#Story
The Battle of Cherbourg
The cities of Caen and Cherbourg located at both ends of the bridgehead installed on June 6, 1944 were the two main targets of Operation Overlord. The military port facilities at Cherbourg were essential for British general Bernard Montgomery’s armies in Normandy, which he was to lead until victory against Germany. The Battle of Cherbourg began on June 14, 1944.
Ten days after the Allied D-Day landing, the situation of the German forces in the Cotentin became critical: the Cotentin Peninsula was about to be cut in half by the Allies. Facing the threat of being trapped, Hitler allowed General von Schlieben on 17 June 1944 to withdraw to the north to ensure the defense of Cherbourg-en-Contentin and the northern part of the peninsula.
On the night of June 17 to 18, the 9th Division reached the Contentin west coast at Barneville-sur-Mer. This time, the peninsula was cut in half, from Quinéville to Barneville. 30,000 German soldiers were now trapped in the area.
On 19 June 1944, the defenses of Montebourg were removed, and Valognes was occupied in the evening by the 79th Infantry Division. Cherbourg’s outer defenses were reached by the 4th, 9th, and 79th American divisions. Appointed directly by Hitler as commander of the fortress of Cherbourg, General Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben rejected the ultimatum of U.S. General Joseph Lawton Collins on June 22, who asked him to surrender. Following the order of the Führer, von Schlieben intended to defend the port and the city to the last man.
The first aerial bombardments were then carried out on the fortified points of the port. Nearly 1,000 planes bombarded the defenses of the city for more than 80 minutes. The three U.S. divisions then advanced through the breaches and destroyed the first German defensive curtain around Cherbourg. For their part, the German side undertook the destruction of the city’s port facilities. The ferry terminal was blown up on the night of June 23 to 24. From 24 to 26 June 1944, the American thrust only intensified: the Fort du Roule, which dominates the city, was reached on June 24 and fell the next day after intense fighting and violent naval artillery fire. Tourlaville and Equeurdreville fell in turn.
On June 26, the Americans, guided by the local population, entered Cherbourg. They captured von Schlieben, Admiral Walter Hennecke, and 800 German soldiers. The capture of Cherbourg cost the 7th American Corps 3,000 dead, 3,000 missing, and 13,500 wounded. At the end of the Battle of the Cotentin, with the last surrenders on July 1 at Cap de La Hague, the German forces had lost 11,000 dead and 39,000 prisoners.
Cherbourg-en-Contentin became the first French port liberated by the American forces. On 16 July 1944, the first large ships could dock there providing supplies for the Allied advance in the Battle of Normandy.