By Michael E. Bigelow, INSCOM Command Historian
On July 11, 1944, tank-infantry-engineer teams, supported by artillery, of Maj. Gen. Walter Robertson’s 2d Infantry Division captured the key terrain of Hill 192 in Normandy. Before the operation, Lt. Col. Donald Christensen’s G-2 section supported these teams with detailed intelligence products.
Christensen, a thirty-year-old cavalryman, had been the division’s intelligence officer for almost twenty months. Before the war, he had served with the 14th Cavalry for five years. Upon graduating from the Command and General Staff School in November 1942, he joined General Robertson’s staff as the G-2. Participating in the final stages of the division’s training, he deployed to Europe in October 1943. On June 7, he landed on Omaha Beach with the rest of the division.
Once in Normandy, Robertson’s division was quickly put into action. In mid-June, the division battered itself against the heavily defended Hill 192. This hill was the highest terrain in the area around the important road junction of St. Lo; from it, the Germans could observe American activities throughout the beachhead. The hill’s northern side was covered with irregular fields surrounded by formidable hedgerows that made for near perfect defensive terrain, offering excellent cover, concealment, and fields of fire for the Germans.
Stymied by the German defenses, Robertson and his leaders looked for ways to successfully attack through the hedgerows. By 27 June, the division established a training program in “an effort,” one participant described, “to re-emphasize tank-infantry cooperation and mutual inter-dependence.” The training developed the critical tank-infantry-engineer teams. Robertson set the attack’s date for July 11.
Meanwhile, the G-2 developed intelligence to support the attack. Christensen informed the commanders that they faced the crack 3d Parachute Division defending the hill with two regiments abreast. Through aerial photos, he showed how the enemy had transformed the hill into an imposing strong point. The Germans, however, practiced superb camouflage and concealment, so often the exact location of machine gun, mortar, or anti-tank positions could not be determined. Consequently, Christensen emphasized vigorous patrolling.
Throughout early July, the regimental and battalion S-2s intensified their patrolling to locate enemy positions, ascertain defensive improvements, and identify new units. These patrols invariably met with
fire upon nearing German outposts and some were badly shot up. They, nevertheless, usually returned with valuable information about German machine-gun and mortar positions.
The regimental intelligence sections used this patrol information to develop large-scale maps of the attack areas. These special maps showed the fields, hedgerows, buildings, sunken roads, and trails. Assigning numbers to each field, these maps allowed advancing troops to quickly and accurately report friendly and enemy battlefield information during the operation. The division distributed these maps down to rifle platoon leaders and their supporting tank commanders.
Since the hedgerows would break up and disorient the thrust of the American attacks, the intelligence staffs worked to help the small-unit leaders to see over the next hedgerow. Assault commanders down to platoon leaders made flights in observation planes to gain a clearer picture of the terrain of their assigned areas. Finally, the G-2 ensured each squad leader received a large-scale (1:5,000) aerial photomap that showed the direction of attack for their squad and adjacent units.
On the morning of 11 July, Robertson’s men attacked Hill 192 after a powerful and devastating artillery barrage. Using combined-arms tactics and supplied with detailed information on the enemy and terrain, they cleared the German strong point by nightfall.
| Date Taken: | 07.08.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 07.08.2022 16:52 |
| Story ID: | 424651 |
| Location: | FORT HUACHUCA, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 63 |
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