Cover photo: Bradley (center) with Patton (left) and Montgomery (right) at Montgomery’s 21st Army Group HQ, Normandy, July 7, 1944.

“The flame of my self-confidence shines even more brightly. When I surface at some point, there will be a great explosion.”

Patton, who returned to the front in July 1944, thirsted for further action and victories. His mental state is reflected in two remarks he made during those days to the commander of the Seventh Corps. “You know, Collins,” he said, “you and I seem to be the only ones enjoying this damn war!” Then his face clouded for a moment. It seems he remembered the incident with the slap in Sicily and some other blunders he had made. “After all, they put me in a straitjacket! That’s right, a straitjacket!”

However, the Germans did not know that the American general was in France, and Eisenhower imposed silence on both operations and Patton’s presence. (…) His best friend, Everett Hughes, wrote, “For months, I have been by his side to support him and his staff against everyone.”

Patton’s Third Army assembled at the farthest right (western) flank of the Allied ground troops, initiating operations at midday on August 1, 1944, under Bradley’s Twelfth United States Army Group. By August 2, 1944, it was clear that nothing could stop the unstoppable Californian. After he took most of Brittany and territory as far south as the Loire,he was able to drive eastward towards the main concentration of German forces south of Caen. He continued his course without worrying that his flanks were constantly expanding, remaining exposed. Le Mans fell on August 8, and Patton turned north to encircle the German 5th and 7th Armies.

The Germans tried to counterattack (Operation Lüttich, 7-13 August) but had a (significant) disadvantage. It was not 1940 anymore. The Allies now had the Ultra mechanism that broke the codes of telecommunications, installed west of London. As long as the signals were transmitted by underground cables, there was no interception. However, from the night of August 6, German radio transmissions were permanently under Allied surveillance, and every movement of the forces was known; thus, the counterattack despite some small initial successes-the Germans overran Mortain and made a serious penetration on the VII Corps-, was successfully repelled.

As allied aircraft quickly achieved complete control of the airspace over Mortain they were undistractedly engaged in the destruction of the German units, where the German battle tanks and other vehicles were easy targets for them. General Speidel, Chief of Staff to Field-Marshal Von Kluge, wrote after the war “The armoured operation was completely wrecked exclusively by the Allied Air Forces supported by a highly trained ground wireless organization“.

The Third Army persisted in encircling from the southern front, reaching Alençon by August 11. By August 12, 1944, the XV Corps, led by Major General Wade H. Haislip, had advanced within a few kilometers south of Argentan completing th covering over 100 kilometers from Le Mans in just 5 days. The American forces initiated their first armored attack on August 12 at 11 pm on the town but it was repulsed and another assault followed on August 13 at three in the morning, but with the same result. Patton instructed Colonel Bartley to subject it to heavy artillery bombardment at seven o’clock and despite subsequent assaults throughout the afternoon, Argentan remained under German control.

Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, leading the 12th U.S. Army Group, suddenly ceased the progress of the XV Corps of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army. Consequently, he stopped its march northwards through Argentan towards a rendezvous with Canadian forces advancing south from Caen towards Falaise. On August 13, Patton was ordered to stop his advance despite furious reactions: “Let me go to Falaise, and we will push the British back into the sea for another Dunkirk!” he said to Bradley, criticizing the slow progress of his allies.

Arguably the most disputed element of the entire issue is General Bradley’s assertion that he was unable to permit the XV Corps to advance beyond Argentan under any circumstances due to a lack of authorization. The corps had already reached the boundary of the army group and had slightly crossed into the 21 Army Group’s territory. With General Montgomery overseeing ground forces in France, and given Bradley’s prior breach of the delineated boundary for his own operations, he required Montgomery’s approval to proceed further north.

However, the Allies on the northern side, namely the 1st Canadian Army, took over the series of attacks. Despite the fierce resistance of German units, such as the 102nd SS Tiger Battalion, the allied forces of Canadians, Poles from the 1st Armored Division, and some British with a depressing numerical superiority, especially in the air, broke through enemy defenses. With superhuman efforts under the excellent command of General Model (Günther von Kluge had killed himself in August 19 with potassium cyanide, fearing his involvement in the 20 July plot against Hitler), the 2nd and 12th SS Panzer Divisions escaped until August 21, leaving behind 50,000 of their compatriots as prisoners and three-quarters of their heavy weapons and vehicles.

At the end of August, Eisenhower called a press conference, announcing that the man behind this great military victory was Patton. For him, this was the moment of redemption after so many months of disdain and humiliation. His good friend Bradley wrote the most praising comments about his untiring character, courage, battlefield situational awareness, and his constant presence with his troops on the front lines.

Operation Overlord would end 9 days later, on August 30th, with the Allies’ total casualties reaching 226,000 in dead, wounded, and missing, along with 4,100 aircraft and 4,000 battle tanks. However, they now had a solid foothold in Western Europe to counter the Soviets pouring in from the East, having inflicted 208-289,000 casualties on the German forces along with 2,300 valuable battle tanks and 2,127 aircraft. Despite the overly optimistic (even arrogant, as the Canadian commander stated in a press conference estimating the war’s end in 3 weeks) predictions, the German Army had not yet been defeated.

The bloody Operation Market Garden (17-27 September 1944), the tough battles in Arnhem (18-29 September 1944), in the Scheldt (2 October -8 November 1944), Aachen (2-21 October 1944), the nearly 80-day battle for Metz (27 September-13 December 1944), and a defensive victory for the German side in Operation Queen (16 November-16 December 1944) would follow. However, the climax would come in the cloudy days of December with the largest counteroffensive on the Western Front, the Battle of the Bulge.

Sources:

D. Irving, «The War Between the Generals: Inside the Allied High Command», publ. Congdon & Lattes, 1981.

M. Blumenson, «General Bradley’s decision at Argentan (13 August 1944)», publ. University of Michigan Library, 1990.

A. Beevor, «D-Day: The Battle for Normandy», publ. Penguin Books, 2010.

Youtube/Eastory/ WW2 – Western Front, 1944-1945. Part 1.