France: D Day - Battle of Normandy - Clydeside Images.co.uk

France

The D-Day Battlefields

The Battle of Normandy (Later Actions)

Although D-Day did not bring an end to the war in Europe, it did mark the beginning of the end for Hitler`s Germany, but no one ever thought for a second that this would be an easy `Champagne Campaign.` Establishing a beachhead was critical but it was just the first step. In the three months following the initial landings, the Allies launched a series of additional offensives in an attempt to advance further inland but it came as a shock to many, even those who expected a hard slog, to find just how skilful, determined, and often fanatical the German defenders were.

The scale of the ferocity of the fighting on the Eastern Front is unquestioned but lesser known is the fact that the average losses per division on both sides during the Normandy Campaign were to exceed those for Soviet and German divisions during the equivalent period in Russia. This is the final part of my D-Day section following a recent visit to many of the D-Day sites in France.

Caen

D-Day Main Page

Bayeux

This page features historical information on the numerous military operations which took place across Normandy following the landings. Extra pages, accessed via the above links, cover Caen and Bayeux in a bit more detail and include the WW2 Museums situated there. It’s hoped that the text and photos, both historical and my own, may be of interest to anyone researching D-Day or planning a visit to the region. As well as shots taken during my visit to Normandy, I`ve included some images taken in the UK and at various locations abroad which relate to these events. Please note that due to the inter-connecting nature of many of these sites and the military actions that took place, there is some duplication of content.

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, General George S. Patton Jr, and General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey.

While the Normandy landings in all five sectors managed to establish footholds, many D-Day objectives were not met, including the capture of Caen and Bayeux, although the latter city was liberated by the British on 7 June. Caen was to prove a totally different proposition, however, and the Germans did everything in their power to retain control. The city itself and much of the area to the south were on flatter, more open terrain than the classic bocage country of western Normandy. The Allied Commanders wished to push inland as soon as possible, capture Caen`s Carpiquet Airport, while at the same time secure other optimum locations for the construction of forward air bases.

Sherman tanks of 30 Corps in Bayeux shortly after the city`s liberation.

Rather than try to capture Caen head on after the failed attempt on D-Day, the Anglo-Canadian forces launched a series of flanking attacks, the first of which was code-named Operation Perch, with Montgomery confident of a breakthrough followed by rapid progress towards Falaise. However, the bulk of the German armour, including SS Panzer Divisions, was deployed here rather than in the American sector and, despite being drastically outnumbered, took a heavy toll of Allied tanks and troops. The 21st Panzer Division (Wermacht) had counter-attacked late afternoon on D-Day and got within sight of the SWORD coastline but they had been beaten back and this had left some British commanders with a misplaced optimism. Erwin Rommel (15 November 1891 - 14 October 1944), the `Desert Fox`, is pictured below right, inspecting men of the 21st Division in May 1944.

Following service on the Eastern Front, Kurt Meyer (23 December 1910 - 23 December 1961) (left) transferred to France in the summer of 1943 and became second in command of the newly formed 12th SS Panzer Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) Division, one of the units that were to advance on SWORD Beach on D-Day. One of their PzKpfw IVs is shown below.

On 6 June, as night fell, Meyer set up his command post in Abbaye Ardenne, a monastery in Saint-Germain-la-Blanche-Herbe, near Caen, and ordered his regiment to take up defensive positions and await reinforcements. He could see from the upper reaches of the abbey the extent of the force that faced him and the main body of the 9th Brigade fanning out from the landing grounds. As it would have been nigh on impossible to move forward adequate supplies of fuel in easily identifiable tanker trucks, Meyer organised a shuttle of jerry cans loaded aboard Volkswagen Kubelwagens. The opposing sides clashed throughout the next day with further attempts by the Germans to reach the coast thwarted.

Many Allied and Axis prisoners were taken and during the evening of 7 June, 11 Canadian POWs, soldiers from the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and the 27th Armoured Regiment (The Sherbrooke Fusiliers) were shot in the back of the head by Meyer`s men.

Right: A bandaged Max Wünsche (left), Fritz Witt (centre), and Meyer (right) discussing tactics sometime between 7-14 June 1944 in the vicinity of Caen.

Wünsche commanded the 12th SS Panzer Regiment which two months later became trapped in the Falaise pocket. Although he made it out on foot before the neck of the pocket closed he was wounded by British soldiers on the night of 20 August and taken prisoner. He spent the remainder of the conflict as a POW at a remote camp in Caithness, Scotland.

During the course of the Normandy Campaign an estimated 156 Canadian prisoners of war are believed to have been executed by the 12th SS Panzer Division in the days and weeks following the landings. Captured as individuals or in scattered groups in various pockets of the Normandy countryside, they were taken aside and shot or bludgeoned to death. On 14 June, SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Witt, commander of the Hitlerjugend division, was killed during a naval barrage and Meyer, as the next highest-ranking officer, was promoted. At 33 years of age, Meyer was one of the youngest German divisional commanders of the war.

In September 1944, in Belgium, Meyer`s unit was ambushed by an American armoured column and he was forced to take flight on foot. A farmer spotted him hiding in a barn and alerted the Belgian Resistance who turned him over to US troops.

Meyer originally claimed to have had no knowledge of the executions at the Abbey, nor did he admit to telling his men to take no prisoners, however, he was subsequently found guilty of inciting his troops to commit murder and of being responsible as a commander for the killings. Meyer was sentenced to death on 28 December 1945 but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. He was released after serving nearly nine years in prison and soon became politically active in HIAG, the Waffen-SS lobby group formed in 1951 by former high-ranking SS men.

He insisted that Waffen-SS divisions were much the same as any other division in the Wermacht and basically denied that they had committed the atrocities attributed to them. Meyer died of ill health on 23 December 1961 and an estimated 15,000 thousand people attended his funeral, a cushion-bearer carrying his medals in the cortege. The above image of Canadian POWs is a still taken from a German newsreel film dated 14 June 1944. These soldiers are from the Royal Winnipeg Rifles.

The fighting in Normandy soon became mutually costly but the Allies initially had a seemingly never-ending supply of men and materiel but delays in getting forces ashore wasted valuable time which the Germans took advantage of to deploy reserves and stiffen their line. The Allies had command of the air which meant that as the weeks dragged on, the enemy struggled to reinforce their ever dwindling numbers at both ends of the invasion front due to bombing and strafing. The above photo shows a storage depot somewhere in England crammed with tanks and half-tracks during the build-up for Overlord.

While the British and Canadians struggled to gain ground around Caen, in the west the Americans landing at OMAHA and UTAH had linked up with the US Airborne who`d made a night drop in the early hours of D-Day to capture and secure exits from the US beaches, as well as several strategically important towns. This was done to expedite the Allied advance but the Bocage country in this western part of Normandy was a defender`s dream. Consisting of low-lying ridges, narrow valleys, marshy depressions, and seemingly endless fields bordered by claustrophobic tree-lined sunken roads and steep, vegetation-covered embankments, the Germans had perfect cover for their machine-gun nests, mortars, and 88s.

Towed anti-tank guns are primarily a defensive weapon requiring time to deploy, conceal and site correctly to create mutually supporting arcs of fire. Hence, in Normandy, they were of more use to the Germans who nearly always fought on the defensive from previously established positions. The Germans could also utilise minefields to great effect to disrupt both Allied troops and armour.

Ambushes were easy to set up in the bocage and often a network of tunnels would connect with another strongpoint hidden in a hedgerow further back, so the Germans could withdraw unseen, sometimes after laying booby traps, and immediately set up to concentrate more firepower on the attackers. On many occasions their camouflage was so good that it was nigh impossible for US troops to see where the incoming rounds originated.

The result was a nightmare of frustration and agony for the Americans. In a 17-day struggle, the US 1st Army suffered 40,000 casualties in a mere 7-mile advance. By 18 June 1944, however, US forces had reached the coast on the western side of the Cotentin Peninsula, sealing its base and effectively trapping the German garrison at Cherbourg, 50 kilometres away, to the north.

Mines, relatively cheap and easy to produce in vast numbers, were used to great effect by the Germans during the Normandy Campaign, as they were fighting almost exclusively a defensive war. As well as the carnage caused by a detonation, whether it be activated by pressure from a tank, or other vehicle, or an unwary soldier stepping on the wrong patch of ground, such explosions were a shocking sight never to be forgotten. Allied troops were forced to adopt a greater degree of caution, even well behind the front-lines, and large numbers of Sappers and US Army Engineers spent their time checking for and defusing hidden devices as well as clearing marked minefields.

In this US Army Signals Corps photo, American soldiers look at just some of the mines, booby traps and firing devices used against them by the Germans. Included are Teller Mines, Schu-mine 42s, Bangalore torpedoes. French, German and Russian hand grenades, all of which were commonly booby trapped, demolition charges and firing devices.

Operation Perch (7 - 14 June 1944)

8 June 1944: General Sir Bernard Montgomery passes surprised German POWs while being driven along a road in a jeep en route to his HQ.

As previously mentioned, Operation Perch, one of the first British offensive`s launched during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy, took place from 7 to 14 June 1944. The intention was to encircle and then seize Caen with XXX Corps in the west making an advance southwards then arcing round to he south-east of the city. The British 50th Division took control of Tilly-sur-Seulles, 22km to the west, which had been occupied by the Panzer-Lehr Division but fierce fighting saw the village change hands several times. In one action the 6th Green Howards lost 250 men trying to capture the village of Cristot.

Left: German prisoners being searched by British troops near Saint-Gabriel-Brécy, southwest of Creully on 7 June 1944. Note Schwedter Adler (Eagle) badges on their caps.

On the morning of 8th June, the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade came under heavy attack and the Royal Winnipeg Rifles were overrun. The Canadian Scottish were compelled to mount a counterattack, losing 125 men in the process. That night, 12th SS Panzer, personally led by Meyer who monitored progress and directed operations from his motorcycle, assaulted the Canadian positions yet again.

The night sky lit up with flares, explosions, fires and tracer. Confusion reigned. At one stage, the Regina rifles reported 22 Panthers around their own battalion HQ and it looked as though the enemy push to the coast might succeed. But the Canadians held on. Six Panthers were taken out by PIATs and anti-tank guns, by which time the impetus was lost, so Meyer called off the attack. Before the Canadians` first week ashore had ended, they were to lose 196 officers and 2,635 other ranks, 72 and 945 of these respectively, being killed.

On the evening of 9 June, Fritz Bayerlein`s crack Panzer Lehr Division moved into the line on the left of 12th SS Panzer, following a 90 mile drive from Chartres during which they had been continually harassed by Allied planes. Despite losing five tanks, over 80 assault guns and other armoured vehicles, it was still a formidable fighting force. Now, three Panzer Divisions, the 21st, 12th SS and Panzer Lehr formed the core of the German shield around Caen.

Three days after Operation Perch began, the city was still in German hands, so I Corps was brought in to form the other arm of a pincer movement (Operation Wild Oats). The 51st (Highland) Division and the 4th Armoured Brigade of I Corps began the eastern thrust from the Orne bridgehead but the Allies met a series of determined counter-attacks by the 21st Panzer Division.

On 11 June, the 5th Black Watch came under attack, losing 200 men, some of whom were caught then executed. Throughout the Normandy Campaign there were to be atrocities perpetrated by both sides as the fighting became increasingly desperate. As detailed already, the most infamous incident committed by either of the opposing forces in the region was the murder of Canadian soldiers by the Waffen-SS at Abbaye Ardenne on 7 June.

On 10 June 1944, 285 miles (460 km) south of Caen, there occurred the most notorious Nazi atrocity in Western Europe: the Oradour massacre. The SS `Das Reich` Division, hastening north to the Landing Grounds from its base near Tolouse, was constantly hindered by French Resistance activity including sniping, demolitions and road blocks. The Germans were informed that one of their officers, thought to be SS-Sturmbannführer Helmut Kämpfe, commander of the 2nd SS Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, had been seized by the Maquis and was being held in a nearby village. One of the Das Reich Division units was the 4th SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment `Der Führer` commanded by SS-Standartenführer Sylvester Stadler, with SS-Sturmbannführer Adolf Diekmann leading the 1st Battalion. Stadler ordered Diekmann to have the mayor of Oradour-sur-Glane choose thirty people to become hostages, with the intention that they would be either exchanged for Kämpfe, or shot if he was not released unharmed.

