June 1944

Western Front - Battle For Caen

The British 2nd Army (Lt-Gen Myles C. Dempsey) lands to the east of the US 1st Army on 3 beaches (GOLD, JUNO, and SWORD) between Le Hamel and Ouistreham and presses inland toward Bayeux and Caen. In XXX Corps area, the 50th Division, reinforced by the 8th Armored Brigade, elements of the 79th Armored Division, and the 47th Royal Marine Commando, lands on GOLD Beach in Le Hamel--La Rivière sector. There is strong opposition at Le Hamel, but units drive inland toward Bayeux, reaching the general line Vaux-sur-Aure-St Sulpice-Vaux-sur-Seulles-Brécy-Creuilly. Contact is made with the Canadian 3rd Division to their left. Preparations are made for an attack on Bayeux at daylight. The I Corps puts troops ashore on JUNO and SWORD and drives toward Caen from the northwest and north. Well before the seaborne assault, the British 6th Airborne Division is dropped east of the Orne River in the Caen area. They secure the bridges over the Orne River and the Caen Canal at Bénouville and destroy the coastal battery at Merville. The reinforced Canadian 3rd Division lands on JUNO in the Courseulles area and thrusts rapidly inland 3-6 miles. Armored patrols reach the Bayeux-Caen highway at Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse. The British 3rd Division, reinforced, lands to the left on SWORD and drives inland to Biéville, within about 2 miles of Caen, but a gap exists between it and the Canadian 3rd Division. The Germans make their only major counterattack of the day through the gap but are forced back almost to their starting line.

West Wall defense covering Caen are manned by the 716th Infantry Division under Lt-Gen Wilhelm Richter, to whom Maj-Gen Edgar Feuchtinger of 21st Panzer Division is subordinate. Richter wants the paratroopers mopped up as soon as possible. He could use some of Feuchtinger's infantry, but not the armor, part of Rommel's reserve. Gen Erich Marcks commands the LXXXIV Corps of which Richter's division is part of. Feuchtinger is also under Geyr von Schweppenburg's Panzer Group West, in the event of invasion. At 0200 Richter orders a divisional attack on the airborne landings east of the water barrier. Two parachute brigades had landed in the area, but are severly weakened by losses. The air-landing brigade is not due in till the evening and no support would be forthcoming from the British 3rd Infantry Division.

Richter gives orders to those units he could. Col Rauch's 192nd Panzer Grenadier Regiment, whose 2nd Battalion is ordered to move to Bénouville. A section of SP guns of the 8th Heavy Company fights its way from Cairon into Bénouvile, which is held by the 7th Parachute Battalion. The 4 companies of the 22nd Panzer Regiment, 21st Panzer Division, do not start moving toward Caen until 0800, 6 hours after Richter's original order to attack the airborne landings east of the Orne. At 1230 the British advance toward Caen. At 1300 Feuchtinger orders the first 3 companies to attack the seaborne landings while the 4th company is to join Lt-Col Freiherr Hans von Luck's 125th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, with some divisional artillery to attack the paratroopers.

The 25 tanks of the 1st Company and the Headquarters Company, under Capt Herr, reach the area between Libisey and Biéville about 1500. 35 tanks of the 2nd and 3rd Companies, under Capt von Gottberg move farther west to the foot of Périers Rise about 1600 and further west still the 1st Battalion, 192nd Panzer Grenadier Regiment, is ordered by Marcks to push toward the coast. As the Germans reach the foot of the heights, the British tanks pushing in from the coast are near the top. While weather has delayed the Germans, it also did the British. The 185th Brigade, tanks of Lt-Col Jim Eadie's Staffordshire Yeomanry, infantry of Lt-Col F. J. Maurice's 2nd KSLI (King's Shropshire Light Infantry) and SP guns of 7th Field Regtiment, Royal Artillery, should have rushed Caen at once with infantry riding on backs of the tanks. But, tanks and guns are held up by chaos on the beach, and the Shropshires start to walk there without heavy weapons and vehicles.

Going up the heights, they are joined by their 6pdr anti-tank guns, a few 17pdrs and 2 squandrons of Yeomanry. A 3rd arrives in time to meet the attack on Biéville by Capt Herr's 25 tanks. The defenders are well-positioned and hit them with both anti-tank guns and tanks. In a few minutes the Germans lose 6 tanks. To the left of Périers Rise come the 35 tanks of Capt von Gottberg, but the English defense is the same, well-managed knocking out 10 tanks before the German tanks fall back.

The British position is precarious. There was a wide corridor running to the sea on their right, and Germans are in there already. As the main body of the 185th Brigade Group moved past one of the German forts on the way to Caen, they are cut down by German machine-gun fire. At 2000 the 1st Battalion, 192nd Panzer Grenadier Regiment reaches the sea between Lion-sur-Mer and Luc-sur-Mer linking up with Germans still holding the coast. The 13/18 Hussars who had attacked the last German fort 'Hillman' are pulled back to take defensive postions.

At 2300 the gliders of the Air Landing Brigade make their scheduled appearance landing on both sides of the Orne. The gliders had barely finished landing when the Warwickshires of th 185th Brigade Group come into Bénouville to relieve the paratroopers. They are in turn attacked by SP guns of 8th Company, 192nd Panzer Grenadier Regiment, forcing the British to take cover. They could see their objective, Caen, but without infantry support and the 21st Panzer tanks on their open right flank, they are forced to withdraw to Biéville.