[Includes 59 photos/illustrations and 30 maps] The hedgerow country of northwestern France-the Bocage presented a trying challenge to the U.S. Army in 1944. During the Normandy invasion, U.S. forces faced a stubborn German Army defending from an extensive network of small fields surrounded by living banks of hedges bordered by sunken dirt lanes. German forces fighting from these ready-made defensive positions were, at first, able to curb most of the American advances and make the attempts very costly. For the U.S. Army, busting through the difficult Bocage country required tactical, doctrinal, and organizational ingenuity. Busting the American Combined Arms Operations in France, 6 June-31 July 1944 shows how the U.S. Army identified and overcame the problems of fighting in difficult terrain. The adoption of new tactics combined with technical innovations and good small-unit leadership enabled American forces to defeat a well-prepared and skillful enemy. In the hedgerow country, the U.S. Army eventually brought the separate components of the combined arms team-infantry, armor, and artillery-to bear on the enemy simultaneously. The resulting successes were costly but effective. Combat in the Bocage demonstrated the U.S. Army's capability to fight and win in a new and hostile environment.
Author
Michael D. Doubler served twenty-three years on active duty as a Regular Army and full-time Army National Guard officer. He retired at the rank of Colonel. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York and holds a doctorate degree in military history from The Ohio State University. In his early military assignments, he served in command and staff positions in armor and infantry units in the United States and in Europe. From 1985-1988, he taught military history as a faculty member of the Department of History at West Point. He was assigned to the Army National Guard Directorate in Washington, D.C. during 1988-2000, serving in the force structure, mobilization, and readiness functional areas and as a speechwriter for the Chief, National Guard Bureau. His service as a full-time Army National Guard officer began in 1991 and was completed with his retirement in 2000. Doubler is previously the author of Closing With the Enemy: How GIs Fought the War in Europe, 1944-1945 that won the Eisenhower Center’s Forrest C. Pogue Prize in 1994 and the New York Military Affairs Symposium Award for “Best Book” in 1995. He is also the author of Civilian in Peace, Soldier in War: The Army National Guard, 1636-2000, which has been hailed as the definitive history of the Army Guard. His latest book, The National Guard: An Illustrated History of America’s Citizen Soldiers, was released by Brassey’s, Inc. in 2003. At present, he is completing a book on the American Civil War. Colonel Doubler has appeared on several national news venues and is a frequent commentator on The History Channel. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Guard Educational Foundation. He currently resides in Alexandria, Virginia
