Battle For Caen - Damage and Civilian Casualties

Damage and Civilian Casualties

Before the invasion, Caen had a population of 60,000. On 6 June, leaflets were dropped by Allied aircraft, urging the population to disperse into the countryside. Only a few hundred left. Later in the day, British heavy bombers attacked the city, aiming to slow the flow of German reinforcements. There was huge destruction. Eight hundred civilians lost their lives in the 48 hours following the invasion. Streets were blocked by rubble, and ambulances could not get through, so the injured were taken to an emergency hospital set up in the Bon Sauveur convent. The convent was itself damaged. Notable buildings such as the Palais des Ducs, the church of Saint-Étienne and the railway station were all destroyed or severely damaged. To escape the bombardment of the city, 15,000 people took refuge for more than a month in tunnels to the south of the city, created by medieval stone quarrying.

The Défense Passive organisation was based at Bon Sauveur. Civil defence and medical organisations worked well together to co-ordinate medical relief for the citizens of Caen. Its medical profession was highly praised. Six surgical teams were alerted on the morning of the invasion, and Police collected medical supplies from pharmacies and clinics and brought them to Bon Sauveur and subsidiary hospitals at the Lycée Malherbe and the Hospice des Petites Sœurs des Pauvres.

On 9 June a major landmark of the city, the bell tower of Saint Pierre, was destroyed by a shell fired by the battleship HMS Rodney. Many buildings burned, and molten lead dripped from roofs. The bombing continued, and the medical teams were exhausted. Over 3,000 people took refuge in Bon Sauveur and the Abbaye aux Hommes, with more in Saint Etienne church. Foraging parties were set out into the countryside for food, and old wells were re-opened. The 500 refugees at the convent of the Petites Sœurs des Pauvres were actually well supplied, but the conditions in the rest of the city were terrible. The Vichy government in Paris managed to get some supplies through to Caen under the auspices of Secours Nationale, 250 short tons (230 t) in total.

The Germans ordered all remaining civilians to leave on 6 July. By the time Caen was bombed again on the evening of 7 July, only 15,000 inhabitants remained. 467 Lancaster and Halifax bombers attacked the city in preparation for Operation Charnwood. Although their delayed-action bombs were aimed at the northern edge of Caen, massive damage was again inflicted on the city centre. At least two civilian shelters were destroyed by direct hits, and the university was destroyed. Three hundred-fifty people were killed in this raid and the fighting that raged through the city on 8 July, bringing the civilian death toll to 1,150 since D-Day.

The Germans withdrew from the city north of the Orne on 9 July, blowing the only remaining bridge. The southern part of the city was not liberated until 18 July, when the Canadian 3rd Division advanced through it as part of Operation Goodwood.

By the end of the battle, the civil population of Caen had fallen from 60,000 to 17,000. The destruction of the city caused much resentment.