Trelly (Manche)
The cities of Normandy during the 1944 battles
- Liberation: 28 July 1944
- Deployed units:
67th Armored Regiment, Combat Command B, 2nd Armored Division
41st Infantry Regiment, Combat Command B, 2nd Armored Division
238th Combat Engineer Battalion, Combat Command B, 2nd Armored Division
82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, Combat Command B, 2nd Armored Division
4th Armored Division
2. SS Panzer-Division “Das Reich”
- History:
On July 28, 1944, the 2nd Armored Division continued its rapid advance toward Saint-Denis-le-Gast, overtaking a large group of German units concentrated in the Roncey sector. Seeking to cut off any possibility of retreat for their enemy, the 3rd Battalion of the 67th Armored Regiment (AR), commanded by Major William P. Ring Jr., was tasked with maintaining its westward advance toward the village of Trelly and, along the way, establishing several defensive barriers at the main crossroads in the commune.
F Squadron of the 67th AR, reinforced by a platoon of the 3rd Battalion of the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment (AIR), reached the village of Trelly, which the Germans were not defending. This advance force sought to reach and cut the road connecting Coutances to Cérences as quickly as possible.
The crossroads located at the Hauts Vents area is one of the key intersections in the Trelly sector. Situated on the road linking Coutances to Gavray, it offered the Germans the opportunity to quickly escape the trap gradually closing in on them. The 3rd Battalion reached the crossroads and set up part of its position there. Its forces there consisted of armored vehicles from Squadron H of the 67th AR and infantrymen from the 3rd Battalion of the 41st AIR. Upon their arrival, the Americans engaged a first German convoy, destroying several vehicles and neutralizing their occupants. Paulette Le Colley, 23, was killed by a stray bullet during this first encounter at the Hauts Vents crossroads.
This crossroads is located on a slight rise in the ground, offering views several hundred meters to the north. The road leaving Les Hauts Vents towards Saint-Denis-le-Gast was occupied by the 1st Battalion of the 41st Air Regiment, more precisely at the place called La Lande des Morts. In the early afternoon, several German vehicles attempting to cross this crossing were destroyed by the Americans. A little later, a Kübelwagen speeding from the north reached the Hauts Vents crossroads. It was also disabled by American gunfire. While one of the three men on board managed to escape, the driver (Rolf Lemke) and the second passenger were killed instantly. The latter was none other than SS-Obersturmbannführer Christian Tychsen, commander of the 2nd SS Panzer Division « Das Reich » since July 24 (buried hastily and without markings, the German general’s remains were not identified until 1967).
On July 29, the 82nd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion deployed one of its squadrons in the Trelly sector to reinforce the American presence against any enemy exfiltration attempts. The 1st Battalion of the 41st AIR occupied the entire extent of this slight rise in terrain dominating the region east of Trelly, between Hauts Vents and La Lande de la Mort, providing close protection for the armored vehicles belonging to Squadrons B and E of the 67th AR. They were further reinforced by sappers from the 238th Combat Engineer Battalion (commanded by Lieutenant John B. Wong of the 1st Platoon of Company C).
In the early hours of July 30, about twenty minutes after midnight, a large German convoy from the village of Guéhébert, consisting of about 80 vehicles from the 2nd SS Panzer Division « Das Reich, » reached the La Lande des Morts sector, seeking to reach Saint-Denis-le-Gast and then cross the Sienne River. American discipline allowed them at that moment to let their adversaries engage in their ambush plan without a single shot being fired. But upon discovering the trap, the German vehicles accelerated, deploying their various weapons. Combat Command B fighters managed to neutralize the first and last vehicles in the convoy, trapping the column in the trap. Throughout the night and until 9:00 a.m., fierce fighting raged. The Germans, whose forces were estimated at over 2,000 in this battle, lost 450 killed and 1,000 prisoners during their various attempts to break through the American defenses. The 2nd Armored Division, for its part, lost nearly 150 of its soldiers killed during this terrifying night.
The next day, July 31, the 4th Armored Division of the 3rd (US) Army, moving from Coutances, reached the Trelly region and, in turn, approached the Hauts Vents crossroads. Not having been informed of the presence of friendly units, the lead armored vehicles opened fire on Major Ring’s men before realizing their mistake a few minutes later and ceasing fire, fortunately without consequences for Combat Command B.
Trelly map:
Back to the Normandy cities in 1944