American soldiers in liberated Carentan.

American soldiers in liberated Carentan. American soldiers line up around the square of the city of Carentan, 30 mile southeast of Cherbourg. On June 12, 1944, the German were forced to evacuate Carentan in the face of the overwhelming force of the Allied drive along the Cotentin Peninsula. By June 26, the Allies had liberated the all-weather deep-water port of Cherbourg on the tip of the Peninsula. Possesion of Cherbourg, third largest naval port in France, gives the Allies a major trans-Atlantic terminal through which supplies and fresh armies can be moved for further blows against the Germans in Western Europe.