RAF raid on La Caine (1944)

RAF raid on La Caine (1944)
Part of the Battle of Normandy

Modern photograph of the château (Panzergruppe West HQ, 1944)
Date10 June 1944
Location
La Caine, France
49°02′07″N 0°31′08″W / 49.03528°N 0.51889°W / 49.03528; -0.51889
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
 United Kingdom  Germany
Commanders and leaders
Arthur Coningham Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg (WIA)
Sigismund-Helmut von Dawans 
Units involved

RAF Second Tactical Air Force

Panzergruppe West
Strength
42 Hawker Typhoon
fighter-bombers
72 B-25 Mitchell
medium bombers[a]
Casualties and losses
Killed: Chief of Staff and 17 staff officers
Wounded: Geyr von Schweppenburg

The RAF raid on La Caine (1944) was an attack on 10 June 1944 by aircraft of the Royal Air Force against the headquarters of Panzergruppe West during Operation Overlord the Allied invasion of France, which led the German Panzer divisions in France and Belgium. The headquarters had recently taken over the château at La Caine, about 12 mi (19 km) to the south-west of the city of Caen, north of Thury-Harcourt.

Squadrons of North American B-25 Mitchell medium bombers and Hawker Typhoon fighter bombers of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force attacked the château and its grounds with bombs and air-to-ground rockets. Eighteen staff officers were killed in the attack and the commander, General der Panzertruppen Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg was wounded.

A German armoured counter-offensive by Panzergruppe West against the Allied beachhead was postponed and then cancelled after the destruction of the headquarters. Command of Panzer divisions in the area was transferred to the I SS Panzer Corps headquarters; the remnants of the Panzergruppe West HQ was withdrawn to Paris and did not return to action until 28 June.

  1. ^ Saunders 1975, p. 123.


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