Tanks: A Century Of Tank Warfare by Oscar E. Gilbert & Romain Cansiere

Author:Oscar E. Gilbert & Romain Cansiere [Gilbert, Oscar E. & Cansiere, Romain]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781612004914
Google: zDouDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Casemate
Published: 2017-08-19T04:00:00+00:00

Americans in the bocage

At first the American armored divisions played no decisive role since the opposing armies were entangled in the bocage, or hedgerow country. It was ideal for murderous ambush tactics by the heavily armored Panther and Tiger tanks, and the thinly armored M4s had to confront them head-on. It was also ideal for small-unit infantry defense: any unit breaking through a hedgerow found itself in a box exposed to fire from other hedgerows bounding the field. The fighting conditions cried out for the close-range firepower of the independent tank battalions, but tanks could not break through the dense root walls and tangled vegetation.

A solution came in the Culin (often misspelled Cullen) Cutter, a plow-like device manufactured from the steel of old German beach obstacles and fitted to the front of a tank. Sergeant Curtis G. Culin III of the 2nd Armored Division got the idea from another enlisted man, and sought in vain to credit the idea to him. It was another example of the American improvisation that had so impressed Rommel.

Operation Cobra commenced with a massive July 25 air bombardment designed to punch a hole through German defenses. The Americans had learned about the schwerpunkt, and by July 31 the Americans had broken through and were racing into open country. The only possible counter would have been the panzer divisions, but they had been bled white around Caen. Hitler ordered a counterattack, but among them the 2 Panzer, and the 1 and 2 SS Panzer Divisions could muster only 145 tanks and 24 sturmgeschutz.

The Normandy breakout was precisely the kind of action American armored doctrine emphasized. Disregarding flank security, combat commands slashed through or bypassed German resistance. The rapid pace was permitted by the mechanical reliability of the M4 and the flexibility of command structures: no orders were needed except the functional one of “go get the enemy.” Soon Allied formations had all but encircled the German 5 Panzer and 7 Armies. Omar Bradley, now commander of the American 1st and 3rd Armies: “This is an opportunity that comes to a commander not more than once in a century. We’re about to destroy an entire hostile army and go all the way from here to the German border.” The U.S. 90th Infantry Division and Polish 1st Armoured Division finally closed the jaws on the trapped Germans. The Poles were wreaking revenge. Inside the Falaise Pocket, Allied fighters bombers strafed and rocketed packed German columns. The Germans left behind over 10,000 dead, and 50,000 prisoners, as well as hundreds of tanks. The survivors fled toward the Seine with the Allies on their heels.

The DD tank hull was fitted with a boat-shaped canvas screen raised by pneumatic tubes. The screen displaced enough water that the tank floated with its turret top roughly at water level. In theory the freeboard (height of the sides above water level) was 3 feet/0.91 m, in practice less, and 1 foot/0.3 m waves were considered safe for navigation. Propulsion was by propellers geared to engage teeth on special rear idler wheels.

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