Key Facts
- Date
- 25 June – 1 July 1944
- German tanks lost
- ~35 tanks and armoured vehicles
- German 88mm guns supporting
- 60–80
- Allied corps involved
- XXX Corps, British Second Army
- Divisions attacking
- 49th (West Riding) and 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Divisions
Strategic Narrative Overview
The 49th (West Riding) and 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Divisions attacked toward Juvigny-sur-Seulles, Vendes, and Rauray, facing the Panzer Lehr Division, the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, and 60–80 88mm guns of III Flak Corps. Objectives were not fully achieved on 25 June, and fighting continued. On 1 July, the 49th Division repelled a counter-attack by Kampfgruppe Weidinger of 2nd SS-Panzer Division Das Reich and the 9th SS-Panzer Division Hohenstaufen.
01 / The Origins
By late June 1944, Allied forces in Normandy sought to capture Caen and break German defensive lines. Operation Epsom, planned for 26 June by VIII Corps, aimed to push into the Odon Valley west of Caen. To protect Epsom's right flank from German armoured counter-attacks launching from the Rauray Spur, XXX Corps of the British Second Army was ordered to mount a preliminary assault, designated Operation Martlet, beginning 25 June.
03 / The Outcome
The German counter-attack on 1 July was defeated, with the Hohenstaufen and Das Reich formations losing approximately 35 tanks and armoured vehicles. II SS Panzerkorps, originally earmarked for a counter-offensive toward Bayeux, was so weakened by losses in operations Martlet and Epsom that it was confined to static defence of the Odon Valley, effectively neutralising the German armoured threat west of Caen.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
4 belligerents
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.