The Second Battle of the Odon comprised operations fought by the British Second Army during the Second World War. Attacks took place in mid-July 1944 against Panzergruppe West, as part of the Battle of Normandy. Operations Greenline and Pomegranate were intended to draw German attention away from Operation Goodwood, an attack from the Orne bridgehead on 18 July.
The British wanted to prevent the Germans from withdrawing panzer divisions from opposite the Second Army to create an armoured reserve which could oppose the First US Army during the Operation Cobra offensive in the west. The operations in the Odon valley kept three German armoured divisions in the front line west of Caen, away from the Goodwood battlefield, east of the Orne.
Background
Operation Overlord
The Norman town of Caen was a D-Day objective for the 3rd British Infantry Division, which landed on Sword Beach on 6 June 1944. The capture of Caen, while "ambitious", was the most important D-Day objective assigned to I Corps. Operation Overlord called for the British Second Army to secure the city and then form a front from Caumont-l'Éventé to the south-east of Caen, to protect the left flank of the US First Army at the west end of the bridgehead and occupy ground suitable for airfields for the tactical air forces. Caen and its surroundings would give the Second Army a jumping-off point for an advance southwards to capture Falaise, for a swing right to advance on Argentan and the Touques River.
The terrain between Caen and Vimont was especially promising for mobile operations, being open and dry. Since the Allied forces greatly outnumbered the Germans in tanks and mobile units, a battle of manoeuvre would be to their advantage. 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 mi (15.0 km) route to the town, the 3rd Division was unable to assault Caen in force, and advanced no further than Lebisey Wood. Operation Perch, a pincer attack by I and XXX Corps, began on 7 June with the intention of encircling Caen from the east and west. I Corps attacked southwards from the Orne bridgehead, but was halted by the 21st Panzer Division, after advancing a short distance and the attack by XXX Corps bogged down in front of Tilly-sur-Seulles, west of Caen against the defences of the Panzer-Lehr Division.
From 7–14 June, XXX Corps attacked to manoeuvre behind the Panzer-Lehr Division. The 7th Armoured Division pushed through a gap in the German front line caused by the success of the US 1st Infantry Division and occupied Villers-Bocage on the road to Caen from the west. The vanguard of the 7th Armoured Division was eventually withdrawn from the town but by 17 June the Panzer-Lehr Division had been forced back and XXX Corps had taken Tilly-sur-Seulles. Another operation was intended until 19 June but a severe storm descended upon the English Channel, lasted for three days and 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 mi (4.0 km) of floating roadways for the Mulberry harbours were lost and 800 craft were stranded on the Normandy beaches until July.
In Operation Epsom (First Battle of the Odon, 26–30 June), VIII Corps was to advance southwards on the left flank of XXX Corps, west of Caen, across the River Odon and the Orne, to capture the high ground near Bretteville-sur-Laize, to the south of Caen. The attack was preceded by Operation Martlet (also known as Operation Dauntless) by XXX Corps, to secure the western flank of VIII Corps by capturing the high ground of the Rauray Spur. The German defenders managed to contain the offensive in the vicinity of Hill 112 by committing all of their armoured units, including the two panzer divisions of the II SS Panzer Corps, newly arrived in Normandy and intended for a counter-offensive against British and American positions around Bayeux.
Operation Jupiter (10–11 July) was another attack by VIII Corps, to capture Baron-sur-Odon, Fontaine-Étoupefour, Château de Fontaine and take the rest of Hill 112. Following the capture of these objectives, VIII Corps would take Éterville, Maltot and the ground up to the River Orne. Tanks from the 4th Armoured Brigade supported by infantry, would then advance through the captured ground and secure several villages to the west of the River Orne. It was hoped that all first phase objectives could be captured by 9:00 a.m. on the first day and then elements of the 4th Armoured Brigade could start the second phase. The opening phase was successful but the battle for Hill 112 went on all day and the village of Maltot changed hands several times.
On 14 July, General Bernard Montgomery sent his Military Assistant to London to brief the Director of Military Operations that
The real object is to muck up and write off enemy troops. On the eastern flank he [Montgomery] is aiming to do the greatest damage to enemy armour. All the activities on the eastern flank are designed to help the [American] forces in the west while ensuring that a firm bastion is kept in the east. At the same time all is ready to take advantage of any situation which gives reason to think that the enemy is disintegrating.
the First US Army had attacked down the west coast of the Cotentin Peninsula but made little progress there or further inland in early July. The discovery that infantry reinforcements and the Panzer-Lehr Division had reached the American front, made it important that British operations at the east end of the front be continued, to prevent more transfers before the First US Army resumed its offensive on 19 July.
Prelude
British offensive preparations
As preparations were made for Operation Goodwood on 17 July (postponed to 18 July), particularly a regrouping from 12 to 13 July, the Second Army planned two preliminary operations, to prevent Panzergruppe West from using four infantry divisions, which had recently arrived in Normandy, to relieve panzer divisions defending against the Second Army and re-create an armoured reserve. The three British armoured divisions and seven tank and armoured brigades, faced six panzer divisions and three heavy tank battalions. The British units were at full strength but the German units had suffered considerable attrition and few losses had been replaced. The German defences had been prepared in depth, exploiting the terrain, minefields, a large number of long-range anti-tank guns and three Nebelwerfer brigades. In the Second Army opposite Panzergruppe West, VIII Corps was in reserve with the Guards, 7th and 11th Armoured divisions. On the right flank from Caumont to Rauray, XXX Corps had the 49th, 50th and 59th Infantry divisions, supported by the 8th and 33rd Armoured brigades, which faced the XLVII Panzer Corps with the 276th Infantry Division and the 2nd Panzer Division, awaiting the arrival of the 326th Infantry Division from the 15th Army to allow the 2nd Panzer Division to withdraw into reserve.