Diekmann drove into Oradour with his men and within the space of just a few hours, 190 adult males, 247 women and 205 children had been murdered, either by shooting or having been burnt alive after being barricaded in buildings including the church. Much of the town was razed to the ground and the bloodied and charred bodies were left where they lay as an example. After the war the decision was taken not to rebuild Oradour and leave the ruins as a permanent memorial to those who died.

Protests at Diekmann's unilateral action followed, with Field Marshal Erwin Rommel and General Gleiniger, German commander in Limoges, expressing outrage as well as the Vichy government. Even SS-Standartenführer Stadler (left) felt Diekmann had drastically exceeded his remit and launched an internal investigation, however, Diekmann and many of the troops involved were killed in action soon after, during the Battle of Normandy. The investigation was therefore suspended indefinitely.

In January 1953, a military tribunal in Bordeaux heard charges against 65 of the 200 or so SS men who took part in the massacre. Only 21 were present, only seven of whom were German citizens. The others were Alsatians, French nationals whose home region, Alsace and Lorraine, had been annexed by Germany in 1940. All but one of the Alsatians claimed to have been forced to join the Waffen-SS, and these forced conscripts called themselves the malgré-nous, meaning "against our will".

Twenty defendants were subsequently found guilty but the volatile political situation in Alsace (including demands for autonomy) pressed the French parliament to pass an amnesty law for all the malgré-nous, so the convicted Alsatian former SS men were released within a few weeks. By 1958, all of the German defendants had also been freed.

In 1983. Former SS-Obersturmführer Heinz Barth was tracked down in East Germany, and later convicted as a result of his actions at Oradour. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the First Senate of the City Court of Berlin but was released from prison in the reunified Germany in 1997. All other attempts to have those involved in the massacre stand trial and account came to nothing.

The 51st were unable to gain much ground during Operation Perch due to the enemy`s tactics, ambushing the Scots in short sharp actions, with accurate use of artillery, mortars and machine-guns. The regiment quickly became demoralised and the 12th Battalion of the beleaguered 6th Airborne was drafted in for the next attack - an assault on the heavily defended village of Bréville-les-Monts. A squadron of tanks from the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and five regiments of artillery provided support. The British captured their objective and secured the perimeter east of the Orne but lost almost as many men as the Black Watch in the process.

Sherman tanks of 44th Royal Tank Regiment, 4th Armoured Brigade, move through through Reviers, south of JUNO Beach, 12 June 1944.

At Montgomery's headquarters on 12 June 1944, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and senior officers watch air activity overhead. Present are, left to right: Lieut-General Sir Richard O'Connor, commanding VIII Corps; Churchill; Field Marshal Jan Smuts; Monty; and Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff.

The 7th Armoured Division attempted a 'right-hook' towards Villers-Bocage on 13 June, but this was also blunted by a fierce German response, not least by the intervention of a handful of Waffen SS Tiger tanks which decimated the attacker`s lead elements (see below). Monty`s intention had been to advance the front-line another 5 miles to the south, but this was no longer feasible. He was forced to reassess and the action was halted on the morning of 14 June.

These failed attempts to outflank Caen were an early demonstration of flaws in the British tactics, as well as the debilitating effect of the confined Normandy landscape and the impressive fighting qualities of the German opposition. 7th Armoured Division's previous experience of mobile warfare in North Africa did not readily translate to a congested European battlefield. Here in Normandy, with its infantry left too far behind, it had been stopped in its tracks in terrain unsuitable for the large scale deployment of tanks.

Above right: The remains of a Bren Carrier blown up by a mine in Tilly-sur-Seulles, 19 June 1944. The town was one of the first of many towns and villages which were well-nigh obliterated in the process of liberation.

Pictured on the right is General Harry Crerar (28 April 1888 – 1 April 1965) at the wheel of his jeep. With him is Brigadier D. G. Cunningham commander of 9th Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the Brigade Major N.R. Kingsmill. The insignia of the 1st Canadian Army is just visible on the front of the vehicle.

Crerar featured on the cover of the 18 September 1944 edition of Time magazine. He led troops for the remainder of the war and retired from the army in 1946 after which he took diplomatic postings in Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands and Japan.

Above: A captured German Army SdKfz 251 ambulance half-track, plus Sherman and Cromwell tanks of the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group advance near Tilly-sur-Seulles, 13 June 1944. The lead tank`Fox`, has large bearing markings painted in white around the exterior of its turret. This was done to enable crews to fire at enemy defences over open sights from landing craft on the run in to the beaches on D-Day.

One of the most fearsome weapons in the German arsenal was the Nebelwerfer (Smoke Mortar) which could bring down concentrated fire on infantry, artillery, trucks and other lightly armoured vehicles. The launcher units could be small, wheeled and portable, or mounted on half-tracks. The `smoke mortar` designation was allocated as a disinformation tactic during the period between the Wars while Germany still had weapon production restrictions placed upon it by the Treaty of Versailles. Several Nebelwerfer variants were developed which fired projectiles ranging in size from 15 to 32 centimetres (5.9 to 12.6 in). After the crew had loaded and aimed the launcher, they sought cover to avoid the exhaust blast and would fire the rockets by means of an electric switch.

Left: This shot shows Rommel inspecting a Nebelwerfer Maultier (Mule) semi-tracked rocket launcher at Riva-Bella near Ouistreham in the months prior to D-Day. This version, mostly used by Waffen SS units, is fitted with a Raketen-Vielfachwerfer 24-rail 8cm projectile rack rather than one for the more common 15cm rockets.

The production of the standard Maultier had reached 4,000 by 1943 when the Opel company began building a newer version which could not only act as a mount for the 15cm Nebelwerfer, but fulfil the role of ammunition carrier.

On firing, the Nebelwerfers left conspicuous smoke trails so it was imperative that the batteries change position frequently. The latest production vehicles therefore improved both mobility and protection.

As Operation Perch wound down, over in the west, in the US First Army area, American attacks forced a gap in the German defences. Part of the British 7th Armoured Division was diverted from Tilly-sur-Seulles, to advance through the gap in a flanking manoeuvre and force the Panzer Lehr Division to fall back, to avoid encirclement.

The Infantry Mk.IV (A22) Churchill was one of the heaviest tanks in the British inventory and in addition to extensive service in northwest Europe, the type was used by British and Commonwealth forces in the Western Deserts of North Africa, and in Italy, plus several hundred were supplied to the USSR and fought on the Eastern Front. The Churchill chassis was also the basis for many of the specialist tanks known as `Hobart`s Funnies` which proved so valuable in overcoming beach defences during the D-Day Landings and as the battle continued through France, Belgium, Holland and into Germany.

Three brigades of Churchills landed in Normandy in 1944, most with 75 mm guns, some with 6-pounders, and a few with 95 mm howitzers. Production ceased in October 1945 after 5,640 of the type had been built, 3,091 of which had been upgraded or converted.

The tank pictured above is an exhibit in the Tank Museum, Bovington, and has been there since 1949. It`s the last Churchill Mark.VII to be produced by Vauxhall, having rolled out of the factory in October 1945. It was sent directly to the School of Tank Technology, which subsequently donated it to the museum - two careful owners and very low mileage!

Machine-guns and the new handheld German anti-tank weapons were used to great effect by German infantry and Fallschirmjäger. The Panzerschreck, one of which is being carried by the soldier in the right-hand photo, was developed from captured American bazookas but fired a heavier, 88mm projectile. Along with the smaller single-shot Panzerfaust (above left), it proved ideal for use in the Normandy Bocage country. Well camouflaged Panzerschreck and/or Panzerfaust teams would often lie in wait and ambush Allied armour at close range from multiple directions. The Germans were also experts in utilising their assault guns to great effect and it soon became clear to British and American commanders that attacks led by tanks were doomed to fail without proper infantry and artillery support. The armoured divisions started adapting to the new conditions by mixing tank and infantry brigades, but the successful co-ordination of the two arms was never entirely achieved by the Allies during the campaign.

Conceived in 1935, the Sturmgeschutz (Assault Gun) was intended to provide mobile, armoured, close support artillery for the German infantry rather than the Panzer Troops. The new weapon, eventually based solely on the chassis of the Panzer III, was fitted with a short 7.5cm gun housed in the superstructure, rather than in a turret like a conventional tank. This made the STUGs cheaper, quicker and easier to build, however, the limited traverse of the gun (12 degrees each way) meant that the whole vehicle had to swivel on its tracks if the crew wanted to aim the gun laterally. Seven different versions were made, culminating in the Sturmgeschutz 40 Ausf G, seen here. Initially rolling off the assembly-line in December 1942, the Ausf G was produced until the end of the war with no major design changes.

This MG 42 is on display within the Caen Memorial Museum. The adjacent images show German machine-gunners in action. The MG 34 and the later MG 42 were rated as the best light machine-guns of the war. Their impressive rate of fire (up to 1,500 rounds per minute for the MG 42) had a devastating effect on advancing Allied infantry.

Although the Allies had a vast numerical superiority when it came to armour, the British and American tanks were outclassed by those of the Germans. The medium Panther is rated as one of the best tanks of the war due to its excellent firepower and armour protection, although its reliability was less impressive. Around 6,000 were built, initially as a direct counter to the Soviet T-34, and saw action on the Eastern and Western Fronts from mid-1943 onwards. Several versions were produced including small numbers performing roles as mobile artillery observation posts and armoured recovery vehicles. This Panther, an SD KFZ 171 Panzerkampfwagen V AUSF G, is on display at the Tank Museum. Bovington.

Above: Panthers and supporting troops prepare to head for the front, Normandy, Summer 1944.

The Jagdpanther (nearest the camera), one of the most potent armoured fighting vehicles produced during the War, was the result of a marriage between the excellent 88mm gun and the chassis of a Panther tank. It`s worth noting that the German Army distinguished between Panzerjaeger and Sturmgeschutze (Assault Guns). The former were seen as anti-tank weapons, whilst the latter were conceived as mobile, armoured infantry support guns operated by the artillery branch of the Army.

The Panzerkampfwagen IV (PzKpfw IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, was a medium tank developed in the late 1930s and used extensively by the Germans throughout the Second World War. It was the only German tank to remain in continuous production and the factories churned out around 8,500, making the Panzer IV the most widely manufactured German tank ever. It received various upgrades and design modifications intended to counter new threats as and when they materialised, thus extending its service life. The Panzer IV chassis was the basis for a host of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs), including the Sturmgeschütz IV assault gun, Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer, the Wirbelwind self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, and the Brummbär self-propelled gun. The preserved Panzer IVs shown above can be found at the Overlord Museum in Normandy and the Tank Museum, Bovington. The latter PzKpfw IV is an Ausf D, which was upgraded with extra armour before it left the factory. In 1943 additional armour was put on the front and the original 75mm KwK L/24 gun was replaced with the KwK 40 L/43.

Villers-Bocage (13 June 1944)

In an effort to break the bloody stalemate around Caen, Montgomery ordered in two of his tried and tested formations, the 7th Armoured Division (The Desert Rats) and the 51st (Highland) Division. Both had distinguished themselves in the Western Desert against the Afrika Corps, and later in Italy, but they were to receive a rude awakening in Normandy.

Even as they moved into position for the `off`, scheduled for the early hours of 13 June, German tanks and panzergrenadiers were pressing the heavily outnumbered and outgunned paratroopers around Escoville, just 6.5 km east of the River Orne.

At dawn, the 7th Armoured began the day confident that they could achieve their objective - the town of Villers-Bocage. They were under the command of Major General Sir George W. E. J. Erskine GCB KBE DSO (23 August 1899 – 29 August 1965) (right). Unlike the open terrain of North Africa, or even the open undulating cornfields around Caen, this was typical bocage country but, rather than have his armoured reconnaissance regiment, the 11th Hussars, drive ahead of the main force, he had it act as flank guard which was to prove a serious error of judgement. The decision led to one of the most devastating ambushes suffered by the British Army from the D-Day Landings to VE Day.

The Allies were unaware that SS-Obersturmführer Michael Wittmann (22 April 1914 - 8 August 1944) (below right), a Panzer `Ace`, with his five formidable Tigers of the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion had reached the front after an arduous and complicated journey from Beauvias to the north of Paris. Wittmann is standing in the turret of the lead tank in the above shot, taken near Morgny, Normandy, on 7 June 1944.

Leading elements of the 2nd Panzer Division would also reach the same area later the same day but meanwhile, Wittman`s tanks took up a concealed position in a small wood overlooking the N175 road running northeast from Villers-Bocage then watched and waited.

