Jarrod Markley

Stanley Adamiak
5 December, 2016
Operation COBRA
Two decades after the end of the First World War, a second world war was beginning.
During the late 1930s, Germany, Italy, and Japan joined forces to become the Axis Powers. In
September 1939, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers invaded the country of Poland, and two
days later, Britain and France declared war on Germany. Meanwhile, the United States had
agreed to remain neural during the war while the other countries began to fight. But on 7
December, 1941, the Japanese air force attack and bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The next day,
both the United States and Great Britain declared war on Japan. And on December 11, 1941,
Germany, who was an ally of Japan, declared war on the United States.
The United States first big campaign during the war was Operation Torch, otherwise
known as the invasion of North Africa, took place in November 1942, a little over one year after
joining the war. This campaign really showed the American forces that they were inexperienced.
But while they may not have been the greatest fighting force, with the help of British troops,
North Africa had been won and now was controlled by the Allies. Mid-1943, the United States
and Great Britain pushed North from Africa towards Sicily and Italy, defeating the enemy and
taking over Rome.
One year later, on 6 June, 1944, the United States embarked on the most infamous
invasion, D-Day; also known as the Normandy landings or Operation OVERLORD. With US
troops landing on beaches throughout the northern section of France, four of the five beaches
were taken easily, but one beach, Omaha, still had a few German soldiers standing guard. With
the German soldiers having the high ground, it made getting to the beach hard for the American
troops. US soldiers had to evacuate the boats, swim through the shallow water, and run across the
beach to get to a small hill under the German outpost. But after a long and hard fight, the US
troops took control of the beach and began to set up base to call in more reinforcements to push
the Germans out of France.

During the weeks to follow, American troops had a hard time getting out of Northern
France. The St.-L hedgerows were making it hard for the divisions to make its way towards the
southern boarders of the city. As the soldiers slowly made their way towards the Priers road, all
of their heavy and motorized equipment were laying waste under piles of camouflaged netting.
Until they reached [the boarder] and broke through to the terrain beyond it, we could do nothing
but belly ahead and swallow those heavy losses.1 On top of the massive mounds of plants,
bushes and roots blocking the way, the Germans were hiding further up, waiting to attack any
soldier that came their way.2 After the troops pushed through the hedgerows, thanks to Sergeant
Curtis G. Culin and his invention of the hedgerow cutters3, the army made it to the city of St. L.
But breaking out of the city to head east was when General Dwight D. Eisenhower decided a
plan was needed, and needed fast. The capturing of the beachhead had taken longer than
originally planned. By 24 July, the United States had only captured one-fifth of the land that had
be planned to be taken and not only were they behind schedule, in the first 48 days, the US
casualties, 122,000, were higher than the Germans, 117,000.4 It was time to move and take over
the land that they had planned on and so, one of the strongest, most underrated operations
throughout the war was about to take place in order to get the troops on the road to Paris, and its
name was Operation COBRA.
General Omar N. Bradley was in charge of First Army during the war and with over a million
men having been brought in and over 500,000 tons of supplies being delivered, First Army
alone had grown mightier than the combined forces of Patton and Montgomery in the Sicilian
campaign.5 General Lawton Collins was in command of the VII Corps, and later was assigned
to the IV and IX Corps. General John S. Wood was in charge of the 4th Armored Division, and
while they were fresh and unused, they had no experience. The V, VIII, and XIX Corps were also

being prepped to be apart of Operation COBRA. Each corps was made up of infantry, armored
divisions, and had support from artillery.6
Bernard Montgomery, who was a
general in the US Army, had met up with
Generals Bradley and Eisenhower to discuss
the Battle for France. They three agreed on
two starting objectives. First, using the units
who had come out of Normandy, they would
swing the southern facing soldiers to the East,
straight towards Paris. There was no better
way to do it than to cartwheel to the left. And
the second objective the three Generals agreed
on was the ports in the western part of France,
in Brittany,

