Italian campaign, Anzio front, 1944, an American truck, a dusty road, a sign with a well clear warning: «Slow, dust brings shell fire». The enemy is always in ambush and also a dust’s cloud can became a good reference for a sniper. Victor Sierra

A clear warning

After the successful landings in France on D-day, Allied advances had been painfully slow against determined German resistance. Operation Cobra was intended as a breakout from this beachhead, and was to be preceded by a massive air bombardment. On July 24 1944, the first wave of heavy bombers took off, but heavy cloud caused the operation to be postponed for one day. However, the message did not reach all of the aircraft. 300 bombers flew in, dropping bombs down the Saint-Lô–Periers road rather than across it. Bombs hit American and German positions alike on either side of the road, killing or injuring 156 Americans. 

The next day, Cobra started for real – 3000 fighter-bombers and heavy bombers dropped 4000 tons of bombs which obliterated the elite German Panzer Lehr Division. Once again, bombs hit American positions, causing 601 casualties. Among the dead was Lieutenant General Lesley McNair, the highest ranking American soldier to be killed in Europe. Nevertheless, Operation Cobra was a decisive Allied success, causing German resistance to rapidly collapse in France. 



Operation Cobra

A paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne Division leads a column of German prisoners past a disabled Stug IV in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge.(rudeerude)