German counter-attack at Mortain

7th August 1944: A US Infantry battalion cut off and surrounded by the 2nd SS Panzer Division survives by calling in accurate artillery fire

Two Jagdpanthers of Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion 654 roll through the streets of a Normandy village. The 2nd SS Panzer “Das Reich,” 2nd Panzer, 116th Panzer, and part of 1st SS Panzer Division “Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler” spearheaded the German counterattack against the 30th Division at Mortain and Hill 314.

US Army Corps Artillery was in constant demand to break up the German attack, called in by Forward Observers on Hill 314.

USAAF and RAF fighter bombers mounted hundreds of sorties over the battle area. Gun-camera footage from a strafing American fighter plane hints at the heavy fire brought to bear on a German armoured column on an open road in Normandy. Allied aircraft controlled the skies during Operation Lüttich, the Germans’ failed counterattack.

As Patton’s breakout in Normandy grew stronger, Hitler's demands for a counter-attack that would contain the Allies grew more strident. A month earlier he had received warnings from von Rundstedt and, later, from Rommel, that the situation was untenable. Now the German forces in France were even more depleted, ground down by the Allied attacks and by their inability to replace losses.

The German divisions ordered into battle for 'Operation Luttich' were shadows of their former selves. Yet they were now to fight desperately in an attempt to smash through the US lines at Mortain. For a time it looked like the 2nd SS Panzer Division would break through.

A contemporary sketch of Hill 314 behind the small town of Mortain

Forward Observers on Hill 314 had an uninterrupted view for miles around and could call in artillery fire at will - so long as their radio batteries were strong. Their positions were under constant German fire and repeated infantry assaults on the hill.

But on the high ground behind Mortain, on Hill 314, the 2nd Battalion/120th Infantry Regiment held out. They were surrounded and heavily outnumbered by the 2nd SS Panzer Division - but they had radios. From their commanding position overlooking the terrain for miles around they were able to fight an entire battle.

Lieutenant Ralph Kerley commanded Company E, 230th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division, at Mortain. When the Germans later came forward to demand his surrender his reply was “unprintable’.