Operation Totalize
| Operation Totalise | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II, the Battle of Normandy | |||||||
 A Cromwell tank and jeep pass an abandoned German PAK 43/41 gun during Operation Totalise, 8 August 1944. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Canada Poland United Kingdom |
 Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Guy Simonds |
Kurt Meyer | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
3 infantry divisions, 2 armoured divisions, 2 armoured brigades |
3 infantry divisions, 1 SS Panzer division, 1 heavy tank battalion | ||||||
Operation Totalise (or Operation Totalize) was a Canadian and British offensive during the later stages of the Battle of Normandy, from August 8 to August 13, 1944. The intention was to break through the German defences south of Caen on the eastern flank of the Allied lodgement and exploit success by driving south to capture the high ground north of the city of Falaise. This would hopefully lead to the collapse of the entire German front, and cut off the retreat of German forces fighting American and British armies further west.
The battle is considered the inaugural operation of the Canadian First Army, which had been formally activated on July 23.[1]
In the early hours of August 8, Canadian II Corps launched the Allies' first large-scale attack by mechanized infantry. They broke through the German front lines and captured vital positions deep in the German defences. It was intended that two fresh armoured divisions would continue the attack, but some hesitancy by these two comparatively inexperienced divisions and German armoured counter-attacks slowed the offensive. Having advanced nine miles, the Allies were halted seven miles north of Falaise, and forced to prepare a fresh attack.[2]
Background
Caen had been an objective of the British forces assaulting Sword Beach on D-Day. However, the German defences were strongest in this sector, and most of the German reinforcements sent to Normandy were committed to the defence of the city. Positional warfare ensued for the next six weeks. Several attempts by British and Canadian forces to capture Caen were unsuccessful until July 19, when the British Second Army launched Operation Goodwood, an attack by three armoured divisions which outflanked the city on the east and south.
The Germans still held the commanding terrain of the Verrieres Ridge, three miles south of the city. The repeated British and Canadian attacks launched around Caen (in part to distract the Germans from the western part of the front, where the First United States Army was preparing to break out of the Allied lodgement) had caused the Germans to defend the Verrieres ridge with some of their strongest and most determined formations, including three SS Panzer divisions of I SS Panzer Corps.
Within 48 hours of the end of Operation Goodwood, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division launched an attack against the "formidable" German defences on Verrières Ridge.[3] They suffered heavy casualties and territorial gains were minimal. From July 25 to July 27, another attempt was made to take the ridge as part of Operation Spring. Poor timing resulted in 1,500 Canadian casualties, with very little strategic gain. In total, however, the Battle of Verrières Ridge had claimed upwards of 2,800 Canadian casualties,[4] while the ridge remained in German hands.[5]
Also on July 25 however, the Americans had launched their breakout offensive, Operation Cobra. This gained immediate success. Within two days, they had broken through the entire depth of the German defences, and on July 31 they captured Avranches and began fanning out across Brittany and Maine. Two of the German SS Panzer divisions were shifted westward from Verrieres Ridge to face this new threat.
General Bernard Montgomery, commanding the 21st Army Group and effectively in charge of all Allied forces in Normandy, now wanted a breakout on the eastern flank of the front to precipitate a general German collapse.[6] The Canadian First Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Harry Crerar now held this part of the front. The army controlled British I Corps, responsible for the extreme eastern flank of the Allied lines, and Canadian II Corps under Lieutenant General Guy Simonds, south of Caen. Canadian II Corps, which was to launch Operation Totalise, consisted of the 2nd Canadian Division, 3rd Canadian Division, British 51st Division, 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division, 1st Polish Armoured Division, 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade and 33rd British Armoured Brigade.
Offensive plan
The German defensive positions on Verrieres Ridge remained very strong. The forward infantry positions were well dug-in, with wide fields of fire. The main concentration of 100 75mm and 88mm anti-tank guns was deployed around the village of Cramesnil three miles behind the forward positions to halt any breakthrough by tanks along the Caen-Falaise road. The front line and defences in depth were held by the 89th Infantry Division, 85th Infantry Division (recently arrived from Rouen) and the remnants of the 272nd Infantry Division (decimated during Operation Goodwood). The 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, with 50 tanks, was in reserve a further three miles back. Some of the infantry were commanded by the German LXXXVI Korps, but most of the sector (and 12th SS Panzer Division) was under I SS Panzer Korps HQ.
Simonds knew that infantry assaults supported by massed artillery had failed to overcome the German forward lines in Operation Atlantic and Operation Spring. During the earlier Operation Goodwood, a bombardment by aircraft of RAF Bomber Command had allowed British tanks to break through the German front, but infantry had been unable to follow up quickly enough to secure ground behind the advancing armour. To solve the tactical problem presented by the terrain and the deep defences, Simonds proposed a radical solution; in effect, the world's first large-scale mechanized infantry attack.
