After the Invasion of Normandy in June of 1944 and the Allied push into mainland Europe,
it was necessary to capture more German-occupied facilities to unload the supplies required for
the advancing troops. The military then set their eyes on the port of Brest in northwestern France.
The Americans initially believed that capturing the port would not be that difficult,
but Brest was occupied by the battle-tested Second Fallschirmjäger Division
led by one of the most renowned German generals, Hermann Bernhard Ramcke.
The German paratroopers were surrounded, outnumbered, and outpowered,
but they would resist for over a month against all odds.
Invading Ports
After the fall of France in 1940, the United States and the United Kingdom
began planning a possible reconquest of Western Europe if the US decided to join the war effort.
The plans began to take form with Operation Overlord and Operation Neptune, which resulted
in the largest seaborne operation in history with the Allied invasion of Normandy in June of 1944.
However, one of the crucial aspects of these operations was the logistics
behind supplying the invading forces. Tens of thousands of tons of war materials that
ranged from armament to food would be required to keep the momentum of the Allied forces going.
Thus, it was deemed essential to capture as many enemy ports as possible on the Atlantic coast
to establish a steady supply chain line for friendly forces fighting at the front.
When the Wehrmacht found out about the Allied intentions,
they began fortifying French port cities as part of the Atlantic Wall envisioned by Hitler.
Some of these cities were Saint-Malo, Saint Nazaire, Lorient, and Brest in the Brittany
peninsula. Others were in Normandy, such as Cherbourg, Le Havre, and Dieppe.
Out of them, the port of Brest was the most cherished, as it was the
westernmost port in France and the most significant harbor of the French Fleet.
More importantly, Brest had an impressive U-boat base that housed several bomb-proof concrete
submarine pens that were almost impregnable to Allied bombs. The Royal Air Force had been trying
to destroy it since 1941 with little success. Kriegsmarine vessels like the sister ships
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had been refueled and repaired in Brest,
and U-boats usually sought shelter at the port after long months of patrolling overseas.
Soon after the Allies landed at Utah, Omaha, and other sectors of Normandy,
several ports began falling under their control.
As part of Operation Cobra, the Germans were swiftly surrounded by General George C. Patton's
Third Army in the Brittany peninsula before making a final push for Paris.
But the Germans did not surrender. The Fuhrer ordered the remaining Wehrmacht troops to regroup
and stay put at Festung Brest, or Fortress Brest, a term used to indicate a late-war
German doctrine to fortify a surrounded city and resist until the last bullet is fired.
To lead this last stand, the Fuhrer chose one of the Reich's most prominent generals:
Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke, simply known by his men as Papa Ramcke.
A German Defense
Ramcke was a World War I veteran and a battle-tested
warrior of the Crete and Afrikakorps campaigns. He also fought under General Erwin Rommel as the
leader of a parachute brigade of Fallschirmjägers that were used as elite infantry.
Ramcke's brigade once pulled one of the most incredible escapes of the war
when they captured a British supply column to evade the encirclement of Allied forces as the
Germans retreated from the African theater. For his actions, Ramcke was awarded the Oak
Leaves of the Knights Cross by Hitler and promoted to command the 2nd Fallschirmjäger Division.
To defend Brest, Ramcke had his reliable 2nd Division under his command and remnants of the
266th and 343rd Infantry Divisions of the Heer. The forces amounted to about 42,000 men in total,
and the idea was for the paratroopers to boost the garrison's morale during the siege
through their discipline, training, and tenacity. The Germans had plenty of ammunition to share,
as well as dozens of MG34 and MG42 machine guns that were strategically placed in pillboxes.
All the men were split in a formidable network of bunkers, pillboxes, and trenches
arranged in a cunning way to force the attackers for close-quarters combat in the city,
where numbers were not always an advantage. The emplacements were accommodated in exterior
and interior lines that would force the Americans for house-to-house combat.
Their objective was to inflict the maximum number of enemy casualties
while diminishing the loss of friendlies. To ensure that the German garrison could
accomplish its mission, Ramcke evacuated the civilians to avoid collateral damage from both
armies. However, many people decided to stay in the city, especially French Resistance fighters.
Fort Montbarey, an 18th-century fort located west of the city, was the defender's most vital sector.