Figure 1

needed to be taken.7 (See Figure 1)8 Bradley also stated that the

soldiers being used for the breakout should be made up as a majority of US men. But there was
one thing that still remained and they couldnt decide on, how was the attack going to be
delivered.9
General Eisenhower made the executive decision and put Bradley in charge of the whole
operation. In a letter sent to General Montgomery, Eisenhower said, Now we are pinning our
hopes on Bradley.10 On July 10th, the Normandy Breakout had been planned and made. Its
official name was called Operation COBRA. Bradley called the operation the most decisive
battle of our war in western Europe.11 While COBRA is also known as The Breakout, it wasnt
the only time that the United States had tried to breakout of the small radius of land they had

conquered since D-Day. The operation was a plan that was hopefully going to get the US out of
the situation they were in and get the troops moving forward. But it had taken weeks for a plan to
finally work.12 The breakout was going to be a major turning point for the United States and its
allies. If the Germans were able to hold the Allied forces on the beachhead, then a peace
agreement would need to be made, but if they advancement works, there would be no way that
the German forces could stop what they had coming through France towards Germany and a
German defeat would be inevitable.13 Henry Stimson, the American Secretary for War, wrote
down in his notes, Plan Cobra-attack by 2 infantry divisions (30th and 9th) followed by 1st
Infantry and 2nd Armoured to the left. Break through and turn to right, enveloping 5 or 6
divisions. If successful would have easy going to the SW end of the bocage after visiting
General Bradleys headquarters on 17 July.14
For although COBRA was rapidly taking form, we dared not yet tell newsmen of it.
The news was criticizing what was happening in the war but Bradley wasnt sorry for the number
of loses they had endured so far since D-Day. Week one, they had linked the beachheads. Week
two, they had cut the Cotentin. Third week, they had captured Cherbourg. Week four, they had
attacked out of the neck. And by week five, they had created the plan for Operation COBRA
and were well on their way to breaking out.15 The newspapers were ready to attack the United
States. A British columnist asked if the US had a hidden agenda to the Soviet Union fight the
Reich by themselves. Bradley, who was cautioned a week before, that if it was the United States
goal to let the Red to fight the Germans alone, once the war was over, the US would forfeit their
right to bargain on the shape of the postwar world. Bradley asked the columnist to wait a week
before coming to a verdict, knowing COBRA would take place and reassure the world that the

US was planning on helping defeat the Germans. The charge that w might have been conspiring
against the Soviet was nonsense.16
With his men still trying to push through the never ending hedgerows, Bradley thought of how he
planned to get past the Germans and push through as fast as he could. Carpet bombing was the
solution he had been searching for. One of the reasons carpet bombing became the main idea
behind Operation COBRA was there were limitations on artillery and only by using air power the
US Army could breakout from Normandy. A heavy bomber, like the B-17, could carry
approximately 13,000 pounds worth of bombs, which is more firepower than a hundred
howitzers firing at one time.17 The main objective for carpet bombing was to paralyze the enemy
by separating the front line from the lines of communication. The front line would be taken out
by artillery on the ground while the men further back would be in the danger zone for the
bombing run.18
The larger firepower that the ground force primarily used for the operation consisted of, M-4
Sherman medium tanks with a mounting 75mm low velocity gun. This tank was underpowered
compared to German tanks but what it lacked in power it made up for in speed and
maneuverability. The tank was changed twice during this time period. The first change the gun
was replaced with a 75mm high velocity gun, and was later replaced with a 90mm high velocity
gun which then evened out the playing field when it came to firing power against the enemy.
They also had light M-5 tanks with a 37mm gun attached that was later upgraded to an M-24
with a 75mm gun. The M-78 Tank Destroyer was also given to the ground troops with high
powered anti-armor piercing rounds. The ground team also received was a 105mm howitzer for
mobile units to use. When defending a bridge, they were given a 155mm howitzer to use in case
they needed to blow up the bridge. The Germans were using a large number of Mark IV medium

