On the 24th of July 1944, the German forces around St Lo, in Normandy, did not have a clue about the hell that was about to be unleashed upon them. Their dispositions looked like this:

Source; http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/web03/atlases/AtlasesTableOfContents.html

To the west of St Lo, you can see the area that the Americans chose to breakout from the close hedgerow fighting that had so favoured the Germans for the months of June and July 1944.

Source; http://www.dean.usma.edu/history/web03/atlases/AtlasesTableOfContents.html

The Allies delivered a devastating aerial bombardment on the German front lines in the area on 25 July 1944. The line did not immediately give way. This was due to the American infantry not pushing quickly at first. Who could blame them? They had just spent 2 months fighting in the hedgerows and had learned to be cautious. Additionally, the lingering shock of the bombardment, which also killed and wounded several hundred Americans was still wearing off.
However, the American Commander on the ground, General J. Lawton Collins, saw no need to delay and committed his exploitation forces on the morning of the 26th. This was risky, because if the Germans had managed to slow down the attack further, it would have meant an American traffic jam right on the front lines. Luckily, they couldn't and the Americans pushed right through and found the German line disintegrating like it had not done for the Americans before in Normandy.
Thus began the great race from the beachheads to the German frontier that occurred over the next 2 months, including the liberation of Paris and most of the rest of France.

I rode through the breakout zone recently and below is some video of a wonderfully twisty ride I took from Gavray towards Avranches. This area was liberated around 28-30 July.

Normandy Breakout from TJ on Vimeo.

Ride Recommendation

Check out the Terre Liberte' route of Cobra- La Percee (the Breakout). The video above is from this route and starts in Gavray which is about half way in between Coutances and Avranches. Here's a Google map of the stretch of road on the video.

Book and Map Recommendations

The Boston Globe reports on the search for 2 American pilots lost 64 years ago over Papua New Guinea.

The search is being conducted by the US Army and is staffed mainly by Afghanistan and Iraq veterans. I can imagine how this team is feeling. It might not be something you think about day to day, but once a soldier got a mission like this between his/her teeth, they will search high and low to find these 2 MIAs. I think this mission is an example of one of the great strengths of the US Army... an institutional memory that says "we will not forget you. It might take us a while to develop the technology to find you, but we will not forget!"

There are things that you read sometimes that make you realize that some people are better than you. Jacob DeShazer was one of those people.

A Corporal in the US Army Air Force who was captured by the Japanese in occupied China as part of the Doolittle Raid in 1942, DeShazer was very badly treated by the Japanese. However, he survived the war and returned to Japan after the war as a missionary and stayed ..... for 30 years.

I seriously doubt whether I could have forgiven my captors to the extent he did. As the article says, there is little doubt that this good man is resting in peace.

Here's a short article on the photographer, Al Bullocks, who captured the Japanese attack on the USS Franklin and its aftermath on film. The photos have been given a new platform with the publication of The Inferno a book by Joseph Springer.

Pointe du Hoc - D-Day - World war II

	A tank bag sized guide to the 2 Day battle with 16 pictures from the ride, a map of the planned assault and a custom route map of the ride from Pointe du Hoc to St Lo and the surrounding countryside, including the American cemetery at Omaha Beach and the German cemetery at La Cambe..
USD $4.99 for electronic PDF	USD $9.99 for laminated hard copy by snail mail