During World War II, Operation Atlantic (Allies, 1944) was a Canadian offensive, part of the British great breakout tentative (Operation Goodwood) during the Battle of Normandy, on June 19th. It enabled to dislodge the Germans from the right bank of the Orne river, where they were to hold their ground for ten days. At the same time, Operation Goodwood failed to perform a decisive success. Combatants Allied Powers Nazi Germany Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Bernard Montgomery (land) Bertram Ramsay (sea) Trafford Leigh-Mallory (air) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB WEST) Erwin Rommel (Heeresgruppe B) Strength 326,000 (by June 11) Unknown, probably some 1,000,000 in France by early June, but split... British infantry waiting to move off Queen White Beach, SWORD Area, while under enemy fire, on the morning of 6 June. ... Combatants Canada Germany Commanders Major-General R.F.L. Keller, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, Lieutenant-General H.D.G. Crerar, 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter, German 716th Static Infantry Division Strength 15,000 Unknown Casualties 574 dead, 340 wounded Unknown Juno Beach was one of the landing sites... Gold Beach was the Allied codename for the centre invasion beach during the World War II Allied invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944. ... Troops from the First Division landing on Omaha beach. ... American assault troops move onto Utah Beach, carrying full equipment. ... Pointe du Hocs location Preinvasion bombing of Pointe du Hoc by 9th Air Force bombers. ... Combatants U.S.A. Germany Commanders Richard Winters Colonel von der Heydte Strength 13 60+ Casualties 4 dead, 2 wounded 15 dead, 12 prisoner, wounded unknown The Brécourt Manor Assault during Operation Chicago of the Normandy Invasion of World War II is often cited as a classic example of... During World War II, Operation Chicago was carried out by the Allies in 1944. ... The Battle of Villers-Bocage (June 13, 1944) was an unusual clash between the British and Germans in northern France during World War II. Michael Wittmann, an SS-Obersturmführer, led a unit of six PzKpfw VI Tiger tanks of the 501st Battalion to secure the N175 road near Villers... Combatants Allied Powers Nazi Germany Commanders J. Lawton Collins Friedrich Dollman Casualties ?? 39,000 captured The Battle of Cherbourg was part of the Battle of Normandy, fought immediately after the successful landings on June 6, 1944. ... During World War II, Operation Epsom (Allies, 1944) was a British attack to seize Caen, France. ... Operation Goodwood was an Allied military operation of World War II from July 18 to 20 July 1944 taking place in Normandy some weeks following D-Day. ... Operation Cobra was the codename for the World War II operation planned by United States Army General Omar Bradley to break out from the Normandy area after the previous months D-Day landings. ... During World War II, Operation Bluecoat was an attack by British Second Army south of Caumont, France executed 29 July 1944. ... During World War II, Operation Lüttich was a counterattack launched by German forces on the left flank of the Allied lodgment at Normandy beginning on 7 August 1944. ... During World War II, Operation Totalise ( Allies, 1944) was a ground attack on 7 August 1944 by British, Canadian and Polish forces to breakout from the Normandy beachhead along the Caen-Falaise road. ... Operation Tractable was a military operation commanded by the 2nd Canadian Corps in Normandy in August 1944. ... During World War II, the Falaise pocket (also known as the Chambois pocket, Chambois-Montcormel pocket, Falaise-Chambois pocket and in French: Poche de Falaise) was the area between the four cities of Trun-Argentan-Vimoutiers-Chambois near Falaise, France, in which Allied forces tried to encircle and destroy the... Combatants Allied Powers Nazi Germany Commanders Troy H. Middleton (US VIII Corps Commander) Bernhard-Hermann Ramcke (Fortress Brest Commander) The Battle for Brest was one of the fiercest battles fought during Operation Cobra, the Allied breakout of Normandy which began on 27 July 1944, during World War II. Part of... The Liberation of Paris in World War II took place in late August 1944 after the battle of Normandy. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the use of images on this page may require cleanup, involving adjustment of image placement, formatting, size, or other adjustments. ... When spelt with a capital A, Allies usually denotes the countries supporting the Triple Entente who fought together against the Central Powers in World War I and against the Axis Powers in World War II. For more information, see the related articles: Allies of World War I and Allies of... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... Operation Goodwood was an Allied military operation of World War II from July 18 to 20 July 1944 taking place in Normandy some weeks following D-Day. ... Combatants Allied Powers Nazi Germany Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Bernard Montgomery (land) Bertram Ramsay (sea) Trafford Leigh-Mallory (air) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB WEST) Erwin Rommel (Heeresgruppe B) Strength 326,000 (by June 11) Unknown, probably some 1,000,000 in France by early June, but split... Orne is a département in the northwest of France named after the Orne River. ... Operation Goodwood was an Allied military operation of World War II from July 18 to 20 July 1944 taking place in Normandy some weeks following D-Day. ...

Background

Caen had been a D-Day objective for the British 2nd Army. The capture of Caen and its surrounding plain was considered important to allow the Allies space to build airfields. Caen sat astride the Orne river, so its capture would give 2nd Army a foothold across it. Repeated attempts were made to seize the city in June and July 1944.

One of them was british Operation Goodwood. It was helped by the Canadian Operation Atlantic.

The operation

On July 18th, 1944, at day break, an air raid dropped 7,700 tonnes of bombs on Caen. It was synchronized with counter-battery fire from artillery regiments and the fleet. Then the British and the Canadians attempt the crossing of the Orne River. July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 166 days remaining. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ...

The 2nd Division captured first Colombelles, then Faubourg-de-Vaucelles and advances through the industrial suburb of Caen, taking Verrières. But the bombing had destroyed buildings, making roads less usable, and it didn't affect the german firepower as hoped. The German divisions (notably the 1st SS Panzer Division) held strong positions, such as the Verrières Ridge near Route nationale 158. The Verrières Ridge revealed to be impregnable while well-concealed tanks and guns took shots at Allied armoured vehicles and decimated infantry companies. The canadians took heavy losses. They eventually succeeded to seize some neighbouring villages, Saint-André-sur-Orne, Ifs and Bourguébus.

Remarks

It should be noted that one of the unit that suffer the most heavily lost was 2nd Canadian Infantry Division which had previously already been bloodied in Dieppe and then rebuilt. List of military divisions — List of Canadian divisions in WWII Units of the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division were mobilized on 1 September 1939, even before the declaration of war, and the battalions were promptly fleshed out by volunteers. ...

This one of the less famous battles of Normandy, Operation Goodwood & Operation Cobra being quite a lot more known by the public. Operation Cobra was the codename for the World War II operation planned by United States Army General Omar Bradley to break out from the Normandy area after the previous months D-Day landings. ...