When in the summer of 1944 general Maczek's soldiers arrived in Normandy, they were prepared for a fierce fight with the retreating Wehrmacht. They did not know, however, that they would also be exposed to attacks launched by their own allies. The Allied airmen turned out to be as dangerous as the German tanks.
During World War II, American bomber pilots definitely did not enjoy a good reputation among the soldiers of the ground forces. More than once or twice, they have bombed Allied positions by mistake. Well, in France even a three-star American general fell victim to them! Polish tankers learned painfully about the "effectiveness" of the Yankee rulers of the skies on the first day of fighting at the front.
US pilots are always reliable
On August 8, 1944, the second phase of the offensive, commanded by General Simonds, began, aimed at encircling the German forces in Normandy. The soldiers of General Maczek's black cavalry were assigned to the II Canadian Corps, playing a significant role in the entire operation.
Soldiers of the 1st Armored Division of general Stanisław Maczek just before the attack on August 8, 1944. Everyone is waiting for American bombers ...
However, before the Poles got a chance to prove themselves in battle, the German positions were to be bombed by the Americans. Indeed, around 1pm, 500 B-17s appeared in the sky.
Unfortunately - as we read in Antony Beevor's book "D-Day. The Battle of Normandy ”- after being hit by the Hitlerian anti-aircraft defense, the bomber at the front of the formation dropped its payload too early, and the others followed suit. All hell broke loose on earth:
First there was surprise, then disbelief and horror. Whoever managed to hide under cars, trailers, jumped into ditches. And the bombs flew one by one, injuring and killing Allied soldiers (This is a comment by Kacper Śledziński from the book:"Czarna Kawaleria", Znak Horyzont 2014),
Immediately after the bombing began, Canadians and Poles threw yellow smoke candles to mark their own positions. It only made things worse. It was all to blame the terrible communication between the ground and air forces . Americans used yellow tags for your goals …
As a result - according to Antony Beevor - 315 Poles and Canadians were killed or injured , while the attack itself lost much of its impetus. However, this is still nothing compared to what happened less than a week later.
The B-17 flying fortress drops its murderous cargo over Normandy. I wonder if he is bombing Allied soldiers by any chance?
Marshal Tedder will take care of everything
This time the direct target of the soldiers of the 2nd Corps was the town of Falais, on the road to which the Quesnay forest was the biggest obstacle. The Germans turned it into a real fortress, the strongest point of which was formed by entrenched tigers. In this situation, it was decided to use air support again. The Americans were, however, abandoned in favor of RAF bombers.
In order to avoid a repeat of the events from a few days ago, even Marshal Arthur Tedder, the commander of the English Air Force, came to the site. As you probably already guessed, it didn't do much. In the account of Franciszek Skibiński - then the deputy commander of the 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade - we read:
A huge armada, flying very low, was approaching from the north. The soldiers climbed onto the tanks, waving their berets enthusiastically. […] Until the bombs start falling down here! Right on our heads. The entire width and depth of the body prepared for the attack was thrown at thousands of bombs. Never in my life have I been bombed like this on August 14.
British Halifax heavy bombers attack German positions in Normandy on August 14, 1944. Perhaps they bombed Poles and Canadians?
And although it is hard to believe it happened again with the yellow signal flares. As Kacper Śledziński emphasizes in "Black Cavalry": Reports did not help sent from the corps command, nor the mosquito plane that flew between the bombers, signaling the wings to stop bombing. The raid lasted until all planes disposed of their deadly payload.
The aforementioned Marshal Tedder trotted under the Polish tank. The soldiers of the entire 2nd Corps followed in his footsteps. However, the losses were huge.
This was especially true of Canadians, but also in the Polish ranks 200 soldiers were killed or wounded. Hundreds of motor vehicles were damaged. Also the banner of Podhale people with Virtuti Militari decorations for the Norwegian campaign was burned.
Marshal Arthur Tedder himself.
Franciszek Skibiński, quoted earlier, perfectly punctuated the matter: The activity of our aviation on that day was much more effective than on August 8. Then only the attack weakened. Today - his departure was stopped at all.
This was definitely not how general Maczek's armored personnel imagined their first week of combat. Fortunately, they soon got the opportunity to prove themselves in combat. It was enough that the Americans stopped throwing bombs on their heads.