THE BATTLE OF THE 'BOX'

The following morning, June 14, the British XXX Corps launched a fresh series of attacks against the 901st Panzer-Grenadier Regiment at Tilly. Infantry of the British 50th Division, supported by eleven squadrons of RAF fighter-bombers attempted to push back Panzer Lehr's units and generate enough pressure to enable the 7th Armoured Division to renew its offensive towards Caen. But the two infantry brigades attacking on a 3600 m (4000 yards) front failed to gain ground and the supporting armour was badly mauled by the panzer-grenadiers using Panzerfausts. Meanwhile in the south, the 22nd Armoured Brigade was fighting for its life in the 'Brigade Box' at Tracy-Bocage.

Concentrated within the box were the two surviving squadrons of the 4th CLY, the 8th KRIH, the 11th Hussars recce regiment , the 5th RTR, the 1/5th and the 1/7th Queens, the 1st Rifle Brigade and the 5th RHA. Behind the box, on the road to Livry were the 1st RTR and 1/6th Queens. The box was concentrated in a low-lying area, surrounded by hills or high ground on three sides. Visibility was minimal, ranging from a mere fifty yards to a hundred. The enemy held the element of surprise, as it could attack unseen from any angle. Artillery proved a key factor in the defense of the box, with the defenders relying heavily on the 50th Division's artillery near Tilly, and an American howitzer battalion in the west and the heavy caliber guns of the 21st Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA). Then there was the British 2nd Tactical Air Force, whose dozen or so squadrons of fighter-bombers would prove instrumental in throwing back the imminent German assault.

Going down! A typhoon dives on a target, its rockets away. Note the typical Norman terrain, complete with bocage line roads and fields. (IWM)

The air support and the artillery quickly proved its worth, when RAF Typhoon fighter-bombers carried out a softening-attack on forward German dispositions on the morning of the 14th. Then later that morning, the Rifle Brigade, holding positions north of the 'box' spotted some movements in a nearby forest and called down artillery fire from the AGRA. The resulting bombardment destroyed the forest and it's suspected inhabitants. Later at 9 am, the 1/7th Queens identified incoming German infantry from the east and gave the coordinates to the 5th RHA and mortar teams under Lt Colonel Gordon's command. The light bombardment succeed in little more than harassing the advancing German troops, but the sudden arrival of the 5th RTR Cromwells caused havoc, as panzer-grenadiers fell in droves to the chattering machine-guns of the tanks.

The American artillery battalion also contributed by breaking up an attack by the 2nd Panzer Division, but for the remainder of the day, the Germans made constant assaults on the box, until by nightfall, the British were completely encircled. The 5th Royal Horse Artillery for one, fought a long-running battle to keep the attackers at bay, but by dusk ammunition was running low. Montgomery and Lt General Miles Dempsey, the British 2nd Army commander, ultimately decided that the brigade was too strung out of the line to survive any longer and ordered that it withdraw to the main frontline from Tilly to Caumont. Under the cover of darkness, Hinde ordered his men to fall back to Caumont, 4 miles northwest. The Battle of Villers-Bocage had finally come to an end.

Both strategically and tactically, the battle had a disaster for the British. They had let slip an important tactical advantage to the enemy, while the Germans had with their superior tactics and equipment, displayed their true fighting prowess. The 21st Army Group headquarters began to voice grave doubts about the 7th Armoured's capabilities, believing that the unit had shot its bolt in almost three years of continuous operations

in the Mediterranean. Indeed, the Second Army's commander, Lt General Dempsey was furious with the debacle, and said: "This attack by the 7th Armoured should have succeeded…early on the morning of 12 June I went down to see Erskine (the divisional commander) – gave him his orders and told him to get moving…if he had carried out my orders he would not have been kicked out of Villers-Bocage…the whole handling of the battle was a disgrace." All British operations effectively halted on the western flank after the 14th and the 7th Armoured withdrew. The Germans had finally closed all the holes in the lines, and used the pause in the fighting to bring additional reinforcements to the sector. It was notable victory for Rommel.

Ahead lay a long grueling campaign for Normandy. there would be no shortcuts or easy ways, except battle after battle of intense combat, spanning seven major operations by the Anglo-Canadian armies for the future of Caen and the campaign - at the end of which the British alone had lost 11 000 dead and 54 000 wounded or missing, and the Canadians 5000 killed and 13 000 wounded or missing. That was the costly by-product that came with defeat at Villers-Bocage.

Villers-Bocage ultimately fell to British troops in the first week of August, during Operation 'Bluecoat', a massive six-division advance on the key towns of Vire, Le Beny-Bocage, Aunay-sur-Odon and the towering promontory of Mont Pincon, south of Villers-Bocage. The 7th Armoured was once again at the spearhead, minus General Erskine, who had since been sacked for further mishaps since that first calamity in June. The division objective was to capturing the bombarded town of Aunay-sur-odon, but certain elements, namely the 1/5th Queens, 8th Kings Royal Hussars and the 11th Hussars - the latter, both recce regiments advanced through the near derelict Villers-Bocage. They found the town laid completely in waste, the unfortunate victim of numerous American, British and German artillery bombardments and off course the battle itself. Amongst the heaping mountains of rubble, the advancing British found the forlorn remains of Wittman's tiger, still standing where it had been knocked out by the six-pounder, a long time ago.

Derelict combatant The hulk of Wittman's Tiger still unmoved from where it was knocked-out by the British. Villers-Bocage was by now totally reduced to rubble.

© Akhil Kadidal 2004.

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