| Operation Charnwood | |||||||
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| Part of theBattle for Caen | |||||||
 British troops ofI Corps pick their way through the rubble of Caen, 9 July 1944 | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Germany | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 300–400 French civilian casualties[11] | |||||||
 | |||||||
Operation Charnwood was an Anglo-Canadian offensive that took place from 8 to 9 July 1944, during theBattle for Caen, part of the largerOperation Overlord (code-name for the Battle of Normandy) in theSecond World War. The operation was intended to capture the German-occupied city ofCaen (French pronunciation:[kɑ̃]), which was an important objective for theAllies during the opening stages of Overlord. It was also hoped that the attack would forestall the transfer of Germanarmoured units from the Anglo-Canadian sector to the American sector to the west, where an offensive was being prepared. The British and Canadians advanced on a broad front and by the evening of the second day had taken Caen up to theOrne andOdon rivers.
Preceded by a controversial bombing raid that destroyed much of the historic Old City of Caen, Operation Charnwood began at dawn on 8 July, with three infantry divisions attacking German positions north of Caen, behind acreeping barrage. Supported by three armoured brigades, the BritishI Corps made gradual progress against the12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend and the 16thLuftwaffe Field Division. By the end of the day the3rd Canadian Division and the British3rd Infantry Division and59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division had cleared the villages in their path and reached the outskirts of the city. Moving into Caen at dawn the following morning, the Allies encountered resistance from remnants of German units who were beginning a withdrawal across the Orne. Carpiquet airfield fell to the Canadians during the early morning and by 18:00, the British and Canadians had linked up along the north bank of the Orne. The remaining bridges were defended or impassable and with German reserves positioned to oppose their crossing, I Corps ended the operation.
Operation Charnwood was mutually costly and a tactical success for the Allies. The Germans retired from north of the Orne River but did not stop sending formations to the American front. The Germans established another defensive line along two ridges to the south of the city. The Allies maintained the initiative and beganOperation Jupiter the next day andOperation Goodwood andOperation Atlantic a week later, in which the rest of Caen was secured.
The Norman city ofCaen was one of theD-Day objectives for the British3rd Infantry Division which landed onSword Beach on 6 June 1944.[12] The capture of Caen, while "ambitious", was the most important D-Day objective assigned to the BritishI Corps (Lieutenant-GeneralSirJohn Crocker).
The quick capture of that key city [Caen] and the neighbourhood of Carpiquet was the most ambitious, the most difficult and the most important task of Lieutenant-General J. T. Crocker's I Corps.
The initial Overlord plan called for the BritishSecond Army to secure the city and then form a front line fromCaumont-l'Éventé to the south-east ofCaen, to acquire space for airfields and to protect the left flank of theUnited States First Army while it moved onCherbourg.[14] Possession of Caen and its environs would give the Second Army a suitable staging area for a push south to captureFalaise, which could then be used as the pivot for a swing left to advance onArgentan and then towards theTouques River.[15] The terrain between Caen andVimont was especially attractive to Allied planners, being open, dry and conducive to swift offensive operations. Since the Allies greatly outnumbered the Germans in tanks and mobile units, creating the conditions for a fluid, fast moving battle was to their advantage.[16]
The 3rd Infantry Division came ashore as planned but was hampered by congestion in its beachhead, diversions en route and the late arrival of much of its armoured support. The division was unable to assault Caen in force and its lead elements were brought to a halt short of the outskirts.[17][18] Later attacks failed as the German defenders were reinforced by the12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend.[18] On 7 June the British beganOperation Perch, apincer attack by I Corps andXXX Corps, to encircle Caen from the east and west flanks.[19] The I Corps attack south of theOrne River was halted by the21st Panzer Division and the XXX Corps attack to the west of Caen was contained nearTilly-sur-Seulles by thePanzer-Lehr Division.[20] To force the Panzer-Lehr Division to withdraw the British7th Armoured Division attacked the western flank of the division on 13 June, through a gap created by the1st US Infantry Division, to reach high ground nearVillers-Bocage.[21] In theBattle of Villers-Bocage, the 7th Armoured Division vanguard was ordered to retire and the Panzer-Lehr Division held its positions until XXX Corps captured Tilly-sur-Seulles on 19 June.[22][23]
