[Illustration: FRANCE A 3-INCH GUN MOTOR CARRIAGE M10 moving along a road near Saint-Fromond. While the British Second Army battled furiously against enemy armored strength to the east, the First U. S. Army struggled forward on both sides of the Vire River in their drive on Saint-Lô. The advance was laborious because of the nature of the terrain and the poor weather conditions. The enemy rallied to prevent any break-through to Saint-Lô, and the British redoubled their efforts in the Caen area where the Germans had most of their 900 tanks.] [Illustration: FRANCE TWO GERMAN PANTHERS, heavy tanks (Pz. Kpfw.-7.5-cm. Kw. K. 42-L/70), knocked out on a road near Le Désert (top). A damaged German self-propelled assault gun (Stu. G. IV with Stu. K. 40-L/48) near Périers (bottom). During the fighting in the Saint-Lô area the German forces included two corps with elements of no less than twelve divisions, including two armored divisions. The losses sustained by the enemy armored units removed the possibility of a further large-scale counterattack west of the Vire River.] [Illustration] [Illustration: FRANCE GERMAN PANTHER (top). U. S. medium tanks M4A1 pass German medium tanks (Pz. Kpfw. IV) which were knocked out in the July fighting near Saint-Lô (bottom). In hedgerow fighting tanks were expected to give great assistance, by their fire power, in dealing with hedgerow strong points but there was always the problem of getting them through the embankments fast enough to maintain their support to the infantry.] [Illustration] [Illustration: FRANCE ARMY MEDICAL AID MEN preparing to evacuate wounded (top). U. S. troops along a sunken road during the advance to Saint-Lô (bottom). The U. S. losses during this campaign totaled nearly 11,000 killed, wounded, and missing. The Germans, as a result of the action, were prevented from regrouping and wore down their last immediate reserves for use against a break-through.] [Illustration] [Illustration: FRANCE AN INFANTRY PATROL picking its way through the blasted ruins of Saint-Lô (top). Allied and German shelling and Allied aerial bombing reduced Saint-Lô to ruins (bottom). The original objectives of the July offensive were not attained except for the capture of Saint-Lô on 18 July 1944 and the high ground suitable for launching the break-through attempt. The ground won was sufficient to give the troops more room and better jump-off positions which they needed to break out of Normandy.] [Illustration] [Illustration: FRANCE SAINT-LÔ IN RUINS after the capture of the city by the U. S. forces. It was shelled both by the attacking Allied forces who needed the area to stage troops who were to break out of the hedgerow country of Normandy, and by the enemy forces who were trying to prevent the U. S. troops from taking the city.] [Illustration: FRANCE