On 6 June 1944, the assault on the continent was made according to plan. After very severe
fighting during the establishment and expansion of the beachhead, elements of the First US Army drove
west from Utah Beach to sever the Cotentin Peninsula. Other elements of VII Corps moved rapidly
north to capture the important port of Cherbourg. During the drive to the north, the remainder of the
First US Army, greatly strengthened by the arrival of additional build-up troops, was primarily
employed in maintaining defensive positions across the base of the Normandy Peninsula in order to
prevent German units in the south from effecting the withdrawal of their beleaguered divisions isolated
in the north. (10) (See Map A)
Although it had been originally planned to drive south immediately upon the capture of
Cherbourg, the necessity of reorganizing and regrouping the Allied forces precluded such action. The
attack was not ordered until early July. (11) (12)
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