The next British offensive, codenamedOperation Epsom, was launched byVIII Corps on 26 June, afterOperation Martlet (also known as Operation Dauntless) a preliminary attack on 25 June, to secure the right flank of VIII Corps.[24][25] VIII Corps advanced to the west of Caen on a 4-mile (6.4 km) front from Rauray toCarpiquet.[26] Once across the Odon and Orne rivers, VIII Corps was to make for high ground nearBretteville-sur-Laize and encircle Caen.[27] The Germans managed to contain the offensive by committing all their strength, including the9th SS-Panzer DivisionHohenstaufen and10th SS-Panzer DivisionFrundsberg of theII SS Panzer Corps, which had been sent from theEastern Front soon after the D-Day and had been intended for a counter-offensive against Bayeux.[28][29][30]
On 27 June, the8th Infantry Brigade (1stSuffolk Regiment, 2ndEast Yorkshire Regiment, 1stSouth Lancashire Regiment) of the 3rd Infantry Division, supported by theStaffordshire Yeomanry, of the27th Armoured Brigade, and specialist armour from the79th Armoured Division, began Operation Mitten. The objective was to seize the German-occupied Château la Londe and Château le Landel. The initial evening assault, led by the 1st Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment was repulsed but the following morning further attacks gained the objectives and destroyed several German tanks. Operation Mitten cost at least three British tanks and 268 men.[31][32][33] Had it succeeded quicker, the9th Brigade, supported by the9th Canadian Infantry Brigade, would have launched Operation Aberlour, to capture the villages of la Bijude,Épron, Galmache, St. Contest,Authie andCussy but this follow-up operation was cancelled by Crocker. The area of the Châteaux was later called the "bloodiest square mile in Normandy".[31][32]
GeneralfeldmarschallGerd von Rundstedt, supreme commander of the German forces in the west (OB West), directed on 1 July that Caen should be gradually abandoned and the bulk of the German armoured divisions be shifted to the west end of the beachhead against the US First Army but the city and its surroundings were considered byOberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, Armed Forces High Command) to be fundamental to the defence of Normandy.[34]OKW wanted an arc of defensible terrain from the English Channel to the western banks of the Orne to be held andAdolf Hitler sacked Rundstedt and replaced him withGeneralfeldmarschallGünther von Kluge.[35][36] Learning of this throughUltra, the Allied ground forces commander,GeneralBernard Montgomery, planned an offensive to capture Caen and to prevent a large redeployment of German forces from the Anglo-Canadian sector to the American front.[37]
On 4 July, the3rd Canadian Infantry Division conductedOperation Windsor, to seize Carpiquet and the adjacent airfield from the 12th SS-Panzer Division.[38] Carpiquet fell on 5 July, the airfield remained in German hands.[39]
Having failed to take Caen through successive flanking manoeuvres, Montgomery decided the next attack would be a frontal assault.[40] Although Caen's strategic importance had vastly diminished since D-Day,[40] he sought control ofBourguébus and the commanding high ground to the south.[41] On 5 July the orders for Operation Charnwood were issued; it was to be launched at 04:20, an hour and a half before dawn on 8 July.[2]
The objective of Charnwood was to clear Caen of its defenders up to the Orne river and if possible to secure bridgeheads in southern Caen.[42] To achieve the latter it was planned to send an armoured column through the city to rush the bridges;[43] it was hoped that I Corps could exploit the situation to sweep on through southern Caen towards the Verrières and Bourguébus ridges, paving the way for the British Second Army to advance towards Falaise.[44] Historian Roger Cirillo argued the operation was designed to only clear the city of German forces; due to it being cut by both a river and a canal any attempts to make rapid progress through and beyond, were "in all probability, impossible."[45]
