tank
Specialist
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2012
- Messages
- 310
operation “Overlord”
In addition to the 5th Panzer Army, the 7th Combined Arms German Army, commanded by Paul Hausser, ended up in the Falezsky “cauldron”: during the battle for Kharkov, he was the commander of the Second SS Panzer Corps, and, of course, “distinguished himself” there: contrary to orders Hitler, withdrew his corps from Kharkov, surrendering the city on February 16, 1943, for this Hitler canceled the already ready rewarding of him with “Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross”. However, a month later, in March of the 43rd, the Hausser corps went on the counterattack and again took control of Kharkov, and Hitler still gave him these “Oak Leaves”. And for the skillful leadership of the troops in the Falezsky "cauldron", on August 26, 1944, Hausser also received "Swords" to his "Cross".
So, all these very serious people (previously defeated, however, by the First Ukrainian Front of General Vatutin on the Kursk Bulge, with the personal participation of my grandfather - artillery intelligence officer Pyotr Prokofievich Lisichkin), being in the Falezsky "cauldron", were not afraid, but, on the contrary , went on the offensive, trying to cut off the Americans and respond to their boiler - with their boiler. The German Lüttich offensive operation lasted from August 7 to 13, but was unsuccessful: US 1st Army artillerymen fought off all German tank attacks with concentrated fire, winning this defensive battle near the city of Morten (about halfway between Saint-Lo and Avranches )
This unsuccessful counterattack of the Germans at Morten not only did not improve their situation, but also led to their even more tight coverage by the "allies." At this time, as the Americans continued to push in the south, the British - from the north (from the sea, east of Caen), the 1st Canadian Army struck the hill north of Fales as part of Operation Totalize. It was based on preliminary carpet bombing and an innovative nightly attack of tanks with the support of infantry on Kangaroo armored personnel carriers. At 11:00 p.m. on August 7th, 641 heavy bomber attacked German positions; half an hour later, a mechanized convoy of 76 “Kangaroos” moved forward, using electronic navigation equipment and flares. On the 14-kilometer stretch, they were opposed by the SS tank division “Hitler Youth” with the support of the 101st battalion of heavy tanks of the SS and the remnants of the 89th army infantry divisionDespite the seizure of the cities of Verriere and Sento, by August 9, due to German resistance and the incompetence of the lower command personnel, progress had slowed significantly; 4 Canadian and 1st Polish tank divisions suffered heavy losses. By August 10, the British-Canadian forces had taken "height 195" north of Fales, but they couldn’t enter the city, and the next day their tank units were withdrawn from positions, and infantry came in instead. But in the south, the American offensive was successful: on August 12, the US 3rd Army captured the city of Alencon (50 km south of Thales), and the next day the US 15th Corps reached the surroundings of Argentan (20 km south of Thales).
The 1st Canadian Army advanced towards the American troops from the north-west, and the 2nd British Army followed. On August 12 and 13, these forces recovered after Operation Totalize to participate in a new offensive, Operation Trackable. It began at 11:42 on August 14, the artillery created a smokescreen that hid the attackers. The offensive of the 4th Canadian and 1st Polish tank divisions slowed down during the crossings of the Lyson and Div rivers, when they were attacked by the 102nd SS heavy tank battalion. Due to problems with terrain orientation and coordination between the army and the air force, Canadians traveled a significantly shorter distance on the first day than expected. The next day, the 2nd and 3rd Canadian infantry divisions, with the support of the 4th Panzer Brigade, continued the offensive, but their successes were limited. After a heated battle and the reflection of a series of counterattacks, the 4th Panzer Division captured Sulangi, however, the Germans defended the opornik in Tren, retreating from only a few positions at the end of the day. The next day, the 2nd Canadian Division broke into Falez, where it met little resistance from disparate enemy units; by August 17, this city was completely occupied.
At noon on August 16, the Commander-in-Chief of German forces in Western Europe, Field Marshal von Kluge rejected Hitler’s demand to launch another counterattack as completely impossible. In the afternoon of the same day, Hitler gave permission to break out of the Thalesian cauldron to the east. The next day, Field Marshal von Kluge, implicated in the assassination attempt on Hitler (Operation Valkyrie), was removed from his post and recalled to Germany; on the way, he committed suicide. He was replaced by Walter Model (former commander of the Army Group Center, which we had just destroyed during Operation Bagartion, and therefore freed). The model first ordered the 7th and 5th tank armies to make their way from the Thalesian "cauldron" to the east; the Second SS Panzer Corps defended against the British and Canadians on the northern wall of the “humanitarian corridor”, and the 47th Army Panzer Corps against the Americans in the south.