tanks with 75mm guns. In Normandy a few of the soldiers encountered a Mark V Panther with
75mm guns. Before the operation took place, a few encountered the Mark VI Tiger in Northern
Africa which was a 56 ton monster that carried a 88mm gun.19
While the breakout would be a major turning point, there were some concerns. The first
primary concern was that the air support that would be given to Bradleys troops would halt, or
slow, the air forces main objective during the war the combined bomber offensive designed to
destroy the German military, industrial, and economic systems, crippling Hitlers war machine
and speeding Germans capitulation. General Carl A. Spaatz was personally not a fan of the
bombing plan. He stated that our [ground] forces are far superior to the Germans opposing us,
both in men and material. But the use of the Air Force was not the only concern.
On top of using bombers, there was nothing written on how to preform these kinds of
precise drops. Up to this point in history, no doctrine had been written and there hadnt been any
practicing of this style of bombing. Another challenge was the creation of craters. With these
high powered bombs being dropped to pave the way, they were going to leave massive craters
that would make it hard for troops and, especially, motorized vehicles to get across. Bradley
proposed that instead of using the bombs originally planned, switching to 100-pound impactdetonation bombs. These, Bradley stated, would make it easier to cross because they would
create smaller craters for the ground troops to cross. But the biggest challenge was the
coordination of the air attacks. This would be hard for one main reason, weather. Weather
conditions rather than the ground tactical situation always determined when an air attack could
start. The planes would fly out from Britains airfields which could be sunning, but by the time
they reach Normandy, it could be cloudy and the height of the clouds would determine how high,
or low, the planes would have to fly in order to see their targets. And the last major concern was

the accuracy of the dropped bombs. According to The Journal of Strategic Studies, a majority of
the bombs dropped, around ninety percent, landed anywhere within 1,000 yards (3,000 feet)
away from the planned target. This would be a concern when the men were up to only a road
length to a quarter mile (1,320 feet) away from the target.20 The reason this was a concern is
because the German troops that were being targeted happened to be only 250 yards south of the
road the US troops needed to cross.21
For Operation COBRA, the enemy forces were to first be paralyzed by carpet bombing.
The bombing power that the United States and its friendly forces were planning on using were
stronger than what was normally used when preforming an air attack on enemy forces. The St.L Priers road was going to the dividing point for the bombers to know which side was enemy
territory and which side friendlies would be taking cover on. The bombers, I reasoned, could fly
parallel to it without danger of mistaking our front line.22
The German army already had 12 divisions against the US, all waiting for them on the
Carentan front.23 According to American Intelligence, the United States had some positive insight
about the German forces awaiting their arrival on the other side of Priers road. It had been
estimated that there was around 17,000 combat ready German troops and less than on hundred
tanks. While the German soldiers had experience in combat, they were suffering from a shortage
on oil, fuel, experienced drivers, ammunition, and manpower.24 But in Normandy as a whole,
Germany outnumbered the Allies with a massive twenty-six divisions, with six of the being
armored.25
The operation was planned to have taken place on 21 July. On the morning of the 21st,
Eisenhower wanted to witness the success of the bombing and decided to fly to Normandy, but
by the time that he had arrived to the landing zone, it was down pouring rain; the attack was

called off. Three days later on the 24th, Eisenhower sent a message to Bradley ordering him to go
in full force whenever an opportunity arose. Eisenhower flew out to Montgomerys headquarters
and said he wanted an all-out co-ordinated attack by the entire Allied line, which would at least
put our forces in decisive motion.26
The plan was, after the massive bombing attack, the next play, as Bradley laid out, would
be to crash through with two infantry divisions. The first division, would hold the right
position to keep control of what had just be leveled by bombers, and the second would hold on
the left with its flank on the Vire south of St.-L. After the divisions get the all clear, a
motorized infantry and two armored divisions would push through the hole created. Once
through the hole, the motorized infantry will continue to push on through to Coutances, fifteen
miles southwest, and the two armor divisions race to Avranches and gun it for Brittany.27 Once
Collins and his units broke through the carpet, they were to immediately head to Brittany. To
protect the units, air coverage was given, around the clock, in order to assure they safely get
there.28
The order was given, on 24 July, to launch 1,600 bombers and start the offense. But
weather had begun to roll in. They were called back, and while some returned, there were many
who kept to the mission.29 Just in the 317 heavy bombers who still planned on attacking, they
dropped a total of 10,124 high-explosive bombs and a total of 1822 fragmentation bombs.30 The
end result of the bombers continuing out the mission was a failure. Not only did it alert the
Germans by letting them know the plan of attack and from which direction the Allies were
coming from, St. L to Priers, US soldiers paid the price. The explosions killed twenty-five men
and injured 131. Some of the American soldiers on the ground began to open fire on the friendly