Crocker's 115,000-strong I Corps[2][46] was assigned the task of penetrating to the Orne and Odon rivers.[2] The 3rd Infantry Division would attack on a one brigade front from the north-east, supported by the33rd Armoured Brigade; the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division would attack on a two brigade front from the north, supported by the 27th Armoured Brigade; and the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division would attack on a one brigade front from the northwest, supported by the2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade.[2] To maintain the maximum possible pressure on German forces in the sector,[47] VIII Corps was placed on 24 hours notice to launch further attacks to the west of Caen.[46]
In the light of lessons learned from the partial Canadian success during Operation Windsor, Charnwood was to be launched on a broad front to increase the pressure on the German defences and disperse their defensive fire.[7]SHAEF planners had advised, on 10 June, that the best way to break a stalemate was to use air power to support an attack; this method was to be used[48] for Charnwood as Montgomery enlisted the aid ofRAF Bomber Command.[39] Heavy bombers would attack Caen on the night preceding the assault, with 15% of the total bomb load being delayed action bombs set to explode when the ground attack was launched. A second wave of light bombers would follow the heavies and a third wave of American bombers would attack on the morning of the operation.[49]
Additional support would be provided by rocket firing Typhoon fighter-bombers,[50] the monitorHMS Roberts, the light cruisersHMS Belfast andHMS Emerald and the 16-inch guns of the battleshipRodney.[51] Five divisions would contribute 656 guns for bombarding German positions to the south.[52] In all, it was planned that 2,000 tons of bombs would be dropped on Caen before the infantry assault began.[34] Due to the proximity of the target area to the Allied lines and the resulting risk of friendly casualties, the aiming point for the bombers was shifted 6,000 yards (5,500 m) to the south—beyond most of the main German defences screening the city.[44] Following a long saturation bombardment, the three infantry divisions were to push through the fortified villages in their path and advance directly into Caen's northern suburbs.[53]
Caen's defence fell to two divisions; the 12th SS Panzer Division ofI SS Panzer Corps, and the 16thLuftwaffe Field Division ofLXXXVI Corps. An assault on the city was expected, and it was assumed that further attacks in the Odon valley towards the Orne river would quickly follow suit.[54] The 12th SS Panzer Division, commanded byKurt Meyer, consisted of threepanzergrenadier regiments including one—the 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment—borrowed from the1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (1st SS Panzer Division).[55][56] With its 61 surviving tanks[5] 12th SS Panzer was holding the northwest approaches to Caen, defending the city and Carpiquet airfield from the 3rd Canadian and 59th British Infantry Divisions.[57]
The main German defensive line, a 9-kilometre (5.6 mi) arc of villages from the northeast to the west, was held by the 25th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment[5] and elements of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment.[58] Troops from the 26th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment were holding the western flank,[5] concentrating their strength, which included mortar batteries and a few tanks, in the area around Carpiquet airfield.[55] The 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment was occupying a line from Franqueville to the western end ofÉterville;[56] the villages formed mutually-supporting strongpoints with dug-in tanks and assault guns, and the defensive line was 2–3 miles (3.2–4.8 km) in depth, supplemented by anti-tank ditches, weapons pits, minefields and other obstacles.[59] The rest of the division, with 35 tanks of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment, were held in reserve, with elements located north, west and south of the city.[60] Most of the division's artillery had been moved back across the Orne, and the divisional command centre had been relocated from theArdenne Abbey to Abbaye-aux-Dames in the centre of Caen.[5]
The 16th Luftwaffe Field Division was an inexperienced infantry division that had only recently arrived in Normandy to relieve the 21st Panzer Division of its defence of Caen and its positions east of the Caen canal.[2][61] The division was under-trained[2] and lacked sufficient anti-tank weapons; to remedy the latter it was reinforced with a tank battalion from 21st Panzer.[54] The Luftwaffe division was deployed on both sides of the Orne, with three battalions holding the villages to the immediate north of the city.[nb 5] The 1st SS Panzer Division was roughly 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Caen with a regiment of dual purpose88 mm guns from theIII Flak Corps.[51] The IISS Panzer Corps was to the west, with the 10th SS Panzer DivisionFrundsberg around 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of the city.[62]
