Operation Jupiter (1944)

Here they remained under shell and mortar fire until Ultra decryption of German radio traffic, showed that the II SS Panzer Corps was arriving.[4] Montgomery intended to hold the Panzer divisions (approximately seven), on the British-Canadian front, while the First US Army continued the Battle of Cherbourg and broke out from the beachhead.[5] Operation Charnwood took place from 8 to 9 July, to capture Caen and prevent the transfer of German armoured units from the Anglo-Canadian front in the east to the American sector.The Germans were expelled from north of the Orne but established a defensive line south of the city and continued to transfer formations to the American front.[6] The intent of the operation was to capture the bridges over the Orne near Feuguerolles to provide a bridgehead for the Second Army to attack over the open ground to Bretteville-sur-Laize and Falaise.The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division (Major-General Ivor Thomas) which had arrived in Normandy in time to play a supporting role in Operation Epsom, would capture the spur running eastwards from Hill 112 to the confluence of the Odon and Orne rivers.After a preliminary bombardment the first battalions of the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division reached Éterville and the north slope of Hill 112 by 8:00 a.m. and the advance to Maltot began.[10] German counter-attacks began around midnight and got into Éterville several times; on the hill, the 5th DCLI was forced back to the Caen–Évrecy road, after all its anti-tanks guns were destroyed and it suffered 240 casualties.During the battle, General Heinrich Eberbach, the commander of Panzergruppe West had made the defence of Hill 112 the priority (Schwerpunkt) of the II SS Panzer Corps but the British advance had taken the north slope and got half-way across the hilltop.[11] The German defenders had been subject to naval bombardment, air attack and artillery fire but held much of their ground, with the support of Tiger tanks of schwere SS-Panzer Abteilung 102, which had arrived in Normandy two days previous.[14] Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor, the VIII Corps commander, recommended that more account be taken of topography in the selection of objectives and that the occupation of high ground be favoured over attacks on villages.[24][b] A Company crossed the Caen–Évrecy road and tried to dig in but found the ground too hard for their tools and then the Germans were alerted by British machine-gun fire.Constant artillery, mortar and machine-gun fire swept the top of Hill 112 and made it untenable for either side and positions below the crest, where troops could assemble for an attack, were frequently bombarded.As the infantry emerged from dead ground they were met by massed mortar fire, which temporarily disorganised the battalion, as did a smoke screen placed on Hill 112, which had merged with fog and covered the area.The Highlanders managed to cross the start line on time at 9:30 p.m. and captured the SS survivors of a flame attack by the Crocodiles on the Caen–Évrecy road, between Croix des Filandriers and le Bon Repos.The advance continued downhill under Monty's Moonlight (illumination from searchlight beams reflected by clouds) and covering fire from the 107th RAC Churchills on the higher ground just south of Baron.At dawn, the British were met by the sight of the dead from Operation Jupiter and by long-range fire from German tanks and guns on the south-east slope of Hill 112.Commanders had studied maps, photographs and sand models, had been given time to establish infantry-tank co-operation with 7th RTR and conduct a reconnaissance of the terrain.