After the Allies successfully stormed Normandy in June of 1944,
the troops continued to fight the Germans occupying the area for weeks.
However, the British Army and the Canadian soldiers fighting along them were fixated on
the strategically important city of Caen in the eastern end of the frontline in Northern France.
Unhappy with the slow results and advancement over a month after the landings,
the British officials decided to launch an operation unlike any other.
It was called Operation Goodwood, and for three days, the British and Canadian forces besieged
the area in what would become the largest tank battle the British Army ever fought…
Advance Delays
Despite heavy American casualties, the landings at D-day on June 6, 1944, had been successful,
initiating the liberation of France and laying the
foundations of the eventual Allied victory in the Western Theatre.
In the immediate aftermath of the Normandy landings, the Allies had
tried to push into the port city of Caen, one of the primary objectives from the start. However,
the German Army continually proved to be a far stronger opponent.
With neither side getting the upper hand in Normandy, it became clear to both the
Allies and the Germans that July would be a pivotal month to take control of the area.
However, after constant bombings from the Royal Air Force and the United States Armed Air Forces
and countless operations by the French Resistance,
by mid-July Caen was still not in the hands of the Allies.
Like the Americans in their right flank, south of the Cotentin Peninsula,
the British and Canadian soldiers in the area had failed to make significant progress for weeks,
costing the Allies significant casualties and materiel.
Then, on July 10, General Miles Dempsey presented a plan to the overall commander
of the Allied ground forces, General Bernard Montgomery. The strategy called
to break through the German lines once and for all and clear their blocked bridgeheads.
During the next few days,
the two men refined the mass armor warfare strategy and prepared to launch it.
It was called Operation Goodwood.
Goodwood
From the early planning stages, General Montgomery was always clear on his strategy
and objectives to further the Normandy campaign. The British would attempt
to take Caen while the Americans performed Operation Cobra and took the city of Saint Lo.
In Goodwood, the British and Canadian forces would put enough pressure on
the Germans to force them to send the bulk of their troops in the area towards them,
thus allowing the Americans to break the line in their sector.
Montgomery had plenty of experience with this method and it had served him well in the past,
particularly in the famous Battle of El Alamein
victory that prevented the Axis from advancing further into Egypt.
The plan suggested that once the troops broke through,
the British and Canadian forces would make the most of their numerical advantage,
and the Allies would then be able to roam free and take back the missing Normandy targets.
In total, the Allies outnumbered the Germans two to one in infantry and four to one in tanks.
To achieve the objective, the Commonwealth forces began putting together an offensive with the most
armored vehicles ever used in a British warfare operation. The tanks mostly came from the three
armored divisions of General Dempsey's second army and amounted to nearly 1,300.
The ambitious offensive became the largest armored group in the entire battle of Normandy
of the Western European campaign, and the details were finalized on July 13, 1944.
General Montgomery would boldly say: [QUOTE] "The Second Army is now very strong…and can get no
stronger….So I have decided that the time has come for a real 'showdown' on the eastern flank, and to
loose a corps of three armored divisions into the open country about the Caen-Falaise road."
A Rough Start
On July 18, 1944, at 5:30am, an artillery barrage erupted near
the German positions a few miles to the east and southeast of Caen.
For three hours, the Panzer Group West was on the receiving end of the largest
employment of bombers for a single operation in the Normandy campaign,
carried out by 2,000 bombers from the Royal Air Force and the United States Armed Air Forces.
Nearly 5,000 tons of high explosive bombs were dropped while only losing 25 bombers.
By the time the initial barrage began to dwindle,
the Allies were convinced that the German defenders were mostly obliterated,
and the troops would face little to no opposition while advancing.
Even supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, General Dwight D Eisenhower,
was surprised with the battery power and called it: [QUOTE] "The heaviest
and most concentrated air assault hitherto employed in support of ground operations."
