Osprey Campaign

The St Mihiel salient had been formed in 1914 as the Germans drove towards Paris. The French had attempted to recapture it in 1915 without success and in 1916 the Germans used the area as a base to attack Verdun. The bitter battle for Verdun had cost hundreds of thousands of German and French casualties. After the Germans called off their attack the salient the war shifted north, leaving the salient protruding ominously into the Allied lines.

An account of the 1944 Operation Cobra. It demonstrates how this campaign ended the stalemate which had followed the Normandy landings and delivered a crushing blow to the German Army in France. Topics covered include the Avranches counterattack and the Falaise Pocket.