US Army soldiers take shelter and rest in the cellar of a building following heavy combat with German forces at Tessy-sur-Vire. On August 1, 1944, a company of the 120th Infantry Regiment advanced cautiously through the fields along the Vire river, meeting no resistance, it reached Tessy-sur-Vire in the afternoon. They were the first Americans to enter Tessy-sur-Ville and found themselves exposed and under fire from German soldiers who remained in the village to defend the bridge. The Americans were forced to retreat into the ruins, basements and fields stretching towards the railway station.
