June 1944

Western Front - Battle For Caen

XII Corps, comprising the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, reinforced by a brigade of 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division and the 34th Tank Brigade, the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division and the other two brigades of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division, is to attack in Operation GREENLINE at 0930pm on July 15, using Monty's Moonlight, searchlight beams reflected from clouds to illuminate the ground. The two 53rd Division brigades are to secure a start line for the 43rd Division to attack towards Hill 112 and drive a corridor to the Orne River via Bougy, Évrecy and Maizet, ready to advance on Aunay-sur-Odon or Thury Harcourt should there be a German withdrawal. GREENLINE is intended to convince the German command that the main British assault would be launched west of the Orne, through the positions held by XII Corps and to tie down the 9th and 10th SS Panzer divisions, so that they could not oppose GOODWOOD or COBRA.

Further west, XXX Corps is to conduct Operation POMEGRANATE beginning on July 15, in which the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division on the right, is to capture Vendes and the surrounding area, in the center the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division is to capture the villages of Noyers-Bocage, Haut des Forges and Landelle, and on the left the 53 (Welsh) Division is to attack, ready for the corps to advance toward the high ground north-east of Villers Bocage.

On July 8 Hitler issued a new directive requiring the front in Normandy to be maintained, since the German forces lacked the tactical mobility for a battle of maneuver and an invasion in the Pas de Calais is believed imminent. Kluge made a tour of inspection and ordered that the existing positions be maintained, that they be increased in depth by the use of every available man for labour, and that a new counter-offensive by the seven panzer divisions, be prepared against the Odon salient for Augus 1, by which date the infantry divisions arriving in Normandy must have completed relieving the panzer divisions. The offensive was to be conducted on a 3 mi (4.8 km) front from Grainville-sur-Odon to Juvigny-sur-Seulles, to reach Luc-sur-Mer behind Caen. (Rommel thought the plan unrealistic and on July 16 wrote to Hitler predicting that the Normandy front would soon collapse. Next day, he was strafed by Allied aircraft and wounded, which ended his service in Normandy.)

On the left flank of the 15th (Scottish) Division, the crossroads at le Bon Repos and the higher ground overlooking Esquay-Notre-Dame are attacked by the 2nd Glasgow Highlanders of the 227th (Highland) Infantry Brigade, supported by Churchill tanks of the 107th Regiment Royal Armored Corps (107th RAC) of the 34th Tank Brigade and the 141st Regiment Royal Armored Corps (141st RAC) of the 79th Armored Division, equipped with Churchill Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) and Churchill Crocodile flamethrower tanks. The Scottish advance from the northeast, southwest over the northern slope of Hill 112 toward the defenses of the III Battalion, 21st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment. As the infantry emerge from dead ground, they are met by massed mortar fire, which temporarily disorganizes the battalion, as did a smokescreen placed on Hill 112, which merges with fog and covers the area.

The Scottish manage to cross the start line on time at 9:30pm and capture the SS survivors of a flamethrower attack by the Crocodiles on the road running from Croix des Filandriers to le Bon Repos. The advance continues downhill, under Monty's Moonlight, covered by fire from the 107th RAC Churchills on higher ground just south of Baron. Esquay is captured by 11:00pm but not held, as its position below a saucer of higher ground made it a shell-trap. The two leading tank squadrons and two troops of Crocodiles from the 141st RAC are engaged, while the third squadron waits in reserve behind the crest, under frequent mortar fire during the evening and night. Four tanks are lost, but many of the crews return after dark. The troops dig in on the surrounding rises at positions determined earlier using reconnaissance photographs. The attack is interpreted by the Germans as a move on Hill 112 and Tiger I tanks of 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion are sent up the southern slope to repulse an attack that never comes.

Further west, the rest of the division captures Point 113 but not Évrecy, which leaves the Glasgow Highlanders overlooked from both flanks, although German counterattacks by infantry of the 21st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment and tanks of the 10th SS Panzer Regiment at first concentrate on Esquay, which has already been evacuated. The German counterattack then falls on the positions around le Bon Repos, where two Panzer IVs are knocked out by 6-pounder anti-tank guns. The Scots are pushed back several times, only for bombardment by the medium artillery of XII Corps to drive the Germans back.