Brix (Manche)
The cities of Normandy during the 1944 battles
Liberation: June 20th, 1944
Deployed units:
314th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division
History:
On the evening of June 19, 1944, US soldiers of the 314th Infantry Regiment (79th Infantry Division) conduct their baptism of fire. Initially placed in reserve of the division in the sector of Biniville, they are engaged at 19:20 following a German counterattack which fixes the progression of the 315th Infantry Regiment (IR) with the hamlet of Délasse. The division, which is moving towards Cherbourg, wants to revive its action along the current national road 13.
The second battalion of the 314th IR, motorized, progressed in front and reached the hamlet of La Croix Jacob at the first light of day, at 4:15 am on June 20. On its left flank, the 3rd battalion exceeds Sottevast and continues towards Saint-Martin-le-Gréard. The second battalion reached the commune of Brix in the morning, which it exceeds without delay to jostle the German troops and prevent them from reorganizing. In their flight, the latter leave their equipment intact, without having the time to make them unusable by carrying out the regulatory destructions. The Americans thus recover many operational armored vehicles.
The first battalion, placed in reserve of 314th IR, is in charge of cleaning the pockets of resistance and to recognize the villages (including Brix) and the surrounding points of interest, such as the V2 rocket base at Sottevast.
Map of Brix :
Back to the Normandy cities in 1944