The fort’s thick masonry walls were coupled with a 40-foot embankment and a 40-foot-wide
and 15-foot-deep moat. And its outer walls and pillboxes were also protected by a
line of buried naval shells with trigger igniters to terminate any American tanks.
The Germans were ready to defend the city at all costs.
The Battle Brest was encircled on August 7, 1944,
by the VIII Corps of the US Army under Lieutenant General Troy H. Middleton,
which exceeded 73,000 well-equipped soldiers with plenty of artillery support and tank battalions.
Following typical American doctrine, the US forces bombed the city before attacking, but
the effort was futile. Artillery strikes, bombs, and napalm had little effect on the Germans.
Ramcke and his men were committed to defending the city, and the jagers
counterattacked with all their might. By August 29, Sergeant McVeigh's
platoon’s position in the inner city was overrun by the Germans.
After emptying his ammunition, the Sergeant charged at the enemy with his knife and got one of
them before being shot down. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for these actions,
which gave his unit time to regroup and hold off the German advance.
Heavy casualties eventually forced Middleton to shift his large-scale
assaults for minor attack-and-hold operations. The American GIs suddenly found themselves using
satchel charges and flamethrowers like their Marines compatriots to
lure out entrenched German paratroopers and grenadiers from houses, and the fights soon
became reminiscent of the brutal combat of the Pacific Theatre against the Japanese.
Meanwhile, extreme rain and fog turned the Allied advance slower and limited
the use of artillery and aircraft bombing. General Dwight D. Eisenhower then authorized
Middleton to: (QUOTE) "Utilize a maximum number of aircraft which can be effectively
employed in support of this operation." Days later, Ramcke notified General Middleton
that more civilians were being evacuated to a sector in the city's outskirts where German
medical personnel attended wounded soldiers and civilians. A brief cease-fire was granted
to transport wounded men from both sides. However, a small German vessel functioning as
a field hospital marked with the colors of the international red cross was blown up by Allied
forces, and the artillery helped the Americans reach the outer lines of the Fallschirmjägers.
But the attack was quickly brought to a halt by the accurate machine-gun
fire of the German pillboxes. Major Tom Dallas, commander of the
1st Battalion, and British soldiers from the 141st Regiment, Royal Armored Corps,
then used their 15 flame-throwing Crocodile tanks to clear pillboxes and houses.
The odd-looking tanks were part of a tank force nicknamed Hobart's Funnies
in honor of armored expert Hubert A. Ward. Instead of a machine gun, the Crocodiles
were equipped with flamethrowers that could project flammable fuel as far as 120 yards.
Some of the tanks were caught by the hidden naval shells, but others cleared the way.
According to the unit’s postwar history, they left behind a: (QUOTE) "Burning track of death
through the rich harvest of machine guns and light antiaircraft and antitank guns."
Artillery began pounding Fort Montbarey to clear a path for the American infantry.
The effects were devastating, and Ramcke negotiated another brief cease-fire with
Middleton to evacuate civilians that had sought shelter on the German defenses.
Ammunition started to run short, as well as food and medical supplies.
And to make matters worse for the Germans, the Americans began using tear gas to lure them out.
Although a German vessel that escaped the Allied blockade managed to deliver some
supplies in the middle of the night, the situation soon turned desperate.
But the Fallschirmjägers stood firm and faithful to Ramcke, and the Germans managed
to hold on for a few more days until the General decided to finally surrender.
Aftermath The defenders opted
to destroy the port facilities, rendering them useless before surrendering to the Americans.
Ramcke then fired the last artillery shell and resigned on September 19.
Brigadier General Charles Canham arrived to accept the surrender. As he approached Ramcke, the
General asked him to show him his credentials. Canham, a lower-ranking officer, grinned,
pointed towards his troops, and said: (QUOTE) "These are my credentials."
General Ramcke was captured and remained in prison for over 6 years in different locations
of the United States, England, and France, while his expedient was studied and assessed.
However, Middleton and other American soldiers that fought in Brest never testified against
him. Instead, they shared their admiration for fulfilling his duties as a soldier.
As for the port of Brest, no Allied vessel ever docked in it.
Thank you for watching our video! Please like and subscribe to our Dark Documentaries channels
to find more exciting historical content. And let us know in the comments below what you think
of the conduct displayed by both Generals during the fierce Battle of Brest.