On the night of 7 July 467Lancaster andHalifax aircraft ofRAF Bomber Command attacked Caen, dropping over 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) of bombs on the city.[nb 6] Although intended mainly to facilitate the Anglo-Canadian advance and to prevent German reinforcements from reaching the battle or retreating through Caen, a secondary consideration was the suppression of the German defences.[67][68] In this the bombing largely failed, the main German armour and infantry positions to the north of Caen remained intact.[44] Several tanks were hit and temporarily disabled but only two Panzer IV of the 12th SS Panzer Division were destroyed.[68] GeneralMiles Dempsey, in command of the British Second Army, was more concerned with the morale-boosting effect of the bombing on his troops, than any material losses it might inflict on the Germans.[43]
The pathfinders of625 Squadron, dropping the target markers for the bombers, were instructed not to allow the target zone to "drift back" towards the Allied lines as had been the tendency in earlier operations.[44] Together with the cautious shifting of the target zone during the planning stage, many of the markers were dropped too far forward, pushing the bombed zone well into Caen, further away from the German defences. By 22:00 on 7 July, the bombers had departed, leaving 80 per cent of the north of Caen destroyed.[69]Caen University was particularly hard hit, starting chemical fires that soon spread.[41] At 22:50, six squadrons ofde Havilland Mosquito bombers attacked individual targets and ten minutes later the 636 guns of the assaulting divisions opened fire, with the battleshipHMS Rodney and other ships adding their support.[52][66] The bombardment was intensified by the artillery of VIII Corps against the villages north of Caen, to eliminate German strong points before the infantry assault began.[47][52]
At 04:30 on 8 July, the artillery of I and VIII Corps shifted their fire deeper into the German defensive belt, along the axes of advance of the 3rd Canadian Division and the59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division.[64] As the infantry and armour moved off their start-lines, the barrage slowly crept forward, concentrating its fire on positions in front of the Anglo-Canadian troops;[70] four battalions and two armoured regiments advancing on a two brigade front.[70] At 07:00, 192B-26 Marauder medium bombers arrived over the battlefield but finding it obscured by cloud only 87 aircraft were able to drop their bombs, totalling 133 long tons (135 t). Some bombs landed on the 12th SS Headquarters at Abbaye-aux-Dames.[68]
Crocker launched the second phase of Operation Charnwood at 07:30, although neither division had yet reached its objectives.[70] The 26th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment was still in control of high ground around the Carpiquet airfield on the right flank of the advance. On the left, facing the relatively weak defences of the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division, the 3rd Infantry Division made good progress. They attacked Lébisey and rapidly pushed through the village, although fighting intensified as the division reachedHérouville.[71] Concerned about the state of the Luftwaffe division, GeneralHeinrich Eberbach, in command ofPanzer Group West ordered the 21st Panzer Division to redeploy north-east of Caen in support.[3] The manoeuvre was spotted and when 21st Panzer attempted to cross the Caen Canal, a naval bombardment was directed against them. Facing the possibility of heavy losses, the move was abandoned.[3] In the centre, the176th Brigade of the 59th Division was encountering much stiffer resistance from the 12th SS Panzer Regiment in Galmanche and la Bijude.[72] The197th Brigade bypassed Galmanche and by noon had reached St-Contest.[70]
Further to the west, the 9th Infantry Brigade of the 3rd Canadian Division had been involved in heavy fighting inBuron, which was defended by 200 men from the 12th SS. With support from the10th Armoured Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse), by noon Buron had been taken, although the Canadian assault companies suffered 60% casualties.[73] South of Buron, a counter-attack byPanzer IV andPanther tanks of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment was defeated by17pdr SP Achilles self-propelled anti-tank guns and17-pounder anti tank guns of the 245th Battery, 62nd Antitank Regiment. Thirteen German tanks were destroyed in one of the most successful antitank engagements of the campaign, for the loss of four tank destroyers and a further four damaged.[74] Gruchy was captured with relatively less difficulty, with the7th Canadian Infantry Brigade encountering only mortar and artillery fire in their drive to Authie. The capture of Authie facilitated the 59th Infantry Division assault on St-Contest and that village fell too, clearing the way for an advance on Caen.[73] In Phase 3 of the operation, the 7th Brigade pushed towards the former headquarters of the 12th SS Panzer Division at Ardenne Abbey, securing the position before midnight.[75]