planes. Firing at friendly aircrafts was not uncommon when they are doing more harm than
good.31
On 25 July, the stage was set for the supreme American military achievement of the
Normandy campaign, Operation COBRA.32 At 7:59 a.m., the code Charlie is confirmed33 was
signaled, the planes took off, heading for St. L and at 9:38 a.m., the bombers began dropping
the thousands of tons worth of explosives on the Germans. Through the smoke left behind the
first round of bombers, 1,495 heavy bombers (B-17s and B-24s) of 8th Air Force, along with
380 medium bombers and 550 fighters34, were seen coming towards the target. The original plan
that Bradley had drawn up asked for the fighters to come from the east and head west, so that
theyd be out of the sun and parallel to the front on the St. L-Priers road. But instead, they
went north to south. The troops on the ground began to applaud, but as the heavy bombers
moved closer, they stopped cheering. Lieutenant Sidney Eichen, 120th Infantry, said, we thought
how gorgeous. Then it was Goddamit, theyre coming for us again. The lieutenants outfit
had been wiped off the map, and the anti-tank guns were blown to bits.35 The 30th Infantrys total
number of loses was 61 killed, 374 wounded, and 60 were missing.36 Brigadier-General William
Harrison wrote, when you read of all the great glamour of our flying friends, just remember that
not all that glitters is gold.37 When news of what had happened reached Bradley, he was not
upset about the bombs being dropped, or that Americans had died. Bradley was furious that the
bombers did not fly parallel like he had planned and by going north to south, the bombers flew
over US troops instead of flying north of them.38 Many men were found lying on the ground or
seen walking around aimlessly, as if they were confused.39
After the bombing, Allied troops were to push forward, but many of them were
recovering from the explosions. As the troops began to slowly move forward, they realized that

the German Panzer Lehr division was battered, but still unbroken. Not only did the troops
survive, but the Germans had advanced forward into the zones the Americans were supposed to
be defending. German artillery was firing at the troops from afar. Colonel Tuttle stated that, it
was hard to believe that any living thing could be left alive in front of our positions, but there
was.40 There were networks of foxholes that were being defended by German infantry, tanks, and
88mm guns.41 First Armys diary had a statement written in it saying, this day, a day to
remember for more than one reason, did not bring the breakthrough for which we had all
hoped Some of the men believed that the early attack the day before and the number of
wounded was a major setback for the Americans secret operation.42
Towards the end of the day, there were 14 British and Canadian divisions that were about
to face off against 14 German divisions, which included six panzer. The beaten down Panzer
Lehr started the first battle of Operation COBRA with 2,200 men and 45 operational vehicles.
While it seemed like an even match, 15 American divisions were on their way to help their
fellow allies. The men were told to stand their ground and that not a single person was to leave
their post.
While the Allied divisions were fighting against the German divisions, General Collins
learned enough about the vulnerability of the Germans to outflanking movements to risk giving
the order to his mobile columns to start moving. As the columns began to move further down
the road, the tanks were halted due to the hedgerows. Not only were the hedgerows proving to be
a major obstacle for the Allies, they were also playing a psychological toll on the soldiers.
Bradley called them tough and costly and too slow a process.43 While they only took a few
minutes to get through, thanks to the Rhino tank, unlike the hours it took before the operation

