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Advancing rapidly through the Pays d’Auge, the British liberated Lisieux
on August 25th. The town had suffered badly during the
bombardment and a thousand of its inhabitants had been killed. Further
north, Colonel Piron’s Belgian Brigade and the “Princess Irene” Dutch
Brigade, working in tandem with the 6th British Airborne
Division, liberated Cabourg, Dives, Deauville, Trouville and finally
Honfleur. To the south, the Canadians had reached Bernay, while the
Americans had taken Evreux, Louviers and Elbeuf. |
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The British enter
Lisieux |
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Despite being sandwiched between the Allied advance and the Seine, the
Germans nevertheless managed to escape, even though all the bridges
across the river had been destroyed. An attempt to trap them in a fresh
pocket failed, and they made their getaway on rafts, in ferryboats,
amphibious vehicles and rowing boats, some even swimming across.
In
all, according to an official British report, the Germans performed the
incredible feat of moving 240,000 men, 30,000 vehicles and just under
150 tanks across. Their losses of equipment amounted to roughly 4,000
vehicles and fifty or so tanks, which had either been destroyed by the
air force or had simply run out of petrol.
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Colonel Piron's Belgian Brigade in Sallenelles |
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Once
they reached the other side, however, they were incapable of offering any
further resistance and the remnants of the depleted army had no solution but to
withdraw rapidly towards the borders of the Reich without looking back.
The garrison in Le Havre, with 11,000 men, remained firmly where it was.
The Germans did not intend to give in without a fight, and turned the
town into a formidable entrenched camp, spiked with heavy guns and
crammed with concrete pillboxes. The fortress was protected on three
sides by the sea, the Seine and a flooded valley. The only access road,
to the north, was protected by an impressive and extensive system of
defences, including a huge anti-tank trench and tens of thousands of
mines.
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German
troops crossed the Seine in ferryboats |
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Montgomery gave I Corps the mission of taking the city, while he raced
on towards Brussels, arriving there on September 4th. The
assault on Le Havre threatened to be a bloody one, so the RAF was called
in to help, with the result that the 60,000 people still in the city
went through hell on September 5th and 6th, when
the central districts were razed to the ground by explosive and
incendiary bombs.
In
the evening of September 10th, the Astonia
offensive began. Preceded by special tanks, two British infantry
divisions and three armoured brigades moved forward, behind a tumultuous
barrage of artillery fire. The attack was one of legendary speed and
precision. The
“flail” tanks opened up breaches in the minefields, while
the terrifying “Crocodile” flame throwers sowed terror into the hearts
of the defenders. On September 12th Le Havre was liberated,
but 85% of the city has been razed and 2,000 civilians had perished in
its ruins. Freedom has exacted a heavy price indeed.
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The
ruins of Le Havre |
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