In the immediate aftermath of D-Day, both sides fought hard for possession of Sainte-Mère-Église, which would give the victor control of hard-surfaced roads leading north to the port of Cherbourg (an Operation Overlord primary objective), west to the sea and isolation of German forces in the Cotentin Peninsula, and south toward Carentan and the unification of the Utah and Omaha Beaches into a single lodgment area. Specifically, this scenario is set on June 7 (D+1), when the issue was decided in favor of the Americans.
The combatants are equally challenged. The Americans initially have possession of Sainte-Mère-Église, but are holding it with an overstretched parachute regiment with very limited anti-tank and artillery support as the seaborne component of the US VII Corps has not yet reached the isolated airborne force. A large, but weak German battalion occupies a ridge south of Sainte-Mère-Église and, although itself isolated, its position astride the main highway and the ridge blocks the best routes for the relief of Sainte-Mère-Église by the 4th Infantry Division. A regimental-sized German force with strong artillery support is poised to retake Sainte-Mère-Église before the 4th Infantry Division with strong armored support can reach the beleaguered 505th Parachute Infantry holding the important crossroads town.
Background Getting ashore at Utah Beach on 6 June proved far easier than anticipated. However, the consolidation and expansion of the beachhead required hard fighting. Although anxious to begin his advance northward toward the primary objective of the port of Cherbourg, Major General J. Lawton Collins, the commander of the VII Corps, realized the immediate tasks were for the seaborne component of the corps to establish solid contact with the airborne component, which was widely scattered and only partially successful in its D-Day mission. Complicating this was the need to eliminate a large enemy force on a ridge that commanded Sainte-Mère-Église to the north, the vital north-south Montebourg to Carenatan highway, and the important east-west road connecting Sainte-Marie-du-Mont near the sea with Chef du Pont on the Mederet River.
Historical Outcome By sunset on 7 June, elements of the 82nd Airborne Division at Sainte-Mère-Église, joined by armor advancing inland from the beaches, had soundly defeated a regimental-sized counterattack against that town. Furthermore, the VII Corps eliminated most of the organized resistance south of the line from la Fière east to Sainte-Mère-Église, northeast to Saint-Germain-de-Varreville, and from there to Hamel du Cruttes (today. Hameia des Cruttes) on the sea. (The exception being in extreme the south around Saint-Côme-du-Mont along the Douve River.).
Scale of Play The scenario is designed for 6mm models representing platoons, a distance scale of one inch equivalent to 100 yards, a battlefield surface of 4.5 by 4.5 feet, and one-hour turns.
Rulesets This scenario works well with any ruleset using platoon stands with distance scale of one inch representing 100 yards, including Spearhead, Kampfgruppe Commander, and Combined Arms.
Scenario Length Sixteen one-hour turns starting at 0500 and ending at 2100 on 7 June.
Victory Condition Possession of Sainte-Mère-Église determines the winner.
Weather Partial overcast with intermittent light rain. Weather and the confusion on the battlefield mean that the US commander has neither air nor naval gunfire support.
Ground Conditions The ground is dry and can support cross-country movement by armored vehicles.
Reference Map See the attached photo of Map IV: “VII Corps on D+1” from Harrison, Gordon A. Cross Channel Attack. The battlefield’s boundaries are marked by green arrows.
Battlefield Description
The town of Sainte-Mère-Église at the center of the battlefield is a vital communication center with roads leading west over the Merderet River to the sea, north toward Cherbourg, east to Utah Beach, and south to Carentan and Omaha Beach. Sainte-Mère-Église is by far the largest settlement on the battlefield. Its ancient stone church at the center of the town provides excellent observation of the surrounding countryside.
The ground slopes gradually downward in all directions from Sainte-Mère-Église. Southeast of that town, a fordable stream flows through a shallow valley. The ground southeast of the stream gently rises to form a ridge running northwest from Fauville, through Écoquenéauville. Low-lying areas along the southwest side and at the western corner of the battlefield have been flooded by the Germans as an obstacle to airborne assaults. Neither personnel nor vehicle stands may move through these areas.