The British 3rd Division brushed aside 16th Luftwaffe and approached the outskirts of Caen from the north-east. At 19:15, Meyer and Eberbach authorised the withdrawal of the 12th SS Panzer Division heavy weapons and the remnants of the Luftwaffe division across the Orne to the southern side of Caen.[75] In the early evening, the 12th SS fought a rearguard action against elements of the 59th and 3rd Canadian divisions, as it pulled back from positions no longer considered tenable.[76] Reports of this withdrawal came into the Anglo-Canadian command but patrols probing German positions, created a false perception that no withdrawal was taking place.[72]
British and Canadian patrols began to infiltrate the city at dawn on 9 July.[64] The airfield at Carpiquet was captured during the early morning, when the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division discovered that the 26th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment had withdrawn during the night.[39] With the German situation north of the river deteriorating, 21st Panzer Division battle groups and the remaining regiments of the 12th SS Panzer Division conducted a slow withdrawal across the Orne, making for the Verrières and Bourguébus Ridges.[77]
By noon the 3rd British Infantry Division had reached the north bank of the Orne, virtually destroying the elements of the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division, west of the Orne, in the process.[nb 7] A few hours later the British and Canadians met in the centre of the city and by 18:00 the northern half of Caen was firmly under Allied control; the objectives of I Corps had been achieved. A few bridges in the city were intact but these were either blocked by rubble or defended by German troops on the south bank and the 1st SS Panzer Division was placed to oppose any further advance.[9]
The 12th SS Panzer Division (whose infantry strength had been reduced to that of a battalion by the end of Charnwood)[71]—claimed in two days to have destroyed 103 British and Canadian tanks for the loss of 20.[78][71] On entering Caen the Anglo–Canadians found it in ruins, with four-fifths of the Old City reduced to rubble by the 7 July bombings.[39] The debris that choked the streets made it almost impossible for British armour to manoeuvre through the northern half of the city, preventing the Second Army from exploiting the I Corps victory.[79] Without the terrain flanking the south of the city, no further gains could be made within Caen[80][81] By mid-afternoon on 9 July, Operation Charnwood was over.[64]
The Germans were forced to withdraw south of the Orne but Allied forces were unable to push beyond the river.[43][82][83][84] German forces were dug-in on the south bank, blocking an advance to the south.[85] Montgomery called off an advance beyond the Orne as further attacks would be too costly for the gains made, which had inflicted much attrition on the defenders.[80][86][87][88][89] For French public opinion the operation was a coup; civilians now believed the liberation of France had begun.[90]
Antony Beevor called Operation Charnwood a partial success, because although much of Caen was taken, the British and Canadians failed to secure enough ground to expand the Allied build-up; the bulk of theFirst Canadian Army was still waiting in the United Kingdom for transfer to Normandy.[91]Carlo D'Este wrote that Charnwood did improve the Second Army's position but without the high ground to the south, Caen was useless, the capture of the city was too little too late and a hollow victory.[92]Chester Wilmot wrote that for Montgomery to maintain a threat to German-occupied Paris, Caen's southern suburbs with their factories and communications network would have been a more significant prize.[43]John Buckley and Terry Copp noted that by the time the city was captured, the Germans—weakened by the battles of late June and early July—had already established defensive positions on the high ground to the south of the Orne, which blocked the route to the Falaise plain[7][43][80]
