24 June 1944 Part 4

24 June 1944 Part 4 Naval engagement off Saint Helier

Date note: 24 June 1944.

Secret. Seventh Army Headquarters, Ia, to Army Group B Headquarters, reporting post Polo I. Ia daily report, 24 June 1944.

1. Situation. Enemy artillery harassing fire along the entire front; heavy naval artillery fire in LXXXVI Army Corps’ sector. Strong fighter-bomber activity in LXXXIV Army Corps’ sector and at Cherbourg. The Cherbourg situation is generally unchanged; deep enemy penetrations have been extended. The fleet off the Orne estuary is unchanged. Enemy security and reconnaissance activity off northern Brittany.

2. Details.

(a) LXXXVI Army Corps: no new reports.

(b) I SS Panzer Corps: in the Panzer Lehr Division sector, an enemy thrust in company strength against the left flank at 13:00, following artillery preparation, was repulsed by counter-attack. Continuing resupply flights, heavy traffic and increasing patrol activity.

(c) XXXXVII Panzer Corps: enemy reconnaissance thrust against the left flank repulsed. Reinforcement of the enemy opposite the left flank observed. Artillery harassing fire throughout the day. Wood 2 km south of Turques [place reading uncertain] set alight according to plan.

(d) II Parachute Corps: stronger air activity; artillery activity diminished. Patrol activity on both sides.

(e) LXXXIV Army Corps: strong fighter-bomber activity near Saint-Sauveur-de-la-Pierre-Pont and La Haye-du-Puits; artillery activity.

(f) Group von Schlieben: the enemy, attacking strongly from the south and southeast, has reached southwest Octeville. Leadership casualties and the heaviest fire have reduced resistance. Ethnic Germans in German Nationality List III and Russians no longer show the morale necessary for resistance. Unified command is no longer fully possible owing to communications failures.

(g) LXXIV Army Corps: off Saint Helier between 02:00 and 03:00, naval engagement between two of our minesweepers and enemy motor torpedo boats. Minesweepers damaged. Two enemy aircraft shot down over the island. Increasing aerial reconnaissance and attacks on Saint-Malo; four aircraft shot down. Numerous flights into and across the area, presumably supplying resistance groups.

(h) XXV Army Corps: two enemy aircraft shot down.

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3. Assessment. A planned attack on Cherbourg is presumed for 25 June. Lively air supply and heavy road traffic suggest that the enemy’s preparations for attack on both sides of Tilly and west of the Vire are not yet complete.

4. Changes of command posts: 91st Infantry Division, La Caponnerie, 3 km northeast of Lessay; 77th Infantry Division, Haute Ques [reading uncertain], 4.5 km southwest of Lessay; 353rd Infantry Division, La Belacherie, 4 km northwest of Périers.

5. Change of forward line in I SS Panzer Corps, map 1:80,000: northern edge of Montilly, 1 km southeast of Tilly; crossroads 1 km southwest of Tilly; northern edge of Vendes [following small locality name unclear], 1 km northwest of Hottot; La Taille; southern edge of Longraye.

6. Air situation. Numerous bomber and fighter-bomber flights into and across Normandy. Bombs dropped at Châteaudun, Blois, Laval, south of Le Mans, Mamers, Alençon and Rennes.

Seventh Army Headquarters, Ia No. 1772/44 Secret. Signed Pemsel. Certified correct: [signature indistinct], Major, General Staff. After dispatch: reporting post Polo I; Senior Quartermaster; Ic; Air Force Liaison Officer; O1; Ia/war diary.

German Seventh Army Headquarters (AOK 7), NARA T-312 Roll 1565. Roll 1565 Jersey and Channel Islands English translations.docx, reference 58. Scan extracts: img106_04_6128_8199.jpg, img106_05_8199_10262.jpg. Extract filenames identify the original image strip, section number and horizontal pixel boundaries; these are not archival frame numbers.