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Operation Charnwood was an offensive by British and Canadian troops that took place from 8 to 9 July 1944, during the Battle for Caen in the Second World War. The operation was intended to at least partially capture the German-occupied French city of Caen ((:kɑ̃)), which was an important objective for the Allies during the opening stages of Operation Overlord, the codename for the Battle of Normandy. It was also hoped that the attack would forestall the transfer of German armoured units from the Anglo-Canadian sector to the lightly screened American sector, where a major American offensive was being planned. The British and Canadians advanced on a broad front and by the evening of the second day had taken Caen up to the Orne and Odon rivers. Preceded by a controversial bombing raid that destroyed much of Caen's historic Old City, Operation Charnwood began at dawn on 8 July, with battalions of three infantry divisions attacking German positions north of Caen behind an artillery creeping barrage. Supported by three armoured brigades, the forces of the British I Corps made gradual progress against the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend and 16th Luftwaffe Field Division. By the end of the day the 3rd Canadian and 3rd British and 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry divisions had cleared the villages in their path and reached Caen's outskirts. Moving into the city at dawn the following morning, the Allies encountered resistance from remnants of German units who were beginning a withdrawal across the Orne. Carpiquet airfield fell to the Canadians during the early morning and by 18:00, the British and Canadians had linked up and were on the Orne's north bank. Discovering Caen's remaining bridges to be defended or impassable and with German reserves positioned to oppose their crossing, I Corps closed down the operation. With the capture of northern Caen and the many casualties inflicted on the German defenders, Operation Charnwood was a mutually costly tactical success for the Allies. Operationally, the Germans retired from north of the Orne River but did not stop sending formations to the American front. The Germans established another defensive line along two ridges to the south of the city. The Allies maintained the initiative and began Operation Goodwood and Operation Atlantic a week later, in which the rest of Caen was secured. ==Background== The Norman city of Caen was one of the D-Day objectives for the British 3rd Infantry Division which landed on Sword Beach on 6 June 1944.〔Williams, p. 24〕 The capture of Caen, while "ambitious", was the most important D-Day objective assigned to British I Corps under Lieutenant-General Sir John Crocker, The initial Overlord plan called for the British Second Army to secure the city and then form a front line from Caumont-l'Éventé to the south-east of Caen, to acquire space for airfields and to protect the left flank of the United States First Army while it moved on Cherbourg.〔Ellis, p. 78〕 Possession of Caen and its environs would give Second Army a suitable staging area for a push south to capture Falaise, which could then be used as the pivot for a swing left to advance on Argentan and then towards the Touques River.〔Ellis, p. 81〕 The terrain between Caen and Vimont was especially attractive to Allied planners, being open, dry and conducive to swift offensive operations. Since the Allies greatly outnumbered the Germans in tanks and mobile units, creating the conditions for a fluid, fast moving battle was to their advantage.〔Van Der Vat, p. 146〕 The British 3rd Infantry Division came ashore as planned but was hampered by congestion in its beachhead, diversions en route and the late arrival of much of its armoured support. The division was unable to assault Caen in force and its lead elements were brought to a halt short of the outskirts.〔Cawthorne, p. 41〕〔Van der Vat, p. 114〕 Later attacks failed as the German defenders were reinforced by the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend.〔 On 7 June the British began Operation Perch, a pincer attack by I Corps and XXX Corps, to encircle Caen from the east and west flanks.〔Ellis, p. 250〕 The I Corps attack south of the Orne River was halted by the 21st Panzer Division and the XXX Corps attack to the west of Caen was contained near Tilly-sur-Seulles by the ''Panzer-Lehr Division''.〔Van der Vat, p. 139〕 To force the Panzer-Lehr Division to withdraw the British 7th Armoured Division attacked the western flank of the division on 13 June, through a gap created by the U.S. 1st Infantry Division, to reach high ground near Villers-Bocage.〔D'Este, p. 172〕 In the Battle of Villers-Bocage the 7th Armoured Division vanguard was ordered to retire and the Panzer-Lehr Division held its positions until XXX Corps captured Tilly-sur-Seulles on 19 June.〔Taylor, p. 76〕〔Clay, pp. 262–263〕 The next British offensive, codenamed Operation Epsom, was launched by VIII Corps on 26 June, after Operation Martlet (also known as Operation Dauntless) a preliminary attack on 25 June, to secure the right flank of VIII Corps.〔Clark, p. 21〕〔〔Ellis, p. 275〕 VIII Corps advanced to the west of Caen on a front from Rauray to Carpiquet.〔Hastings, p. 138〕 Once across the Odon and Orne rivers, VIII Corps was to make for high ground near Bretteville-sur-Laize and encircle Caen.〔Clark, pp. 32–33〕〔Clark, pp. 31–32〕 The Germans managed to contain the offensive by committing all their strength, including two the 9th SS-Panzer Division ''Hohenstaufen'' and 10th SS-Panzer Division ''Frundsberg'' of the II SS Panzer Corps, which had been sent from the Eastern Front soon after the D-Day and had been intended for a counter-offensive against Bayeux.〔Hart, p. 108〕〔Wilmot, p. 334〕〔Reynolds (2002), p. 13〕 On 27 June, the 8th Infantry Brigade (1st Suffolk Regiment, 2nd East Yorkshire Regiment, 1st South Lancashire Regiment) of the 3rd Infantry Division, supported by the Staffordshire Yeomanry, of 27th Armoured Brigade, and specialist armour from the 79th Armoured Division, launched Operation Mitten. The objective was to seize the German-occupied Château la Londe and Château le Landel. The initial evening assault, led by the 1st Battalion, South Lancashire Regiment was repulsed but the following morning further attacks gained the objectives and destroyed several German tanks. Operation Mitten cost at least three British tanks and had it succeeded quicker, the 9th Brigade, supported by the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade, would have launched Operation Aberlour, to capture the villages of la Bijude, Épron, Galmache, St. Contest, Authie and Cussy but this follow-up operation was cancelled by Lieutenant-General J. T. Crocker the I Corps commander. The area of the Châteaux was later called the "bloodiest square mile in Normandy".〔〔Fortin, p. 30〕 and 268 men.〔Scarfe, pp. 68–69〕〔〔Copp (2003), p. 113〕〔 Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt, supreme commander of the German forces in the west (OB West), directed on 1 July that Caen should be gradually abandoned and the bulk of the German armoured divisions be shifted to the west end of the beachhead against the U.S. First Army but the city and its surroundings were considered by the German Armed Forces High Command (OKW) to be fundamental to the defence of Normandy.〔Keegan, p. 187〕 OKW wanted an arc of defensible terrain from the English Channel to the western banks of the Orne to be held and Adolf Hitler sacked Rundstedt and replaced him with Generalfeldmarschall Günther von Kluge.〔Daglish, p. 36〕〔D'Este, p. 251〕 Learning of this through Ultra, the Allied ground forces commander, General Bernard Law Montgomery, planned an offensive to capture Caen and to prevent a large redeployment of German forces from the Anglo-Canadian sector to the American front.〔D'Este, p. 305〕 On 4 July, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division launched Operation Windsor, to seize Carpiquet and the adjacent airfield from the 12th SS-Panzer Division.〔Copp (2003), p. 99〕 Carpiquet fell on 5 July, the airfield remained in German hands.〔Van der Vat, p. 150〕 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 Charnwood」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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