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Caen was a road hub on the Orne river, the eastern edge of the Normandy landing objectives. It was of great strategic importance because who ever held Caen could move forces rapidly where needed. In British hands, the roads from Caen were a way out of the Normandy Beachhead toward Paris, a way to avoid the bocage country the Americans faced. To move inland, the British and Canadians faced the German defenses in and around Caen, including Verrières Ridge. The German defenses in and around Caen and the bocage were key factor in the German ability to hold the Allies in Normandy. The city of Caen and heavily defended ridges around the city were the greatest major obstacle in the path of the British and Canadian forces to break out of Normandy. A key factor in the battles for Caen was the German panzers which out-classed the American Shermans that the British were also using. Many of the Allied tankers were not aware when these battles began of how vulnerable they were to German fire. The Shermans had some advantages, speed and mobility as well as number -- demonstrated by George Patton's Third Army as the Americans swept through France behind German lines leading to the Falise Pocket.
Caen was a road hub on the Orne river, the eastern edge of the Normandy landing objectives. It was of great strategic importance because who ever held Caen could move forces rapidly where needed. In British hands, the roads from Caen were a way out of the Normandy Beachhead toward Paris, a way to avoid the bocage country. In German hands, the road were a way to attack into the Allied beachhead or as the battle developed to bottle up the Allies in Normandy. The city thus became the primary objective for the British and Canadians on the eastern edge of the Normandy lodgement.
Caen was the key objective for 3rd British Division, landing on Sword Beach, the eastern flank of the D-Day invasion. The Germans deployed substantial forces to hold Caen. The Allies were unable to capture the strategically important city on D-Day. Montgomery with the 3rd British Infantry Division from Sword Beach was tasked with taking Cane on Day 1, but fell short. They ran into the teeth of armored counter-attacks from 12th SS Hitler Youth Panzer Division equipped with heavy panzers. Without armor support, the British were driven back from Caen. [Trew] Te the 21st Panzer Division attacked between Sword and Juno and approached the Channel, but a single Panzer division could not overwhelm the Allied force with air cover and naval artillery support. It was stopped by the British 3rd Division and was ordered back to defend Caen and Bayeux. [Ford and Zaloga] With Caen still in German hands, General Bernard Montgomery, chose to meet with the commanders of the U.S. First Army and British Second Army, Lieutenant Generals Omar Bradley and Miles Dempsey to work out a revised plan to take Caen which led to Operation Perch.
The German forces were powerful, but limited because OKW held so many Panzer divisions in the north to repulse an expected second more powerful invasion at the the Pas de Calais, 150 miles northeast of Normandy. This was the invaluable payoff for Operation Bodyguard, the Allied misinformation campaign. Caen thus became the linchpin of the German defense. Given gthe role of just one SS Panzer Division (the 12th Hitler Jugend Division) in holding Caen, the Gernans gad a good chance of defeatung the D-Day lsndings if the OPazers t the Pas de Calais had been thriwn uintio he fought for Normandy before the Allies had landed massive firces. Operation Bodyguard had two puroposes, to convince the German leadership that first, Normandy was not the site of the planned Cross-Channel invaion. his was Fortitude South. It was imoortnt to convince the Germans of two mastters. First that the Allied forces were larger thsn they were. Second that the D-Day buildup was concentrated in southeastern England -- opposite the Pas de Clais. This forced the Germans spread their dorces over several possible landing sites, but especially the Pas de Calais. Gen. George Patton made a lot of noise and attracted press asttention ss cvommanfer of the non-existent First United States Army Group (FUSAG). The Pas de Calais was the shortest and fastest way into the Reich. And Fiortutude South proved unbelieably successful because it confirmed what the German commanders already believed. Not only did this uceeded, bit for weeks after D-Day, the Germans kept the bulk of their panzer divisions at the Pas de Calais, convinced that the Normandy landings were not the major Allied effort. It has ton be on if th most successful act of military misdirection in all of military history, perhaps only surpassed by Soviet efforts to obscure Operation Uranus, the Soviet Staslingrasd offensive. Itwas one thing to fool the Germns sbout where the invasion would come, but to convince them that D-Day was not a major operation seems bto test human credulity.
The Bocage country was located west of Caen, in the areas beyond the Ameruican beaches. The British had some experince with hedgerows. There were hedgerows in Britain, but the hedgerows in Normandy were highest and strongest in all of Europe--built up for more than a millennium of intensive farming. At points they were higher than the Sherman tank turrets. And unlike the British, the Americans knew nothing about hedgerows. They would be a major obstacle to the American breakout. As detailed as the D-Day planning had been. No attention had been given to the hedgerows. Probably because they were beyond the experience of most Americans. The americans for seven weeks fought inland across 15 miles of 'le bocage'. It proved to be a deadly maze of hedgerows, fields, and woodlands that turned ther Norman countryside into a German fortress. [Piscani] The ground between Caen and the British invasion beaches was much more open than the ground the Americans had to face. Thus the Germans focused their forces on Caen and the eastern end of the Normandy lodgement. It is here that most of the Normandy tank battles took place. The weaker German forces to the western end of the allied beachhead successfully used the bocage to slow the American move inland. There the Germns used tasnks essentially as defensive strong points.
