Facing them was the 30th Infantry Division. The stand by the 2nd Battalion/120th IR/30th ID on Hill 314 east of Mortain is legendary. Stalling Hitler’s Panzers at Mortain Americans from the 30th Infantry Division took a heavy toll on German panzers at a French crossroads near Mortain during World War II. The 823rd TD Battalion with 3 inch Anti-Tank guns destroyed a bunch of Panthers and Panzer IV's. The foot soldiers are supported by the 3rd Armored Division’s Combat Command B (CCB). Martin Blumenson July 1958 (Office of the Chief of Military History) In this age of atomic weapons and missiles, World War II seems so remote as to belong to a distant epoch, and many soldiers appear to have relegated that experience to oblivion. Mortain is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Mortain-Bocage. War, as historian Bruce Catton once wrote, sometimes “went by a queer script of its own,” putting a jackboot down on some anonymous, unlikely place like Shiloh Church or Kasserine or Anzio or Sainte-Mère-Église. HEROISM IS NEVER OUT OF DATE THE MORTAIN COUNTERATTACK. The demonstration of welcome in the towns liberated along the way was different as the 30th moved from France and its wild hugs and kisses to Belgium with its enthusiastic greetings to Holland with its smiles and waves. Battle for Mortain: The 30th Infantry Division Saves the Breakout, August 7-12, 1944 [Featherston, Alwyn] on Amazon.com. When the Germans fought back at Mortain, the violence pivoted around a patch of high ground and the American artillerymen trapped there. By Capt. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In the weeks since leaving Mortain, the fighting and the casualties had been light compared to Normandy. 1944 Following the American break out from Normandy in July, 1944, the Germans decided that the only way to stop the Allied advance and push them back to the sea was to launch a massive attack in the Avranches region, about 150 miles west of Paris.. To do this they moved tanks and men of the XLVII Panzer Corps into place and opened their operation on August 7th. On the eastern side of the town is a spur called La Suisse Normande by the local inhabitants. The 1st Infantry Division, commanded by Major General Clarence R. Huebner, was ordered on 1 August to seize the town of Mortain in order to continue the offensive east of Avranches while enveloping the forces Which were exceeded in the previous days. On Aug 7th, the 117th IR was fighting north of Mortain, France, in an engagement the 30th ID is famous for. Company B, 117th Infantry was hit and fought back with their 57mm AT guns. Mortain, France, August 6-10, 1944 Historical Situation. Operation Lüttich was a codename given to a German counter-attack during the Battle of Normandy, which took place around the American positions near Mortain in northwestern France from 7 August to 13 August 1944. To the men of the 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment it was known as Hill 314. 2nd Pz Division and 1st SS Panzer Division headed up the attack. Battle for Mortain: The 30th Infantry Division Saves the Breakout, August 7-12, 1944 Mortain, a quaint village with a population of approximately 1,600, is situated near the Cance River. … (Lüttich is the German name for the city of Liège in Belgium, where the Germans had won a victory in the early days of August 1914 during World War I.) Stand by the local inhabitants fought back with their 57mm at guns an engagement the 30th ID is famous.! 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