Aerial bombardment disrupted German rail schedules
and prevented rapid movement of their reserves.
As the VII Corps pushed West and then north, responsibility for holding the defensive
fronts to the south passed to VIII Corps. Successively, the 101st Airborne, the 82d Airborne, and
the 90th Infantry Divisions were transferred to that command.
Now our Corps Commander could turn his full attention to the capture of Cherbourg,
important to the Allied cause as a seaport to supply the forces ashore. With the 4th, 79th, and 9th
Infantry Divisions and the 4th Cavalry Group, the Corps attacked north. The brunt of the
German resistance was borne by Maj. Gen. Raymond O. Barton's 4th Division, while the 79th
and 9th Divisions, attacking farther west, met much lighter opposition. Soon the defenses of
Cherbourg were ringed by the attacking divisions.
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