Operation Atlantic - Background

Background

Further information: Invasion of Normandy and Operation Overlord

The historic Normandy town of Caen was a D-Day objective for the British 3rd Infantry Division that landed on Sword Beach on 6 June 1944. The capture of Caen, while "ambitious", has been described by historian L F Ellis as the most important D-Day objective assigned to Lieutenant-General Crocker's I Corps. Operation Overlord called for Second Army to secure the city and then form a front line from Caumont-l'Éventé to the south-east of Caen, in order to acquire airfields and protect the left flank of the United States First Army while it moved on Cherbourg. Possession of Caen and its surroundings would give Second Army a suitable staging area for a push south to capture Falaise, which could itself be used as the pivot for a swing right to advance on Argentan and then towards the Touques River. The terrain between Caen and Vimont was especially promising, being open, dry and conducive to swift offensive operations. Since the Allied forces greatly outnumbered the Germans in tanks and mobile units, transforming the battle into a more fluid fast-moving battle was to their advantage.

However hampered by congestion in the beachhead that delayed the deployment of its armoured support, and forced to divert effort to attacking strongly held German positions along the 9.3-mile (15.0 km) route to the town, the 3rd Division was unable to assault Caen in force, and was brought to a halt short of its outskirts. Immediate follow-up attacks were unsuccessful as German resistance solidified; abandoning the direct approach, Operation Perch—a pincer attack by I and XXX Corps—was launched on 7 June, with the intention of encircling Caen from the east and west. I Corps, striking south out of the Orne bridgehead, was halted by the 21st Panzer Division, and the attack by XXX Corps bogged down in front of Tilly-sur-Seulles, west of Caen, in the face of stiff opposition from the Panzer-Lehr-Division. In an effort to force Panzer Lehr to withdraw or surrender, and to keep operations fluid, the 7th Armoured Division pushed through a recently created gap in the German front line, and attempted to capture the town of Villers-Bocage. The resulting day long battle saw the vanguard of the 7th Armoured Division withdraw from the town, but by 17 June Panzer Lehr had themselves been forced back, and XXX Corps had taken Tilly-sur-Seulles. A repeated attack from the 7th Armoured Division never materialised and further offensive operations were abandoned when, on 19 June, a severe storm descended upon the English Channel. The storm, which would last for three days, significantly delayed the Allied build-up. Most of the convoys of landing craft and ships already at sea were driven back to ports in Britain; towed barges and other loads (including 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of floating roadways for the Mulberry harbours) were lost; and no less than 800 craft were left stranded on the Normandy beaches until the next spring tides in July.

Following the storm the next major offensive was launched. The attack, codenamed Operation Epsom, intended for VIII Corps to advance and capture the high ground near Bretteville-sur-Laize, to encircle Caen. VIII Corps would strike, to the west of Caen, south across the River Odon and the Orne. The attack was preceded by Operation Martlet (also known as Operation Dauntless) which, was to secure VIII Corp's flank by capturing the high ground on the right of their axis of advance. Although the Germans managed to contain the offensive, to do so they had been obliged to commit all their available strength, including two panzer divisions newly arrived in Normandy and earmarked for a planned offensive against British and American positions around Bayeux. Several days later Second Army launched a new offensive, codenamed Operation Charnwood, to gain possession of Caen. Charnwood incorporated a postponed attack on Carpiquet, originally planned for Epsom as Operation Ottawa but now codenamed Operation Windsor. In a frontal assault the northern half of the city was captured. However German forces still held possession of the city on the southern side of the Orne river including the Colombelles steel works, which gave a unique observation post for artillery observers.