Copp wrote that the British Second Army won an important operational victory during Charnwood and theSociety for Army Historical Research recorded that the attacks were a tactical and operational success.[93][94] The Supreme Allied Commander, GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower expressed concern that a break-out was unlikely. Montgomery differed; the tenacity of the German defence was no barometer of its longevity.[95] Field MarshalErwin Rommel mentioned to Lieutenant-ColonelCaesar von Hofacker that the front line in France could only be held for another three weeks. Hofacker was a member of the German resistance and linked with the Hitler assassination plot and according to Trew, Rommel's comment led to the plot timetable being decided.[90]
The cost of maintaining a static defence during June led to divisions in the German high command. On 1 July, the Panzer Group West commander,Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg, had been replaced by Heinrich Eberbach, following disagreements with Hitler over how the campaign should be conducted.[97] Gerd von Rundstedt soon followed; that evening, in a telephone conversation withGeneralfeldmarschallWilhelm Keitel, head of OKW, Rundstedt said "Make peace, you fools".[98] Taken to task over his endorsement of Schweppenburg's recommendation for a withdrawal, he replied "If you doubt what we're doing, get up here and take over this shambles yourself".[99] The following morning, informed that perhaps his health was "no longer up to the task", Rundstedt resigned and was succeeded as OB West by Günther von Kluge.[99] The costly battles in and around Caen and Saint-Lô convinced Eberbach and Kluge that their predecessors had been correct.[100] The Germans had suffered severely, leading Hitler to order Army Group B temporarily to abandon big counter-attacks and stay on the defensive until more reinforcements could arrive.[90]
Trew contends that the capture of northern Caen had a psychological impact on the French population, convincing them the Allies were there to stay and that the liberation of France could not be far off.[90] By the end of Charnwood, Allied casualties since 6 June had risen to 30,000 men, excluding those who had been evacuated due to sickness and from battle exhaustion.[101] Buckley believes Charnwood to have been a good idea but one that proved better in concept than in execution, influenced as it was by the mounting political pressure on 21st Army Group to produce results.[102] Copp wrote that the broad front attack had worked, preventing the Germans bringing to bear superior firepower on any one formation.[80]
Copp wrote that Charnwood should have produced a rapid breakthrough but concedes that the battle was one of the most difficult of the campaign.[103] Buckley singles out poor cooperation between armoured and infantry units as one of the reasons for such high Allied losses; he is critical of the habit of tanks standing off from German positions and firing the infantry onto the objective like artillery, instead of moving forward to give close support. From the German perspective, the Anglo–Canadian forces apparently lacked the desire or ability to press home their advantages, citing Kurt Meyer's opinion that during the battle the Allies allowed the opportunity to destroy the 12th SS Panzer Division to elude them. Buckley comments on the defensive power of the British and Canadian formations. The German practice of conducting immediate local counter-attacks to retake lost ground cost them many of their best troops, losses they could ill-afford. He illustrates this with a typical action during which the Germans lost 13 tanks to British self-propelled anti-tank guns.[7]
With Caen north of the River Orne in Allied hands, mine-clearance operations began, bulldozers were set to work to clear the streets and a convoy of trucks carrying supplies for the civilian population was brought in. On 10 July, theFrench flag was raised over the city and three days later a parade was held in the Place Saint-Martin during which a second flag was raised to the strains of Scottishbagpipers playingLa Marseillaise.[91]
Rommel and Eberbach consolidated defensive positions in and around southern Caen, the 1st SS Panzer Division, 9th SS Panzer Division and 12th SS Panzer Division turned the Bourguébus and Verrières Ridges into formidable barriers.[80][79] Having committed all of his armoured reserves, Rommel transferred the remainder of his infantry divisions—the 708th Infantry Division, 276th Infantry Division, 277th Infantry Division and272nd Infantry Division—to the Anglo–Canadian front.[44] On 8 July, he released the remnants of thePanzer Lehr Division and the2nd SS Panzer DivisionDas Reich to the American sector.[44] At the start of the campaign,Panzer-Lehr was one of the most powerful armoured formations in the German army, by this stage it had been reduced to a number of battle groups and was no longer operational as a division.[104][105] On 17 July, Rommel's staff car was strafed by British fighters, severely injuring the Field Marshal and confining him to hospital.[64] Two days later Rommel was replaced as Army Group B commander by Field Marshal Günther von Kluge.[106] Rommel never returned to Normandy; implicated in the20 July plot against Hitler, on 14 October he was forced to commit suicide.[107]