Some Canadian and British infantry divisions had been temporarily equipped with M7 Priest self-propelled guns for the D-Day landings. These had since been withdrawn and replaced by towed Ordnance QF 25 pounders. Simonds had the Priests converted into Kangaroo Armoured Personnel Carriers, which would allow infantry to follow the tanks closely on any terrain.[7]
Simonds plan was for RAF Bombers to saturate the German defences on both flanks of a four mile-wide corridor along the axis of the Caen-Falaise road during the night of August 7. During the early hours of August 8, two attacking forces of tanks and APCs would advance along this corridor. West of the road under the Canadian 2nd Division were the 4th Canadian Infantry Brigade and 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade. East of the the road, under the British 51st Division were the 154th (Highland) Brigade and British 33rd Armoured Brigade. These two columns would capture the main German anti-tank defences around Cramesnil and Saint-Aignan de Cramesnil at dawn.
The second phase would follow immediately. While the remaining four infantry brigades of the 2nd Canadian and 51st British divisions cleared up the isolated German forward defences (and 3rd Canadian Division and British 49th Division began subsidiary attacks to widen the base of salient captured in the first phase), the 4th Canadian Armoured Division and Polish 1st Armoured Division would move up the corridor to Cramesnil, and prepare to advance further south. To prepare for their attack, bombers of the USAAF Eighth Air Force would bombard the German reserve positions at Hautmesnil.[8] The ultimate objective was the high ground north of Falaise, fifteen miles beyond the start line.
The assault
During the evening of August 7, 1944, the attacking forces formed up in six columns, each only four vehicles wide, of tanks, Kangaroo APCs, half tracks, self-propelled anti-tank guns and Mine flail tanks. At 23:00, the heavy bombers of RAF Bomber Command commenced their bombardment of German positions along the entire Caen front.[8] At 23:30, the armoured columns began their advance behind a rolling barrage.
Initially, movement was slow; many APC drivers became disoriented by the amount of dust caused by the vehicles.[7] Several vehicles became stuck in bomb craters. Simonds had ordered several means for the columns to maintain their direction: some vehicles were fitted with radio drection-finders, the artillery fired target-marking shells, Bofors 40 mm guns fired bursts of tracer in the direction of advance. In spite of all these measures there was still confusion. Several vehicles collided, or were knocked out.
However, the attack succeeded in punching significant holes in the German defenses.[8] By dawn, the attacking columns from the British 51st Division had reached their intended positions. The infantry "de-bussed" from their Kangaroo APCs within 200 yards of their objectives, the villages of Cramensnil and Saint-Aignan de Cramesnil, and rapidly overran the defenders.[9] The columns from the Canadian 2nd Division were delayed by fog and unexpected opposition on their right flank, but by noon on August 8, the Allied forces had captured the entire Verrières Ridge. The novel methods used by Simonds ensured that the attackers suffered only a fraction of the loss which would have been incurred in a normal "dismounted" attack.[10]
The Allies were poised to move against the heavily defended town of Cintheaux, two miles south of their furthest penetration, but Simonds ordered a halt to the advance to allow field artillery and the 4th Canadian and the 1st Polish Armoured Divisions to move into position for the second phase of the operation.[8]
German countermoves
SS General Kurt Meyer, commander of the 12th SS Panzer Division, had already ordered infantry from various formations shattered by the Allied bombing and armoured attack to occupy Cintheaux. He also moved forward two battlegroups from his own division, consisting of assault guns, infantry and Tiger tanks, positioning them across the Canadian front.[7] Shortly after midday, he ordered these two battlegroups to counter-attack the leading Allied troops.[11]
At this point, the Allied offensive plan called for additional bombardment by the US Eighth Air Force, before the 4th Canadian Armoured Division and the Polish 1st Armoured Division pushed south towards Falaise on either side of the Caen-Falaise Road.[12] While the counter-attack by Meyer's troops was unsuccessful, it did coincidentally place Meyer's tanks north of the target area that the Eighth Air Force bombarded in preparation for the second phase of the Allied attack.[13] These tanks, spared the effects of the bombing, slowed the advance of the Polish 1st Armoured Division,[13] preventing a breakthrough east of the road. West of the road, the German infantry at Cintheaux likewise held up Canadian Armoured formations. Neither Division (both in action for the first time) pressed their attacks as hard as Simonds demanded, and "laagered" when darkness fell.[14]
To restore the momentum of the attack, Simonds ordered a column from the Canadian armoured division to seize Hill 195, just to the west of the main road halfway between Cintheaux and Falaise. The column lost direction and was caught at dawn east of the road by German 88 mm anti-aircraft guns. They held their ground during August 9 but suffered heavy casualties, including most of their tanks. The Canadians were forced to withdraw.[14]
Because the column was so far from its intended objective, other units sent to relieve it could not find it. Eventually, another force captured Hill 195 in a model night attack on August 10, but the Germans had been given time to withdraw and reform a defensive line on the Laison River.