At 08:00 hrs on Tuesday 13 June, the British vanguard entered the town to a rapturous welcome. The only sign of the enemy initially had been an armoured car which made a swift exit before the guns of the leading tank could be brought to bear.

Hill 213, to the northeast of Villers-Bocage, was the highest point in the immediate area and had to be secured to protect the line. The courageous but eccentric commander of the 22nd Armoured Brigade, Brigadier Sir William R. N. "Looney" Hinde, KBE, CB, DSO & Bar (25 June 1900 - 1981) was impatient. Rather than send out his squadron of light Stuart tanks to make a thorough check of the surrounding countryside, he ordered the heavy tanks of `A` Squadron forward immediately with the remainder staying put, in town.

A line of `A` Squadron`s Cromwells halted on an open, slightly banked section of road in front of Wittmann and without waiting, he broke cover, turned parallel with the British tanks, and systematically drove along the line, knocking them out one-by-one with his Tiger`s lethal 88. The main guns of the British machines were unable to penetrate the leviathan`s thick armour and they were insufficiently powered to make a hasty retreat. Wittmann then headed for Villers-Bocage and trundled down the main street, easily breaking through the perimeter guard to concentrate fire on the stationary tanks and support vehicles of `B` Squadron.

Chaos ensued with many of the British crews dismounted and awaiting further orders when the Tiger burst into view. Soldiers scattered and sought cover with some managing to bring anti-tank guns to bear, however, despite several direct hits from these, and several from the manned British tanks, Wittmann`s Tiger remained fully operational. He withdrew but headed back out of town to have another go at `A` Squadron and its accompanying detachment from the Rifle Brigade,

In the afternoon Wittmann, accompanied by lead elements of the 2nd Panzer Division, attempted to capture Villers-Bocage but the defenders were ready and the attack was repulsed. The above images show opposing tanks destroyed during the battle. The Cromwell on the right was a victim of Wittmann`s Tiger earlier in the day.

General Erskine assessed the situation and decided that the location was too precarious to hold. During the afternoon of the following day he ordered his troops to withdraw. The Germans took every opportunity to attack as they did so and some British units become isolated. That night RAF bombers flattened Villers-Bocage, killing many of its citizens who had so enthusiastically welcomed the British when they arrived just a day before. Several of the other nearby settlements were also reduced to rubble.

The Germans soon entered Villers-Bocage and amassed forces to such an extent that the town and surrounding area remained under their control until the end of the Battle of Normandy. The image above left shows enemy troops during the occupation, while the one on the right shows some more of Wittmann`s handiwork. British losses during the fighting in and around Villers-Bocage on June 13th, including Wittmann`s contribution, amounted to several artillery pieces, a number of Stuart light tanks of the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars; 8 Cromwells, 4 Sherman Fireflies, 3 Stuarts, 1 Half-track vehicle and 3 Scout cars, all of the 4th County of London Yeomanry; 9 half-tracks, 2 Bren gun-carriers and 4 Carden-Loyd Carriers belonging to the Rifle Brigade; plus two Cromwells and one Sherman of 5th Royal Horse Artillery. A large number of troops were also either killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.

German propaganda tended to elevate individual fighters to 'hero' status therefore it was no surprise that the aforementioned tally was ascribed almost entirely to Wittmann who was given credit for almost all of the destroyed British tanks. The Germans suffered losses too and by the end of the day, six Tigers and five Panzer IVs had been put out of action, although three of the Tigers were later repaired. The price the Germans paid during the battle for Villers-Bocage was not well publicised at the time and one-sided accounts ignoring the toll the British took of their enemy became the norm.

The following photos were taken after Villers-Bocage was finally captured by British forces on 5 August 1944. The knocked-out Cromwell observation post tank,
(right) was commanded by Captain Paddy Victory of 5th Royal Horse Artillery, 7th Armoured Division. The other image shows wrecked German Tiger tanks in the rubble. On June 30, 1944, two weeks after Wittmann’s astounding feat of gunnery, his Tiger I tank lay disabled and abandoned in Villers-Bocage, the victim of an Allied bombing raid. Wittmann himself was to meet his end on 8 August 1944. (see Operation Totalize below).

Plans were made to resume the offensive around Villers-Bocage once the 7th Armoured Division had been reinforced but these came to nothing when a storm in the English Channel on 19 June delayed the landing of supplies, additional tanks and troops. The American artificial Mulberry Harbour at OMAHA Beach was totally wrecked and the British one at Arromanches (GOLD) was badly damaged.

Above: Sherman tanks pass a crash-landed Spitfire on 17 June 1944, as they move up for an attack on Tilly-sur-Seulles, following the Allies` failure to retain control of the town during Operation Perch (7 - 14 June 1944). Tilly was was finally liberated on the 19th. The basic Sherman was well-suited to offensive armoured warfare but compared with the latest German models it was under-gunned and often needed superior numbers to outmatch the opposition. Several attempts were made to mount a heavier gun on the Sherman hull, the most successful result being the Firefly which carried the highly effective British 17-pounder. A Firefly is pictured above, screened by one of the numerous Normandy hedgerows while its crew takes observations.

Knocked-out German Panther tanks on the outskirts of Lingevres, 20 June 1944.

Operation Epsom (26–30 June 1944)

Operation 'Epsom', sometimes referred to as the First Battle of the Odon, which began on 26 June 1944, was the code-name given to Montgomery`s third attempt to outflank Caen and force a German withdrawal from the city. Once again, the patchwork landscape of corn fields, sunken lanes, streams, and dense hedgerows slowed the advance. The Germans, defending in depth as usual, used the network of ancient fortified hamlets and villages to bolster their positions.

There was no breakthrough, and British losses were heavy. The above photo, from the Imperial War Museum, shows men of 12 Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers preparing to advance through the mist early on the first day of the offensive.

The entire VIII Corps was committed to attack on a four-mile stretch between Carpiquet and Rauray, towards the leafy banks of the River Odon. Three of the finest divisions in the British Army were to be at the forefront, all under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir Richard O`Connor, who had an excellent reputation after his successes in North Africa, although he had been captured and spent two years languishing in an Italian prisoner-of-war camp.

The divisions selected for Epsom were 15th (Scottish), 11th Armoured and 43rd Wessex. Leading the assault, 15th (Scottish) Division alone were to lose 2,331 killed, wounded or missing. Above: Infantry of 15th (Scottish) advance through waist-high corn, supported by Churchill tanks of 7th Royal Tank Regiment.

Right: Led by their piper, men of the 7th Seaforth Highlanders, 15th (Scottish) Division make their way to their unit`s start point for Operation Epsom on 26 June 1944.

On 28 June 1944, men of the 8th Royal Scots move forward to reinforce the front, passing a Humber scout car of 31st Tank Brigade.

Despite dwindling troop numbers and problems with supply, the British had amassed more than 600 tanks and 60,000 men. Aircraft and the big guns of battleships patrolling off the Normandy coast would provide additional firepower. Things went well initially with penetrations all along the line but the Germans were waiting. The advance slowed as tanks burned and Allied casualties rapidly mounted.

Right: Men of 15th (Scottish) Division await the signal to advance on the opening day of the operation. Monday 26 June 1944.

The British were not as well versed in infiltration tactics as the Germans. Instead, they relied on traditional infantry attacks reminiscent of the Great War, moving en masse behind a rolling artillery barrage to suppress enemy positions.

Failure to keep up with, or 'lean into', the barrage meant that troops were exposed to the full weight of enemy fire.

British artillery was vital for suppressing movement and breaking up German counterattacks, but less effective against troops in heavily fortified positions. Air power was more successful at interdicting German supply convoys and the movement of reinforcements, rather than destroying tanks in camouflaged, hull-down positions. On many occasions British tanks failed to achieve their objectives, thanks to the difficult terrain and weaknesses in armour and firepower, which placed a further burden on the infantry.

Right: A Royal Artillery 5.5-inch medium gun firing at night. Medium artillery regiments (each containing 16 guns) were corps level assets, and were normally used to supplement the infantry divisions' own field regiments of 25-pounders. Their heavier shells were more effective against dug-in enemy positions.

T. L. Plewman of Dublin and Bdr O. Seman of London, of 53 Heavy Regiment, Royal Artillery, at the plotting table in their dugout somewhere in Normandy. (Date and exact location not recorded).

Above: A Cromwell command tank, named 'Taureg II', of 11th Armoured Division HQ advances, followed by a Centaur OP tank with dummy gun and two Shermans. The image alongside shows a Bren Gun-Carrier crew awaiting Zero Hour. The photos below show a direct hit on a British ammunition carrier during the advance resulting in a massive explosion, and men of 12 Platoon, 'B' Company, 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers taking cover in St Manvieu.

The Germans launched a counter-attack on the 27th but the British held out and two days later, Allied armour crossed the Odon and took control of the commanding heights of Hill 112. The 9th and 10 SS Panzer Divisions attempted to dislodge VIII Corps but failed, however, O`Conner realised that if another, more determined counter-attack took place, his exposed and exhausted troops would likely be cut off. As a result, he ordered 11th armour to retreat and recross the river. Monty, seeing his advance fail yet again, shut Epsom down, but insisted all was going to plan.

Left: Another view of 15th Division advancing across open fields supported by Churchills of 7th Royal Tank Regiment (31st Tank Brigade) on 28 June 1944.

Below: Wounded from 15th (Scottish) Division at a Regimental Aid Post (RAP) about to be loaded onto ambulances during Operation 'Epsom.` From here, men were transported back to a dressing station for further treatment, and then to a casualty clearing station and evacuation to hospital. The breakdown for the division was 300 killed, and over 2,000 wounded or missing.

Above: British Shermans of the 1st Nottinghamshire Yeomanry (Sherwood Rangers), 8th Armoured Brigade, advance past a knocked-out Tiger tank at Rauray, near Tilly-sur-Seulles, during Operation 'Epsom'. This photograph was also taken on 28 June 1944. In addition to the 15th (Scottish) Division sustaining 2,331 casualties, the 11th Armoured and 43rd Division lost a further 1,256. All seven infantry divisions that fought in Normandy had lost three-quarters of their initial strength by the end of August, the rifle companies faring the worst. Although they made up less than 20% of the Allied strength, they sustained 70% of the casualties and as in the First World War, junior infantry officers had a mere 1-in-10 chance of surviving unscathed.

Allied troops inspect a disabled Panzerkampfwagen IV in the Caen sector.

Men of the 15th (Scottish) Division in action during Epsom: The Churchill tank belongs to 7th Royal Tank Regiment (31st Tank Brigade). The other shot shows infantry of 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers passing through the village of St Mauvieu-Norrey. Note the long-shafted pick axes being carried, no doubt used for digging foxholes.

Cherbourg falls (29 June 1944)

While the British and Canadians were `slogging it out` with the Germans around Caen, the US First Army advanced on Cherbourg and captured the heavily fortified city and its vital deep water port on 29 June 1944. They immediately discovered that getting the port operational again would be a mammoth, difficult and dangerous task. Meanwhile, the vast bulk of Allied armour, troops and supplies had to be landed directly onto the invasion beaches, not helped by the fact that the American artificial Mulberry harbour at OMAHA, one of only two, had been totally destroyed in a storm 10 days previously.

Cherbourg had been a strategic stronghold for several centuries with an original castle which dates from the 5th century, built to protect the whole width of the Cotentin Peninsula. Its harbour, with a surface area of 1,500 hectares, is nowadays the second largest artificial harbour in the world after the 4,500 hectare Ras Laffan Harbour in Qatar.

Cherbourg`s central harbour wall, the first of three, was completed in 1853 and three forts, including the one above, were added in 1860. During WW2, the Germans of course occupied these structures and they became part of the extensive harbour defences. The easternmost Fort, Fort de l'Est, was destroyed in the battle for the city.

These images, from the US National Archives, show US troops fighting their way through Cherbourg shortly before its surrender.

Cherbourg`s defences had been principally structured to defend against a seaborne attack and the Germans were aware that the city was vulnerable from landward. Four German battle-groups had been formed from the remnants of the demoralised units and stragglers that had retreated ahead of the American advance but the bulk of these defenders were allocated to man the inner forts, rather than occupy the high ground along much of the city`s perimeter.

