The story
The 1st Infantry Division poised to serve in the breakout force for Operation COBRA.
COBRA had been set for 21 July, but was postponed to 22, 24 and then 25 July because of weather.
The plan envisioned “carpet bombing” by 2,500 planes dropping 5,000 tons of bombs within a six-square-mile sector of the German front west of Saint-Lô.
Successful carpet bombing depended upon sufficient visibility for pilots and bombardiers.
During the delay the 1st Infantry Division refined its preparations for the attack, in particular the incorporation of Combat Command B of the 3rd Armored Division as an attachment.
The tanks of this armored reinforcement were fitted out with the improvised “Culin Device”, steel prongs welded to their hulls that enabled them to plow through hedgerows rather than expose underbellies or tip over trying to crest them.
By 25 July the weather had cleared and the carpet bombing commenced.
By midnight on the 25th the 1st Infantry Division had closed to the Périer - Saint-Lô highway within its sector.
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