Seduction in Combat: Losing Sight of Logistics After D-Day

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.