10

was planned.44 The breakout to the east was on its way and the capturing of Brittany was
following closely behind.
The Brittany peninsula played an important role for the Allied powers. The reason why it
was to be taken was because it closed down German ports and opened up more ports for US and
British troops. One of the key cities was Rennes. There are more than ten major highways that
come to the city, making it a major holding point to transfer supplies. But the key objective
during the rush for Brittany was to capture and control the port facilities in order to provide a
foundation for the operations that would later take place. One of the more important areas for
capturing was the Quiberon peninsula where a total number of four ports connected to this single
spot. But in order to take control of these points, the Allies were going to have to defeat the
Germans that were guarding their posts, and it was heavily protected. At Brest, there had been
old French fortifications all around the city and including inside the city. The Germans had
rebuilt the fortifying walls to make it stronger than it had ever been. They also dug out
underground channels that connected to one another in the hills around the city in case of a air or
artillery attack.45
After the Allied troops took control, the primary objective was the security of the
airfields. One major obstacle were the forested areas and densely wooded areas that went on for
a number of miles making it easy for the enemy to hid and wait to attack the soldiers who
wondered by. But the Allied soldiers began to push the Germans back across the rivers. As the
Germans retreated, they had already rigged up the bridges to explode once they got across the
bridge but in many instances, they were unsuccessful in doing so. Even if they had, it would have
only temporarily delayed the Allies.46 By controlling the ports and roads in the western side of
France, the road network helped in playing an important role for the combat forces.47

11

After seventy-four days, the Battle for Normandy was over. The Allied powers now
controlled the northern and western part of France and were beginning to march on towards the
capital, Paris. Although Operation COBRA did not go exactly as General Omar Bradley had
planned for it to go, it is one of the greatest operations that the United States military has
planned, managed, and executed. Without the breakout, the German forces would have continued
to hold back on US forces and forced them to change their plan of action and maybe try another
route by coming in from the southern parts of France. And while the operation was a success, let
us not forget the lives lost that day. The taking of Normandy had cost the Allies 209,672
casualties, 39,976 dead, with two-thirds of the loses being American. Germany with 450,000
men, 240,000 were either killed or wounded.48

12

1 Bradley, Omar N. A Soldier's Story. New York, NY: Popular Library, 1964. 334.
2 Doubler, Michael D. "Busting the Bocage : American Combined Arms Operations in France, 6 June31 July 1944. :: World War II Operational Documents." World War II Operational Documents. June 30,
2009. Accessed October 13, 2016.
http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p4013coll8/id/2707/rec/1. 34.
3 Doubler, Busting The Bocage: American Combined Arms Operations in France, 34.
4 Schmidt, Jim. "Operation Cobra: CSI Battlbook 21. :: World War II Operational Documents." World
War II Operational Documents. November 19, 2009. Accessed October 13, 2016.
http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p4013coll8/id/2896/rec/5.
5 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 315.
6 Schmidt, CSI Battlebook.
7 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 317.
8 Hastings, Max. OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy. New York, NY: SIMON AND
SCHUSTER, 1984. 251.
9 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 317.
10 Ambrose, Stephen E. The Victors. New York, NY: SIMON AND SCHUSTER, 1998. 210.
11 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 328.
12 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 250.
13 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 329.
14 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 250.
15 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 334.
16 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 335.
17 Carafano, James Jay. After D-Day: Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout.
Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 2000. 102.
18 Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. "Theater Lesson: "Use of Heavy Bombers in a
Tactical Role"" World War II Operational Documents. March 07, 2016. Accessed October 14, 2016. 4.
19 Schmidt, CSI Battlebook.
20 Carafano, After D-Day: Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout, 103-105.
21 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 250.
22 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 329.
23 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 334.
24 Schmidt, CSI Battlebook.
25 Ambrose, The Victors, 210.
26 Ambrose, The Victors, 211.
27 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 329.
28 Bradley, A Soldiers Story, 336.
29 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 253.
30 Sullivan, John J. "The Botched Air Support of Operation Cobra." March 1988, 97-110. doi:Strategic
Studies Institute. 104.
31 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 253.
32 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 249.
33 Carafano, After D-Day: Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout, 111.
34 Carafano, After D-Day: Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout, 112.
35 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 254.
36 Carafano, After D-Day: Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout, 115.
37 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 254.
38 Carafano, After D-Day: Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout, 109.
39 Carafano, After D-Day: Operation Cobra and the Normandy Breakout, 114.
40 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 255.

41 Schmidt, CSI Battlebook.

42 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 255.
43 Schmidt, CSI Battlebook.
44 Hastings, OVERLORD: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 256.
45 Schmidt, CSI Battlebook.
46 Blumenson, Martin. Breakout and Pursuit, Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Officer,
1961. 534.
47 Schmidt, CSI Battlebook.
48 Ambrose, The Victors, 228.