Company of Heroes: Normandy 1944

Company of Heroes begins on 6 June 1944, as Able Company storms Dog White sector on Omaha Beach. The real Dog White lay between the Vierville and Les Moulins strongpoints. There, troops reached the seawall with few casualties, and at 07:50 General Cota led the charge off the beach. The beach can be visited today.

Location precision: The game names the Dog White sector, but the pin marks Omaha Beach as a whole, not the exact stretch of sand.

Fox Company, a paratrooper unit, assaults Carentan, and Able Company relieves it to repel the German counter-attack. The real town fell on 12 June after an all-night bombardment by naval gunfire and artillery: paratroopers attacking from north and south met in the town centre at 07:30. The 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division had meant to retake the town. You can visit Carentan today.

Location precision: The game places its mission around the town; the pin marks the town centre, not a specific street.

With Cherbourg as the objective, Able Company takes the main harbor in vicious street fighting. In reality the US general assault opened on 22 June 1944, and on 26 June the 79th Division captured Fort du Roule, which dominated the city and its defenses. The Germans had wrecked and mined the port before it fell. You can visit the port today.

Location precision: The game says only the main harbor; the pin marks the port area in general.

Able Company fights through the bocage to take Hill 192 outside Saint-Lô. The real battle ran from 7 to 19 July 1944, in Saint-Lô, Manche. By its end up to 95% of the city was destroyed. The martyr city came to be called "The Capital of Ruins". You can visit Saint-Lô today.

Location precision: The game names Hill 192 outside the town; the pin marks Saint-Lô itself.

Able Company is taken off the frontline to garrison Hill 317 outside Mortain. Then a German armored counter-attack arrives: Able defends the hill until relieved and retakes the town. The real counter-attack was Operation Lüttich, 7 to 13 August 1944, aimed at the US 30th Infantry Division east of Mortain. Mortain can be visited today.

Location precision: The game names Hill 317 near the town; the pin marks Mortain, not the hilltop.

The campaign ends at Chambois. By August 19 the Germans are almost encircled in the Falaise pocket, and Able Company links with Canadian and Polish forces to crush the German escape. The real Allies linked up in Chambois on 19 August 1944; Polish troops then moved on to occupy part of Hill 262, the Mont Ormel ridge. Chambois can be visited today.

Location precision: The game sets its finale at Chambois; the pin marks the village, not a specific field.