As the Americans worked their way up the Cotentin towards Cherbourg, the Germans carried out a large scale operation to render the port facilities useless. Numerous ships were scuttled in and around the harbour and its approaches. Dock-side cranes were blown off their mountings, toppling into the water, bridges were destroyed, booby traps left and numerous mines were sown.

On 22 June, once the outer defences were breached, the Americans found themselves engaged in two days of nerve-wracking street-to-street, house-to-house fighting. The enemy`s extensive network of strongpoints had to be neutralised one by one. Massive underground bunkers and tunnels shielded thousands of German personnel from the worst of the bombing and shelling. Wehrmacht troops, Luftwaffe ground staff and Kriegsmarine officers and ratings, many of whom were fulfilling roles in supply or admin, all crowded together in the noise and dust, no doubt aware that Hitler had insisted that Cherbourg must be held to the last man. The above image, taken just a day after Cherbourg was liberated, shows sleeping quarters within Fort du Roule. Judging by the bodies and state of the interior a firefight must have taken place within.

This view of Cherbourg, taken during the German occupation, shows a fishing quay with Fort du Roule on the heights, 117 meters above. One of the buildings along the waterfront was the HQ of the French National Police. Situated nearby was a camp used to house Russian female prisoners, forced into loading timber onto ships. The facility was surrounded by barbed wire and patrol by armed guards.

Victorious US troops look out over the devastated city from the top of Fort du Roule.

Allied warships bombarded fortifications just outside Cherbourg on 25 June. The same day, British No.30 Commando, also known as 30 Assault Unit, launched an attack on the Kriegsmarine Naval Intelligence HQ at Octeville, a suburb to the southwest of the city. The mission was a success and a further 20 officers and 500 men were captured. On June 26, the US 79th Division captured Fort du Roule, one of the main strongholds. Tank destroyers began blasting the entrance of the tunnel where the garrison commander, Lieutenant General Karl-Wilhelm von Schlieben, had his bunker. He surrendered along with 300 of his men.

The above photos from the US Army Signals Corps, show Germans leaving the ruins of Fort du Roule with their hands held high. The area fell after it was assaulted by demolition teams from 2nd Battalion, 314th Infantry Regiment of the 79th US Infantry Division. Von Schlieben`s capitulation finished any organised defence and the harbour fortifications and arsenal threw in the towel on June 29. Some troops, cut-off at remote locations held out until 1 July.

Major-General Joseph Lawton Hakes, Commander of US VII Corps, receives the official surrender of the city from Generalleutnant Karl Wilhelm von Schlieben and Konteradmiral Walter Hennecke on Monday 26 June 1944. Von Schlieben was transported to the UK on LST-312 and spent the rest of the war in Island Farm POW camp near Bridgend in South Wales. Officially classified as Camp 198, it held a number of Axis prisoners, mainly German, and was the scene of the largest escape attempt by German POWs in Britain during World War II. On 10 March 1945, 70 prisoners exited via a tunnel but all were eventually recaptured and were not officially punished. By this time Island Farm was known as Special Camp XI and the list of former inmates includes many senior SS officers who were awaiting trial for war crimes at Nuremberg.

These scenes show some of the damage in Cherbourg before the clean up began. The port was not brought into limited use until the middle of August, although the first ships were able to use the harbour a month after its capture.

This was all that remained of Cherbourg harbour railway station. Most of the roof is gone and goods wagons lie buried under the rubble.

The above photo taken earlier in the war shows an Italian Admiral accompanied by Vice-Admiral Friedrich Rieve of the Kriegsmarine making an inspection of the Cherbourg-Chantereyne naval airbase. Several military seaplanes can be seen anchored offshore in the bay. The crane is used to lift the aircraft onto the quayside and the wheeled bogies are used to manoeuvre them into the hangars for maintenance. The adjacent image, and the one below, show the wrecked hangars after the city fell to US forces. In the background (above) amongst the trees is Cherbourg Naval Hospital and although difficult to make out in this small shot, numerous flak emplacements are situated nearby.

Above: A crowd of curious French civilians and US troops look on as three Royal Navy divers are prepared for salvage operations at the Commercial Basin. The majority of divers working in Cherbourg harbour were British but the US Army Signals Corps image on the right shows Americans.

More shots of the damage. In the view below, US Army engineers attempt to repair a dock-side narrow gauge railway.

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Operation Windsor (4–5 July 1944)

This attack was undertaken by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division to take Carpiquet and the adjacent airfield from troops of the 12th SS-Panzer Division (Hitler-Jugend) of Panzergruppe West. The attack was originally intended to take place during the later stages of Operation Epsom, to protect the eastern flank of the main assault but was postponed for a week.

On 4 July, the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade and an attached battalion of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division launched the assault on Carpiquet, supported on the flanks by the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade. The image on the left is of machine gunners firing from cover on the opening day. The men are from the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa.

Carpiquet village was captured by mid-afternoon but German resistance in the south defeated two attacks on the airfield, despite significant Allied tank and air support. The following day the Canadians repulsed German counter-attacks and held the village, which served as a base for Operation Charnwood (see below), a Second Army attack on Caen, involving the rest of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on 8 July. The airfield was finally captured by the Canadians on the 9th.

Above: Exhausted Canadian soldiers make the most of a lull in the fighting and catch up on some long overdue sleep, while the images below show some of the Waffen SS troops captured by the Allies in Normandy. The Canadians and the fanatical teenagers of the SS Hitlerjugend had fought some of the fiercest actions of the campaign.

The youthful appearance of all these combatants is immediately apparent.

Below: A Ram Mark II on display at the Bovington Tank Museum. Vast numbers of transport vehicles were designed to British requirements and built in Canada throughout the war.

Tanks were also produced but in far smaller numbers and one of these types was the Ram. It was based on the American Medium M3 Lee and many components were supplied by the United States. The Montreal Locomotive Works undertook production of some 2,000 Rams but they never saw active service as gun tanks.

Rams were used by Canadian forces in Britain for training on the lead up to D-Day and beyond, but the regiments all fought in Shermans. The Sexton self-propelled gun based on the Ram chassis, however, was very successful. Other Rams also served in the European theatre as mobile Observation Posts with the Royal Artillery, gun tractors, munitions carriers and Wasp II flamethrowers, but the best known variant is the turret-less Kangaroo armoured personnel carrier. After the war many Rams were supplied to the Netherlands where Bovington`s example, pictured here, came from. The Dutch Army equipped this particular tank with a 75mm gun. The black & white image above the Kangaroo shows a 3-inch mortar crew of the Canadian Regina Rifle Regiment In action. Their universal carrier, better known as the Bren Gun Carrier, is parked up beside the treeline.

RAF personnel inspect a badly damaged Luftwaffe bomber in a hangar at Carpiquet Airfield after its capture while ground troops prepare to clean up.

Below: Often overlooked are the Bomb Disposal units whose personnel and in many cases, dogs, carried out vital and dangerous work often at the front lines working in conjunction with the assault troops. Pictured below, on the left, is Lance Corporal Lodge of 278 Field Company, Royal Engineers, holding a German hollow charge anti-tank magnetic mine. The adjacent image shows explosive-sniffer dogs and their handlers of No. 1 Dog Platoon, 277th Corps Field Park Company, Royal Engineers, with mines they located at Bayeux on 5 July 1944.

Operation Charnwood (8–9 July 1944) 

Epsom was subsequently re-branded by Montgomery as a successful plan to fix and wear down the Germans, even if it failed to gain ground. Enemy losses were indeed significant, mostly suffered during counterattacks against the bridgehead. German tanks and infantry on the offensive were no less vulnerable to anti-tank guns and artillery fire than their British counterparts. 'Epsom' drew in elements from six Panzer divisions, including formations newly-arrived from the east, and disrupted plans for a major German push against Bayeux.

Unable to outflank Caen, Montgomery was in the end forced to take it by direct assault from the north. Operation 'Charnwood' went in on 8 July, on a wider front this time to dissipate the effects of German mortar fire. It was preceded by a massive aerial bombardment of German positions north of the city, which did little other than kill civilians and reduce much of an already devastated Caen to rubble.

On the right, Sherman tanks of 33rd Armoured Brigade, supporting 3rd Infantry Division, move forward near Lebisey Wood to take up their start positions for `Charnwood` on 8 July 1944.

Lancasters were among the heavy bomber types used extensively throughout the Normandy Campaign and the wartime photo on the left shows a Lanc`s Radio Operator. More than 7,377 Lancasters, 430 of which were built in Canada under licence, were produced during the Second World War but most of those that survived were scrapped. I took the other shot at Prestwick in 2014, when the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum's example, KB726 (VR-A) a Mark.10, joined the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight's PA474 (KC-A) for a two-month long UK summer tour. The Avro Lancaster is one of WW2`s most-recognisable aircraft, best known for carrying out the Dambuster Raids in 1943, which saw 19 of these aircraft attack German dams with 'bouncing bombs' developed by Sir Barnes Wallis.

This aerial reconnaissance photograph, taken from 24,000 feet, concentrates on the St Jean district of Caen, which was destroyed by two heavy raids involving aircraft of No. 5 Group, Bomber Command, on the nights of 6/7 and 12/13 June 1944. The Bassin Saint-Pierre is at bottom left and the River Orne flows from upper right to middle left. The church of St Jean, damaged but still standing, is visible towards the middle of the lower-right quarter of the image. The subsequent large scale bombing of the city prior to the commencement of `Charnwood` less than a month later remains a controversial topic.

Sherman tanks of the 33rd Armoured Brigade advance towards Caen during the operation as casualties continue to mount.

More successful than the heavy bomber raids were the 16-inch guns of HMS Rodney (29), a Nelson-class battleship built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1920s, which broke up a German counterattack. As usual, the Allied infantry battalions took heavy losses during the three-day assault which liberated much of the city but resulted in 3,817 British and Canadian casualties. Some battalions suffered their heaviest losses of the campaign and such was the crisis that several existing formations had to be disbanded to supply replacements for other units.

Strategically, however, Monty was winning the battle. The Germans were incurring unsustainable losses. 'Epsom' and 'Charnwood' convinced the German High Command that there was no longer any realistic chance of driving the Allies back into the sea. With the Panzer units having to be used piecemeal to contain each British assault, a major armoured counter-offensive was out of the question. All the Germans could do now was to hang on and exact as heavy a toll as possible from their opponents as the British and Canadian forces inevitably gained ground.

Above: More and more enemy prisoners fall into the bag - Here, three Germans are told to empty their pockets prior to being searched immediately after surrender, while another seems delighted to have survived the fighting - spending the remainder of the war in a POW camp in Great Britain, Canada or the USA was unsurprisingly a welcome alternative to getting killed for many.

With the suburbs and city centre north of the Orne secure, three men of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada pose for a photo at the western entrance to Caen on the afternoon of the 9th of July. This signpost marked the edge of Caen on the main road from Bayeux. Below left: Churchill tank crews of 31st Tank Brigade with their extensively camouflaged mounts, 13 July 1944. On the right, a military policeman (MP) guides a Humber scout car across a bridge over the Odon, 16 July 1944.

Second Battle of the Odon (15 - 17 July 1944)

The Second Battle of the Odon is the name given to a series of operations fought by the British Army in the Odon river valley area, against Panzergruppe West, intended to draw German attention away from the upcoming Operation Goodwood which would be launched from the Orne bridgehead, east of Caen on July 18th.

No significant territorial gains were made but the action forced three German armoured divisions to remain in a defensive posture west of the city, thus preventing them from interfering in Goodwood when it got underway.

Left: Achilles tank destroyers near Aunay-sur-Odon. Achilles was a British variant of the American M10, armed with the highly-rated British Ordnance QF 17 pounder 76.2 mm anti-tank gun.

Saint-Lô captured (18 July 1944)

With the port of Cherbourg and the Cotentin Peninsula secured, the Americans could concentrate on a push towards Saint-Lô. Located around 35 km southeast of Carentan with Bayeux the same distance to the northeast, both Allies and Axis considered control of this city vital as it acted as the region`s main transport hub for road and rail.

Saint-Lô was the target of heavy bombers of the USAAF on 6 / 7 June 1944, with emphasis placed on destroying the railway station (above) to prevent the enemy bringing troops from Brittany to reinforce those defending the landing grounds.

Leaflets had been dropped to give the citizens advanced warning of the raids, but very few reached the city due to prevailing high winds. Over two hundred were killed at the local prison alone, including seventy-six imprisoned French nationals.