In the Odon salient XII Corps, comprising the 15th, 43rd and 53rd Infantry divisions, supported by the 4th Armoured, 31st and 34th Tank brigades, were opposed by the II SS Panzer Corps comprising the 271st and 277th Infantry divisions, the SS Division Frundsberg and 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, with the SS Division Hohenstaufen in reserve. In the Caen sector II Canadian Corps with the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry divisions, with the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade were opposite the I SS Panzer Corps with the 272nd Infantry Division, SS Division Leibstandarte, the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion and the SS Division Hitlerjugend in reserve. To the east of Caen, I Corps was opposed by LXXXVI Corps. Behind the German defences, the III Flak Corps, the 7th, 8th and most of the 9th werfer Brigades and the 654 Panzerjäger Battalion 654 were in reserve.
XII and XXX Corps planned holding operations on the left flank in the Odon valley, from Tilly-sur-Seulles in the west to Caen in the east, to improve their positions and to deceive the Germans, that the expected British offensive would be launched west of the Orne, while Operation Goodwood was being prepared east of the river. On 15 July, XII Corps was to attack from the Odon salient to establish a secure jumping-off line, along the road running south-east from Bougy through Évrecy, for a later advance south-west towards Aunay or south-east to Thury-Harcourt. Next day, XXX Corps was to commence operations to take ground around Noyers, ready to reach the high ground to the north-east of Villers-Bocage.
Plan
XII Corps, comprising the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division, reinforced by a brigade of 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division and the 34th Tank Brigade, the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division and the other two brigades of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division, was to attack in Operation Greenline at 9:30 p.m. on 15 July, using Monty's Moonlight, searchlight beams reflected from clouds to illuminate the ground. The two 53rd Division brigades were to secure a start line for the 43rd Division to attack towards Hill 112 and drive a corridor to the Orne River via Bougy, Évrecy and Maizet, ready to advance on Aunay-sur-Odon or Thury Harcourt should there be a German withdrawal. Further west, XXX Corps was to conduct Operation Pomegranate beginning on 16 July, in which the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division on the right, was to capture Vendes and the surrounding area, in the centre the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division was to capture the villages of Noyers-Bocage, Haut des Forges and Landelle, and on the left the 53 (Welsh) Division was to attack, ready for the corps to advance towards the high ground north-east of Villers Bocage.
German defensive preparations
On 29 June, during the British Epsom offensive, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, Commander-in-Chief West and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the commander of Army Group B, had met with Hitler at Berchtesgaden and been told to maintain the defence of Normandy. The German commanders were also ordered to organise a counter-offensive against the British salient. On their return from Germany, they received reports from SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser, the commander of the 7th Army, and Panzergruppe West commander Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg urging a retirement from Caen to a new line beyond the range of Allied naval guns. The proposals were forwarded to Hitler and on 2 July Rundstedt was sacked and replaced by Field Marshal Günther von Kluge. Geyr was dismissed and replaced by General Heinrich Eberbach two days later.
On 8 July Hitler issued a new directive requiring the front in Normandy to be maintained, since the German forces lacked the tactical mobility for a battle of manoeuvre and an invasion in the Pas de Calais was believed imminent. Kluge made a tour of inspection and ordered that the existing positions be maintained, that they be increased in depth by the use of every available man for labour, and that a new counter-offensive by the seven panzer divisions, be prepared against the Odon salient for 1 August, by which date the infantry divisions arriving in Normandy must have completed relieving the panzer divisions. The offensive was to be conducted on a 3 mi (4.8 km) front from Grainville-sur-Odon to Juvigny-sur-Seulles, to reach Luc-sur-Mer behind Caen. (Rommel thought the plan unrealistic and on 16 July wrote to Hitler predicting that the Normandy front would soon collapse. Next day, he was strafed by Allied aircraft and wounded, which ended his service in Normandy.)
Battle
Operation Greenline, 15–17 July
On the left flank of the 15th (Scottish) Division, the crossroads at le Bon Repos and the higher ground overlooking Esquay-Notre-Dame were attacked by the 2nd Glasgow Highlanders of the 227th (Highland) Infantry Brigade (227th Brigade), supported by Churchill tanks of the 107th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (107th RAC) of the 34th Tank Brigade and the 141st Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (141st RAC) of the 79th Armoured Division, equipped with Churchill Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) and Churchill Crocodile flamethrower tanks. The Scottish advanced from the north-east, south-west over the northern slope of Hill 112 towards the defences of the III Battalion, 21st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment. As the infantry emerged from dead ground, they were met by massed mortar fire, which temporarily disorganised the battalion, as did a smokescreen placed on Hill 112, which had merged with fog and covered the area.