Farms, orchards, and grazing fields cover the area. Much of the area is covered by light density hedgerows with large enclosed, open fields, some of which were large enough to allow for parachute and glider landings. Players must agree to treat the hedgerows here as Linear Obstacles or to use the rules associated with Low Density Hedgerow Areas as described in the previous blog.
A hard-surfaced road runs from the city of Montebourg off the battlefield to the northwest, through Sainte-Mère-Église, continues through Fauville on the southwest corner of the ridge that dominates the lower half of the battlefield, and exits at les Forges. An important east-west hard-surfaced road runs west from les Forges to Chef du Pont where a causeway crosses the Merderet River flood plain. From Chef du Pont, a hard-surfaced road runs northeast through Sainte-Mère-Église, passes through the hamlets of Beauvais and Baudienville, and shortly beyond leaves the battlefield in the direction of Ravenoville and Utah Beach. Also terminating in Sainte-Mère-Église is another hard-surfaced road from Cauquigny, off the battlefield to the southwest. Like the road at Chef du Pont it is carried by a causeway across the Merderet flood plain. An important but secondary road enters the northeastern side of the battlefield at the village of Reuville from Saint-Martin-de-Varreville and Utah Beach. It runs through the three villages on the ridge southeast of Sainte-Mère-Église and intersects with the Montebourg to Carentan hard-surfaced road at the point midway between Sainte-Mère-Église and Fauville.
The railway line passing through the southwestern part of the battlefield is elevated and is a significant linear obstacle. As operations along the Merderet are not part of this scenario, the railway line essentially marks the southwestern boundary of the battlefield.
Scenario Briefing for the US Commander
Situation
Having successfully established its beachhead, the VII Corps is consolidating its gains with priority being placed on establishing firm contact with the 82nd Airborne Division in the vicinity of Sainte-Mère-Église, prior to the 4th Infantry Division (reinforced) opening the corps drive toward Cherbourg.
Mission
The VII Corps consolidates and regroups along the line from la-Fière through Neuville-au-Plain to Saint-Germain-de-Varreville in preparation for an advance by the 4th Infantry Division between the Merderet and sea toward Cherbourg to commence at 0700 on 8 June.
VII Corps’ Commander’s Intent
At 0600 on 8 June, the 4th Infantry Division strikes north with three regiments attacking abreast from east to west: 22nd RCT along the sea; 12th RCT in the center to the Montebourg to Sainte-Mére-Église highway (exclusive); and the 4th RCT on the left from the highway (inclusive) to the line from Montebourg Station to Hangar; with 82nd Airborne Division securing the left flank until relieved.
Command Structure and Task Organization
VII Corps Commander — Major General J. Lawton Collins
82nd Airborne Division — Major General Matthew B. Ridgway. Veteran troops with high morale and combined arms ratings.
505th Parachute Infantry — Colonel William Ekman: 2/505th Parachute Infantry (Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Vanderwoort); 3/505th Parachute Infantry — Major William J. Hagan III (acting); Composite Airborne Field Artillery Battalion (ten 75mm Pack Howitzers); and Anti-Tank Battery (12 57mm) — 81st AA/AT Battalion (Airborne).
Task Force Raff — Colonel Edson Raff. This task force was under the control of the 82nd Airborne Division and consisted of glider infantry and attached armor with the mission of rapidly reinforcing the division at Sainte-Mère- Église. New to combat, but well trained and led. Composition: C/746th Tank Battalion (17 M4 tanks); Platoon from B/4th Cavalry Squadron (6 M8 Scout Cars); and F/401st Glider Infantry (less one Platoon).
4th Infantry Division (reinforced) — Major General Raymond O. Barton. First combat experience, but well trained and led. High morale and combined arms ratings.
