24-25 July 1944 “Operation Cobra” was the largest military operation since Operation Overlord, the D-Day landing in Normandy on 6 June 1944. It was planned to make a serious breakthrough of the German defensive line, which at the time was the St. LO – Perier road, which lay in a SW to NW direction from St. LO. This breakthrough was designed to create a wide gap in the German defensive line, their Main Line of Resistance, (MLR), so that Gen. George Patton and his newly created Third US Army, composed of the 1st Infantry Division and the 2nd and 3rdArmored Divisions, could pass through this gap and make a speedy dash for Avranches and the Brittany peninsula. This breakthrough was to be preceded by a heavy saturation bombing by the Air Corps, composed of fighter-bombers, medium and heavy bombers. Following this saturation bombing, were the three battle tested Infantry Divisions, the 4th, 9th and the 30th, with the 30th Infantry division designated as the ‘spearhead’. There were to be 350 Fighter-bombers, 400 Medium bombers and 1,500 Heavy bombers in this saturation bombing action. The target area was to be 2,500 yards deep and 6,000 yards wide, along the St. LO – Periers highway.
