Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the United States First Army seven weeks after the D-Day landings. The intention was to take advantage of the distraction of the Germans by the British and Canadian attacks around Caen in Operation Goodwood. After a slow start, the offensive gathered momentum and German resistance collapsed as scattered remnants of broken units fought to escape to the Seine. The offensive was decisive in securing an Allied victory in the Normandy campaign.
About Operation Cobra in brief
Operation Cobra was the codename for an offensive launched by the United States First Army seven weeks after the D-Day landings. The intention was to take advantage of the distraction of the Germans by the British and Canadian attacks around Caen in Operation Goodwood. After a slow start, the offensive gathered momentum and German resistance collapsed as scattered remnants of broken units fought to escape to the Seine. Lacking the resources to cope with the situation, the German response was ineffectual and the entire Normandy front soon collapsed. Operation Cobra transformed the high-intensity infantry combat of Normandy into rapid maneuver warfare. It led to the creation of the Falaise pocket and the loss of the German strategic position in northwestern France. The offensive was decisive in securing an Allied victory in the Normandy campaign. The capture of Caen has been described by British official historian Lionel Ellis as the most important objective assigned to the British I Corps during the Normandy Campaign. The initial attempt by I Corps to reach the city on D- day was blocked by elements of the 21st Panzer Division and with the Germans committing the most of the reinforcements sent to meet the invasion. The British Second Army’s objectives in the week following D-day and Operation Epsom brought some territorial gains in the region short of its objectives. The battle for Caen was won by the U.S.
First Army on July 25, 1944. The U. S. FirstArmy captured the city of Le Mans, formerly the German 7th Army headquarters, on 8 August. The Battle of the Bulge was won on July 31, 1944, by the Second U. s. Army. The First Army captured Cherbourg on the western flank of the First Army sector on July 28, 1944 and the historic town of Caan on July 29, 1944 on July 30. The Second Army was to seize Caen and then form a front to the southeast, extending to Caumont-l’Éventé, to acquire airfields and protect the left flank of First U.s. Army as it moved on Cherbourg. On July 31 the British Second and Canadian First armies captured the town of Touques and the capture of the Touques River and the area south of it was completed on July 32. The invasion of Normandy began on 6 June 1944 and ended on 6 July 1944, with the fall of Cherbourg 15 days later. The first Allied offensive to take control of the Cotentin Peninsula was the Battle of Loire Valley on July 14, 1944; the battle for the Loire valley followed on July 15. The Allied offensive in Normandy was the most successful campaign of World War II, with more than 100,000 Allied soldiers killed or wounded. The war ended on July 27, 1945; the Allied victory was declared on July 26, 1945. The German offensive in the Ardennes began on August 1, 1945, and ended with the liberation of Paris on August 6, 1945 and the surrender of Nazi Germany on August 13, 1945 .
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This page is based on the article Operation Cobra published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 08, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
