Battle of Villers-Bocage

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Destroyed Cromwell tank in Villers-Bocage

The Battle of Villers-Bocage on June 13, 1944 was a clash between German and British armored forces during the Battle of Normandy . SS-Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann led a unit of six Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger of the heavy SS-Panzer-Department 101 to secure the road N. 175 south of Caen near Villers-Bocage . The combat group arrived on the night of June 12-13 and drove north-east of Villers-Bocage.

Around 8:30 a.m., two British battalions (a tank battalion and a motorized infantry battalion) came in from the northwest, both battalions belonging to the 7th British Armored Division (called Desert Rats ). Wittmann himself attacked the column from a position that was advantageous for him; the other tigers followed. While Wittmann drove parallel to the column of the surprised British, his radio operator kept the vehicles under fire with the bow MG, while his gunner shot into the column with the cannon. British casualties for the day amounted to 20 Cromwell tanks, four Sherman Fireflies , several Stuarts and over 30 half-tracks and universal carriers .

background

The battle arose from an attempt by the British to bypass the flank of the I. SS Panzer Corps in Operation Perch to the west

One week after D-Day , June 6, 1944, the 352nd Infantry Division was pushed back by the Americans, exposing the flank of the Panzerlehr Division. Field Marshal Montgomery saw his chance and launched Operation Perch to attack the Panzerlehr division.

The British were not aware that Wittmann had been ordered to stop at point 213, which is located above the Villers-Bocage intersection. Wittmann had six VI Tiger armored vehicles under his command, while the British column consisted of around 200 partially armored vehicles.

Allies

German

Opening the fight

First, the Germans watched the advancing British. Wittmann saw the CLY, which was delivering at point 213, and decided to attack. However, two Tigers remained lying down due to technical problems and then secured point 213. With the advantage of the element of surprise, Wittmann attacked the British and inflicted very heavy losses on them.

The battle

Borgward B 3000 A during the fighting for Villers-Bocage on the invasion front in 1944
Destroyed Panzer IV of the Panzer Lehr Division in Villers-Bocage

Wittmanns Tiger started at 9 a.m. A few minutes later, driving in the direction of Caen, he destroyed three tanks before turning towards Villers: a Firefly and a Cromwell on the right and one on the left. He then attacked the lightly armored vehicles of the infantry division; During this attack nine half-tracks, four Universal Carriers , two Bren Carriers, two six-pounder anti-tank guns, three M5 Stuarts and another half-track were destroyed. At the entrance to the village he shot down three of the four Cromwells.

Then Wittmann drove into the village alone, destroyed two Sherman command tanks and damaged a reconnaissance vehicle and a half-track vehicle. Wittmann's tank and a Firefly faced each other on the Place Jeanne d'Arc . The Firefly fired four 17 pounder shells at the Tiger, but only slightly damaged it. Wittmann withdrew and was attacked by a Cromwell with two 75-mm shells that ricocheted off the tiger; Wittmann reacted immediately and put the Cromwell out of action.

While leaving Villers-Bocage, Wittmanns Tiger was hit in the chain by a six-pounder anti-tank gun and stopped. Wittmann and his crew left the tiger without destroying it in order to be able to recover it later.

Wittmann arrived at the headquarters of the Panzerlehr division seven kilometers away. Meanwhile, 15 Panzer IVs under the orders of Helmut Ritgen had the order to block the exit from Villers-Bocage. They came under anti-tank fire shortly before their target and their advance collapsed. Therefore, the remaining 14 tanks were ordered back by Fritz Bayerlein to regroup in front of Villers-Bocage. This combat group then started a second attack under Hannes Phillipsen and attacked Villers-Bocage from the south with four tanks, which were destroyed by the British.

Wittmann drove back to Point 213 in a floating car, where he met with Karl Möbius, the officer of the first company, and talked about a second attack by the 101st Division. The tanks of the 101st Division met with those of the Panzerlehr Division in Villers-Bocage to advance their own advance together. But the British were prepared; A six-pounder anti-tank gun of the 1st / 7th Bn Queen's Royal Regiment managed to shoot down three tigers, only one of which could be repaired.

Towards evening the British withdrew and left the completely destroyed Villers-Bocage to the Germans.

Balance sheet

British casualties in battle amounted to:

  • 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars: some M5 Stuarts.
  • 4th County of London Yeomanry: 20 Cromwells, four Sherman Fireflies, three M5 Stuarts, one half-track, three scout cars.
  • Infantry Brigade: nine half-tracks, two Bren gun carriers, four universal carriers
  • 5th Royal Horse Artillery: two Cromwell, one Sherman.

The Germans lost six Tigers and two Panzer IV.

As German propaganda needed its heroes precisely in this critical phase of the war, Michael Wittmann was presented to the public; the battle was also broadly presented in the newsreel. Contrary to historical facts, Wittmann alone was credited with 27 of the 30 British tanks destroyed. On closer inspection, however, twelve tanks, a scout vehicle, ten half-track vehicles and four carriers can be counted - a total of 27 vehicles, but not 27 tanks.

For his work at Villers-Bocage, Wittmann was recommended by his superior Josef Dietrich for the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords , which Adolf Hitler personally presented to him on June 25, 1944 in Berchtesgaden . Wittmann fell a few weeks later on August 8, 1944 in Normandy.

literature

  • Tom Jentz, Hilary Doyle: Tigers I & II. Combat and Tactics. Podzun-Pallas, Wölfersheim-Berstadt 2000, ISBN 3-7909-0691-3 .
  • Eric Lefèvre: Panzers in Normandy Then and Now. Battle of Britain International, London 1996, ISBN 0-900913-29-0 .
  • Jean Restayn: Tiger I on the Western Front. Histoire & Collections, Paris 2001, ISBN 2-913903-13-4 .
  • Daniel Taylor: Villers-Bocage through the lens of the German war photographer. Battle of Britain International, London 1999, ISBN 1-870067-07-X .
  • Michael Reynolds: Steel Inferno: I SS Panzer Corps in Normandy. Da Capo Press Inc., 2001, ISBN 1-885119-44-5 .

Web links

Commons : Battle of Villers-Bocage  - collection of images, videos and audio files

supporting documents

  1. ^ Reynolds, p. 106.
  2. ^ Agte, p. 203.

Coordinates: 49 ° 4 ′ 50 ″  N , 0 ° 39 ′ 22 ″  W.