Operation Totalise

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Operation Totalise

A Cromwell tank and jeep pass an abandoned German PAK 43/41 gun during Operation Totalise, 8 August 1944.

Date	August 7 – August 13, 1944
Location	Normandy, France
Result	Allied victory

Combatants

Allied Powers

Germany

Commanders

Lieutenant General Guy Simonds

SS General Kurt Meyer

Strength

2 infantry divisions,
2 armoured divisions,
2 armoured brigades

3 infantry divisions,
1 SS Panzer Division

Battle of Normandy
Sword – Juno – Gold – Omaha – Utah – Pointe du Hoc – Brécourt Manor – Chicago – Villers-Bocage – Cherbourg – Epsom – Goodwood – Atlantic – Spring – Cobra – Bluecoat – Lüttich – Totalise – Tractable – Falaise – Brest – Paris

Note: In North American texts, this often appears as "Operation Totalize".

During World War II, Operation Totalise (Allies, 1944) was a ground attack on 7 August 1944 by British, Canadian and Polish forces to breakout from the Normandy beachhead along the Caen-Falaise road. Although the attack failed in its objective, it did serve as a spoiling attack.

1 Background
2 Canadian II Corps plan
3 The Attack
4 German counter-moves
5 Results
6 Appearance in Culture
7 Notable facts
8 Sources
9 Notes
10 See also

[edit] Background

On July 23, the Canadian First Army's headquarters assumed control of the eastern sector of the Normandy beachhead. By this time, the Allies had finally captured the ruined city of Caen, but the German defences south of the city were still largely intact.

On July 25, the American Army had launched Operation Cobra which broke through the German lines facing the western sector of the beachhead. This threat caused the Germans to move most of their armoured units westward, leaving only the reinforced 12th SS Panzer Division to support the infantry defending the Caen area. (These were mainly the newly-arrived 85th Division. The German LXXXVI Corps commanded the troops in this sector.)

The Allies' land commander, General Bernard Montgomery, ordered the Canadian army to break through south of Caen and advance on Falaise, to prevent the Germans making an orderly withdrawal in the face of the American advance. The II Canadian Corps, under Lieutenant General Guy Simonds, was to make this attack.

[edit] Canadian II Corps plan

Simonds recognised that an infantry attack would take too long to prepare, while an attempt to rush the defences with armoured units would be costly in the face of anti-tank guns disposed in depth. (Operation Goodwood, launched three weeks earlier, had failed to break through the German lines while losing many tanks.)

Simonds's plan called for a surprise night attack without preliminary artillery bombardment. Aircraft of Bomber Command were to attack the flanks first, with artillery remaining silent until the attackers had crossed the Start Line. To allow the infantry to penetrate quickly through the German forward defences, Simonds made a radical innovation. When the self-propelled guns of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division were withdrawn to restore the regiments to their pre-invasion war establishment, the now-redundant M7 Priests had their guns removed and were refitted as APCs, known as Kangaroos. These, along with all other armoured cars and halftracks that could be acquired, would carry two infantry brigades forward, protected from machine-gun and artillery fire.

To assist navigation at night a number of methods were adopted. The leading tanks were equipped with radio direction finders and advanced on a radio bearing; target markers dropped by the bombers marked the boundaries of the attack; artificial moonlight improved visibility and light anti-aircraft units fired tracer parallel to the route of advance.

In a planned second phase, American heavy bombers of the Eighth Air Force would attack the German defences in depth while two armoured divisions would complete the breakthrough and exploit to Falaise.

[edit] The Attack

Late on August 7th, the attackers formed up in six columns of vehicles, four abreast and packed nose to tail. An hour before midnight, the British heavy bombers began their bombardment, and half an hour later, the advance began. Under 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, Canadian 2nd Armoured Brigade and Canadian 4th Infantry Brigade advanced west of the Caen-Falaise road. East of the road, under British 51st (Highland) Infantry Division were the British 33rd Armoured Brigade and British 154th Infantry Brigade.

In spite of the various aids to navigation, many drivers and commanders became disorientated by dust and smoke; several vehicles blew up on mines or became stuck in bomb craters. Nevertheless, the bulk of both columns captured their objectives near Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil before dawn. This success was achieved at probably only a fraction of the cost involved in a more laborious operation.

While the remaining infantry brigades cleared the bypassed German positions, the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division and Polish 1st Armoured Division moved forward to carry out the second phase of the attack.

[edit] German counter-moves

The commander of 12th SS Panzer Division (Kurt Meyer) personally rallied fleeing German infantry after the initial Allied bombardment, and occupied a hasty defensive position at Cintheaux, two miles south of the leading Allied troops. He then led two armoured battlegroups of his own division in an immediate counter-attack. ^[1]

While the counter-attack was unsuccessful, it did coincidentally place Meyer's tanks north of the target area heavy bombers of the US Eighth Air Force bombarded in preparation for the second phase of the Allied attack. These tanks, spared the effects of the bombing, slowed the advance of the Polish armoured division, preventing a breakthrough east of the road. West of the road, German infantry at Cintheaux likewise held up the Canadian armoured division. Neither armoured formation (both in action for the first time) pressed their attacks as hard as Simonds demanded, and "laagered" when darkness fell.

To restore the momentum of the attack, Simonds ordered a column from the Canadian armoured division to seize Hill 195, just to the west of the main road halfway between Cintheaux and Falaise. The column lost direction and was caught at dawn east of the road by German 88mm anti-aircraft guns. They held their ground during August 9 but suffered heavy casualties, including most of their tanks. They were forced to withdraw.

Because the column was so far from its intended objective, other units sent to relieve it could not find it. Eventually, another force captured Hill 195 in a model night attack on August 10, but the Germans had been given time to withdraw and reform a defensive line on the Laison River.

Canadian troops searching German prisoners captured during the early stages of Operation Totalize.
Credit: Harold G. Aikman / Canada. Dept. of National Defence / Library and Archives Canada / PA-162000

[edit] Results

Though they did not reach Falaise, Allied troops advanced eight miles and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy for 560 dead and 1,600 wounded.

[edit] Appearance in Culture

Private Cole in "Call of Duty 3" takes part in this operation (serving under the Canadians), and Corporal Bohater (serving under the Poles in 1st Armoured Division)

[edit] Notable facts

Totalise was the first operation in history commanded by a Canadian army-level headquarters; First Canadian Army became operational on the Continent just days before.
German tank commander Michael Wittman was killed during the battle; the identity of the Allied soldiers responsible for his demise has been the subject of some controversy. The question is examined in detail in No Holding Back (Brian Reid, Robin Brass Studios, 2004.)
Operation Totalise was followed by Operation Tractable.