Aftermath
Although significant strategic successes had been made during the first phases of the assault, heavy casualties were taken by the two Allied Armoured Divisions, in their attempt to push towards Falaise.[14] Formations of 4 Divisions of the First Canadian Army held positions on Hill 195, directly north of Falaise. At the same time, Allied forces managed to inflict upwards of 1,500 casualties on already depleted German forces.[15] Because of the failure to capture the overall objective of Falaise,[16] For his poor performance in Totalize (as well as severe injuries suffered in the American bombing of German positions), Rod Keller was removed from his command of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division.[17] Simonds and Crerar designed a follow-up offensive, Operation Tractable, which took place on August 14-21 1944. On August 21, the Falaise Pocket was closed by joint Allied forces, effectively ending the Battle of Normandy with a decisive Allied Victory.
Notes
- ^ Bercuson, Pg. 229
- ^ Wilmot, The Struggle for Europe, p.414
- ^ Bercuson, Maple Leaf against the Axis, p.222
- ^ Zuehlke, The Canadian Military Atlas, pp.166-168
- ^ Bercuson, Pg. 226
- ^ Wilmot, Struggle for Europe, p.410
- ^ a b c Bercuson, Maple Leaf against the Axis, p.228
- ^ a b c d Zuehlke, The Canadian Military Atlas, p.168
- ^ Wilmot, Struggle for Europe, p.412
- ^ Wilmot, Struggle for Europe, p.413
- ^ D'Este, Decision in Normandy, p.424
- ^ D'Este, Decision in Normandy, p.422
- ^ a b Bercuson, Maple Leaf against the Axis, p.229
- ^ a b c Bercuson, Maple Leaf against the Axis, p.230
- ^ Bercuson, Maple Leaf against the Axis, p.231
- ^ Bercuson, Pg. 231. It should be noted that, although the high-ground north of Falaise was the intended objective of the operation, it was hoped that Falaise could be captured within the same operation, as a follow-up to the capture of Point 195
- ^ Bercuson, P. 230
References
- Bercuson, David (2004). Maple Leaf Against the Axis. Red Deer Press. ISBN 0-88995-305-8.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|origdate=ignored (|orig-date=suggested) (help) - D'Este, Carlo (2004). Decision in Normandy: The Real Story of Montgomery and the Allied Campaign. Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0-14101-761-9.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|origdate=ignored (|orig-date=suggested) (help) - Major Ellis, L.S. (2004). Victory in the West: The Battle of Normandy, Official Campaign History Volume II. History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Military. Naval & Military Press Ltd. ISBN 1-84574-058-0.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|origdate=ignored (|orig-date=suggested) (help) - Hastings, Max (1999). Overlord: D-Day and the Battle for Normandy, 1944. Pan Books. ISBN 0-33039-012-0.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|origdate=ignored (|orig-date=suggested) (help) - Holmes, Richard (2004). The D-Day Experience from the Invasion to the Liberation of Paris. Carlton Books Ltd. ISBN 1-84442-805-2.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|origdate=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Meyer, Kurt (2005). Grenadiers: The Story of Waffen SS General Kurt "Panzer" Meyer. Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-81173-197-9.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help); Unknown parameter|origdate=ignored (|orig-date=suggested) (help) - Reid, Brian (2005). No Holding Back. Robin Brass Studio. ISBN 1-896941-40-0.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|coauthors=and|origdate=(help) - Whitaker, Brigadier General Denis (2004). Normandy: The Real Story (How Ordinary Allied Soldiers Defeated Hitler). Presidio Press. ISBN 0-34545-907-5.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|coauthors=and|origdate=(help) - Wilmot, Chester (1997). The Struggle For Europe. Wordsworth Editions Ltd. ISBN 1-85326-677-9.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help); Unknown parameter|origdate=ignored (|orig-date=suggested) (help) - Zuehlke, Mark (2001). The Canadian Military Atlas: Canada's Battlefields from the French and Indian Wars to Kosovo. Stoddart. ISBN 0-77373-289-6.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters:|coauthors=and|origdate=(help)
External links
- Operation Totalise at memorial-montormel.org
- No Holding Back review at www.canadiansoldiers.com
- Canadian account of the action near Hill 195
