![]() ![]() Any opportunity to exploit the gap had been permanently lost. The division’s losses were substantial, having lost 70 of their 124 tanks. And, upon witnessing the Allied airborne reinforcements (even though these subsequently veered off east), the division eventually fell back to just north of Caen. No reserves were available to reinforce the 21st. The effect was largely psychological, rather than destructive, halting the British advance for the day.ĭue to the scattered deployment of the German armoured divisions before D-Day, this breakthrough could not be exploited. However, Kampfgruppe Rauch (192nd Panzer Grenadier) penetrated around the left flank, finding a gap between British and Canadian forces west of Lion-sur-Mer. They were able to take out 16 Panzer IVs for no losses. Lô surely felt that Armageddon was upon them. ![]() 4th Armored Division Normandy and Cobra On the morning of 25 July 1944, the German forces opposing the US 12th Army Group in and around St. This delayed response meant that British armour had time to establish itself on Perriers Ridge. The main body of troops sailed for England from Boston harbour in December 1943 and finally landed in Normandy on Utah Beach on 11 July 1944. However, conflicting orders and an impromptu reorganisation of the division, as well as a severe delay caused by having to negotiate the freshly bombed streets of Caen, meant that even the 21st’s reaction to the D-Day landings was far slower than it might have been. They were instrumental in stifling the British hopes of reaching Caen during their initial attack. General Erich Marcks to Colonel Hermann von Oppeln-Bronikowski.Īs it was, the 21st Panzer Division was the only German armoured division poised to launch any counterattack during the Allied landings on D-Day. If you don’t succeed in throwing the British into the sea we shall have lost the war. Had the former been chosen, the outcome of D-Day may have been very different. Instead, the adopted method was to hold them in reserve further inland as a counterattack force. Had Rommel had his way, the 21st and other Panzer divisions would have been positioned with a mind for coastal defence. The division was reconstituted in June 1943 in Normandy, where it remained on garrison duty until the fated Allied invasion of June 6 1944. You can read more about the 21st and its role in Africa here. Under the command of Feldmarschall Erwin Rommel, the 21st Panzer Division was originally one of the two armoured divisions that made up the Deutsches Afrikakorps in the North African campaigns of 1941-1943. Falaise, Epsom, Oboe Following the Normandy break-out and the capture of Caen by Allied forces, a huge envelopment of German forces in Normandy began. ![]()
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