Hitler's U-Boat Fortresses

by Bradham, Randolph

• ISBN13: 9780275981334
• ISBN10: 0275981339
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-11-30
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

The French naval bases at St. Nazaire and Lorient, occupied by the Germans in June 1940, quickly became the homes of massive U-boat fortresses--nearly indestructible submarine pens, built by mostly slave labor. From these bases, the U-boats struck merchant shipping at will from the Mediterranean to the North Sea. Thousands of vessels were lost, along with vital war materiel destined for Britain and the Soviet Union. As a result, the Royal Air Force began an all-out bombardment of the two ports. Despite their extensive efforts--and those of the Americans who joined them in 1942, the fortresses would survive, surrounded by the decimated French towns and countryside. This is the story of what was, perhaps, the longest ongoing battle in Europe during the Second World War, seen through the eyes of someone who experienced much of it firsthand. The desperate battle was waged on land, air, and sea. Because the dock at St. Nazaire could house and repair Hitler's powerful warship Tirpitz, British commandos carried out a daring raid to destroy it in March of 1942. They succeeded, but with great loss of life. The defenses of these fortresses were so strong that Eisenhower would ultimately decide to seek containment rather than destruction. The 66th Division, on its way to take up the task, lost its troopship Leopoldville to a German torpedo, with a loss of 802 men. The French underground movement in the area spawned a fighting force of 40,000 men to fight alongside the Americans, but the subsequent German reprisals would ultimately destroy many families in Brittany. Yet the bases stood, and continue to stand today.

Author Biography

RANDOLPH BRADHAM is a retired thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon who practiced in Charleston, South Carolina, for 40 years. Formerly a staff-sergeant squad leader in Company E, 262nd Regiment, 66th Infantry Division, he fought in Brittany against the Germans contained in St. Nazaire and Lorient.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	xiii
1. 1940	1	(18)
The Beginning	1	(4)
Aerial Bombardment	5	(4)
U-Boat Menace	9	(6)
Those Who Would Resist	15	(4)
2. 1941	19	(10)
Expansion of the U-Boat Bases	19	(5)
Bombardment Continues	24	(1)
The Resistance	25	(4)
3. 1942	29	(18)
U-Boat Destruction	29	(2)
Operation Chariot	31	(14)
Evacuation, Bombardments, and U-Boats	45	(2)
4. 1943	47	(14)
Bombardment Intensifies-The Apocalypse	47	(6)
February 28, 1943-The Apocalypse	53	(2)
The U-Boats Meet Resistance	55	(2)
French Forces of the Interior-Origin	57	(4)
5. 1944	61	(24)
Germans on the Defensive	61	(12)
The Resistance Mobilizes for War	73	(1)
The Resistance Movement in Morbihan and in the Loire Atlantic	74	(3)
La Nouette, 6 to 18 June, 1944	77	(2)
The Battle	79	(6)
6. 1944-July, August, September	85	(26)
Breakout and Engagement	85	(5)
General Fahrmbacher's Report Post-War on Preparation of the Defense of Lorient	90	(5)
Hennebont	95	(7)
French Forces Mobilize for War	102	(5)
83rd Infantry Division Captures 20,000 Germans	107	(4)
7. 1944-October, November, December	111	(34)
Ground War-94th Infantry Division Takes Over	111	(1)
Record of 94th Infantry Division	111	(9)
French Battle Germans South of the Loire River	120	(7)
Sinking of the Leopoldville	127	(18)
8. 1945	145	(32)
Enter the 66th Infantry (Black Panther) Division	145	(22)
French Forces Reorganize and Strongly Hold the Line	167	(2)
Official Record of the 66th Infantry Division	169	(1)
History of the Pockets	170	(1)
Campaign of the Pockets	171	(4)
Evacuations	175	(2)
9. Surrender	177	(6)
Monuments	179	(4)
Bibliography	183	(4)
Index	187