Hausser's meagre resources

The threat to Caen meant that the front facing the British attracted the bulk of Rommel's panzer reserves, and Hausser could not call on his beloved I or II SS Panzer Corps to help him in the West. In mid-June only one Waffen-SS division could be spared to counter the US Army's attempt to link its two bridgeheads, Omaha and Utah. Delayed by air attack, the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen arrived at the Normandy front just as the US Army was about to link up its bridgeheads at Carentan. In a furious counterattack against the US 101st Airborne Division, led by the 42 StuG IIIs of its panzer battalion, the 17th SS Division lost some 450 casualties. The panzergrenadiers came to within 500m (1640ft) of the town until a counterattack drove them back. The division then joined forces with the veteran 6th Parachute Regiment to block the advance of two US corps for nearly a month in vicious, close-quarter combat. Relations between the two units were strained at first, after Waffen-SS officers attempted to try the commander of the parachute unit for treason at a field court martial. His "crime" was that he had ordered a retreat.

To provide a panzer reserve for the German front facing the Americans, Rommel ordered the Das Reich Panzer Division to the Periers region. Its panzer regiment boasted almost 26 Panthers, 50 Panzer IVs and 36 StuG IIIs ready for action. It was in position in early July and was called forward into action on 3 July to counter a possible breakthrough by the US 30th Infantry and 3rd Armored Divisions. The terrain prevented the large-scale employment of tanks, and the battle soon broke down into a series of small dogfights between individual German and American tanks. For two weeks the Das Reich troopers were locked in combat with the American GIs. Their greater battle experience and superior equipment meant they were more often than not able to get the better of the Americans, but in its first week of action the division lost just over 1200 men and some 30 tanks or assault guns, losses it could ill afford.

Operation Cobra

After a frustrating time fighting up the Cherbourg peninsula to capture the port city on 27 June, Bradley was able to turn his attention southwards during July, and began to plan for the breakout from Normandy. The idea was to open a breach and drive southwards to Avranches. Then Lieutenant-General George Patton's Third Army would carry on the advance, swinging west to encircle and destroy the German forces.

Chastized by his experiences to date, Bradley was determined to concentrate American firepower in a narrow sector to overwhelm the defenders. A 7000m (23,000ft) section of front to the west of St Lô was selected as the target for Lieutenant-General J. Lawton Collins' VII Corps in the appropriately named Operation Cobra. The plan called for 1500 heavy bombers, 380 medium bombers and 550 fighter-bombers to drop more than 4064 tonnes (4000 tons) of explosives on a target box that stretched 2500m (8202ft) behind the front. More than 1000 guns would join the barrage. Four fresh American divisions would then be unleashed. On paper, the plan looked unstoppable.

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