The Bocage

**The Bocage** is an Operation in *Close Combat: The Bloody First*.

## Overview

The Normandy countryside was filled with a maze of repeating hedgerows, narrow lanes, orchards, woodlands, enclosed fields, and small towns. Locally known as the bocage , it was the ideal defensive landscape for the Germans. For the 1st Infantry Division it was an unfamiliar, challenging, and costly landscape to wrestle from German control. This was nothing like fighting in Tunisia and Sicily where you could typically spot your enemy in the distance. The bocage created a perfect environment for guerrilla-style warfare, ambushes and counterattacks.

## Objectives

### Allies

German resistance on D-Day, and the unexpected traffic jam of unloading reinforcing troops, tanks, guns, has delayed the next attack from the beachhead. Across every landing site the Allies are firmly in control, but now the race is on to move inland before the Germans can react with fresh divisions. The V Corps will move south on a broad front with the 1st Division taking position on the eastern flank between the British 50th Division to the east and the U.S. 2nd Division to the west. The enemy situation is largely unknown and you will be facing unknown, disorganized German units reeling from the beachhead. The occasional enemy tank and armored car might be in the mix as the Germans struggle to establish a front.

### Axis

The Allied invasion has overwhelmed our beach defenses. Units defending the coast have been pushed back by superior numbers of Allied infantry, tanks, and naval artillery. Your troops have been ordered to regroup and defend the line between St. Lo and Caumont. Ad hoc forces will be at your disposal. Delay, defend, and counterattack American troops with whatever forces you find at your disposal. The Normandy bocage is a wonderland of tactical, defensive possibilities, make use of them.

## Battles

* Trevieres: A company of German grenadiers from the 352nd Infantry Division regroups and consolidates their position in the vicinity of Trevieres. A company of American Infantry and a couple of supporting Sherman Tanks are tasked with clearing the area.
* Le Molay: A 1st Division company is tasked with advancing along the east flank of V Corps in step with a broad attack south. There is no sign of a significant German counteroffensive in this sector, but a mix of 1st Division infantry and supporting tanks from the 745th Tank Battalion encounter German infantry and assault guns.
* Cerisy: Slow progress off the invasion beaches allows the battered German 352nd Division time to assemble a counter-attack force under cover of the Cerisy forest. But the German movement does not go unnoticed and the 1st Division moves to deal with this threat to its flank.
* Balleroy: An urban island within the bocage, Balleroy may bring the possibility of house-to-house combat. 1st Infantry units and supporting light armor encounter a screening force of German reconnaissance troops and supporting halftracks.
* Caumont: German resistance rebounds inside a Normandy villiage. American infantry and supporting tank destroyers encounter a group of German scouts with a mix of supporting guns and armor.