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Operation Astonia was the codename for the Allied effort to capture the German-held Channel port of Le Havre, France, during World War II. Fought from 10–12 September 1944, its objective was to secure the fortress city's harbor facilities intact to aid the Allied supply system on the Continent. However, due to extensive damage the port was not ready for use until mid October 1944, a partial tactical failure. The attack was carried out by the British 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division and the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division, aided by elements of Canadian forces and action from naval and aviation units. After a substantial softening up Royal Navy bombardment ships and heavy raids by the Royal Air Force the city fell within three days of the first infantry assault. ==Background== On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Allied troops landed at beaches in the Normandy area of the north coast of France in Operation Overlord to begin the liberation of France. Plans for the invasion required four ports on the French coast to be captured to allow Allied forces to be reinforced and supplied: Le Havre, Dieppe, Calais, and Dunkirk. After crossing the river Seine British I Corps and II Canadian Corps, under First Canadian Army and forming the left flank of Montgomery's 21st Army Group, were tasked to fan out and capture respectively the ports of Le Havre and Dieppe and then clear the coastal belt as far as Bruges. Dieppe was evacuated by the Germans and occupied by the 2nd Canadian Division on 1 September 1944.〔 Considered one of the strongest fortifications in the Atlantic Wall, Le Havre was also aided by strong natural defences that included bodies of water preventing access from the south, east and west.〔 The north side of the port was heavily fortified, with a deep and wide anti-tank ditch stretching across the entire approach, pillboxes fitted with anti-tank and machine guns and 1,500 mines.〔 Intelligence before the attack estimated there were between 7,300 and 8,700 soldiers in the city, of which 4,000 were artillery troops, 1,300 were naval personnel and the rest a mixture of low-quality infantry and a battalion from the recently constituted 36th Grenadier Regiment〔 formed out of the survivors of the 36th Infantry Division after its destruction at Bobruysk in Belarus in June 1944. 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「Operation Astonia」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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