Immediately afterward, Dempsey's British I and VIII Corps began moving forward,
and were supported by the Canadians focusing on the city's west side.
While the main objective of Operation Goodwood was to capture Caen,
the forces in the area had to distract the German forces in and around the city
to keep them from advancing towards the American carrying out Operation Cobra.
And even though it initially seemed like Goodwood had a successful start, that was not the case.
The initial plans had called for a surprise attack on the Germans,
but 36 hours before the operation began,
British intelligence intercepted German code that proved they were preparing for the offensive.
With the surprise element gone, Montgomery lost some of his confidence,
and the objectives became more limited.
The aerial bombardment itself had not done as much damage as initially thought, as the first bomber
wave moved so much dust and rubble that the second round had difficulty pinpointing the targets.
Another significant problem was that Dempsey's armored soldier formations
could not keep up with the barrage laid down by the artillery unit. Thus, the leading unit
that was advancing at a faster pace than its two support units quickly became isolated.
Despite beginning as an attack by three armored divisions, soon Operation Goodwood
was left with only two armored regiments with terrible communication between them.
Moving Forward
In the wake of the bombardment, the British forces continued to advance.
Surprised by the German's ability to regroup and prepare to hold them off,
the British anti-aircraft guns then turned against Panzer tanks. Meanwhile,
several troops defended the city and terrain, ruined and filled with craters after the barrage.
There were minefields everywhere on the field, and the British tanks advanced in narrow corridors,
initiating traffic jams and slow movement.
By the end of the first day, on July 18, the Canadian forces had succeeded in taking most
of Caen. Still, the British had fallen short of their objectives and would not recover.
The once swift and decisive Montgomery became bogged down amid mounting casualties.
Either unaware or in denial about the messy start,
he assured reporters that they'd had a significant breakthrough.
Meanwhile, the troops at the front were aware that infantry and tanks worked best in coordination
and support, and became increasingly wary and bitter with the lack of cooperation.
To top it off, the Normandy countryside terrain
that had been densely packed since the initial landings was more open near Caen,
giving the Germans a better field of fire to gun down the advancing enemy.
While the breakthrough didn't happen on the first day,
Montgomery persisted. This operation was crucial, both for his ego and for the Allied armies.
On July 19, General Heinrich Ebernach ordered a significant counterattack on the British positions
to counter the Allies, carried out by the 1st SS Panzer Division and the 21st Panzer Division.
For three days, the British and Canadian infantry and their countless tanks fought in
and around Caen, trying to achieve a breakthrough while struggling to communicate and advance.
However, the Germans had a better field of vision and continued to dig in,
reinforcing their positions and fighting back tenaciously.
As the weather continued to deteriorate, a thunderstorm
finally forced an end to the proceedings, and Operation Goodwood drew to a close.
By the end of July 20, Caen was under the control of the Allies.
Aftermath
Despite counting with the largest armored vehicle arsenal in their operational history,
the British had only advanced an extra seven miles previously held by the enemy.
In only three days, Operation Goodwood cost the British Army 4,837 men, wounded,
or captured, 140 destroyed tanks, and 174 damaged.
With these reports and the short advance, many criticized the supposed success of the operation.
According to several detractors, the heavy casualties, failed objectives,
and destroyed tanks signaled that Goodwood had been a failure.
Still, General Montgomery expressed his satisfaction and eventually tried to redefine
Goodwood's aims, stating that the goal was always to draw German forces away from the Americans.
Operation Cobra was a success and led directly to the surrender of the German
forces outside Falaise and the subsequent Axis withdrawal east and out of France.
Ultimately, Goodwood also lost the Allies one of their advantages.
Until July 18, Hitler was convinced that another invasion force would be landing around Calais
until the unrelenting ferocity and tank power of Goodwood told him otherwise.
Thus, Hitler ordered that 250,000 men head towards Normandy.
However, the Germans arrived too late. The Allies were already claiming France back.
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