Caen's partial capture allowedGeneralOmar Bradley, commander of the First US Army, to accelerate his plans for a break-out.[64] Shortly after Charnwood theVII US Corps attacked German positions inSaint-Lô, which the 2nd SS Panzer Division had been ordered to "hold at all costs".[108][109][78][110] On 18 July, after eight days of fighting during which 95 per cent of the town was destroyed and VII Corps had more than 5,000 casualties, Saint-Lô was captured.[111][112]
The same day, the Second Army beganOperation Goodwood with1,100–1,300 tanks in the largest armoured battle in British military history.[108] VIII Corps (Lieutenant-GeneralRichard O'Connor) spearheaded the drive towards the Bourguébus Ridge with three armoured divisions, supported by I Corps. After a preliminary attack by 1,056 heavy bombers, elements of the11th Armoured Division,Guards Armoured Division and 7th Armoured Division assaulted the positions of LXXXVI Corps north of Bourguébus but despite early gains of around 12,000 yards (6.8 mi; 11 km), strong resistance prevented VIII Corps taking the ridge.[113][114] Simultaneously the newII Canadian Corps (Lieutenant GeneralGuy Simonds) launchedOperation Atlantic an offensive on Caen north of the Orne.[115] Te II Canadian Corps ran into fierce opposition; during the laterBattle of Verrières Ridge the Canadians sustained 2,800 casualties. Verrières Ridge would remain in German hands until 8 August.[116][117]
The British and Commonwealth system ofbattle honours recognises the battle by the award to 55 units of the honourCaen, for participation in the capture of Caen between 4–18 July 1944. Awarded from 1956 to 1959, the recognition was accompanied by honours for taking part in Operation Charnwood. For participating in the capture of Caen between 8–9 July three units were awarded the honourOrne, nine the honourThe Orne, and two the honourThe Orne (Buron).[118]
Hastings wrote that the bombing came to be seen by many as "one of the most futile air attacks of the war" and Beevor called the attack a "disaster".[41][119] Reynolds judged the results of the bombing as "pathetic" and D'Este wrote that the bombing hindered the Allied push into the city.[120] Air Commodore E. J. Kingston-McCloughry andSolly Zuckerman conducted a survey and concluded that no targets of military value had been attacked, nor were there any gun positions, tanks or German dead in the target zone. They interviewed men of the 3rd Infantry Division, who were reportedly bewildered as to why the bombers had been employed.[121] Norman Scarfe, the 3rd Division historian, wrote that in the wake of the air-raid the men
... for the first time for weeks breathed freely. The full support of the Air Force gave them full hearts ... and the men were encouraged.[122]
The Canadian Official Historian, C. P. Stacey wrote that several Canadian formations reported an increase in morale.[123] Wilmot wrote that the bombing was essential because it raised the morale of the Second Army and depressed that of the German defenders.[43] A 21st Army Group intelligence report, based on the interrogation of German prisoners recorded that the raid was "decisive" and had apparently destroyed the headquarters of the Luftwaffe infantry regiment based north of Caen and deprived the German troops north of the city of ammunition and rations the following morning.[123] Gray wrote that the bombing had an effect on the morale of both sides but that this was temporary.[124]Lionel Ellis, the British Official Historian,Simon Trew and Badsey all wrote that the raid was intended to cut off German reinforcements from the battlefield and hinder an attempt to withdraw south of the Orne river.[67][68] Stacey wrote that it was "obvious and desirable" that for maximum advantage, the Allied ground forces should have advanced on the heels of the attack.[123] Gray concluded that no-one "can[not] satisfactorily answer the question 'why'" the city was bombed.[125]