The following image shows GIs of the 35th Infantry Division moving up to their start position to the northwest of St. Lo.

The task of taking control of Saint-Lô was entrusted to the XIX Corps of the First United States Army under General Charles H. Corlett 31 (July 1889 - 13 October 1971), nicknamed `Cowboy Pete` (below). Before the city could be taken, however, it was essential that the surrounding heights be seized, the most important being Hill 192, located a few miles to the east. Although a perfect vantage point, its slopes were typical of the Normandy bocage and thus highly defensible. Attempting to dislodge the Germans was to prove a nightmare for the American troops. The US 2nd Division had incurred 1,200 casualties over three days when it had tried to take the hill in June, but on July 11, the division succeeded and dug-in around the summit.

In Normandy, despite the widespread use of the M9 version of the bazooka, a late 1943 upgrade with an improved rocket, reports of the weapon's effectiveness against enemy tanks decreased alarmingly, as the Americans encountered the latest German tanks with thicker plate and more efficient protection such as plate skirts and spaced armour. This development soon forced bazooka teams to exclusively target less well-protected areas of the vehicle, such as the tracks, drive sprockets, wheels, or rear engine compartment. The photo on the right hand side above offers a clear size comparison between the German Panzershrek and the US weapon.

Another German invention to protect their Panzers and half-tracks was Zimmerit, an anti-magnetic paste applied directly at the factory before the vehicles rolled off the production line. The compound covered most of the tanks` metal exterior, creating a thin but sufficient barrier so that magnetic mines and charges could not stick. Concerns that projectile impacts could ignite Zimmerit and turn the host vehicle into a fireball, although unfounded, led to the decision to discontinue the product in September 1944. Another issue was that it took 2 to 3 days to apply the paste and allow it to dry. With the Germans becoming increasingly desperate for new tanks and AFVs this delay was deemed unacceptable.

Above: Panzer `Ace` Michael Wittmann is seen briefing his men in the left-hand photo, with Zimmerit clearly visible on the Tiger in the background. The adjacent shot shows a similarly protected Panther of the 116th Panzer Division, also known as the `Windhund` (Greyhound) Division. This unit was in constant action following the D-Day Landings and in mid to late August 1944, along with the 2nd SS Panzer Division, it was responsible for holding open the neck of the Falaise Pocket to allow German troops to escape. Although it managed to evade entrapment, the 116th was reduced in strength to only 12 tanks and 600 soldiers.

The M-10 was correctly known as a `Gun Motor Carriage` and consisted of a 3-inch gun in a special turret, mounted on a Sherman hull. Its armour-piercing shells could penetrate 4 inches of the toughest armour at a range of 1,000 yards.

This immaculately preserved example can be found outside the superb Overlord Museum at OMAHA Beach. There are a number of other tanks and AFVs here and the layout is excellent with many authentic dioramas complimenting the traditional display case exhibits. This museum is not to be missed when visiting the area.

Several hundred M-10s were pressed into British service under Lend-Lease, and were assimilated as SPGs, seeing service in 1944 in Italy and France, mostly with Canadians and Polish units. Right: A US Army M10 Tank Destroyer engages enemy targets in St Lo.

About 1,100 British machines were later rearmed with the famed 17-pounder gun and classed as “Achilles” tank hunters.

By mid-1944, the Achilles was the second most common British and / or Commonwealth tank hunter after the Sherman Firefly. The Canadians also derived a single prototype of their Ram tank into the M10 configuration.

Like the British, the Americans soon discovered that their tank-infantry cooperation was woefully inadequate. They initially had no telephones mounted on their tanks to enable infantrymen to communicate with crews that were battened-down in a battle situation. Their only option, even under fire, was to climb up and bang on the turret hatch for attention.

Corlett had hoped to enter St Lo from the east and sent the 29th Infantry Division down a gently sloping ridge, covered by the GIs dug-in on Hill 192. The German II Parachute Corps, with the veteran III Parachute and 352nd Infantry Divisions, remained determined to fight despite weeks of intensive Allied bombing and long range artillery fire which had reduced St Lo to a desolate landscape of smoking rubble and skeletal buildings. Up to 95% of the city was destroyed.

The troops of the 29th Division were quickly enmeshed in the tangle of hedgerows and sunken lanes, losing cohesion and their sense of direction as they fought it out with their experienced foe. One American officer remarked that all a unit could do was ‘ advance slowly, take one hedgerow at a time and clean it up.’ The photo above left, of US troops resting along the road, was snapped on 17 July 1944 on Hill 122 overlooking St. Lo. These heights had initially been an objective of the 29th.

Corlett then turned to the US 35th Division and had them advance to capture Hill 122, barely a mile north of the city, which offered an unrivalled view of the prize. Meanwhile, on July 15, the 1st Battalion of the US 116th Infantry Regiment, led by Major Sidney Bingham, unwittingly advanced far ahead of the main body and reached the eastern edge of St Lo, but the Germans brought down such a terrific rain of artillery and mortar fire, that these men were cut-off. Continued shelling initially prevented any relief force from reaching them but a succession of reports from those Germans stationed around the perimeter caused the enemy commander to mistakenly believe that the Americans were making probes in strength and that 352nd Division was about to be surrounded.

An advance guard of the US 29th Division enters St Lo after the German surrender.

During the night of 17/18 July, undetected by the Americans, the majority of the German defenders withdrew from the city, having left some troops manning outposts, mainly along its northern edge. On the afternoon of the 18th, after US infantry and artillery had hammered the remaining rear guard into submission, a task force moved into St Lo. The city was now in the hands of the US Army but it had cost US 19th Corps almost 6,000 men. Over 350 French civilians had died.

Despite the surrounding carnage, residents appear from shelter to toast the town`s liberators.

Allied bombers accidentally dropping their ordnance on their own side was a serious problem for both US and British forces throughout the Normandy Campaign, often with catastrophic consequences. The left-hand shot below shows American troops assisting wounded comrades after such a raid. Another example of `friendly fire` was when, during Operation Totalize, American bombers tasked with targeting the German lines instead carpet-bombed the II Canadian Corps's artillery and assembling areas, badly disorganizing the offensive.

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Operation Goodwood (18–20 July 1944)
Operation Atlantic (18–21 July 1944)

Failure to breakout quickly from the bridgehead meant Montgomery needed to build up his own forces more quickly than German reinforcements could arrive. As the front congealed it was clear that the Allies` focus on Caen was drawing in the best German formations to its defence, thus facilitating the progress of American forces further west. But in so doing Monty was committing Second Army to a slogging match with the best of the German Army in Normandy, including nearly all the available Panzer divisions. With limited resources of manpower available, such a battle of attrition could not continue indefinitely.

On 18 July 1944, the same day as the Americans occupied St Lo, over in the Caen sector the British launched Operation Goodwood and the Canadians launched Operation Atlantic. The need to conserve his infantry led Monty to seize on a plan suggested by Second Army's commander, Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey, to exploit southwards from Caen with three British armoured divisions, secure the remainder of the city and capture ground to the south. As previously mentioned, Goodwood was preceded by preliminary attacks later called the Second Battle of the Odon.

Goodwood was something of a gamble, relying mainly on tanks rather than ground troops to make the assault. The attack was preceded by a massive aerial bombardment, after which the armoured regiments pushed deep into enemy territory.

The German perimeter defences were breached and inroads of up to 7 miles (11 km) were made in some places, but the tanks could not exploit these localised successes.

Deficiencies in infantry-armour integration were again apparent, as the tanks outran their support and suffered at the hands of German panzers and anti-tank teams. The lead regiments especially took heavy losses. 314 British tanks were knocked out, of which 140 were destroyed. Above: Cromwell tanks moving across 'York' bridge, a Bailey bridge over the Caen Canal and the Orne River, at the start of Goodwood. The Bailey Bridge was developed by the British during World War II and saw extensive use by British, Canadian and US military engineering units.

When Goodwood kicked-off during the early hours of 18 July, the British VIII Corps, spearheaded by three armoured divisions, had advanced to seize the German-held Bourguébus Ridge and the ground between Bretteville-sur-Laize and Vimont. The British I Corps protected the main thrust`s eastern flank and secured a succession of villages, many of which had been fortified by the Germans, while further west, the II Canadian Corps moved in to capture the remainder of Caen south of the Orne River, street- by-street.

Like the British attack, the Canadian effort got off to a promising start with gains made on the flanks around the Orne River near Saint-André-sur-Orne, but an attack by the 4th and 6th Canadian Infantry Brigades of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, against strongly defended German positions on Verrières Ridge to the south was a costly failure.

Operation Goodwood ended on 20 July, but despite initial optimism, the British armoured divisions had been prevented from reaching Bourguébus Ridge, only a reconnaissance force of armoured cars having penetrated beyond the feature.

Left: A Sherman flail tank moves up to cross the Orne river on 18 July 1944.

The operation may not have been the breakout so desperately wanted, but it kept the bulk of the German forces locked in that sector. So, when US forces launched Operation 'Cobra' on 25 July they faced only eleven weak divisions with limited fighting power. 'Cobra' broke the front open southwards from Saint-Lô, and American forces began a headlong advance westwards into Brittany and eastwards towards the Seine. The Germans had kept Allied forces bottled up for six weeks, but in so doing they had reduced themselves to remnants, devoid of reserves and unable to withstand the breakout when it came.

Tiger Is and King Tigers (Tiger II) lying up in the grounds of Château de Canteloup south-east of Caen a few days before 18 July 1944.

Above Right: Sherman tanks of the Staffordshire Yeomanry carrying infantry forward during Operation 'Goodwood'. As the Normandy campaign went on, infantry increasingly took to riding into the battle zone on the backs of the tanks, 'de-bussing' when within range of the enemy. The adjacent image shows bombs exploding on German positions around Cagny at the start of 'Goodwood'. A Lancaster, one of 927 RAF heavy bombers involved in the attack, can be seen in the top left of the photo. Over 6,800 tons of bombs were dropped by RAF and USAAF aircraft on five fortified villages east of Caen.

Above: The devastating power of the Allied bombing is well illustrated by this shot of a 56 ton Tiger tank upended by the force of a nearby detonation. This particular machine is from the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion but most of this battalions' Tigers escaped serious damage and by the end of the day had knocked out 40 British tanks. A Sexton self-propelled gun moving up towards Escoville during 'Goodwood' is pictured on the right.

The Goodwood offensive saw the first combat use of the Tiger II, also known as the King Tiger, these formidable tanks being attached to the 1st Company of the 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion. They were brought into action between Troarn and Demouville on the opening day. Two were lost in action, while the company commander's tank became irrecoverably trapped after falling into a bomb crater.

The above photo shows a German tanker spray painting camouflage on a Königstiger (the British also referred to it as the `Royal Tiger’), in Normandy before going into action. The machine below is an exhibit at the Tank Museum, Bovington, in Dorset, England. It was the second prototype of three built by Henschel and completed in January 1944 but it not see combat, remaining with Henschel where it was used for various trials. It was later captured by the British at the Henschel Works` testing area in Haustenbeck, Germany at the end of the War.

Just under 490 Tiger IIs were produced and although were usually used piecemeal and and being prone to mechanical and mobility issues based on its size and weight, the combination of devastating firepower, and thick sloped armour plate, made it a formidable adversary for Allied forces on the rare occasions it was encountered on the battlefield.

British Infantry and M10 tank destroyers advancing near Troarn, Normandy, 20th July 1944.

Above right: Canadian troops pass a broken down Tiger II near Vimoutiers, southeast of Caen. The heavy tank was being towed to safety by a Bergepanther recovery tank before being caught up by the Allied advance and abandoned. Lack of fuel and spares meant that numerous badly needed tanks and armoured vehicles had to be left behind by the Germans.

Above: Soldiers of 1st Welsh Guards in action near Cagny on the second day of the offensive and a knocked-out Universal carrier in the factory area of Caen, 19 July 1944. Below: Guardsmen of 3rd Irish Guards in a Loyd Carrier, wrapped up against the dust. The rain, when it came, helped to reduce the clouds thrown up when tanks and vehicles were on the move. The Allied troops were advised, where possible, to drive slowly to keep dust to a minimum as German observers would often call-in an artillery barrage on the coordinates.

The Loyd Carrier, an example of which is seen above in the Caen sector, was one of a number of small tracked vehicles used by the British and Commonwealth forces to transport troops and infantry support weapons. Over 25,000 were built compared with 113,000 Universal Carriers (a.k.a Bren Gun Carrier) which performed a similar role.

