When you return to the site of the battle, at Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil, which was liberated on 8 August 1944, you will see “ the Northamptonshire Yeomanry Plaque“, paying homage to the town’s liberators.The American Provisional Tank Group had been in the Philippines only three weeks when the Japanese attacked the islands hours after the raid on Pearl Harbor. Tilly-La-Campagne was the village that was worst hit after the D-Day landings on Sword Beach. Operation Totalize, like Operation Goodman, led to great bloodshed. But Totalize succeeded in drawing the Germans towards Falaise, which put an end to Operation Lüttich near the region of Mortain. “The Panzer Ace” was killed by Private Ekins, a, artilleryman who was just 21 years old…ĭuring the last phase of the operation, the Allied tanks took the wrong trajectory and the mission failed.

The next day, at Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil, Michael Wittmann, the most formidable Nazi tank commander in the Second World War, died in his Tiger 007 tank.

On 7 August 1944, the Canadians clashed with the German forces west of the Caen-Falaise road, while the Polish forces to the east were surrounded by the German anti-tank guns. He decided to attack at night and to use mechanised infantry to support the armoured vehicles. Again with the aim of liberating the south of Caen, General Simonds, at the head of the II Canadian Corps introduced a new tactic. Opération Totalize – 1st-northamptonshire-yeomanry Operation Totalize: when the Allies attacked at night!Īfter the failure of Operation Goodwood, the Canadians, British and Polish launched Operation Totalize. There is another memorial stone celebrating the liberators in front of Grentheville Town Hall. Opposite the Town Hall, you can see the Memorial Stone commemorating the 20 July 1944 and the Allies who liberated Bourguébus. If you walk through the village of Bourguébus, you will come across the vestiges of the old Saint-Vigor Church, which was partially destroyed during the Battle of Normandy. Today, the villages in the southern plain of Caen have been completely rebuilt. Operation Goodwood enabled the Americans to launch Operation Cobra and to liberate Brittany. The British had lost 400 tanks and over 5,500 men. The village lies on high ground and was a strategic point for the German artillery, who called it “the Bourguébus Ridge”.Īfter two days of bloody fighting, Operation Goodwood failed, due to poor conditions on the ground, and the Germans had only lost 100 tanks. But the allied tanks were easily pushed back by the German soldiers towards Bourguébus. This mission meant the Germans were drawn to the east of the city, enabling the Americans to launch Operation Cobra.įrom early on the morning of 18 July 1944, the Royal Air Force began bombing the Caen plain. Operation Goodwood was then launched by General Montgomery, with the aim of capturing the east of Caen with the help of 1350 tanks. Operation Goodwood, the most deadly tank battle of the war in NormandyĪfter Operation Charnwood, which led to the liberation of the south of Caen, the north of the city was still occupied by the Germans. Revisit the sites of the battles in the villages of Bourguébus, Grentheville, Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil and Tilly-la-Campagne. For General Eiseinhower, “This was one of the greatest bloodbaths of the war”. During the D-Day landings, two of the biggest tank battles in the Second World War took place in Caen-la-Mer: Operation Goodwood and Operation Totalize.

Ww2 tank battles