Microsoft manual Across The Aure, Close Combat Operation German Side

Chapter 4 The Normandy Campaign in Close Combat 73

1,429 tons of supplies are moved, increasing to 7,000 tons a day by D-Day plus five. The paratroopers inland are resupplied by air drops from U.S. cargo planes. To prevent the Germans from moving reinforcements up, Allied fighter-bombers attack several river bridges and marshaling yards, although heavy cloud cover hinders their efforts and causes the cancellation of hundreds of missions.

By June 8, D-Day plus two, enemy defenses along the Trévières-Isigny line collapse as the 29th Division’s 175th Infantry Regiment makes a determined and rapid advance, covering 12 miles in 36 hours. Assisted by two companies of tanks from the 747th Tank Battalion, the Americans fight through antitank gunfire at La Cambe and mobile

88-mm guns and infantry near Saint-Germain du Pert. At 0300 hours on June 9, Isigny falls to the onrushing Americans, who then capture the bridge over the Aure intact.

The loss of Isigny prevents the German 352nd Infantry Division from driving a wedge between Omaha and Utah beaches, and deprives the Germans of the defensive and artillery positions they have counted on to keep the U.S. forces from advancing far inland. The 175th Division’s victory thwarts Rommel’s plan to stop the invasion on the beaches. Three days later, Omaha and Utah beaches are linked together.

After capturing Isigny, American units cross the river Aure at various points along the line, many of them slogging across areas previously

Allied supplies pour inland from the Normandy beachhead

Across The Aure

On the morning of June 9, the 115th Infantry	Close Combat Operation: German Side
Regiment is ordered to cross the river Aure. With	The German commander’s teams are bolstered
help from the 121st Engineer Combat Battalion,
	by armor and a deadly array of artillery, and
the Third Battalion makes a swampy crossing
	can make the bridge an obstacle instead of an
from Canchy to a point west of Colombieres. The
	opportunity.
First Battalion tries to cross the bridge just south

of Ecrammeville. German machine gun and rifle	Close Combat Operation: U.S. Side
fire from positions west of Trévières drives the	The American commander has an opportunity to
Americans back; the First Battalion then marches
to Canchy and follows the Third Battalion across	change history by capturing the bridge across the
the Aure.	river Aure near Trévières. Additional armor now
	supports the American heavy weapons and
	infantry teams.