Analysis byOperational Research Section 2 (ORS2) concluded that the bombing of the first aiming point north-west of Caen was accurate, finding that the centre of the 90 per cent zone (the area where 90 per cent of the bombs fell) was 200–300 yards (180–270 m) east of the aiming point, with some spillage to the south and west. Examination of the area, after its capture, indicated some destruction of German equipment, including the wreckage of ten of the forty trucks believed to be in the area at the time of the raid. The 48 hours that elapsed between the bombing and the Allied occupation of the area, allowed the Germans time to recover from any shock and disorientation and to salvage some damaged equipment. Examination of the second aiming point, "Northern Caen", failed to reveal a 90 per cent zone but it was noted that the obstructive effect of bombing a suburb was significant and had caused substantial delays to vehicles of both sides by cratering and blocking roads. ORS2 concluded that the success of Charnwood owed little to the bombing and made recommendations including changing to instantly fused bombs, dropping larger numbers of smaller anti-personnel bombs and rapidly following-up a bombardment with ground forces to take advantage of its main effect, which was the temporary suppression of German will to resist. In Operation Goodwood,Operation Bluecoat,Operation Cobra,Operation Totalize andOperation Tractable the 21st Army Group exploited better the effect of preparatory attacks by strategic bombers by following-up the attacks immediately.[126]
The British initially announced that around 6,000 civilians had been killed during the air-raid and a Soviet war correspondent attached to the 21st Army Group, Lieutenant-Colonel Kraminov, put the figure as high as 22,000, a claim that was used by French communists in post-war anti-British propaganda.[119] It was later found that 300–400 civilians were killed in the raid.[11] Caen citizens were relieved and provided their liberators with a welcome that the troops found very moving; French accounts of the time claim that "All [of] Caen was in the streets to greet them". Although Ellis called the French welcome "pathetic", no Allied unit recorded any complaints about the reception they were given.[9][83][127] Stacey wrote that the populace were "particularly delighted to find their city freed in part by men from Canada".[127] Beevor wrote that most of the population were numb from the shock and quoted a British soldier who recalled that "most ... women were crying, grief-stricken and anguished".[91] As early as 12 June, the French Resistance had sent messengers to the British, informing them that refugees were gathering in the areas around theAbbaye-aux-Hommes and the Hôpital du Bon Sauveur and requested that these locations not to be bombed; British assurances were given and these locations were nearly untouched.[127] Gray wrote that after the war, the city population regarded itself as beingmartyred, which could be seen on the war memorial.[128]
On 10 July, the43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division attacked the positions of the 10th SS Panzer Division to the southwest of Caen onHill 112.[81] Preceded by a two-day bombardment that included support from naval vessels andTyphoon fighter-bombers, the assault was designed to threaten Caen from the west and push back the 10th SS Panzer Division, securing an avenue of attack.[64] The 43rd (Wessex) Division attacked at dawn on 10 July, supported by two armoured brigades.[80] By 08:00, British tanks and infantry were engaged with the 10th SS Panzer and "well up" the slopes of Hill 112. Eterville was taken around mid-morning; as the 4th Armoured Brigade and 43rd (Wessex) Division pressed their attack, the Panzer Group West commander, General Heinrich Eberbach, insisted that "Hill 112 is the pivotal point of the whole position West of Caen, and must therefore be held".[81][80]
The102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion and the 1st SS Panzer Division were committed to its defence.[80] The 4th Armoured Brigade reached the summit but in the evening were counter-attacked by remnants of the 1st SS Panzzer Division and the 12th SS Panzer Division.[129][130] The British offensive resumed the following day with the support of anti-tank regiments from the Second Army; these had severe losses in a counter-attack by the 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion.[131] Hill 112 was briefly taken by a battalion of theDuke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, only to be lost to further German counter-attacks in the late afternoon.[131] By the evening of 11 July, with both sides exhausted and having suffered severely the offensive had reached a stalemate.[80] The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division and its supporting armour had suffered two thousand casualties in the two days of fighting.[81]
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