| Monty lacked a lot of imagination in his attacks at Caen- "Epsom", "Charnwood" and "Goodwood" but these attacks did draw off much of the German armour from the Americans who were building up their bridgehead.
On the 10th of June Rommel wrote a summary for those directing the battle from far- distant headquarters.
"The enemy would hold the bridgehead between Orne and Vire, and attempt to widen it through the capture of the Contentin Peninsula and the port of Cherbourg. They would then fill it with troops and equipment to the point where it overflowed into France."
"There air superiority had crippled the German attempts to mount a counter-attack; in the approach marches, the formation for attack, and the attack itself. The only hope was to bring in sufficient infantry to hold the line, thus releasing the panzer forces for another more concentrated effort. If the attack was to be mounted it should be against the weaker Americans".
Even after "Charnwood" the Germans believed that another major invasion was going to happen north of the Seine. Thats why they didn't use more of their armour at Caen.
The Americans did face some excellent units such as Panzer Lehr commanded by Bayerlein but on July 25th Operation Cobra was launched. The four- mile stretch of front running west of St Lo to held by Panzer Lehr was attacked by over 2000 American bombers to a depth of 2 miles. Each bomber had only to plough a strip some ten feet wide. Bayerlein's division was virtually annihilated.
The above is from The Devil's Virtuosos: German Generals at War 1940-1945 by David Downing. A fabulous book from the German perspective.
A book called "Das Reich" about the "Das Reich" SS Panzer Division in France (can't remember the author) makes it very clear that the fighting men in this division were not worried about the allied soldiers but they were very worried by the weight of material that they had to face when they reached Normandy and the constant air attacks along the way.
Even before Normandy, Patton's reputation worried the Germans quite a lot. (numerous sources back this claim). |