Hedgerow Hell: The Bocage Country the Planners Didn't Expect

The Normandy bocage — thick hedgerows of earth and tangled bramble that separated centuries-old farm fields — created conditions worse than any planner anticipated. The hedgerows were over 2000 years old, planted by the Romans and reinforced over millennia. Each hedgerow was effectively a natural defensive wall with firing positions carved into it by the Germans. An American lieutenant, Curtis G. Culin Jr., improvised 'rhino tanks' by welding steel teeth from destroyed German beach obstacles onto Sherman tank noses, allowing them to plow through the hedgerows. Within weeks, 60% of American tanks in Normandy were so equipped.