Below: A damaged Spitfire belonging to a Canadian squadron receives attention at a forward operating base before returning to action. The other shots show enemy POWs captured during the Goodwood offensive.

The Bomb Plot (20 July 1944)

On 20 July 1944, as Operations Goodwood and Atlantic wound down in Normandy, an attempt was made on Adolf Hitler`s life over 1,000 miles way, at his Wolf's Lair (Wolfsschanze) field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia (now part of Poland). Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators had hoped that with Hitler dead, political control of Germany could be wrested from the Nazi Party (including the SS), enabling the country`s armed forces to negotiate a separate peace with the Western Allies. The country could then concentrate on defending its eastern borders.

During 1943 and early 1944, there had been at least five occasions when one of the military conspirators intended to get close enough to Hitler and assassinate him in what would undoubtedly be a suicide mission, but all came to nothing. However, by this time the Gestapo, suspected that a coup was imminent and rightly suspected the officers of the General Staff, many of whom were involved to some degree. By the summer of 1944, Himmler`s men were closing in.

The remarkable photograph on the right is from the German Federal Archives. It was taken at Rastenburg on 15 July 1944 and shows Stauffenberg on the left and Field Marshall Wilhelm Keitel on right. Hitler is shaking hands with General Karl Bodenschatz, who was seriously wounded five days later by Stauffenberg's bomb.

Stauffenberg (below right) looked every inch the classical German warrior, tall, erect with a black patch over one eye socket and the stump of an arm in an empty sleeve, the result of being seriously wounded while fighting in North Africa. About 12:30 hrs just before the conference began, Stauffenberg made an excuse to use a washroom. Once inside he began to prime the first of two briefcase bombs but found it difficult due to his injuries and, as he was about to start on the second, a guard interrupted, informing Stauffenberg that he was required immediately as proceedings were about to start. He passed the second briefcase containing the non-active device to his adjutant, Lieutenant Werner von Haeften.

Stauffenberg, accompanied by von Haeften, entered the conference room and positioned the briefcase bomb under the table near Hitler. After a few minutes, Stauffenberg received a planned telephone call and left the room. Another German officer, Colonel Heinz Brandt, who was standing next to Hitler, may have moved the briefcase aside with his foot, pushing it behind the leg of the conference table. Hitler had bent over to study a particular corner of the large campaign map at the moment of detonation and this, along with Brandt`s unwitting actions, likely saved his life. Brandt perished in the blast, having lost one of his legs, two others died and everyone present was injured to some degree.

Stauffenberg and von Haeften, had already begun to leave the Wolfsschanze in order to return to Berlin when the bomb went off. Out of the 24 people present around the map table at the time of detonation, none of the four men killed were key Nazis.

Communication between the conference room and security checkpoints broke down completely in the confusion but even so, Stauffenberg and von Haeften were extremely fortunate in managing to bluff their way past the guards, claiming urgent business in Berlin, even as smoke from the shattered conference building was billowing and the survivors, uniforms in tatters, were staggering into the open air. The soldier on the left is holding up the trousers worn by Hitler at the time of the explosion.

In the immediate aftermath the Nazi leaders flocked to Hitler`s side swearing oaths of loyalty and vengeance, and the world`s press was presented with a physically undamaged Fuhrer surveying the blast damage, apart that is from a small piece of surgical tape on the back of his left hand.

By 13:00 hrs Stauffenberg and Haeften were airborne in a Heinkel He 111 bound for the German capital and touched down there three hours later, still under the impression that the mission had succeeded. Stauffenberg immediately telephoned some of his co-conspirators from the airport to tell them Hitler was dead but learned the true outcome of his efforts. As a result, Operation Valkyrie was called off as the coup now had absolutely no chance of success but some of those involved had already begun carrying out their tasks which would seal their fate.

At 16:40 Stauffenberg and Haeften arrived at their Berlin HQ within the Bendlerblock but they were soon traced and overpowered after a brief shoot-out, during which Stauffenberg was wounded in the shoulder. The image on the right shows SS troops loyal to Hitler preparing to begin a search of the building.

Stauffenberg, his aide von Haeften, and two other high ranking officers were executed in the early hours of 21 July by a makeshift firing squad in the Bendlerblock courtyard, which was lit by the headlights of a truck.

Over the following weeks, Himmler's Gestapo, driven by a furious Hitler, rounded up nearly everyone who had the remotest connection with conspiracy, and their families.

Many of the main characters involved, whether military men or civilians committed suicide while others were captured, tortured then executed. A few spent the remainder of the war in a concentration camp. It`s estimated that the Gestapo arrested more than 7,000 people in total, of whom almost 5,000 were killed.

Throughout the Normandy campaign, Hitler had repeatedly intervened in the decisions made by his commanders on the ground, forcing changes many of which greatly benefited the Allied cause. Following the failed attempt on his life, Hitler`s chronic mistrust and scorn for even his most trusted and loyal Generals became manic and their advice was increasingly swept aside.

Relations between the SS and the Wermacht, usually good at field level, deteriorated and misturst within the officer corps grew. The SS became increasingly convinced that anti-Hitler plotters, particularly in the army, were contributing directly to their misfortunes on the battlefield.

Operation Spring (25-27 July 1944)

The British capture of Caen did not end the bloody battles in the surrounding area. Across in western Normandy, the American difficulties in building a secure start-line for their breakout (Operation Cobra) meant that the British 2nd Army was forced to keep up the pressure on the Caen axis with another `push`. As with the Dieppe Raid two years previously, it fell to Canadian troops to do their best with insufficient forces.

Specifically, the intention of Operation Spring was to have II Canadian Corps capture Verrières Ridge, included in an elongated kidney-shaped belt of high ground which dominates the route south from Caen to Falaise. Two Canadian infantry divisions with additional support from the Canadian 2nd Armoured Brigade would make the attack. In this picture taken on the 25th of July, infantry of the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, 7th Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, move forward through a field near Ifs, south of Caen, at the start of Operation Spring.

On July 20, 1944, the II Canadian Corps under General Guy Simonds, had attempted a similar offensive (Operation Atlantic). Although initially successful, strong counter-attacks by Oberst-Gruppenführer Sepp Dietrich's SS Panzer Divisions caused the effort to stall, inflicting over 1,300 casualties on the Canadians.

Prior to 1929, Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (28 May 1892 - 21 April 1966) was Adolf Hitler's chauffeur and bodyguard but received rapid promotion after his participation in the extrajudicial executions of political opponents during the 1934 purge known as the `Night of the Long Knives`. Despite having no formal staff officer education, Dietrich was, along with Paul Hausser, the highest ranking officer in the Waffen-SS.

After the war Dietrich was imprisoned by the United States for war crimes and later by West Germany for his involvement in the 1934 purge.

By the last days of July 1944, the German army in Normandy had been reduced to such a condition that only a few fanatics of the SS still entertained hopes of avoiding defeat, far less achieving victory. The above photo is a still taken from `The German Newsreel`shot at a medal ceremony in Normandy on 11 July 1944. It shows Dietrich (centre) posing with other high-ranking Waffen SS officers. They are from left to right: Obersturmbannführer Wilhelm Mohnke (with head bandage), SS-Obersturmbannführer Max Wünsche, SS-Standartenführer Kurt "Panzermeyer" Meyer and SS-Sturmbannführer Karl-Heinz Prinz.

Lieutenant-General Guy Granville Simonds CC, CB, CBE, DSO, CD (Bn: Suffolk, England, 23 April 1903 - 15 May 1974) served with distinction throughout World War II, when in command of the 1st Canadian Infantry Division and II Canadian Corps. In 1951, at the age of just 48, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff, the most senior member of the Canadian Army, a post he held for four years.

The opening phase of Operation Spring saw the North Nova Scotia Highlanders launch a night attack upon Tilly-la-Campagne at 03:30 hrs on July 25. To assist their progress, rather than use flares, Simonds had developed a complex illumination system using spotlights reflected off of clouds, thus allowing the North Novas to see the enemy positions. It did of course, mean that the Germans could see their attackers just as well so any perceived advantage by using the artificial moonlight system was lost, however, the village was captured within the hour and reinforcements moved in to assist with `mopping up`.

To the west, The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry, although encountering stiff initial opposition, managed to secure Verrières village and fortified their positions as best they could.

Attempts were then made to capture some of the towns and villages along the southern slope of the ridge. The Calgary Highlanders, secured St. Martin and after two costly attacks, eventually took May-Sur-Orne, but by this time casualties were mounting alarmingly.

The Allies were unaware that there were two iron mines in the area. The first, at May-sur-Orne, had a tunnel running to a vertical shaft at Rocquancourt as well as air shafts in the vicinity of Fontenay-le-Marmion, so German troops, in complete safety, could shuttle between several locations as and when required.

The second mine, at St Martin-de-Fontenay, referred to by the defenders as `the factory`, had a main shaft which led to workings that extended several hundred metres to the southeast and northwest.

Then came the battle for the Verrières Ridge itself which saw 25 July 1944 ending as the bloodiest day for Canadian forces since Dieppe. Very little armour or artillery was in a position to assist and battle-hardened enemy troops in well-fortified positions cut the attackers to pieces.

Following two attempts by the Essex Scottish Regiment and South Saskatchewan Regiment, the Black Watch tried to gain ground but within minutes, communications had broken down, and the regiment lost all but 15 of its attacking soldiers. Over the next few days German forces, mainly of the 9th and 12th SS Panzer divisions, held fast and continued to chip away at the Canadian gains. The Calgary Highlanders, Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada, and the Black Watch, eventually pulled out of May-sur-Orne and St. Martin, while the North Nova Scotia Regiment was forced to retreat from Tilly-la-Campagne. The Germans assaulted Verrières Village, but were beaten back. The Royal Hamilton Light Infantry (RHLI) fought `fanatically`, fending off dozens of counterattacks in a 48 hour period for a loss of over 200 casualties.

Although Operation Spring was an extremely costly enterprise and little ground was gained, the ongoing intense fighting in the Caen sector, meant that the German command was slow to appreciate the fundamental significance of the American attack (Operation Cobra) when it got underway in the west.

Operation Cobra (25–31 July 1944)

On Tuesday 25 July, seven weeks after the D-Day landings, a concentrated aerial bombardment from thousands of Allied aircraft paved the way for the US Army`s long-awaited breakout in the west, Operation Cobra. This push into Brittany became feasible now that the Cotentin peninsula was secure and Cherbourg had been captured. Once a corridor had been created, the First Army would then advance south via Avranches, rolling up the German flanks once free of the the bocage country that had proved such a nightmare for the Americans.

After a slow start the offensive gathered momentum and German resistance collapsed as scattered remnants of broken units fought to escape to the Seine. Even though the British and Canadian armies around Caen had failed to progress to the extent that Montgomery had anticipated, no enemy troops or armour in that sector could be spared to reinforce those crumbling in the west. The German response to Cobra was ineffectual and the entire Normandy front soon collapsed. Together with concurrent offensives by the British Second Army and the Canadian First Army, this major US operation was decisive in securing an Allied victory in the Normandy Campaign.

A US Army Greyhound scout car passing through Canisay, 9 km southwest of St Lo, on 27 July 1944.

German morale collapsed at a tremendous rate and many units surrendered en masse in the face of the American advance. Right: M4A1 Shermans pass a pair of destroyed Panzer IVs from the 2nd SS Panzer Division `Das Reich`.

Smaller bands of demoralised enemy stragglers roamed northwest France without leadership and, in many cases, weapons, but a tough core remained to contest the ground at whatever cost.

As the battle dragged on, more and more captured vehicles were pressed into service by the opposing sides. Here US scout cars and a Jeep provide the Germans with additional transport.

30 July 1944: US Army forces reach Avranches and liberate the town the following day. The German 7th Army attempts a counterattack (Operation Lüttich - see below) but the Americans manage to hold their ground. On August 1, US General George S. Patton and his 3rd Army make their way through Avranches bound for Loire and Brittany. Men of the US 9th Infantry Division, some smiling for the camera, are pictured below.

Below: A knocked-out Tiger tank at the roadside. Unlike the Allies, the Germans were unable to replace their mounting losses, whether in troops or armour.