8th Regimental Combat Team — Colonel James Van Fleet:
8th Infantry Regiment — Colonel James Van Fleet: 1/8th Infantry (Lieutenant Colonel Conrad Simmons); 2/8th Infantry (Lieutenant Colonel Carlton MacNeely); 3/8th Infantry (Lieutenant Colonel Erasmus Strickland); Cannon Company 105mm Howitzers); Anti-Tank Company; and Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon. The 29th Field Artillery Battalion (105mm Howitzers) in Direct Support. Attachments: The 70th Tank Battalion (less Companies C & D) (Lieutenant Colonel John Welborn)
746th Tank Battalion (-) — Lieutenant Colonel C.G. Hupfur. New to combat but well trained and led. Composition is three battalion command M4 tanks, Company B (17 M4s) and the Assault gun Platoon (6 M4/105s).
Deployment and status of forces at 0500
In and around Sainte-Mère-Église: 505th Parachute Infantry with the 2/505th Parachute infantry (6 rifle, one MG, one 81mm mortar, and two 57mm AT platoons) facing north to cover the highway from Montebourg and the road from Ravenoville, and the 3/505th Parachute infantry facing toward Fauvlille (7 rifle and one MG platoon).
Southwest of Sainte-Mère-Église: 82nd Airborne Division Command Post and Composite Airborne Field Artillery Battery.
US Artillery and Mortar Ammunition Restrictions
Shells for 75mm pack howitzers and 81mm mortars are in short supply due to dependence on an uncertain air-delivery resupply. Each 75mm Pack Howitzer battery stand is limited to seven High Explosive (HE) Indirect Fire Missions and one Smoke Mission over the course of the scenario.
US Reinforcements
* At 0500 — The 8th Regimental Combat Team (less the 1/8th Infantry) of the 4th Infantry Division enters the battlefield at les Forges in column of battalions astride the highway. The regiment is at full strength, but has only its organic transportation. Companies A and B of the 70th Tank Battalion (with a total of 32 M4 tanks) are attached to the 8th Infantry and may transport one infantry platoon per tank platoon.
* At 0600 — The 1/8th Infantry enters the battlefield at Reuville and attacks enemy forces in the vicinity of Écoquenéauville in coordination with the main body of the 8th Regimental Combat Team.
* At 0500 — The 29th Field Artillery Battalion (twelve 105mm Howitzers) becomes available for direct support of the 8th RCT and may undertake ten HE Indirect Fire and two Smoke missions during the course of the scenario. The battalion deploys off, but within full range, of the entire battlefield.
* At 1600 — Task Force Raff arrives at les Forges with orders to rapidly reinforce the 82nd Airborne Division at Sainte-Mère-Église.
* At 1700 — The 746th Tank Battalion (-) arrives at Reuville with orders to reinforce the 82nd Airborne Division at Sainte-Mère-Église.
Scenario Briefing for the German Commander
Situation
The enemy is ashore in strength in the Seventh Army’s zone with at least three divisions identified so far in the zone of the LXXXIV Corps alone. His naval gunfire and air support have made a tremendous difference by preventing or defeating our counterattacks. It is obvious that Fortress Cherbourg is a prime objective and the primary task of the corps is to deny the enemy this port and, failing that, leave him only ruins. Although the enemy has seized Saint-Mère-Église, his hold on that critical communications center remains tenuous. There is a fleeting opportunity to retake this town and establish a solid front from there to the sea to block his advance to Cherbourg.
Mission
At dawn on 7 June, 91. Luftlande Division strikes south astride the Montebourg to Carentan highway and, in coordination with Ost-Bataillon 795 attacking north, retakes and holds Sainte-Mère-Église as a strongpoint on the right of a new defensive line to the sea. Meanwhile, Ost-Bataillon 795 entrenches on and holds the ridge line until ordered to withdraw to the new defensive line.