Now closing the "cauldron" was a matter of time, however, Canadians moved south to Tren too slowly, and by August 17 the encirclement had not yet been completed. The 1st Polish Panzer Division received orders to head south-east in order to unite with the Americans in Shambua. On August 18, the 4th Canadian Panzer Division captured Tren. Having taken Shampo in the morning of August 19, Polish battle groups, as well as some parts of the 4th Canadian Division, came together in Shamboa; by evening, the Poles were entrenched in the city and contacted the 90th American and 2nd French Panzer divisions. And yet, despite the connection of the ticks of the environment, the “allies” could not completely block the retreat of the German 7th Army, having been hit both from the inside of the boiler and from the outside. On the same day, the Second SS Panzer Corps was able to breach the west, capturing half of Saint-Lambert and holding it for six hours, after which it was again thrown back. Many German soldiers were able to get through this gap; at night, some small groups also managed to cross east through the Div River.
Occupying Chambois, two Polish battle groups set off to the northeast and captured part of the “262 Height” (Mont Ormel), where they defended their defenses on the night of August 20. The next morning, German troops made a new attempt to break through the encirclement ring, attacking the Polish positions at 262 by forces of the SS tank divisions Das Reich and Frundsberg. At about noon, some units of the SS divisions Hohenstaufen and Hitler Youth, as well as the Army 116- 1st tank division, were able to break through the thin line of defense of the Poles and open the corridor, while the SS division "Frundsberg" restrained Canadians. By noon, about 10 thousand Germans were able to get out of the "cauldron".
Although the Poles were isolated from the main forces and subjected to a powerful onslaught of the Germans, they continued to stubbornly keep the "height of 262". Their strength was not enough to block the Germans' escape routes, but Polish artillery could fire direct-fire from a height at the retreating enemy. After attacking the Poles with the forces of the 352nd Infantry Division and the SS tank Das Reich, the Germans inflicted heavy losses on them, but were unable to capture their positions. Defense cost the Poles most of the ammunition, which put them in a dangerous position; lacking a supply of shells, they were forced to watch the German 47th Panzer Corps leave the encirclement past them.
In addition to the 5th Panzer Army, the 7th Combined Arms German Army, commanded by Paul Hausser, ended up in the Falezsky “cauldron”: during the battle for Kharkov, he was the commander of the Second SS Panzer Corps, and, of course, “distinguished himself” there: contrary to orders Hitler, withdrew his corps from Kharkov, surrendering the city on February 16, 1943, for this Hitler canceled the already ready rewarding of him with “Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross”. However, a month later, in March of the 43rd, the Hausser corps went on the counterattack and again took control of Kharkov, and Hitler still gave him these “Oak Leaves”. And for the skillful leadership of the troops in the Falezsky "cauldron", on August 26, 1944, Hausser also received "Swords" to his "Cross".
So, all these very serious people (previously defeated, however, by the First Ukrainian Front of General Vatutin on the Kursk Bulge, with the personal participation of my grandfather - artillery intelligence officer Pyotr Prokofievich Lisichkin), being in the Falezsky "cauldron", were not afraid, but, on the contrary , went on the offensive, trying to cut off the Americans and respond to their boiler - with their boiler. The German Lüttich offensive operation lasted from August 7 to 13, but was unsuccessful: US 1st Army artillerymen fought off all German tank attacks with concentrated fire, winning this defensive battle near the city of Morten (about halfway between Saint-Lo and Avranches )
This unsuccessful counterattack of the Germans at Morten not only did not improve their situation, but also led to their even more tight coverage by the "allies." At this time, as the Americans continued to push in the south, the British - from the north (from the sea, east of Caen), the 1st Canadian Army struck the hill north of Fales as part of Operation Totalize. It was based on preliminary carpet bombing and an innovative nightly attack of tanks with the support of infantry on Kangaroo armored personnel carriers. At 11:00 p.m. on August 7th, 641 heavy bomber attacked German positions; half an hour later, a mechanized convoy of 76 “Kangaroos” moved forward, using electronic navigation equipment and flares. On the 14-kilometer stretch, they were opposed by the SS tank division “Hitler Youth” with the support of the 101st battalion of heavy tanks of the SS and the remnants of the 89th army infantry divisionDespite the seizure of the cities of Verriere and Sento, by August 9, due to German resistance and the incompetence of the lower command personnel, progress had slowed significantly; 4 Canadian and 1st Polish tank divisions suffered heavy losses. By August 10, the British-Canadian forces had taken "height 195" north of Fales, but they couldn’t enter the city, and the next day their tank units were withdrawn from positions, and infantry came in instead. But in the south, the American offensive was successful: on August 12, the US 3rd Army captured the city of Alencon (50 km south of Thales), and the next day the US 15th Corps reached the surroundings of Argentan (20 km south of Thales).
