THE BATTLE IS JOINED

'Operation Perch' The advance and withgdrawl of the 7th Armoured Division was as shown by the map above. At first, the advance was textbook, but soon, from Livry onwards, the fortunaes of the 'desert rats' took a drastic turn.

The 'Desert Rats' (whose armoured strength amounted to 210 Cromwells, 44 Stuarts and 36 Sherman) made remarkable progress, since first starting off. The unit had helped capture part of Tilley, and on June 11, British commanders had discovered a great gap between the German line between Caumont and Villers-Bocage. The next day, the division, spearheaded by the 22nd Armoured Brigade, the 1st Bn The Rifle brigade, the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars Recce Regiment and the 5th Royal Horse Artillery, raced ahead. In the planned route of movement was the little town of Villers-Bocage, situated on the N175 highway.

The advance was uneventful until the 22nd Brigade's Cromwells encountered and knocked out a German Mark IV at a little hamlet called Jerusalem. Then in the approach to Livry, a Stuart light tank of the 8th Kings Royal Irish Hussars (KRIH) was knocked out by an anti-tank panzerfaust. Further advances by the Hussars, were repelled with additional losses in tanks. The delay was temporary however, and the division smashed up the road with the full strength of the 22nd Armoured Brigade. Livry fell, and with darkness closing , the British set up camp for the night. At 4.30 am on the morning of June 13, the 22nd Brigade renewed its advance towards Villers-Bocage. The Sherman Fireflies and the Cromwells of the 4th County of London Yeomanry 'The Sharpshooters' (4th CLY), under Lt Colonel Arthur, the Viscount Cranley, MC, now led the advance. Clattering up the quiet route, along with the 'A' Company of the motorized Rifle Brigade, Cranley led his regiment up the wide, chestnut bordered road at 8 am. There was a curious lack of opposition, and soon Villers-Bocage was in British hands. The 4th CLY and the 'A' Company, Rifle brigade then proceeded to set up a temporary camp, with the majority of armour and vehicles parked in and around the town. Cranley, in the meantime, led the CLY's 'A' Squadron (9 Cromwells and four Fireflies), two command vehicles and the Rifle Brigade up the N175, to occupy a high-ground (1½ miles) east of the town, indicated as Point 213 as on allied maps. Caen was just twelve miles away.

Cranley deployed his tanks in the adjoining fields facing eastwards towards the enemy lines. The Rifle Brigade meantime, halted in a long column by the roadside down the long, straight and sloping road, stretching all the way from Pt 213 to the town itself. The riflemen dismounted from their dozen or so M3 half-tracks and carriers, and went back into the town for further orders. Behind the Rifle Brigade were several stuarts of the CLY's reconnaissance (recce) troop, and behind that in the town itself was the regimental headquarters (RHQ) on the Rue Georges Clemencau main street, and 'B' Squadron, near the intersection the westermost proximity of the town. Even behind that, on the outer western edge of Villers-Bocage was 'C' Squadron. The rest of the 7th Division was still further behind, still near Tilly or Livry. Montgomery, in the meantime signaled the good news to his deputy De Guingand at his main headquarters in England. It seemed like nothing could stop his pincer movement to Caen.

Yet in the distance just 200 meters (180 ft) away, in a forested copse, lay the vengful eyes of a Tiger tank from the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. It's crew were no ordinary soldiers, and surveying British in the distance – khaki-clad soldiers brewing tea, lounging around smoking or engaged in easy chatter – filled the Germans with contempt.

Brief Stopover for tea. British tankers stop for a rest. Some even taken the momentary respite to make tea and relax. That brief, uncessary break from the advance would cost the british a terrific price. If Erskine had only kept the advance going for a few more hours, the 4th CLY could have well cleared Villers-Bocage, and approached to within sight of Caen. Under that instance, the effect of the German attack would have then, in all likehood been less mitigating.

WITTMAN

'BOBBY' WOLL

"They're acting as if they'd won the war already", remarked the gunner – Corporal Balthasar 'Bobby' Woll.