LXXXIV Corps Commander’s Intent
The enemy is denied the critical road junction of Sainte-Mère-Église, which provides the right anchor of solid defensive front, as the start of a delaying action, based on successive fortified lines, to permit time for the complete demolition of the port of Cherbourg.
Command Structure and Task Organization
LXXXIV Corps — General der Artillerie Erich Marcks
91. Luftlande Division — Generalmajor Bernhard Klosterkemper (acting)
A new formation activated in January 1944 and assigned specifically to respond to an airborne assault role in the Cotentin Peninsula. The division was not fully trained and had a low strength between 7,000 and 8,000 men. The division’s command was disrupted when its commander, Generalleutnant Wilhelm Falley, was ambushed and killed by paratroopers in the early hours of D-Day while on the way back to his command post after the cancellation of a corps command post exercise in Rennes.
Grenadier Regiment 1058 (less I Bataillon) — Oberst Kurt Beigang: II/Grenadier Regiment 1058; III/Grenadier Regiment 1058; 13 Kompanie — 15cm Infantry Gun Company (one stand); and 14/Grenadier Regiment 1058 — PAK 40 Anti-Tank Gun Company (2 platoons).
1/Panzerjäger Abteilung 191 (attached) — ten StuG III assault guns.
Sturm Bataillon AOK7 (attached) — Commanding officer not known. Consisted of three infantry companies; an 8cm mortar stand of 6-tubes (consolidated from the infantry companies); a heavy mortar platoon (four 12cm mortars); Schwere Kompanie with two HMG platoons and one 7.5cm Infantry Gun platoon; a Pionier Platoon with two flamethrowers; and four 2cm flak guns in the headquarters company.
Direct Support Artillery — Artillerie Bataillon 456 (twelve 10.5cm Howitzers).
General Support Artillery — III/Artillerie Regiment 243 (eight 12.2 cm Howitzers).
Ost-Bataillon 795 — Commanding Officer not known. Comprised of ex-POWs from the Georgia SSR who volunteered to fight on the Western Front. Three infantry companies each with an 8cm mortar platoon of four tubes; one 12cm heavy mortar platoon of three tubes. Attached — Remnants of Infanterie Regiment 919 of 709. Infanterie Division and other formations with six infantry stands representing infantry and artillery personnel who have lost their field pieces.
Deployment and status of forces at 0500
* All elements of 91. Luftlande Division (except artillery) — Assembled in attack formation astride the Montebourg to Carentan highway in the vicinity of Neuville-au-Plain.
* All artillery — Deployed off, but within full range, of the battlefield.
* Ost-Bataillon 795 and Remnants of Infanterie Regiment 919 — deployed on the Fauville to Écoquenéauville ridge. May be in hasty entrenchments.
German Artillery and Mortar Ammunition Restrictions
Every direct and general support artillery stands, as well as a 8cm and 12cm mortars, may fire up to twelve Indirect Fire Missions and one Smoke Mission over the course of the scenario.
References:
Bernage, Georges and François, Dominique. Utah Beach: Sainte-Mère-Église and Sainte-Marie-du-mont. Bayeux, France; Editions Heimdal; 2004. See pages 132 to 156.
* Blair, Clay. Ridgway’s Paratroopers: The American Airborne in World War II. William Morrow Inc.: New York; 1985. See pages 238 to 265.
* Harris, Gordon A. The United States Army in World War II: European Theater of Operations — Cross Channel Attack. Center of Military History, US Army: Washington, DC; 1951. See pages 340 to 344.
Zaloga, Steven J. D-Day 1944 (2) Utah Beach & US Airborne Landings. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing Limited 2004. See pages 64 to 68.
*Zetterling, Niklas. Normandy 1944 — German Military Organization, Combat Power, and Organizational Effectiveness. Philadelphia, PA and Oxford, UK: Casemate Publishing; 2019.