Invasion 1944:
Scenario Preview, Part Four
By Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
May 2021

Panzer Grenadier: Invasion 1944 is built for two purposes: to introduce new players to the Panzer Grenadier, and to give experienced players a fun little game. Panzer Grenadier is easy to learn and play, and I suspect most of the “introduction” comes from the game’s relatively low price, compared to others in the series.

Panzer Grenadier is built around the interactions of armor, artillery and infantry, giving each their deserved equal role on the battlefield. Invasion 1944 gives the most attention to infantry, the key element of any combined-arms force, and artillery. Let’s continue to look at the scenarios.

Cherbourg and South
The 4th Infantry Division belonged to Joe Collins’ VII Corps. As the 9th Infantry Division of the corps raced through the 82nd Airborne Division’s landing zones on their way to reach the western coast of the Cotentin Peninsula, the 4th Infantry Division began to move north. Capture of Cherbourg, the most significant French port within striking distance of the D-Day beaches, was a major goal of the initial phase of the invasion.

The entire VII Corps advanced towards Cherbourg. The 90th Infantry Division had been found to be less capable of offensive operations and was left behind with the paratroopers to guard the line from the XIX Corps boundary to the western coast of the Peninsula, ultimately to become the VIII Corps (Corps assignments were quite fluid at this stage of the buildup). The newly arrived 79th Infantry Division took its place in the VII Corps order of battle.

As the VII Corps wheeled north they deployed the three divisions with the 9th Infantry to the west, the 79th in the center and the 4th along the east coast where it had been attempting to mop up coastal positions since D-Day. The advance was moving along fairly well when on the 19th a freak gale blew up in the Channel. June is not a normal time for significant storms in the Channel and the one that hit was a four-day lollapalooza, the likes of which hadn’t been seen in 40 years. The results were striking. More ships and tonnage of material sank during the gale than had been sunk on D-Day. In addition, the Mulberry (an artificial harbor, two of which were in place, one on Omaha and one on the British beaches) on Omaha was destroyed.

The storm and its effects on the logistics of the invasion virtually stopped the American advances towards the south. Only the operation to capture Cherbourg continued apace.

SCENARIO THIRTEEN
Debuzzing the Bomb
21 June 1944
Reconnaissance photographs showed a V1 “buzz bomb” launching site close to completion in the Bois de Roudou. The position was in the direct path of the 4th Infantry Division’s advance on Cherbourg. With London being devastated by these early cruise missiles (the first V-1 was launched at London exactly one week after the invasion) the course of action was obvious to all involved and the 3rd Battalion of 8th Infantry Regiment was ordered to secure the site as soon as possible. Intelligence expected the site to be well defended so the 2nd Battalion was to carry out a diversionary attack on La Bourdonnerie.

Conclusion
The 8th Infantry Regiment quickly secured the Bois de Roudou area but was halted by flak guns on approaching the construction site. Artillery fire was unable to silence the guns and after a flanking movement failed the Americans called it a day. At La Bourdonnerie Lt. Colonel Carlton O. MacNeely of the 8th Regiment’s 2nd Battalion had all his heavy weapons engaging the village while his F Company lined up with a platoon behind each Sherman and charged. The strange formation quickly overcame all resistance.

Notes
The Germans don’t get to shoot their crude cruise missiles at the attacking Americans, they just have to defend the launching site. The Americans have numbers and artillery on their side, plus tank support, because this is a crucial objective. But they have all those things because this is a crucial objective, so the bar for victory is fairly high.
 
SCENARIO FOURTEEN
Drive on Pinabel
21 June 1944
The 4th “Ivy” Division had bogged down trying to break through the fortified line protecting Cherbourg. Hoping to regain momentum, division commander Raymond Barton ordered his 22nd Infantry Regiment to skirt the fortified line and reach Pinabel. This would isolate a large number of German diehards gathering at Maupertus Airport east of Cherbourg. In addition the airport was the last way out of the vise that was closing in on Cherbourg. It was late in the afternoon before the 22nd was ready to jump off. Time was of the essence.

