5th Panzer Army
[3] Rundstedt and von Schweppenburg believed that the panzer group should be held in reserve some distance from the front, to counter-attack Allied penetrations.Rommel was convinced that Allied air power and naval artillery would not allow the Germans the freedom to move large formations and so insisted that the panzers should be deployed much closer to the front line.Geyr's tank units managed to limit the British advance for another month but he was relieved of his command on 2 July, after seconding Rundstedt's request that Hitler authorize a strategic withdrawal from Caen.The panzer group fought against the Allied forces in Normandy, suffering heavy losses and eventually finding many of its divisions trapped in the Falaise Pocket.After the shattered remnants of the panzer group escaped from the pocket at the end of August, it began a retreat towards the German border.