Quibou (Manche)
The cities of Normandy during the 1944 battles
The body of a German Waffen SS soldier in M43 camouflage lies on the side of a road in the Quibou area. He is carrying a spare barrel in his MG 42 machine gun case. Photo: US National Archives
- Liberation: 27th July 1944
- Deployed units:
82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Combat Command B, 2nd Armored Division
78th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Armored Division Artillery, 2nd Armored Division
Panzer-Lehr-Division
- History:
After capturing Canisy the day before, Command B of the 2nd Armored Division resumed its advance around 9:00 a.m. toward Dangy.
Earlier that night, starting at 3:00 a.m., Squadrons C and B of the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion had engaged in advance phase along two axes and reached the town of Quibou. At first light, the reconnaissance elements came into contact with two Panther tanks and some German infantry. Small arms fire and mortar shells also halted the advance, and American soldiers were temporarily taken prisoner.
Immediately, Battery A of the 78th Armored Field Artillery Battalion took up position east of the road connecting Canisy to Quibou and responded by firing 105mm shells from its M7 Priest self-propelled guns. 37mm cannons were also deployed and opened fire on the armored vehicles, but to no avail. Taking advantage of the chaos of the fighting, some captured fighters escaped and returned to their lines, like William « Rocky » Nawrocki of B Squadron of the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion.
With aerial fire support at the same time, the Americans called in fighter-bombers to resolve the situation. The intervention of the P-47 Thunderbolts forced the Germans to break contact and withdraw south, abandoning Quibou to their enemy.
Quibou map:
Back to the Normandy cities in 1944