In the developing war of attrition that followed the Germans got few replacements, especially after the Soviets launched Operation Bagration (June 22). In contrast, the Americans were pouring men and equipment into the Normandy beachhead. Caen and the bocage were key factor in the German ability to hold the Allies in Normandy. M The city of Caen and heavily defended ridges behind the city were the greatest major obstacle in the path of the British and Canadian forces to break out of Normandy. The failure to take Caen on D-Day set up a costly 2-month battle of attrition for the city stretching into August. The 12th Waffen-SS Hitler Youth Division with its heavy panzers played a key role in the German defense of Caen. The British hammered Caen with naval artillery and aerial bombardment. A massive raid leveled much of the city (July 7). Even so the Germans continued to control part of the city until (July 19-21). The fight continued in the ridges beyond Caen which the Germans heavily fortified. A key factor in the battles for Caen was the German panzers which out-classed the American Shermans that the British were also using. Many of the Allied tankers were not aware when these battles began of how vulnerable they were to German fire. The Shermans had some advantages, speed and mobility as well as numbers as demonstrated by George Patton's Third Army which was sweeping through France beyond German lines leading to the Falise Pocket.
The failure to take Caen on D-Day set up a costly 2-month battle of attrition for the city stretching into August. Taking Caen was probably overly ambitious given the German strength before the Allies had landed adequate strength. The 12th Waffen-SS Hitler Youth Division with its heavy panzers played a key role in the German defense of Caen. The power of one SS Panzer Division show how critical the German decision to hold panzer divisions at the Pa de Calais rather than the fight fir Normandy was. The British hammered Caen with naval artillery and aerial bombardment. A massive raid leveled much of the city (July 7). Even so the Germans continued to control part of the city until (July 19-21). The fight continued in the ridges beyond Caen which the Germans heavily fortified. Large numbers of Allied tanks were lost in the battles to take Caen . A key factor was the German panzers which out-classed the American Shermans that the British were also using. Many of the Allied tankers were not aware when these battles began of how vulnerable they were to German fire. It was largely up to the tankers themselves to devise tactics suitable for their tanks. The problem for the Germans is that the Shermans could be replaced, while the German losses not being replaced. Allied air power and naval artillery meant that the Germans could not mass for a major armored attack. The power of the German tanks and anti-tank defenses (especially the German 88) and skill of the more experienced panzer commanders eviscerated British armored thrusts. The British came up with the Firefly to match the German tank fire power. Only with the American Cobra Breakout did the German position become untenable. The cost had been very high, but as result of the action, the British and Canadians held the major German forces in place while the Americans drove through the bocage country to the west. The Germans were steadily weakened by the attrition and received no meaningful replacements. Meanwhile the Americans amassed an immense force in the west--a massive coiled spring as Bradley prepared the breakout.
Falaise was the final battle in Normandy. This time it was no longer a battle for Normandy, but a struggle to destroy the two German field armies that had attempted to reduce and then bottle up the Allies in Normandy. It was the only major Allied encirclement effort until the end of the War. After Falause Eisenhower would pursue a broad front campaign. At Falaise, German soldiers paid the price for their Führer's intransigence as was so often the case on the Eastern Front. The American breakout and the aborted German Mortain offensive drive to the coast led directly to the battle for Falaise. Falaise is on the river Ante, a tributary of the river Dives. It is about 20 miles southeast of Caen. Thus after the British and Canadians took Caen, Falaise emerged as a perfect place for the British and American armies to meet and trap the remaining German forces in Normandy. Falaise was notable in French and British history as the birthplace of William I the Conqueror who invaded England and founded the Norman dynasty. After the failure of their Mortain offensive, the Germans attempted to extricate what was left of the battered forces in Normandy. This set up the battle of the "Falaise Pocket". The Americans moved to trap the Germans in a pocket forming around Falaise. American, Polish, British and Canadian troops had nearly completed the encirclement of the German 5th and 7th Panzer armies at Falaise--what has come to be known as Falaise Pocket. Somehow the Germans managed to open an escape gap to the east. While the ground troops tried to close off the Falasise Pocket, air strikes hammered away wreaked terrible carrnage on the Germans in the pocket. As many as 100,000 Germans made it out. The Allies encircled and destroyed two German armies, killing 10,000 Germans and taking 50,000 prisoners along with some 350 tanks and 2,500 other military vehicles. Generaloberst Hausser who had led the Mortain Counter Offensive stayed with his men in Falaise and was severely wounded again and finally evacuated. The Allies, however, failed to close the Falaise pocket in time to completely destroy the German forces. The Germans troops managed to slip through the Allied encirclement, but had to abandon the heavy weapons that had not been lost in the Mortain offensive. The Americans complained that Montgomery did not act decisively enough. The British insisted that they faced stiffer resistance. Unable to plug the German retreat on the ground, the Allies hammered away at Falaise by air. German resistance in Normandy had been broken and the drive to Paris could start. Two-thirds of the town was destroyed The town was finally taken by a combined force of Canadian and Polish troops. Falaise was an important Allied victory. It could have been a war winning victory. Had the 100,000 Germans not been able to escape the Allied encirclement, the Germans would have had much more difficulty making a stand at the West Wall and organizing the Bulge offensive. Falaise had to be largely rebuilt and restored after the war.
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Copp, T. "The Toll of Verrières Ridge". Legion Magazine. Ottawa: Canvet Publications (May/June 1999).
Jarymowycz, R. Tank Tactics; from Normandy to Lorraine (Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner, 2001).
Marshall, Charles F. The Rommel Murder: The Life and Death of the Desert Fox (Stackpole Marshall Books: 1994).
Overy, Richard. Why the Allies Won: Explaining Victory in World War II (Pimlico: 1996).
Piscani, Arve Robert. Bocagfe: The Battle for Normandy (2018).
Trew, Simon. Battle for Caen (Sutton Publisjing: 2005).
Van der Vat, D. (2003). D-Day: The Greatest Invasion, A People's History. (Toronto: Madison Press, 2003).
Zuehlke, M. (2001). The Canadian Military Atlas (London: Stoddart, 2001).
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