Conclusion
Pinabel was taken but staying there for the night was out of the question due to heavy fire directed from the airport. Fourth Division’s staff considered withdrawing but Lieutenant Colonel Hervey Tribolet of the 22nd Regiment’s 1st Battalion was reluctant to give up his gains and decided to press forward. His troops failed to reach the airport but took Hill 158 in bitter fighting. At VII Corps headquarters “Lightning Joe” Collins was ecstatic as Hill 158 dominated the surrounding ground.

Notes
The Americans are on the attack, with a long way to go against outnumbered but surprisingly tough German defenders. The Germans even have heavy artillery on their side, and only have to cover a narrow front. This one’s going to be tough for the good guys.

SCENARIO FIFTEEN
Eightball Forward
6 July 1944
At the base of the Cotentin Peninsula’s western shore, several American divisions had failed to capture the key towns of Sainteny and La-Haye-du-Puits. The raw 83rd Infantry Division saw its first combat on the Fourth of July and almost immediately collapsed. Lighting Joe Collins blamed the division commander, Robert C. Macon, for failing to prepare his troops for the realities of combat and ordered the 4th Infantry Division to take up the attack. The Ivymen passed through the 83rd’s lines, scorning Macon’s dispirited men with the label “Eightball Division.”

Conclusion
The Ivy Division fared no better than their predecessors as the rain and swamps added to the hedgerows made attacking here suicidal. Even the addition of armor after the rain slackened was a disaster. It would be another three days before Sainteny was taken. Private Harper Coleman of the 22nd Infantry Regiment who came ashore on D-Day and was hit twice by a sniper best summed up the fighting: “We lost quite a few people; how anyone made it I do not know.”

Notes
This one’s even tougher for the Americans, who don’t have to do much to win, which is good, because it will be very hard to do much. Those tough German paratroopers are back and they’re pissed off, and the ground is sopping wet (which is extra bad among the hedgerows). This one will take some American ingenuity.

Post Script
Cherbourg capitulated at 1932 hours on June 25th. Its fall was aided by several escapades by American troops who bluffed large German forces into surrendering highly fortified positions through the use of loudspeakers and/or alcohol-fueled bravado. Many German units found that they had surrendered to a squad or a pistol-toting officer lit up with Calvados, the apple brandy indigenous to the peninsula. The isolated Germans in Cherbourg did not want to emulate their comrades in Stalingrad, despite General von Schlieben’s pledge to do so. Prior to receiving their commands in charge of the Atlantic port fortresses each commander had been brought to Hitler so that his resolve to hold out to the last could be assessed. Apparently, Hitler was just as good a judge of fanaticism as he was a military commander.

On the other hand, one of the more significant casualties of the capitulation of Cherbourg was General Dollmann, commander of the German 7th Army, who is believed to have committed suicide rather than face the Führer after the loss of Cherbourg. Officially, he died of a heart attack in his bathroom.

The harbor of Cherbourg, the capture of which was the point of the action, was comprehensively demolished. As Allied planners fretted over what to do American loadmasters had devised solutions that no planner could conceive. Rather than wait months for Cherbourg harbor to be brought back to life, American engineers and sailors ran flat-bottomed barges and ships onto Omaha and Utah beaches during low tide, off-loaded the cargo and refloated the vessels come high tide. It certainly wasn’t tidy and more than one vessel would be left behind but this approach resulted in more than twice the tonnage and nearly 15 times the number of vehicles arriving in France in August over the two beaches than through Cherbourg.

Nevertheless, Cherbourg was taken and the VII Corps had turned south to take up positions near Carentan, between VIII Corps to their west and XIX Corps to the south. They would do so, however, without Brig. Gen. Ted Roosevelt, the former president’s son, who had been selected to rise to a division command. Roosevelt had been awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism on Utah Beach, and hours before he was to be notified of the promotion, he died of a heart attack. The entire top command of the U.S. Army in Europe served as his pallbearers.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published vast numbers of books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife, three children and his dog, Leopold. Leopold actually wrote most of those.