Operation Bluecoat (30 July - 7 August 1944)

Yet another British offensive, Bluecoat saw VIII Corps and XXX Corps of the British Second Army attempt to secure the town of Vire and its important road junction, as well as the area around Mont Pinçon, at 362 metres (1,188 ft) the highest point of the department of Calvados. Operationally, this attack was made to exploit the US Army`s gains following Operation Cobra after the Americans successfully broke out on the western flank of the Allied lines.

To support the US advance, Montgomery launched Operation 'Bluecoat' on 30 July, a big push south-eastwards from Caumont in the west of the British sector. Sensing a turning point, his orders to Dempsey were to 'throw caution overboard… accept any casualties, and to step on the gas for Vire'. With infantry in short supply, 11th Armoured Division led the assault. 'Bluecoat' saw savage, costly fighting in the worst Normandy bocage terrain. But tank-infantry co-operation was continuing to improve, and now troops embarked as riders on the tanks themselves, ready to jump off and deal with enemy positions.

'Cobra' and 'Bluecoat' precipitated a collapse of the German position in Normandy, accelerated by Hitler's insane order for an armoured counter-offensive against the Americans at Mortain (see below).

The newly-activated Canadian First Army launched a series of attacks south from Caen towards Falaise. The first of these, Operation 'Totalize' on 7/8 August, saw further tactical innovations in order to achieve surprise and reduce losses from German anti-tank guns. It began with a unique night-time advance to infiltrate enemy territory, followed by a massive bombing raid on the remaining German defence lines.

The superiority of German armour was illustrated again when three Jagdpanther tank destroyers knocked out 11 Churchill tanks of 3rd Scots Guards on Hill 226. But isolated setbacks could not stop Second Army making good progress. By 7 August the Germans had been driven back to the River Orne, and the highest point in Normandy, Mont Pinçon, captured. Furious counterattacks by SS troops inflicted heavy casualties. Another Churchill-equipped regiment, 107th Royal Armoured Corps, lost 22 of its tanks while supporting 59th Staffordshire Division. As ever, British artillery support was pivotal in crushing the German attacks.

Operation Lüttich (German) (7 August - 13 August 1944)

Adolf Hitler, incensed by the Allied successes, ordered an offensive to eliminate the gains made by the First United States Army during Operation Cobra and so, on 7 August 1944, the Germans launched Operation Lüttich around the American positions near Mortain. Hitler`s flawed plan was for German forces to reach the coast in the region of Avranches near the westernmost base of the Cotentin peninsula and cut off the units of the Third US Army which had advanced into Brittany. (The Allies referred to Luttich as the Mortain counterattack).

Although the Germans took Mortain and made further gains against the defending U.S. VII Corps, they were soon halted and the Allies inflicted severe losses on the attacking troops, eventually destroying most of their tanks. Although fighting continued around the town for six days, the American forces, assisted by airstrikes and effective artillery barrages, had regained the initiative within 24 hours of Lüttich`s launch.

The above view shows US troops escorting German POWs to the rear, past a wrecked US M3A1 half-track, while below, an American 8-inch M1 gun towed by a M4 prime mover heads towards the front. At 32,584 m (35,635 yd), the M1 had the longest range of any US Army field artillery weapon in World War II. It was also used in small numbers by the British Army.

Although the Germans took Mortain and made further gains against the defending U.S. VII Corps, they were soon halted and the Allies inflicted severe losses on the attacking troops, eventually destroying most of the German panzers. Although fighting continued around the town for six days, the American forces, assisted by airstrikes and effective artillery barrages, had regained the initiative within 24 hours of Lüttich`s launch.

Above: Close to Mortain railway station, a GI examines the corpse of a German soldier lying beside an SdKfz 251 Ausf.D half-track. This vehicle bears the SS registration S926256 and was assigned to 1st SS-Panzer-Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. Behind is a NSU Kettenkrad HK-101 (Sd.Kfz. 2). Both vehicles were knocked out by US 57mm and 3-inch Anti-tank guns.

A US soldier surveys the scene in Mortain after the town was reoccupied by the Allies. An American Half-track and Jeep have been blasted off the road.

By mid-August the Germans were in full retreat, and Allied victory was now assured. As Second Army continued its push south-eastwards, Montgomery and the commander of US forces, General Omar Bradley, made plans to trap what was left of the German forces between Canadian First Army in the north and American forces pushing up from the south. After bitter fighting with German troops seeking to extricate themselves from the pocket, the 'Falaise Gap' was finally closed on 21 August between Trun and Chambois (see Operation Tractable below).

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Operation Totalize (8 - 9 August 1944)

Operation Totalize (also spelled Operation Totalise in recent British sources), which ran from 8 to 9 August 1944, was an offensive launched by the First Canadian Army with the intention being to break through the German defences south of Caen on the eastern flank of the Allied positions in Normandy, then exploit success by driving south, to capture the high ground north of the city of Falaise. The goal was to collapse the German front and cut-off the retreat of German forces fighting the Allied armies further west. The following image shows long lines of Sherman and Cromwell tanks of the 1st Polish Armoured Division at the starting point waiting for Zero Hour.

The Cromwell had been designed in early 1942 but it took alomst two years to rid the new tank of faults and by the time it saw action, it was in many respects outdated. The fitting of a 75mm main gun had improved firepower but it was only modestly armoured. It chief advantages were excellent mobility and speed. It was produced in eight marks during 1943-44, however, many, including the Mark IV, were originally ordered as Liberty-engined Centaurs but completed as Cromwells. In turn, remanufacturing earlier Cromwells produced the Cromwell Mark VII and the Mark VIII. The Tank Museum’s Cromwell pictured above is displayed in the markings of the Reconnaissance Regiment of the 1st Polish Armoured Division, North West Europe, 1944-45.

Cromwells were issued also issued to the reconnaissance regiments of other armoured divisions including the `Desert Rats` (7th Armoured Division) and in this role they performed superbly, heading the six-day dash across Europe which freed Antwerp and Brussels at speeds which prevented the Germans from establishing strong defence lines. Cromwells remained in service for some years after the war and a few served with British forces in Korea.

The Totalize offensive got underway in the early hours of 8 August 1944 with II Canadian Corps launching the attack using hundreds of tanks and mechanised infantry. They broke through the German front lines and captured vital positions deep in the German defences.

It was intended that two fresh, but comparatively inexperienced armoured divisions would continue the attack but some hesitancy by their commanders and persistent counterattacks by the Germans slowed progress. Having advanced 9 miles (14 km), the Allies were halted 7 miles (11 km) north of Falaise and forced to regroup.

On the right, Sherman tanks of "B" Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment (10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, 1st Polish Armoured Division) at the starting point south of Caen, awaiting movement orders at the beginning of the operation on 8 August. Note a steel rope on the barrel of the nearest Sherman Firefly used to attach camouflage netting to conceal the 17 pounder gun and make the tank appear as a regular Sherman tank with a less powerful 75 mm gun.

On 8 August 1944, Anglo-Canadian forces, under the cover of darkness, had seized the tactically important high ground near the town of Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil.

Here they paused, awaiting an aerial bombardment that would signal the next phase of the attack. Unaware of the reason the Allied forces had halted, Kurt Meyer, of the SS Hitlerjugend Division, ordered elements of his command to counterattack and recapture the heights.

Right: On 10 August 1944, Allied troops inspect a knocked out King Tiger in Plessi-Grimoult, a commune 16km south of Villers-Bocage.

Michael Wittmann led a group of seven Tiger tanks, from Heavy SS-Panzer Battalion 101, supported by additional panzers and infantry. His group of Tigers, crossing open terrain towards the high ground, was ambushed by tanks from `A` Squadron 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry, `A` Squadron Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment, and `B` Squadron 144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps.

During the ambush, anti-tank shells – fired from either the British or Canadian tanks – penetrated the upper hull of Wittmann's tank, igniting the ammunition stored inside. The resulting inferno engulfed the tank and blew off its turret. The occupants of the destroyed tank were buried in an unmarked grave. In 1983, the German war graves commission located the burial site and Wittmann and his crew were subsequently re-interred together at the La Cambe German War Cemetery near OMAHA Beach.

Operation Tractable (12–21 August 1944)
(Battle of the Falaise Gap)

Although the Canadians had been halted for the time being, the Americans were streaming south and eastwards, capturing Le Mans on 8 August. When the US 15th Corps began to swerve north, the Germans realised that if the Americans managed to link-up with the British and Canadians, the bulk of their forces in Normandy would be trapped. As Allied pressure gradually reduced the pocket, the Germans began to stream eastwards, but could only do so in relative safety during the hours of darkness due to the Allies` overwhelming command of the air. Roads quickly became congested leaving long lines of tanks, assorted vehicles, troops and horse-drawn supply carts moving at a crawl with nowhere to hide once the sky lightened.

Below: The SdKfz 234/3, also known as the Gerat 94, belonged to a family of AFVs that were the most technically advanced series of wheeled armoured vehicles produced during World War II. Unlike virtually every other German combat vehicle the 234 series were diesel powered, using an air-cooled Tatra engine. In terms of suspension and steering they were very advanced for their day and included a position for a rear facing driver. Originally designed for use in hot climates, this vehicle is notable for its air cooled diesel engine.

The model 234/3 was fitted with a short 75mm (7.5cm KwK) gun and was used in the close-support role usually along with conventional armoured cars. The weapon is mounted in an open barbette rather than an enclosed turret, and has limited traverse either side of the centre line. This example, on display within the Tank Museum, Bovington, is finished in the markings of 116th Panzer Division. This division was formed in France in March 1944 but was virtually destroyed in the Falaise pocket in July 1944, reconstituted in the Aachen area in September 1944, and then fought with the 5th Panzer Armee until US forces encircled it in April 1945 at the end of the war. The photo, above right, shows Polish Shermans during Operation Tractable waiting to advance.

Above: This convoy of German half tracks was targeted by Allied air power between Carrouges and Rânes in mid-August as it tried to escape the pocket. Two similar convoys in this area were stacked up and met an identical fate, resulting in the partial or complete destruction of entire groups.

Above: These low-level aerial reconnaissance photographs show just some of the wrecked German equipment that littered the Falaise Pocket area, much of it destroyed by Allied tactical airpower. Assorted transports including prime movers, Kubelwagens, Citroen cars, half tracks can be identified as well as a lone Panther tank (top right).

Above right: A squadron of Sherman tanks of the 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade (1st Polish Armoured Division) advances through open fields in support of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division during the Operation Tractable. On 13 August 1944, Patton's US 3rd Army approached Argentan and the neck of the pocket reduced even further with the Canadians now only 25 miles away.

Canadians advance to close the gap and (right) a 5.5 inch gun fires on German positions from Bretteville-Le-Rabet north of Falaise.

On 16 August 1944, after seven days of continuous and bitter fighting, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division reached Falaise. German forces, at increasing risk of encirclement, are unusually given permission by Hitler to withdraw to a more favourable position. Meanwhile the American 3rd Army reaches Chartres. Canadian troops with armour support advance cautiously through the streets of Falaise, encountering only light, scattered resistance in the town itself, although it was a different story in the surrounding villages and countryside.

Scenes from Falaise: A medic administers first-aid beside a wrecked German Stug in a still-smoking bomb crater, and below, a Canadian infantryman of the Cameron Highlanders on guard in the Place Saint Gervais uses the base of an ornate fountain as cover. A sign on the column of the fountain, only partially visible in this shot, points the way to a German Army Police HQ, but they, along with the rest of the defenders, are obviously long gone.

Below: St. Lambert-sur-Dives was in the small corridor of land connecting the Falaise Pocket with the rest of France and was the scene of fierce fighting as SS troops struggled to keep an exit route open. The images in the following slideshow were among those taken by Lt D. Grant of the 1st Canadian Army Film & Photographic Unit during the battle for the village. Shermans number 14 and 21 of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers are firing in support of the Mount-Royal Fusiliers. The Canadian infantrymen were making an assault upon the Girls` School (l'Ecole Supérieure de Jeunes Filles) located at the crossroads of rue des Prémontrés and rue Saint-Jean. The building had been occupied by around sixty SS panzergrenadiers of 12th SS Panzer Division (Hitlerjugend) who found themselves cut-off as the Allies fought street-to-street. Rather than surrender, the SS troops fought it out to the end.

David Vivian Currie, VC, CD (8 July 1912- 20 June 1986), then a major, was the only Canadian soldier to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the Normandy Campaign and his was the only VC ever awarded to a member of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps.

