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The Battle of Bréville was fought by the British 6th Airborne Division and the German 346th Infantry Division, between the 8 and 13 June 1944, during the invasion of Normandy in the Second World War. In June 1944, units of the 346th Infantry Division occupied Bréville-les-Monts, a village on a watershed between the rivers Orne and Dives. From this vantage point, they could observe the positions of the 6th Airborne Division, defending the River Orne and Caen Canal bridges and beyond them the British Sword Beach at Ouistreham. Following several German attacks on British positions from Bréville-les-Monts, the capture of the village became essential to secure the 6th Airborne Division positions and protect the Allied beachhead. The British attack occurred over the night of 12/13 June 1944, when Major General Richard Nelson Gale committed his only reserves, the 12th Parachute Battalion, a company from the 12th Battalion Devonshire Regiment and the 22nd Independent Parachute Company. To support the attack, a tank squadron from the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and five regiments of artillery were assigned to the division. The assault had to negotiate both the British and German artillery fire, which killed or wounded several men, including some senior officers. The attackers eventually reached and secured the village. However, every officer or sergeant-major who took part in the attack was killed or wounded. After the capture of Bréville, the Germans never seriously attempted to break through the airborne division's lines again. The British division only being subjected to sporadic artillery and mortar fire. This lasted until 17 August, when the Germans started to withdraw and the 6th Airborne Division advanced to the River Seine. ==Background== On 6 June 1944, the 6th Airborne Division landed in Normandy to secure the left flank of the British landing zone. The division's objectives were to capture intact the Caen canal bridge, the Orne river bridge, destroy the Merville gun battery – which was in a position to engage troops landing at the nearby Sword beach – and the bridges crossing the River Dives, the latter to prevent German reinforcements approaching the landings from the east.〔Cole, pp.79–80〕 The division's two parachute brigades, landing in the early hours of 6 June, were scattered across the countryside during the parachute drop. Most of the battalions could only muster around sixty per cent or less of their total strength on the drop zones (DZ). They did carry out all of their objectives, however, before the 6th Airlanding Brigade arrived by gliders to reinforce them at 21:00 that evening. The 6th Airborne Division, now with the commandos of the 1st Special Service Brigade under command, had to defend the Orne bridgehead. This was not an easy task as it had to face elements of the 21st Panzer Division from the south and the 346th and 711th Infantry Divisions from the east.〔 The airborne division's brigades prepared to hold the positions they had captured, with the 5th Parachute Brigade, as the division's depth formation, dug into the east of the River Orne bridge.〔Harclerode, p.327〕 The 6th Airlanding Brigade was in the south between Longueval and Hérouvillette.〔Harclerode, pp.338–339〕 The two remaining brigades dug in along a ridge of high ground that, if lost, offered the Germans a position to look down on the British landing zone. The 1st Special Service Brigade was in the north on a line from Hameau Oger to Le Plain. In between the commandos and the airlanding brigade was the 3rd Parachute Brigade.〔 Their defensive line, however, was incomplete, as the small village of Bréville-les-Monts, between the commandos and the 3rd Parachute Brigade, was held by the Germans. Located on the ridge line it gave the Germans a view into Ranville, at the heart of the British position, the two captured bridges and in the distance Sword beach.〔Ferguson, p.19〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Bréville」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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