Lengronne (Manche)
The cities of Normandy during the 1944 battles
- Liberation: 29 july 1944
- Deployed units:
82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Armored Division
Combat Command B, 2nd Armored Division
2. SS Panzer-Division “Das Reich”
17. SS Panzer-Division “Götz von Berlichingen”
Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6, 91. Infanterie-Division
- History:
In order to isolate the equivalent of three German divisions in the Roncey sector, Combat Command B (CCB) of the 2nd Armoured Division was given the mission on 28 July 1944 to seize and then hold the axis linking Lengronne to Saint-Denis-le-Gast, by setting up several defensive plugs.
After bypassing Saint-Denis-le-Gast to avoid being delayed by any German forces that might be there, the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion approached Lengronne in the early afternoon, followed by the reconnaissance company of the 67th Armored Regiment. The village was located on a stretch of land with views to the north, making it possible to observe any enemy approach in broad daylight. Defensive posts were set up in and around the village before nightfall, such as the one at La Chapelle, halfway between Saint-Denis-le-Gast and Lengronne.
On the night of 28 to 29 July, several German soldiers tried to cross the Lengronne sector to reach Gavray and the south bank of the Sienne, but they were intercepted by artillerymen from the 62nd Armored Field Artillery Battalion, who took 169 prisoners.
On 29 July, B Battery and the headquarters of the 78th Armored Field Artillery Battalion (AFAB) were set up at La Chapelle, where they had prepared a number of defensive positions to prevent more German soldiers escaping. At around 2 a.m. on 30 July, two American M8 Greyhound reconnaissance vehicles escaped from Saint-Denis-le-Gast after suffering a violent German breakthrough. They were soon followed by vehicles from the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. They alerted the artillerymen at La Chapelle, who had already heard the sounds of fighting and were preparing for battle. A few hundred metres further east, an M10 tank destroyer from the 702nd Tank Destroyer Battalion also escaped from Saint-Denis-le-Gast and took refuge on the side of the road, waiting to be repaired.
When the German convoy arrived at around 3 a.m., the M7 self-propelled guns opened fire, soon followed by several 12.7 mm Browning machine guns and the M10 Tank Destroyer, which was still operational. The Germans (mainly from the 2. SS Panzer-Division “Das Reich”, but also from the 17. SS Panzer-Division ‘Götz von Berlichingen’ and Fallschirmjäger-Regiment 6) retaliated, killing, among others, Captain Norbert O. Simmard, intelligence officer at the 78th AFAB headquarters. The vehicles stopped advancing and their occupants tried to flee in a shower of metal: 40 German soldiers were killed, 30 wounded and 199 taken prisoner. 11 vehicles were neutralised, including a Panzer IV, a Wespe self-propelled gun, two StuG III tank hunters and Opel Blitz trucks.
The commune of Lengronne was then crossed on 31 July by the 4th Armored Division of the 3rd (US) Army, on its way from Coutances.
Lengronne map:
