PLOUZANE, FRANCE, 26 August 1944

Before surrendering Cherbourg to the Americans on June 26th, the Germans first demolished enough of its harbor installations that it was of little use for many months. With supplies still limited to what the Allies could bring in on the beaches of Normandy, possession of the Breton ports of Brest and Lorient therefore appeared critical to the campaign in northern France.

The success of Operation COBRA and the capture of Avranches allowed Patton's Third Army to breakthrough into Brittany on August 3rd. From Avranches the 6th Armored Division Armored covered the 200 miles to Brest in five days, bypassing strongpoints along the way, but finding the city's defenses too strong to take by a quick thrust. Two weeks later, on August 23rd, the three infantry divisions of VIII Corps arrived to take over the assault on Brest.

BOARD CONFIGURATION

VICTORY CONDITIONS:

Provided the Germans do not amass greater than or equal to 9 CVP, the Americans win at game end if they Control greater than or equal to 15 stone building hexes in the German setup area and/or there are no unbroken German MMC in stone building hexes. Each squad is worth 2 casualty victory points (CVP) while each half-squad is worth 1. Leaders are worth 1 CVP each plus 1 CVP for a "-1" modifier

SPECIAL RULES

1. None.

AFTERMATH

Defending Brest was the 2nd Fallschirmjager Division under General Bernard Ramcke, who was determined to follow Hitler's orders to hold the Breton ports "to the last man." He established an outer defense line about 3 to 5 miles from downtown Brest, with the small town of Plouzane on the western perimeter in front of the U.S. 29th Infantry Division. Since taking terrible casualties at Omaha Beach on D-Day, the "Blue and Gray Division" had been busy fighting its way through the Norman bocageopposed much of the time by the 3rd Fallschirinjager Division.

The 115th and 116th Regiments attacked towards Brest on August 25th, and the next day the 175th regiment attacked in the Plouzane area, with its 2nd Battalion tasked with seizing Plouzane village itself. The fallschirmjagers defending the village were supplemented by marines from the naval base in Brest, and this mixed group engaged in house-to-house fighting throughout the morning.

That afternoon they withdrew and regrouped on a neighboring hill, Coz Castel, which dominated the area. The 175th had completed the encirclement of Brest, but the Coz Castel was not taken until September 3rd, and Brest held out until September 18th, by which time it--like the other Breton harbors coming under Allied control--had been rendered useless by German demolitions.