Operation Epsom
▶ Explore on the mapOperation Epsom was the first major British attempt to outflank Caen, launched on 26 June 1944 by VIII Corps across the Odon river west of the city. The attack made early gains and reached the high ground of Hill 112, but successive armoured counter-attacks by II SS Panzer Corps checked the advance. By 1 July the British had been pushed back from most of their gains and the operation was closed down, having cost some four thousand British casualties against roughly three thousand German. Although it failed to take Caen or break through, Epsom drew the German panzer reserves into a battle of attrition on ground of the British choosing, wearing down formations that could not be replaced and preventing their transfer to the American sector. The fighting around Hill 112 that summer became emblematic of the campaign's grinding character. The point recorded here is an approximate location for the battle area. The operation's failure to break through, and the subsequent decision to keep attacking around the city, shaped the British role in the campaign for the following weeks.
Sources
- Wikimedia Commons — Charnwood (SVG, by EyeSerene)
- Wikimedia Commons — Operations Greenwood and Pomegranate, Normandy, July 1944 (EN.svg)
- Wikimedia Commons — Operation Tractable (SVG, by EyeSerene)
- Wikipedia — 352nd Infantry Division (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikipedia — Falaise pocket (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikipedia — Normandy landings (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Wikipedia — Operation Overlord (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Related
Reuse this data: open dataset (GeoJSON / CSV, CC BY 4.0)