The 1st Canadian Army advanced towards the American troops from the north-west, and the 2nd British Army followed. On August 12 and 13, these forces recovered after Operation Totalize to participate in a new offensive, Operation Trackable. It began at 11:42 on August 14, the artillery created a smokescreen that hid the attackers. The offensive of the 4th Canadian and 1st Polish tank divisions slowed down during the crossings of the Lyson and Div rivers, when they were attacked by the 102nd SS heavy tank battalion. Due to problems with terrain orientation and coordination between the army and the air force, Canadians traveled a significantly shorter distance on the first day than expected. The next day, the 2nd and 3rd Canadian infantry divisions, with the support of the 4th Panzer Brigade, continued the offensive, but their successes were limited. After a heated battle and the reflection of a series of counterattacks, the 4th Panzer Division captured Sulangi, however, the Germans defended the opornik in Tren, retreating from only a few positions at the end of the day. The next day, the 2nd Canadian Division broke into Falez, where it met little resistance from disparate enemy units; by August 17, this city was completely occupied.
At noon on August 16, the Commander-in-Chief of German forces in Western Europe, Field Marshal von Kluge rejected Hitler’s demand to launch another counterattack as completely impossible. In the afternoon of the same day, Hitler gave permission to break out of the Thalesian cauldron to the east. The next day, Field Marshal von Kluge, implicated in the assassination attempt on Hitler (Operation Valkyrie), was removed from his post and recalled to Germany; on the way, he committed suicide. He was replaced by Walter Model (former commander of the Army Group Center, which we had just destroyed during Operation Bagartion, and therefore freed). The model first ordered the 7th and 5th tank armies to make their way from the Thalesian "cauldron" to the east; the Second SS Panzer Corps defended against the British and Canadians on the northern wall of the “humanitarian corridor”, and the 47th Army Panzer Corps against the Americans in the south.
Now closing the "cauldron" was a matter of time, however, Canadians moved south to Tren too slowly, and by August 17 the encirclement had not yet been completed. The 1st Polish Panzer Division received orders to head south-east in order to unite with the Americans in Shambua. On August 18, the 4th Canadian Panzer Division captured Tren. Having taken Shampo in the morning of August 19, Polish battle groups, as well as some parts of the 4th Canadian Division, came together in Shamboa; by evening, the Poles were entrenched in the city and contacted the 90th American and 2nd French Panzer divisions. And yet, despite the connection of the ticks of the environment, the “allies” could not completely block the retreat of the German 7th Army, having been hit both from the inside of the boiler and from the outside. On the same day, the Second SS Panzer Corps was able to breach the west, capturing half of Saint-Lambert and holding it for six hours, after which it was again thrown back. Many German soldiers were able to get through this gap; at night, some small groups also managed to cross east through the Div River.
Occupying Chambois, two Polish battle groups set off to the northeast and captured part of the “262 Height” (Mont Ormel), where they defended their defenses on the night of August 20. The next morning, German troops made a new attempt to break through the encirclement ring, attacking the Polish positions at 262 by forces of the SS tank divisions Das Reich and Frundsberg. At about noon, some units of the SS divisions Hohenstaufen and Hitler Youth, as well as the Army 116- 1st tank division, were able to break through the thin line of defense of the Poles and open the corridor, while the SS division "Frundsberg" restrained Canadians. By noon, about 10 thousand Germans were able to get out of the "cauldron".
Although the Poles were isolated from the main forces and subjected to a powerful onslaught of the Germans, they continued to stubbornly keep the "height of 262". Their strength was not enough to block the Germans' escape routes, but Polish artillery could fire direct-fire from a height at the retreating enemy. After attacking the Poles with the forces of the 352nd Infantry Division and the SS tank Das Reich, the Germans inflicted heavy losses on them, but were unable to capture their positions. Defense cost the Poles most of the ammunition, which put them in a dangerous position; lacking a supply of shells, they were forced to watch the German 47th Panzer Corps leave the encirclement past them.
