One of the enduring controversies of World War II is the debate over the value of the Brittany campaign following the Normandy breakout. The Allies adhered to an Overlord requirement by sending Third Army west to seize port facilities in Brittany, while German forces were retreating to the east. A key objective in Brittany was the creation of a new port facility, Operation Chastity, at Quiberon Bay, on the Brittany peninsula. Quiberon Bay was not seized and Operation Chastity was eventually canceled. The Allied campaign waged between August 1944 and May 1945 was plagued by logistics shortfalls. While some argue Third Army forces were capable of seizing the existing Brittany ports during the early days of the breakout, most agree this is not the case. The ability to seize Quiberon Bay however has received little attention. If secured in the early days of the breakout, Operation Chastity would have provided a key logistics source for Allied operations against Germany. In the heady days following the breakout, may Allied leaders spoke of ending the war by year's end. Logistics constraints resulting from post D-Day decisions helped eliminate this possibility. Had Chastity been completed, that goal might have been achieved. http://www.stormingmedia.us/78/7836/A783614.html Was the equipment reserved for the Brittany harbour used elsewhere?
Second World War Books: Review Waddell offers some fresh insights. I especially liked his explanation of the factors affecting the supply capacity of Cherbourg, and how it was eventually most restricted by the undeveloped road and rail network leading out of the peninsula rather than by berthing space, cranes, or stevedores. [Harold L.] Mack has most strongly propounded the view that failure to mount Operation Chastity led to the supply difficulties encountered by Patton's Third Army, thus preventing an Allied victory in the fall of 1944. Placing the blame on Eisenhower, Bradley, and Patton himself, Mack argued that the three officers did not pay enough attention to logistics.
We have talked about operation Cobra and how the US troops turned inlnads instead of securing the area for the port facility. However, turning behind the Germans made the Falaise operation possible. Then again logistics turned harder. For instance later on Ike was not too keen to take Paris first due to massive help needed there food, other goods etc. Then again the French were adamant that Paris must be taken the sooner the better.
