Operation Charnwood - Advance Begins

Advance Begins

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 Canadian 3rd and British 59th Infantry Divisions. 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; four battalions and two armoured regiments advancing on a two brigade front. At 07:00, 192 B-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 tons. Some bombs landed on the 12th SS Headquarters at Abbaye-aux-Dames.

Crocker launched the operation's second phase at 07:30, although neither division had yet reached its objectives. 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 British 3rd Infantry were making good progress. They attacked Lébisey and rapidly pushed through the village, although fighting intensified as the division reached Herouville. Concerned about the state of the Luftwaffe division, General Heinrich Eberbach, in command of Panzer Group West ordered the 21st Panzer Division to redeploy northeast of Caen in support of the 16th. The manoeuvre was spotted and when 21st Panzer attempted to cross the Caen Canal a strong naval barrage was directed against them. Facing the possibility of heavy losses, the move was abandoned.

In the centre, the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division was encountering much stiffer resistance from the 12th SS Panzer Regiment in Galmanche and la Bijude. The 176th Infantry Brigade incurred particularly heavy casualties in la Bijude, with one infantry company losing all of its senior officers when German flak batteries (pressed into service as anti-tank guns) prevented armoured support from reaching the village. The 176th's running-mate, the 197th Brigade bypassed Galmanche and by noon had reached St-Contest.

Further to the west, units of the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division's 9th Infantry Brigade had been involved in heavy fighting in Buron, which was defended by 200 men from the 12th SS. With support from the 10th Canadian Armoured Regiment, by noon Buron had been taken, although the 9th Brigade's assault companies suffered 60% casualties in doing so. South of Buron, a counterattack by Panzer IV and Panther tanks of the 12th SS Panzer Regiment was defeated by M10 Achilles self-propelled anti-tank guns and 17-pounder anti tank guns of 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. Gruchy was captured with relative ease, with the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade encountering only mortar and artillery fire in their drive to Authie. The capture of Authie facilitated the 59th (Staffordshire) Division's assault on St-Contest and that town fell too clearing the way for an advance on Caen. In Phase 3 of the operation, the 7th Brigade pushed towards the 12th SS Panzer Division's former headquarters at Ardenne Abbey, securing the position before midnight.

The British 3rd Infantry Division had by now brushed aside 16th Luftwaffe and was approaching Caen's outskirts from the northeast. At 19:15 that evening, both Meyer and Eberbach authorised the withdrawal of all 12th SS Panzer's surviving heavy weapons and the remnants of the Luftwaffe division across the Orne to the southern side of Caen. Throughout the early evening the 12th SS fought a rearguard action against elements of the 59th and 3rd Infantry Divisions as it pulled back from positions no longer considered tenable. Reports of this withdrawal came in to the Anglo-Canadian command however patrols probing German frontline positions created a false perception that no withdrawal was taking place.