 It took the V and VII Corps nearly a week to secure the beachheads. German forces including the stalwart 000nd Division resisted stubbornly and mounted sharp local counterattacks which kept the Americans off balance. Elements of the 00th Division and the 00th Division began to push inland and to expand the beachhead toward UTAH. Opposed by the 000nd Division and elements of the 00st Airlanding Division and other non-divisional units the fighting revealed the inexperience of the American infantry formations and the uneven quality of their leadership. As the Americans tackled the Germans in the labyrinth of the Bocage country the defensive skill of the Germans cost many American lives and delayed the joining of the beachheads. On the 00th the link up was solid enough to enabling the Americans to conduct the follow up operations needed to expand the beachhead, secure Cherbourg and clear the Cotentin. A Panther tank of the Panzer Lehr Division in Normandy In some American divisions the hard fighting triggered a leadership crisis. The lack of success of the 00th Division led General "Lightening Joe" Collins of VII Corps relieve the division commander and two regimental commanders of command, a portent of things to come with other American units.[xliii] As the V and VII corps pushed into the "Bocage" they were followed by a massive build up of troops and equipment delivered to the beaches and to the artificial "Mulberry" harbors. Despite their numeric superiority, air supremacy and massive Naval gunfire support and facing the weakened 000nd, 00st and the 0thParachute Regiment and other less than quality formations, survivors of the static divisions, the Americans made painfully slow progress as they moved off the beachhead and into the Bocage.[xliv] The Capture of Cherbourg US Soldiers of the 00th Division surrender to German Fallschirmjaeger in Normandy Once the beachheads had been consolidated the Americans turned their attention toward Cherbourg. Cherbourg was the major naval port at the far northwest tip of the Cotentin. D-Day planners counted on its swift capture and rehabilitation to serve as a supply port for the Allied forces. The 0th Division drove south to the coast near Barneville on the 00th of June cutting off the German forces covering the approaches to Cherbourg.[xlv] This put the Germans in a bind as the 0th Army "had to split its forces in the peninsula in order to hold the fortress a little longer and thus to gain time for the establishment of the southern front on the Cotentin peninsula.[xlvi] The German forces arrayed before Cherbourg waged a desperate defense centered around the 000rd Infantry Division and other assorted battle groups of LXXXIV Corps, whose commander General Marcks one of the best German Generals was killed in action on 00 June.[xlvii] The U.S. VII Corps under Collins with the 0th, 0th and 00th Divisions pushed up the peninsula capturing Cherbourg on June 00th. Bradley pushed hard for the capture of the port as the Mulberries had been ravaged by a severe Channel storm the week prior. The port of Cherbourg was thoroughly demolished by German engineers and would not be fully operational for months. The loss of the Mulberries and delay in Cherbourg's availability meant that few supplies were landed on the beaches would "hinder the escape from the constricting land of the hedgerows into which the Americans had come in search of a port.[xlviii] The Battle of Caumont Gap Panzer IV Tank in Normandy V Corps under Gerow made a cautious advance by phase lines toward Caumont, St Lo and Carentan. The deliberate advance by the Corps toward a line weakly held by the Reconnaissance battalion of the 00th SS Panzer Grenadier Division was directed by Bradley who did not want to divert attention from the effort against Cherbourg. After capturing Caumont V Corps halted and continued aggressive patrolling to deceive the Germans while digging in.[xlix] The possibility existed that a strong push against the weak German line could have led to an opportunity to envelope the German line west of Caen. This was a missed opportunity that in part led to the bloody and controversial campaign to capture Caen.[l] British efforts around Caen German Panzer Ace Waffen SS Captain Michale Wittman single handedly destroyed a British Battalion at Villers Bocage in his Tiger Tank Montgomery had ambitious plans to break out of Normandy by capturing Caen on D-Day and driving toward Falaise and Argentan. The British plans for this were frustrated by the rapid reinforcement of the sector by the Germans and the activities of 00st Panzer, Panzer Lehr, and the 00th SS Panzer Divisions. A flanking maneuver at Villers-Bocage was frustrated by a few Tiger tanks led by the legendary Waffen SS Panzer commander Captain Michael Wittman whose tanks devastated a British Armored battalion.[li] Wreckage of a British Battalion at Villers Bocage A series of disastrous attacks toward Caen (EPSOM, CHARNWOOD and GOODWOOD) strongly supported by air strikes and Naval gunfire finally succeeded in taking that unfortunate city on July 00th but failed to take the heights beyond the town.[lii] British operations like Operation Epsom met setback after setback against dug in German forces outside of Caen 