"Well we're going to prove them wrong", growled his commander, SS-Oberstrumführer (Lieutenant) Michael Wittmann, one of Germany's most famous panzer leaders.

A veteran of three punishing tours in Russia and a top panzer ace with no less than 119 tank kills, Wittmann was posted to France in late April 1944 and by the D-Day, was a company commander in the 101st SS Schwere Panzer Abteilung (Hvy Panzer Battalion) equipped with almost 37 operational Tigers near Beauvais. With the confirmation of the landings, the unit was ordered to Normandy. On the way however, four Tigers were badly damaged in a bombing attack near Versailles on June 8, but the rest hastened on without delay. On the night of June12/13, Wittmann arrived in Normandy and his unit, the 2nd Company, and with his six surviving Tigers was bivouacked on the front near Beauvais, near Villers-Bocage. Wittman originally intended to spend June 13 by making repairs and routine maintenance on the Tigers, but his plans were cut short by orders from I SS Corps headquarters. The 101st SS s.PZ Abt was to investigate a rumored British thrust on the left flanks of the Pz Lehr. As Wittman cautiously led his company towards Villers-Bocage, they were stopped by agitated German panzer-grenadiers with information that unknown tanks were on the main N175 highway at Villers-Bocage, less than a mile away. Running in low gear, Wittman's crew drove the Tiger (No. 205) towards the edge of the forest overlooking the highway. At once the entire British column came into view. It was a breathtaking sight, and Wittman, standing atop his Tiger studied the halted British column in Villers-Bocage with awe. Both the town and the rising highway were packed with British vehicles of all types: Sherman Fireflies, Cromwell and Stuart tanks, half-tracks and several towed anti-tank guns. The Germans were some 250 yards south the N175, well inside Cranley's forward screen, and Wittmann realized that his company, at the time was the sole opposition to the British drive eastwards. At 9.05 am, Wittmann went into action with two Tigers following.The hulking giants crept along a clearing in the woods, parallel to the N175. A British motorcycle dispatch rider moving in the opposite direction was horrified to come face to face with the the mammoth tanks. He quickly swerved into a side lane, and attempted to ring up the Rifle Brigade. Lieutenant de Pass answered his frantic call, but calmy replied to warnings by: "It is one of ours"

Left: Villers-Bocage Map. Click to view to bigger picture (will open in new window). Beware: 150 Kb. Shows generalized disposition of British before attack, and Wittman's attack.

British officers, brewing tea, were caught unawares when Wittman's launched his attack on the M3 halftracks of the Rifle brigade. At that very same instant, other Tigers from his command began attacking the Cromwells of 'A' Squadron.

Wittman's crew began having a field day. In the words of the official 7th Armoured Division history: "Their first shot destroyed one of the Rifle brigade half-tracks, thus blocking the road; and then at its own convenience it destroyed the remainder of the half-tracks, some Honey tanks of the recce group, four tanks of ...the Regimental HQ troop...[that had been left behind by Cranley, as he moved forward to organize 'A' Squadron at Pt.213 in a scout car] and two OP (artillery observation post) tanks accompanying the squadron. Escape for the tanks, carriers and half-tracks was impossible; the road was embanked, obscured by flames and smoke from the burning vehicles whose crew could only seek what shelter they could from the machine-gun fire, and our own tanks were powerless against the armour of the Tiger, with limitless cover at its disposal."

Shattered wrecks. Ample evidence of the scale of the German attack - the destroy remants of US-built M3 Halftracks of the Rifle Brigade.

