The battle of Saint-Lo (7-19 July 1944) was an essential preliminary to the eventual American breakout from Normandy, and saw them struggle through the bocage country to reach the starting point for Operation Cobra.
After the initial D-Day landings the first main American Overlord objective was to clear out the Cotentin Peninsula, to the west of the beaches, and take the port of Cherbourg to the north. The second objective was to advance south and capture the key road junction of Saint- Lo, an essential build-up to the planned breakout on the Allied western front (Operation Cobra).
The first task after the initial landings was to join up the individual beachheads. The first task for the US forces was to close the gap between Utah and Omaha beaches. General Gerow’s 5th Corps, which had landed on Omaha Beach, was given the task of taking Isigny, in the eastern part of the gap. This fell to the 29th Division on the night of 8 June with the support of heavy naval gunfire.
Over the next few days 5th Corps pushed south to the high ground overlooking the Aure river, and then towards Caumont, seventeen miles inland. Caumont is just over 12 miles to the east of Saint- Lo, and roughly the same distance inland, but it fell to the Allies on 12 June, more than a month before Saint- Lo. This is partly because the Germans fought hard to keep control of Carentan and thus limit the connection between the two US beaches, and even launched a counterattack there on 13 June, and partly because Gerow was already in contact with the British on his left, and needed to maintain firm contact with them. On 13 June this first push south was stopped by Bradley, who wanted to focus the limited supplies that could be landed over the beaches on the attack into the Cotentin.
