90 Infantry Division (USA) waited for further orders just south of Périers

On July 26th the front flamed into action. The VII Corps, in the east, leveled the city of Saint-Lô in a tremendous artillery and aerial bombardment. Behind that bombardment came the American troops, sweeping through the breach in the enemy lines.

On the same day the VIII Corps, with the 79th, 8th, 90th and 83rd Infantry Divisions in order from right to left, struck southward toward Coutances. Since the enemy on the Island was alerted it would have been madness to attempt a breakthrough at that point. Therefore, the 90th sidestepped that focal point of resistance.

The first day the entire VIII Corps met resistance of the stiffest nature. Whatever gains were made were costly and negligible. The action by the VII Corps at Saint-Lô, however, was the main effort.

A breakthrough seemed imminent. If the Germans continued resistance in the path of the 90th, and should the VII Corps swing to the west, a gigantic trap would have been sprung. Would the enemy withdraw from the closing trap ?

That question was answered the following day. Coiled and ready, the 90th struck. By nightfall Périers was in the hands of the Division. The Island was no longer German. The 4th and 6th Armored Divisions threw their lumbering tanks into high gear and spearheaded the drive to Coutances and Avranches, even further to the south.

The German line was shattered, the breakthrough had come. The Germans who had invented the military art of "blitzkrieg" were now to see it as it should be done. The 90th waited for further orders just south of Périers, poised expectantly.