Battle of Villers-Bocage

Battle of Villers-Bocage
Part of Operation Perch
A Cromwell observation post tank on Villers-Bocage's main street commanded by Captain Paddy Victory, 5th Royal Horse Artillery; one of more than twelve vehicles attacked by Michael Wittmann.[1]
Date 13 June 1944 Location Villers-Bocage, France 49°4′50″N 0°39′22″W / 49.08056°N 0.65611°W / 49.08056; -0.65611 (Battle of Villers-Bocage) Result See Aftermath section
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
George Erskine William Hinde	Fritz Bayerlein Heinz von Westernhagen
Strength
One brigade group c. 60 tanks	Two ad-hoc battle groups part of a heavy tank battalion 31–41 tanks
Casualties and losses
~217 casualties 23–27 tanks	8–15 tanks written off, others damaged
Several civilians

The Battle of Villers-Bocage took place during the Second World War on 13 June 1944, one week after the Normandy landings, which had begun the Western Allies' conquest of German-occupied France. The battle was the result of a British attempt to exploit a gap in the German defences west of the city of Caen. After one day of fighting in and around the small town of Villers-Bocage and a second day defending a position outside the town, the British force retreated.

The Allies and the Germans regarded control of Caen as vital to the Normandy campaign. In the days following the D-Day landings on 6 June, the Germans rapidly dug in north of the city. On 9 June, a two-pronged British attempt to surround and capture Caen was defeated. On the right flank of the British Second Army, the 1st US Infantry Division had forced back the German 352nd Infantry Division and opened a gap in the German front. To bypass the German Panzer-Lehr Division blocking the direct route south in the area of Tilly-sur-Seulles, a mixed force of tanks, infantry and artillery, based on the 22nd Armoured Brigade (Brigadier William "Loony" Hinde) of the 7th Armoured Division, advanced through the gap in a flanking manoeuvre towards Villers-Bocage. British commanders hoped that the appearance of a strong force in their rear would surround the Panzer-Lehr Division or force it to withdraw.

The 22nd Armoured Brigade group reached Villers-Bocage without serious incident on the morning of 13 June. The leading elements advanced eastwards from the town on the Caen road to a ridge at Point 213, where they were ambushed by Tiger I tanks of the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. In a few minutes, tanks, anti-tank guns and transport vehicles were destroyed, many by SS-Obersturmführer Michael Wittmann. The Germans attacked the town and were repulsed, losing several Tigers and Panzer IVs. After six hours, Hinde ordered a withdrawal to a more defensible position on a knoll west of Villers-Bocage. The next day, the Germans attacked the brigade box, arranged for all-round defence, in the Battle of the Island. The British inflicted a costly repulse on the Germans and then retired from the salient. The Battle for Caen continued east of Villers-Bocage, the ruins of which were captured on 4 August, after two raids by strategic bombers of RAF Bomber Command.

The British conduct of the Battle of Villers-Bocage has been controversial, because their withdrawal marked the end of the post–D-Day "scramble for ground" and the start of an attritional battle for Caen. Some historians have written that the British attack was a failure caused by a lack of conviction among some senior commanders, rather than the fighting power of the German army, while others judge the British force to have been insufficient for the task. The "single-handed" attack by Wittmann early on has excited imaginations, to the extent that some historians and writers conclude that it has dominated the historical record to an unwarranted degree and that while "remarkable", his role has been exaggerated.