944 - D-Day + 9
As General Collins, the Commander of the US VII Corps, decided that “today’s” task would be to cut off the Cotentin peninsula as soon as possible, the VIII Corps of the US First Army under the command of General Troy H. Middleton was designated to secure defense positions running through Carentan westwards through the Cotentin peninsula in an attempt to cover the US VII Corps’ southwest wing.
more informationJune 14, 1944 - D-Day + 8
The US 4th Infantry Division attacked and crushed the enemy’s front defense line. The 39th Infantry Regiment from the 9th Infantry Division, temporarily assigned to the 4th Infantry Division, overcame strong resistance in Quinéville, finished clearing the costal sector on the south and conquered Fort St Marcouf.
more informationJune 13, 1944 - D-Day + 7
It’s June 13, 1944. An entire week has gone by since the invasion of France. By the end of the day, the US First Army had halted a V Corps offensive southwards and issued an order to secure their positions. The US VII Corps’ main task lay in completely cutting off the Cotentin peninsula and occupying the critically important harbor of Cherbourg.
more informationJune 12, 1944 - D-Day + 6
It is June 12, 1944, and in the costal zone of Normandy, France, British, Canadian and U.S. troops fortify their positions. More and more new forces are headed to France, and these days the English Channel is one of the busiest waterways on the entire planet.
more informationJune 11, 1944 - D-Day + 5
On June 11, 1944, the Berber tactical group from the 4th Infantry Division of the US First Army’s VII Corps continued in its futile efforts to break through the gap in Azeville to the Quinéville highlands in the coastal sector.
more informationJune 10, 1944 - D-Day + 4
With the VII and V Corps meeting up in Auville sur le Vey, this was an historical day for the US First Army. Lingering enemy troops who had sat tight through repeated attacks by US paratroopers are still being found in Carentan.
more informationJune 9, 1944 - D-Day + 3
It is June 9, 1944. For the fourth day now, battles have been raging on the coast of Normandy, France, between German Wehrmacht and SS troops on one side, and Allied forces on the other. After successfully securing a bridgehead, the Americans and joint British-Canadian attack formations attempt to expand their lodgement so they will be able to advance further inland. It is a race against the clock, though, as the enemy has significant military potential in France that could push the Allies back into the sea. The consequences would be catastrophic.
more informationJune 8, 1944 - D-Day + 2
Over the past 48 hours, a ruthless battle has been fought between the Allied Forces and the Third Reich along the coast of Normandy, France. Not far from Port-en-Bessin, a village on the border between the U.S. Omaha and British Gold sectors, the US First Army made contact with units from the British Second Army.
more informationJune 7, 1944 - D-Day + 1
On the second day of the invasion into France, the US First Army continued in its attacks towards the designated targets. After visiting the front lines, General Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, issued an order to the V Corps and VII Corps to advance rapidly to Isigny sur Mer and Carentan, where both corps were to meet. In the VII Corps section, the 101st Airborne Division was given the task of clearing Carentan. In the V Corps’ operational area, the 29th Infantry Division was to occupy Isigny sur Mer.
more informationJune 6, 1944 - The Day of All Days
In the morning hours of June 6, 1944, the first attack formations of the Allied Naval Expeditionary Force landed in Normandy, France, to break the legendary Atlantic Wall and launched the decisive battle for Europe. Ground forces were led by Field Marshal Montgomery, the Air Force by Air Chief Marshal Leigh-Mallory and naval forces by Admiral Ramsay. The Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force was U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower. Operation Overlord, the code name for the invasion of France, entered its most difficult phase. The future of the nations of Europe was being decided on the beaches of Normandy in these early hours.
more information