The Rifle Brigade had taken a particular beating; nearly all its vehicles were ablaze. One of the Riflemen, Lt de Pass, who had earlier so causally written off the threat, was killed as he clambered upon his vehicle to get a PIAT anti-tank weapon. Major Christopher Milner, the second in command of 'A' Company, The Rifle Brigade, later recalled the situation: "The enemy attended first of all to the three motor platoons by . . .trundling back towards Villers, shooting up vehicles and riflemen section by section, with only the company's two 6 pdr anti-tank guns able to offer even a measure of resistance, which I learned afterwards they did with considerable bravery but with little effect." True, a few riflemen attempted to destroy the Tiger with their 6-pounder (57mm) anti-tank guns, but were pinned down as they tried to do so. Others ran desperately for the refuge of the woods, with gunfire ripping all around them. Woll then turned the massive 88mm cannon on three M5A1 Stuarts of the CLY's recce troop. The high-velocity shell skewered the first light tank effortlessly; the second Stuart blew up in a spectacular explosion that propelled the turret several feet skywards. The third escaped only to be destroyed by mortar fire later in the battle.

Then the German company proceeded to finish off the remainder of the rifle brigade and dispatched the two OP Sherman Vs in the distance. Another well-aimed shell went into a scout car belonging to the Regimental intelligence officer. Another M3 halftrack, belonging to the medical officer took the brunt of MG34 fire from Wittman and the bow-gunner, SS-Lance Corporal Günther Jonasand, and blew up. The remains landed square in the center of the highway.

Wittman's Tiger then moved cautiously towards the center of town where the remainder of the RHQ lay. Here they knocked-out a Cromwell commanded by Major A. Carr, the regimental second in command, whose driver frantically attempted to reverse into a garden. A second, commanded by Captain Patrick Dyas survived the mauling as it had backed off the main road and was not spotted by Wittman who roared past. It now cautiously shadowed the German panzer as it rumbled up the road towards the town's main intersection, hoping to catch the Tiger in it's relatively weak rear. By now, German panzer-grenadiers from several units in the nearby vicinity began breaching the town from the east. The British, if they did not act soon, were going to be thrown out of their newly acquired prize.

No contest. The ravaged remains of a Cromwell belonging to John Cloudsley-Thompson's crew lies where it was destroyed by Tigers. The fast, fleet-footed Cromwell was no match for the 101st SS Bn at Villers-Bocage, as too many photographs of the above variety showed.

By now, 'B' Squadron was beginning to receive news of the calamity. Retreating British elements had warned several tank crews of the impending approach of the Tiger. Some of the alerted tank crews were on Sherman Fireflies, a highly dangerous tank owing its formidable 17 pdr high-velocity cannon. But as Wittman approached the intersection, he spotted the protruding cannon of a Firefly commanded by Sergeant Stanley Lockwood, jutting out from behind a building. Lockwood and his crew had been enjoying tea and breakfast in an alley, when they heard shooting nearby. Looking up, they saw a British scout car racing through the street, the driver waving his arms frantically in warning. Deciding to investigate, Lockwood and his crew mounted the Firefly, and nosed around the building cautiously, but they had been spotted by Wittman. To their credit, the British crew of the mark first, quickly traversing the gun, firing - being rewarded with small amounts of smoke emanating from the enemy's turret. It was now Wittman's turn. Wittman's loader, SS-Lance Corporal Boldt pushed an 88 mm shell into the gun, and Woll pulled the trigger. The shell smacked into the side of the building and covered the Firefly with falling debris. By the time Lockwood managed to get out of the mess, Wittman was gone.

Dangerous warrior. The Sherman Firefly was the result of a mating of the formidable British 17-pounder (76.2 mm) anti-tank guns to the frame of the American- made Sherman tank. The machine soon became the formidable opponent of German tankers on the western front, although the Americans never used in significant numbers. The cannon was so long that the breech extended out almost to the back of the turret, so a large jutting pannier (in the rear of the tank as displayed above) was incorporated to compensate for the recoil. It was the only variant of the regular Shermans that could pierce the armor of the Tiger - at medium range only. During Normandy, each British armoured regiment had atleast twelve Fireflies. The above machine is a 'B' Squadron tank of the 4th CLY (as indicated by the blue box symbol on the turret, which also shows that is belongs to the 3rd Junior Regiment of the brigade (by the color blue) and 'B' Sq (by the box).

© Akhil Kadidal 2004.

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