Operation Goodwood - Main Attack - 18 July

18 July

"For forty-five minutes the procession of bombers came on unbroken, and when they'd gone, the thunder of the guns swelled up and filled the air, as the artillery carried on the bombardment"

Chester Wilmot, describing the opening of Operation Goodwood

Shortly before dawn on 18 July, the Highland infantry in the Orne bridgehead's southern sector quietly pulled back just over half a mile (about 1 km) from the front line. At 05:45, 1,056 Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster heavy bombers flying at 3,000 feet (910 m) dropped 4,800 tons of high explosive bombs around Colombelles and the steelworks, on the positions of the 21st Panzer Division, and on the town of Cagny reducing half of it to rubble. At 06:40 the British artillery opened fire and 20 minutes later the second wave of bombers arrived. From 10,000 feet (3,000 m)–13,000 feet (4,000 m), American B-26 Marauders released 563 tons of fragmentation bombs on the 16th Luftwaffe Division. Simultaneously, fighter-bombers attacked German strong points and gun positions. During the 45 minute bombardment the troops and tanks of the 11th Armoured Division moved out of their concentration areas towards the start line. H Hour was set for 07:45, so on schedule the artillery switched to a rolling barrage that would creep ahead of 11th Armoured's advance. As the division moved off, additional artillery regiments opened fire on Cuverville, Demouville, Giberville, Liberville, Cagny and Émiéville, and dropped harassing fire on targets as far south as Garcelles-Secqueville and Secqueville la Campagne. Fifteen minutes later the final bombing raid arrived; American heavy bombers dropped 1,340 tons of fragmentation bombs in the Troarn area and on the main German gun line on the Bourguébus Ridge. Only 25 bombers in the three waves were lost, all to German anti aircraft fire. Aerial support for the operation was then handed over to the 800 Royal Air Force fighter-bombers of No. 83 and No. 84 Groups.

"It was Hell and I am still astonished that I ever survived it. I was unconscious for a while after a bomb had exploded just front of my tank, almost burying me alive."

Freiherr von Rosen describing the bombing, which he survived by taking cover under his tank.

The bombing put both the 22nd Panzer Regiment and the III/503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion temporarily out of action, causing varying degrees of damage to their tanks. Some were overturned, some were destroyed outright, and 20 were later found abandoned in bomb craters. Most of the German front line positions had been neutralised with the survivors left "dazed and incoherent". However, dust and smoke had impaired the ability of the bomber crews to identify all their targets, while others that lay on the periphery of the bombing zones had remained untouched. Although Cagny and Émiéville suffered heavily, their defenders remained largely unscathed and were able to recover in time to meet the British advance—both places having clear lines of fire on the route the British were to take. Formations such as the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion rallied rapidly and got to work digging out their half-buried tanks to be ready for action that same morning. On the Bourguébus Ridge a number of guns were destroyed by the bombing, but most of the artillery pieces and anti-tank guns situated there remained intact.

By 08:05 Operation Goodwood's leading tank regiments—the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment of the 11th Armoured Division's 29th Armoured Brigade—had successfully navigated minefields to reach the Caen-Troarn railway line. The first phase of the rolling barrage ended at 08:30, by which time large numbers of prisoners from the 16th Luftwaffe Division had been rounded up. Negotiating the railway line, however, proved problematic. By the time the artillery resumed firing at 08:50, only the first armoured regiment and a portion of the second had crossed. Although opposition was still minimal and more prisoners were taken, the two regiments struggled to keep up with the barrage and were moving out of supporting range of their reserves. On schedule at 09:00 the barrage lifted; 35 minutes later the lead squadrons reached the Caen-Vimont railway line. In reserve, the 29th Armoured Brigade's third regiment, the 23rd Hussars, had managed to clear the first railway line only to became embroiled in an hour and a half long engagement with a battery of self-propelled guns of the 200th Assault Gun Battalion that had been misidentified as Tiger tanks.

As the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry's tanks advanced past Cagny they came under anti-tank fire from the east, including from 88 mm anti-aircraft guns in Cagny itself. Within a few minutes at least 12 tanks were disabled. The Yeomanry pressed their advance south and were engaged by the main German gun line on the ridge, while the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, having shifted westward, exchanged fire with the German garrison in Grentheville before moving around the village and advancing along the southern outskirts of Caen towards Bras and Hubert-Folie. What had been conceived as an attack towards the Bourguébus Ridge by three armoured divisions had now became an unsupported advance by two tank regiments, out of sight of one other, against heavy German fire. By 11:15 the British reached the ridge and the villages of Bras and Bourguébus. Some losses were inflicted on the defending German tank force, but attempts to advance further were met by fierce opposition including fire from the rear, from pockets of resistance that had been bypassed.

