France 1944

[barrett.t]

I was wondering why there was such lackluster about the fight when it came to the Nazis fighting in France. It always seemed to me that the heavy fighting was in Italy and Russia in the Atlantic and so on and so forth. I saw a programme once where the officer in charge of Paris gave in without a fight using the reason of trying to save Paris from destruction. Then I saw another programme about the Falaise Pocket and this contradicted my first impressions. However, I heard an estimate concerning the German losses in France it came seven hundred thousand lives wow!!!

[Hagen]

There was some pretty good fighting in France starting in Normandy. Then there were the Canadians and British against the 12th SS Hitlerjugend at Caen. You mention Falaise, a bloodbath there! Now after Falaise the German army was reeling, they couldn't fall back fast enough. It wasn't until the Allies had to stop because of outrunning their own supply lines that the Germans could stop and pull themselves together. You're right about von Cholitz in Paris, especially as how he was picked by Hitler personnally to destroy Paris if need be. If you want to consider Alsace and Lorraine there was the Vosges mountains campaign.

Part of the reason it may seem as if more bitter fighting went on in Italy is that Italy is great defensive country, mountains, and rivers are great to defend from.

[Klaus]

@Hagen: You may have a point with Italy. In France they really had to run as fast as they could.

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by Hagen

Part of the reason it may seem as if more bitter fighting went on in Italy is that Italy is great defensive country, mountains, and rivers are great to defend from.

Exactly the reason. A narrow strip of land with lots of defensive cover.

Part of the reason that the fighting in France in 1944-45 may have seemed "lackluster" on the part of Germany is that the battle on their eastern front was such an epic one. Nevertheless the fighting, as mentioned, was at times fierce, but truly after the breakout in Normandy it was simply delaying the inevitable.