photographs

Mortain France

Mortain is located on the Cotentin Peninsula of northwestern France
it is 22 miles east of Avranches and 15 miles south of Vire by road

start at the bottom of this map at the line of departure (LD)
move due North towards Mortain and follow the combat route of the
737th Tank Battalion toward their objective (OBJ) 4800 yards away

after the lead unit (Charlie Company) lost 11 of its 16 Sherman tanks
737 fell 600 yards short of its objective and the infantry pressed forward

you can count the knocked out tanks and see the German antitank guns
picked them off like a duck shoot during this suicide mission
when tanks attempted to pass disabled vehicles on this narrow road

these farm houses stand on a hill on the east side of the road at
Alance
about 100 yards short of the line of departure

view facing east along the line of departure toward
le Petit Moulin

tanks crossed this east-west road between
le Petit Moulin and les Petites Haies
on 10 August 1944 heading north

737 came up this narrow road toward the camera
the first three tanks were disabled near
la Motte

the column continued to move north
three more tanks got clobbered south of
la Gandonniere

view facing west toward the railway station
four more tanks were hit near
Clairet

Charlie Company halted near this railway station
with only three tanks remaining
(Mortain - Bion)

view north of the railroad station toward the crossroads
Hill 314
is in the background

Mortain
12 Aug 44

combat photographers take a lot of pictures
after the battles

a caption on the back of this NARA document
says the photograph was taken
while enemy artillery continued to whistle in

pictures like this made Ripley famous
the photographer probably received a Bronze Star

Mortain
13 Aug 44

now you know why some Frogs (French) hated us
we tore the Hell out of their cities

the Belgians were tolerant
and willing to pay
the price of freedom

Le Neufbourg (Mortain Suburb)
southwest of Abbaye Blanche
12 Aug 44

our infantry stopped the Krauts cold on this road
during the German attack toward Avranches

the building in the background is the
Mortain-Le Neufbourg Gare (train station)

the second platoon of the 120th Antitank Company
(120th Regiment, 30th Infantry Division)
blasted away with their 57mm guns

the third platoon of Company A
823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion
also inflicted considerable damage