Operation Lüttich

Overview

Operation Lüttich was the codename of the Nazi German counter-attack during the Operation Overlord, which occurred near U.S. positions near Mortain, in northwestern France. Lüttich is the German name for the city of Liège, Belgium. In British and American histories of the Second World War, the German Operation Lüttich is known as the Mortain counter-attack, which Hitler ordered to regain territory gained by the First United States Army during Operation Cobra by reaching the coast of the Avranches region, which is at the base of the Cotentin peninsula, in order to isolate the units of the Third United States Army that had advanced into Brittany.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

Operation Lüttich was a German armored counterattack ordered by Hitler to recover ground lost during Operation Cobra and sever American supply lines by pushing through Mortain to the Avranches coast. The objective was to isolate Third United States Army units that had advanced into Brittany by cutting them off at the base of the Cotentin peninsula. The attack pitted roughly equal forces against each other, with the United States sustaining approximately 10,000 casualties. The operation is known in British and American histories as the Mortain counter-attack. Its failure left German forces in Normandy increasingly vulnerable, as the thrust toward Avranches exposed German flanks and contributed to the conditions that led to the encirclement battles that followed in the broader Overlord campaign. Bradley and Patton commanded on the American side against Günther von Kluge's forces, and the repulse of the German effort confirmed Allied operational momentum in northwestern France.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)