A LIGHT ARMORED CAR M8 ENTERING BELGIUM. On 1 September 1944, Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), was established at Versailles and assumed the active direction of the 12th and 21 Army Groups. During this period the main problem was that of supplying the racing armored columns since the only points of entry were the beaches and Cherbourg, a distance too far removed from the Allied forces advancing to the German frontier. By early September supply trucks were traveling 600 to 900 miles in round trips to carry fuel, ammunition, and rations to the combat units.
BELGIUM
75-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGES M8 in Belgium (top). 155-mm. gun motor carriage M12 firing in Belgium (bottom). In spite of the shortage of supplies the pursuit of the enemy continued between 4 and 14 September 1944, with the greatest Allied gains being made on the northern front. On 4 September the British forces captured the port city of Antwerp, one of the greatest prizes of the war. On 12 September the city of Le Havre surrendered. These two cities were of extreme importance because of their port facilities and their nearness to the battle front. In both harbors the enemy had carried out measures to render the ports useless, but they were not too badly damaged to prevent repair.
FRANCE
LIGHT ARMORED CAR M8 of a reconnaissance unit stops during its drive through Belgium toward the border of the Netherlands (top). Advancing infantrymen ride on a 3-inch gun motor carriage M10 (bottom). By 14 September 1944 the sustained drive of the First Army had stopped and the Germans were fighting on their own soil for the first time in many years.
