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Close Combat
approaches to the hill were targeted with artillery, mortars, antitank
weapons, and machine guns, and the German defenders, mainly from
the Third Parachute Division, were well dug in.
Nearly a month later, on July 11, the Americans resume their attack on
Hill 192, using their new hedgerow tactics to coordinate the efforts of
infantry and armor. To the Second Division’s 38th Infantry goes the task
of capturing Hill 192. Because the weather that day is hazy and visibil-
ity is poor, the Allies cannot use air support. The Second Division
advances up the gradual slope of Hill 192 behind a rolling artillery
barrage. Those German strongpoints that survive the shelling put up
fierce resistance, and the struggle for Hill 192 becomes a field-by-field
battle. In the villages of Cloville and le Soulaire, which have been
blasted by U.S. artillery, German troops dig into the rubble, and are
cleared out only after hours of house-to-house fighting. The Norman
terrain, coupled with fierce fire from German antitank guns and
Panzerfausts, hinders the advance of U.S. tanks. In one area, six tanks
are knocked out by German mortar and artillery fire in the first 30
minutes of an assault.
One of the obstacles that impedes the U.S. troops as they inch their way
up Hill 192 is a narrow ravine they call “Purple Heart Draw.” It is
nearly wide enough to prevent tanks from crossing it, and is heavily
fortified by the Germans. Supported by four tanks that are stopped at
the edge of the draw, one platoon attempts to cross it. German mortar
and artillery hold their fire until the Americans have reached the bottom
of the draw, then open up, nearly wiping out the platoon. Another
platoon attempts to outflank the defenses in the draw, and the U.S. tanks
turn their attention to German defenders inside several nearby houses,
firing on them from 30 yards away. When the defenders are silenced,
the second platoon finds the survivors of the first platoon at the bottom
of the draw, and the two platoons move up out of the ravine. Despite
heavy mortar fire, the outflanking maneuver is a success, and by the
end of the day, the Americans who have survived “Purple Heart Draw”
have taken nearly all of the deadly ravine.
Throughout July 11, the German Seventh Army troops on Hill 192 are
blasted by 20,000 rounds of artillery fire. While this does not destroy
the sturdier German emplacements, it keeps the defenders pinned in
their trenches, and helps speed up the U.S. advance. As the day ends,
nearly all of the remaining German defenses on Hill 192 have been
badly damaged, and several German units have been cut off and
decimated. One U.S. battalion has captured a section of the Saint-Lô–
Bayeux highway, which bisects the remaining German-held positions at
the top of the hill, and other battalions have closed in on this key
“Throughout the fighting, French
farmers and their families live in
holes dug into their cellars while
the farmhouses are destroyed
over their heads.”
Sgt. Bill Davidson, in
Yank