In response to the British advance General Eberbach ordered a counterattack described by historian Simon Trew as "not a defensive move but a full armoured charge". The 1st SS Panzer Division was to attack across the ridge while in the Cagny area the 21st Panzer Division was to recover all lost ground. German tanks started to arrive on the ridge around noon and the British tank crews were soon reporting German tanks and guns everywhere. Hawker Typhoon ground-attack rocket strikes were directed onto the ridge throughout the afternoon, delaying and eventually breaking up the 1st SS Panzer Division's attack. A final attempt to storm the ridge resulted in the loss of 16 more British tanks, while a minor counterattack during the afternoon was driven off with the destruction of six German Panther tanks.

Just before 10:00 the Guards Armoured Division caught up with the 11th Armoured Division and pressed on towards Cagny. By 12:00 the division's leading elements were halted, engaged in fighting. A German counterattack, launched against the 2nd Armoured Grenadier Guards by 19 tanks from the 21st Panzer Division and the Tiger-equipped 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion, failed when the German tanks came under fire from their own guns and two Tigers were knocked out. Having become separated from its fellows, a King Tiger tank that was attempting to manoeuvre out of danger was caught by an Irish Guards Sherman tank that had also become detached from its unit. Finding themselves behind the German tank the Sherman crew fired into the Tiger and then rammed it; anti-tank fire from other British units then penetrated the Tiger's armour. Both crews abandoned their vehicles and most of the German crew was captured. The 503rd Heavy Panzer Battalion later attacked the Coldstream Guards, but was forced to withdraw under concentrated anti-tank fire. It took the Guards the rest of the day to capture Cagny, which was found abandoned when infantry finally entered the village. Attempts to renew the advance were met by fierce German resistance.

Starting last, the only element of the 7th Armoured Division to enter the battle was the 5th Royal Tank Regiment. At 17:00 near Cuverville they knocked out two Panzer IVs for the loss of four of their own tanks before clearing Grentheville—bypassed earlier in the day by the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment—and taking prisoners in the process. This provoked a German counterattack of six tanks, which petered out after two tanks were destroyed on both sides.

The 11th Armoured Division pulled back to the Caen-Vimont railway line for the evening and replacement tanks were brought forward for all divisions, with the 11th Armoured taking priority. Likewise German recovery teams were attempting to recover and repair as many of their tanks as possible, as very few replacements were available. Unnoticed by the British, during the day's fighting a gap had been created between Emièville and Troan. This was plugged during the night by the arrival of the 12th SS Panzer Division, who had lost ten tanks en route due to air attacks. A number of minor German counterattacks were launched from the ridge: one at dusk was broken up by British artillery and anti-tank fire and destroyed a Panther and Tiger; another after dark, led by a captured Sherman, was repulsed after the Sherman and two Panthers were knocked out by a British anti-tank battery. During the night, German bombers dropped flares over the Orne bridges, which then came under aerial attack. One bridge was slightly damaged and the headquarters of the 11th Armoured Division was hit, as were some tank crewmen who had survived the day's fighting.

On the Canadian front, Operation Atlantic began at 08:15 with a rolling barrage. Infantry and tanks crossed their start line twenty minutes later. At 08:40, British infantry from the 159th Infantry Brigade entered Cuverville; the village and its surrounding area were secured by 10:30, but patrols found Demouville firmly held and attempts to capture this second objective were delayed while the infantry reorganised. The rest of the day saw a slow southward advance as numerous German positions were cleared. Linking up with their armoured support by nightfall, the infantry dug in around le Mesnil-Frèmentel. On the flank, the 3rd Infantry Division had a successful day, capturing all of their objectives except Troarn.

In their fighting around Cagny, the Guards Armoured Division lost 15 tanks destroyed and a further 45 damaged. The 11th Armoured Division lost 126 tanks, although only 40 of these were complete write-offs; the rest were damaged or had broken down. Crew losses were not heavy with all three armoured divisions suffering a combined total of 521 casualties during the day.