During the final stages of the Battle of the Falaise Pocket, Currie, then 32 years old, was in command of a modest mixed force of tanks, self-propelled guns, and infantry which had been ordered to cut-off one of the enemy`s main escape routes, namely that which ran through German-held St. Lambert-sur-Dives, approximately 30 km east of Falaise. The action centred on two river crossings - the stone bridge spanning the Dives and a nearby ford at Moissy. The South Alberta Regiment and Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders of Canada met stubborn resistance as the German commander knew he had to retain control at all costs. Despite mounting losses, Currie`s men cleared half the town but were forced to consolidate their position, and beat off a succession of determined counter-attacks over the following 36 hour period.

Inspired by Currie`s leadership, his small force destroyed 7 enemy tanks, a dozen 88mm guns, and 40 vehicles. Approximately 300 German soldiers were killed, 500 were wounded, and a further 2,100 became prisoners of war. As a result of Currie`s actions and those of the men fighting alongside him, the remnants of two German armies were denied a final chance of escape.

The remarkable scenes above show Currie, pistol in hand, moments after accepting the surrender of the German commander of St. Lambert.

Right: At the end of the battle, troops of the 1st Polish Armoured Division and local residents in one of the Norman villages stare at the dead crew of a German Pak 38 anti-tank gun.

Above: A Caterpillar bulldozer of the Royal Canadian Engineers clears rubble around Saint Gervais Church, Falaise, and (right) a Chevrolet CMP truck pulls a 40mm Bofors AA gun through the town. A Canadian Military Policeman, wearing white gauntlets to make himself more visible, is on traffic control.

Above: In Chambois, US soldiers pose with a captured Nazi swastika flag in front of a destroyed Panther tank. It was here on the evening of 19 August 1944 that the advance guard of the US 90th Infantry Division finally met 10th Dragoons of the Polish 1st Armoured Division. The town was the last stronghold of the Germans in the Falaise pocket which was by this time approximately 6 miles deep and 7 miles wide. Contained within the ever shrinking perimeter were two German army headquarters, four corps headquarters and the remnants of 10 divisions, plus all manner of splinter groups, stragglers and support units. For two days the Poles and Americans fought off continuous assaults while thousands more enemy troops retreated towards the River Seine.

By midnight on August 20th, enemy traffic moving eastwards out of the pocket had ceased. Only small groups or individual soldiers managed to slip to safety and by noon on the 21st, all escape routes had been blocked. It`s estimated that somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 men made it out to fight another day, but tanks, artillery, vehicles, heavy weapons and other equipment, all vital to establish a viable defence line elsewhere, lay destroyed or abandoned. Around 50,000 enemy troops became POWs and a further 10,000 lay dead.

Although it was impossible for either side to determine exactly how many Germans escaped across the River Seine, what was clear to both was that there could not be even a pretence of mounting a robust defence along the length of this formidable natural barrier. The V Panzer and VII Armies were so weak, dispersed and close to exhaustion that all they could do was continue their retreat. During the night of 19 August, during a torrential downpour, an American Division crossed the Seine, some in rubber boats and rafts, while others walked across the top of an intact dam. Engineers built a bridge which was ready to take traffic by morning. Although the Allies had secured this crossing, attempts to sweep down the west bank of the river proved extremely difficult. The Germans, aided by fog and rain, once again used the heavily wooded terrain to their advantage, with the result that it took the US Armoured division allotted to the task 5 days of hard fighting to advance 20 miles. Once across the Seine, however, the static warfare of the hedgerows soon became just a bad memory.

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As the the Allies pushed further into the French interior, US, British and Canadian engineers continued to improve roads and build bridges to speed the advance of the seemingly never-ending columns of tanks, armoured vehicles and trucks heading for the front: The above view shows Engineers of the 10th and 20th Field Companies of the 1st Canadian Army constructing a large crossing at at Vaucelles near Bayeux, The structure was completed in just 8 days.

A Sherman tank crosses the newly-built Bailey bridge at Putanges-Pont-Écrepin 17km (10.5 miles) south of Falaise. 20 August 1944.

The Caen Memorial has a number of outstanding exhibits, including this full-scale replica of a Hawker Typhoon fighter bomber which is suspended above the ticket desk in the foyer. Although over 3,300 were built only one original Typhoon survives and that`s on display at the RAF Museum, Hendon. Originally intended to replace the Hawker Hurricane in the medium to high-altitude interceptor role, several design issues made it unsuitable, but the aircraft was found to perform well at low altitudes. As a result the Typhoon secured a new role as a low-altitude interceptor and other variants served as night-time intruder and long-range fighter, but it was as a ground-attack aircraft that the `Tiffy` excelled. From late 1942 onward the Typhoon was equipped with bombs and canon with the capability to deliver RP-3 ground attack rockets added the following year.

By June 1944, RAF Second Tactical Air Force (2TAF) had 18 operational squadrons of Typhoon IBs, while Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) had a further nine. 2TAF was one of three tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force during and after the Second World War. It comprised of squadrons and personnel from the RAF, the air forces of the British Commonwealth and exiles from German-occupied Europe.

In the run up to the landings, Typhoons carried out numerous interdiction raids against communications and transport targets deep in North Western Europe, then really proved their worth on D-Day and beyond, supporting the ground troops. RAF radio operators close to the front-line called out targets marked by artillery or mortar smoke shells and the aircraft stacked in `cab ranks` would swoop in, one at a time, until the target was destroyed.

These aircraft were understandably feared by the Germans, especially during the Normandy Campaign, but analysis after the battle showed that the rockets were not as effective against some of the Wehrmacht's heavier panzers, as first thought. Unlike the bombs, the projectiles had to hit the less thinly armoured engine compartment or strike the tracks to have any hope of a knock-out.

For instance, during Operation Goodwood (18 to 21 July), the 2nd Tactical Air Force claimed 257 tanks destroyed, 222 of which were claimed by Typhoon pilots using rockets. Once the area was secured, research revealed that only ten out of the 456 knocked-out German AFVs found in the area were attributable to Typhoons using rocket projectiles.

Even so, the effect of the Typhoons` presence on German morale was devastating. Unarmoured support vehicles, including fuel and ammo trucks, and horse-drawn supply carts were easy prey. On 10 July at Mortain, flying in support of the US 30th Infantry Division, Typhoons made almost 300 sorties, firing 2,088 rockets and dropping 80 tons of bombs. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, specifically credited the Typhoons saying that the enemy attack was effectively brought to a halt by their straffing, and a threat was turned into a great victory.

By the time the Falaise Pocket closed, there were scenes of unspeakable carnage. Buildings still burned and many roads were impassable due to masses of destroyed vehicles and equipment piled up in rows or wrecked in adjacent fields as columns attempted to scatter. Wounded soldiers still lay bleeding and stunned alongside putrefying corpses. Numerous dead horses and mules added to the stench.

SHAEF Commander Gen. Eisenhower walks past an overturned Tiger II near Chambois in the Falaise Pocket.

The clear up begins: This shot was taken 5 days after the Allies closed the neck of the `Pocket` on 21 August.

These images of the Nonant-le-Pin Prisoner of War camp are from the US National Archives. Tens of thousands of enemy soldiers were held in makeshift camps like this one until they could be checked and sent to the coast pending transport to established POW facilities in the UK.

The camp at Nonant-le-Pin, situated to the east of Argentan on the southern line of the Falaise ‘Pocket’, was built on one of the many horse racing tracks around the village. It`s estimated that around 10,000 enemy soldiers were incarcerated here when these photos were taken, not all of whom were German nationals. Some were Soviet conscripts, captured by the Germanson the Eastern Front who subsequently volunteered to join the Wehrmacht. Others had been pressed into service from Poland, Lithuania, Italy and the Ukraine.

Below: The Allied push wasn`t just directed inland. Every coastal city, port and harbour had to be captured too. Here British Troops cautiously work their way through the ruins of Demeuville. The coastal town, which lies roughly midway between Ouistreham and Le Havre to the east, was liberated by 1st Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles, 6th Airlanding Brigade, 6th Airborne Division, on 22 August 1944.

Paris Liberated ( 25 August 1944)

Eisenhower was aware that Adolf Hitler had ordered the German military to obliterate Paris in the event of an Allied attack so was keen to avoid a drawn-out battle of attrition. The city was deemed to have too great a value, culturally and historically, to risk its destruction. However, on 19 August, seeing that the Germans were in full flight with the Allies close behind, the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) staged an uprising. The first skirmishes began and by the next day, as the resistance mobilsed, barricades began to spring up and larger, well-armed groups laid siege to barracks and other buildings and facilities under enemy control. By 22 August, the fighting had reached its peak with some German units attempting a break out. Tanks roamed the streets, blasting at barricades.

Parisians line the Champs Élysées as French 2e DB armour rolls down the avenue from the Arc de Triomphe toward Place de la Concorde, 26 August 1944.

On August 24th, delayed by combat and poor roads, General Leclerc, commander of the 2nd Free French Armoured Division, disobeyed orders and had a vanguard equipped with Sherman tanks, halftracks and trucks enter the city. This force, commanded by French Captain Raymond Dronne, reached the centre by late evening and engaged German troops that were holding out at various locations. The remainder of 2nd Armoured Division and the US 4th Infantry Division entered the city the next day.

Despite repeated orders from Adolf Hitler to destroy the French capital, General Dietrich von Choltitz (right) (9 November 1894 - 4 November 1966), commander of the German garrison and Military Governor of Paris, made no attempt to have the city systemically razed to the ground. He later described himself as the `Saviour of Paris` but he was no doubt aware that with the Allies on his doorstep the military situation was hopeless, and why risk a potential war crimes trial.

At 3:30 p.m. on August 25, Choltitz surrendered at the Hôtel Meurice, which had become the newly established headquarters of General Leclerc. Choltitz was held for the remainder of the war at Trent Park, in North London, with other senior German officers. He later transferred to Camp Clinton in Mississippi, USA, but no specific charges were ever filed against him and he was released from captivity in 1947.

The day after Choltitz surrendered Brigadier-General Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French forces, marched down the Champs Elysees to a thunderous reception at the head of a contingent of Allied troops. Casualties sustained by 2nd Armoured during the fighting were 71 killed and 225 wounded. Material losses included 35 tanks, six self-propelled guns, and 111 vehicles. Somewhere between 800 and 1,000 Resistance fighters were killed during the Battle for Paris, with another 1,500 wounded.

Thousands more Allied troops passed down the Champs-Elysees in the days, weeks and months following the city`s liberation. These are US soldiers of Pennsylvania’s 28th Infantry Division marching through the capital on the second major Victory Parade which took place on August 29th.

The Bayeux Memorial & Bayeux War Cemetery

The Bayeux Memorial (above) opposite the Bayeux War Cemetery bears the names of more than 1,800 men of the Commonwealth land forces who died in the early stages of the Normandy Campaign and have no known grave. They died during the D-Day Landings, during the intense fighting in Normandy itself, and during the advance to the River Seine in August 1944. The memorial was designed by P.D. Hepworth and unveiled by The Duke of Gloucester on 5 June 1955.

Bayeux War Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth cemetery of the Second World War in France and contains burials brought in from the surrounding districts and from hospitals that were located nearby. The CWGC Cemetery was completed in 1952 and contains 4,144 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 338 of them unidentified. There are also over 500 war graves of other nationalities, the majority German.

Please bear in mind that all images on this website are Copyright. They are not free to use and have been embedded with a digital watermark. Any historic photographs from the Imperial War Museum and other organisations` collections including the US, Canadian and German National Archives, have been used courtesy of a `Share & Reuse` policy and are also subject to copyright restrictions, or are in the public domain.

These shots of a dump near UTAH Beach containing wrecked tanks and other debris was taken in June 1945.

By late September 1944, the Wehrmacht was in full retreat from France but the Allied momentum had stalled. The gamble at Arnhem had failed and, as the year dragged on and 1945 loomed, the Germans chose their moment to launch a massive counterattack. In the depths of winter, at Christmastime, a massive force of Panzers and troops which the Allies had been unaware of, poured through the forests of the Belgian Ardennes in an attempt to capture the port city of Antwerp and split the British and American armies in two, thus creating another `Dunkirk`. It was a close run thing but the German advance met stubborn resistance and ran out of steam. With most of his tanks destroyed and thousands of his best soldiers dead, wounded or captured, Hitler had nothing to use when the Allies resumed their advance towards the heart of the Reich - and an even greater threat was approaching from the east.