Operation Charnwood - Fighting in Caen

Fighting in Caen

British and Canadian patrols began to infiltrate the city at dawn on 9 July. Carpiquet Airfield finally fell into Allied hands during the early morning, when the Canadian 3rd Infantry Division discovered that the 26th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment had withdrawn during the night. With the German situation north of the river becoming increasingly precarious, 21st Panzer's battlegroups and the remaining regiments of the 12th SS Panzer Division conducted a slow withdrawal across the Orne, making for the Verrières and Bourguébus Ridges. By noon the British 3rd Infantry Division had reached the Orne's north bank, virtually destroying the elements of the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division, positioned west of the Orne, in the process. A few hours later the British and Canadians met in the centre of the city and by 18:00 the northern half of Caen was firmly under Allied control; all I Corps's objectives had been achieved. A few of Caen's bridges were intact but these were either blocked by rubble or defended by German troops on the south bank and the 1st SS Panzer Division had by now positioned itself to oppose any further advance.

The 12th SS Panzer Division (by the end of the battle the division's infantry strength had been reduced to that of a battalion)—claimed over the course of two days to have destroyed 103 British and Canadian tanks for the loss of 20. On entering Caen the Anglo-Canadian troops found it in ruins, with four-fifths of the Old City reduced to rubble by the 7 July bombings. The debris that choked the streets made it almost impossible for British armour to manoeuvre through the northern half of the city, preventing Second Army from exploiting I Corps's success. Without possession of the terrain flanking the south of the city, no further gains could be made within Caen so by mid-afternoon on 9 July, Operation Charnwood was over.