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Attack on the Panzer Group West HQ
Part of Battle of Normandy
Modern photograph of the Chateau (Panzergruppe West HQ, 1944)
Date 10 June 1944 Location La Caine, France Result Allied success
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Nazi Germany
Commanders and leaders
Arthur Coningham	Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg
Units involved
RAF Second Tactical Air Force: No. 124 Wing RAF No. 181 Sqn No. 182 Sqn No. 247 Sqn No. 137 Wing No. 139 Wing	HQ of Panzergruppe West
Strength
40 Hawker Typhoon fighter-bombers 61 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers
Casualties and losses
None recorded	Killed: Sigismund-Helmut von Dawans and 17 staff officers Wounded: Geyr von Schweppenburg (Panzergruppe West commander)

The RAF raid on the Panzergruppe West headquarters at La Caine in Normandy was an attack by the Royal Air Force Second Tactical Air Force on 10 June 1944 at the Château at La Caine, north of Thury-Harcourt against the headquarters of Panzergruppe West, the command organisation for German armoured forces in France. Several staff officers were killed in the attack and the Panzergruppe commander, General Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg was wounded. The headquarters was withdrawn to Paris, a counter-offensive being prepared against the Allied beachhead was postponed and the headquarters command functions were taken over by the headquarters of the I SS Panzer Corps. Panzergruppe West remained non-operational until 28 June.

Attack

During the Battle of Normandy, the headquarters of Panzergruppe West was established in the Château at La Caine. On 8 June, the location of the headquarters was revealed to British Intelligence by Ultra. On 10 June, aircraft of the Second Tactical Air Force bombed the village. The raid was carried out by 40 rocket-armed Typhoons of No. 124 Wing, consisting of Nos. 181, 182 and 247 squadrons and No. 245 Squadron of No. 121 Wing, which attacked in three waves from low altitude and by 61 B-25 Mitchells of No. 137 and 139 Wings, comprising Nos 226, 98, 180 and 320 (Dutch) squadrons, dropped 500-pound (230 kg) bombs from 12,000 feet (3,700 m).

No. 180 Squadron, headed by Wing Commander Lynn, (139 Wing Commander Flying), led the formation, escorted by 33 Spitfires. 42 Typhoons took part in the operation, eight were fighters armed with four 20mm cannon, while the remaining 34 were also armed with RP-3 rockets. The Typhoons attacked in two waves 30 minutes apart. The first wave of 17 aircraft from 181 and 247 Squadrons, fired 136 rockets from 2,000 feet (610 m) on the parked vehicles and the Château as the Mitchells dropped 536 500-pound (230 kg) bombs accurately across the target. The second wave was "to clear up". The raid suffered no losses. German staff officers watched the aircraft through binoculars as they attacked and eighteen were killed.

Aftermath

Analysis

The attack destroyed the only western German Army organization capable of handling a large number of mobile divisions. The survivors were withdrawn to Paris and not ready to resume operations until 28 June. German command of the sector was temporarily given to SS-Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich and the I SS Panzer Corps. An armoured counter-attack against the Allied beachhead planned for 10 June was postponed for 24 hours and then cancelled. The appointment of new staff under General Eberbach and the preparation of plans for the German armoured counter-offensive were delayed by three weeks. The counter-attack never materialised as events overtook the situation. No German suspicions were aroused about Allied code breaking, because a reconnaissance aircraft had been seen before the raid.

Casualties

Eighteen members of the HQ staff were known to have died in the raid, including the chief of staff Generalmajor Sigismund-Helmut von Dawans. The group commander, General Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg was wounded. Although the château was not badly damaged, the nearby orchard in which the HQ vehicles were parked, was thoroughly bombed and communications equipment was destroyed.

Commemoration

After the war, von Dawans was buried at La Cambe German war cemetery.

Footnotes

1. Bennett 1979, p. 74.
2. Hallion 1994, p. 18.
3. Saunders 1954, p. 122.
4. Terraine 1985, p. 636.
5. Murray 1984.
6. Wilmot 1952, pp. 331–332.
7. Copp 2004, p. 84.
8. ^ AHB 1947.
9. Bennett 1979, p. 75.
10. Le Querrec 2007.
11. Thompson 1956, p. 288.

References

Books

• Air Ministry (1947). The Landings in Normandy. The Liberation of North-West Europe: Operation "Overlord". Vol. III. London: RAF Air Historical Branch Records (AIR 41/24 typed manuscript).
• Bennett, R. (1979). Ultra in the West: The Normandy Campaign 1944–1945 (Faber Finds 2009 ed.). London: Hutchinson. ISBN 978-0-571-25374-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Copp, T. (2004) . Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-3780-1. OCLC 56329119.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Hallion, R. (1994). D-Day 1944: Air Power Over the Normandy Beaches and Beyond. The U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II. Air Force History and Museums Program (U.S.). OCLC 624660056. Archived from the original on 9 May 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Saunders, H. St G. (1954). The Fight is Won. Royal Air Force 1939–45. Vol. III (revised 1975 ed.). London: HMSO. ISBN 0-11-771594-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Terraine, J. (1985). The Right of the Line: The Royal Air Force in the European War 1939–1945 (Wordsworth Editions 1998 ed.). London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 1-85326-683-3. {{cite book}}: ref stripmarker in |ref= at position 20 (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Thompson, H. L. (1956). New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force: European Theatre January 1943 – May 1945. Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45. Vol. II. Wellington, NZ: War History Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs. OCLC 270208181. Archived from the original on 23 March 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2014. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
• Wilmot, C.; McDevitt, C. D. (1952). The Struggle For Europe (Wordsworth, 1997 ed.). London: Collins. ISBN 1-85326-677-9. OCLC 39697844.

Websites

• Le Querrec, Michel (2006). "Liste des généraux morts durant la bataille de Normandie" (in French). debarquement.com. Archived from the original on 8 April 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

Journals

• Murray, W. "ULTRA: Some Thoughts on its Impact on the Second World War". Air University Review (50-2). Air Force Recurring Publication (July–August 1984). Air University. ISSN 0002-2594. Retrieved 30 September 2007.

1. Terraine 1985.

External links

• RAF Historical Society Journal: The Overlord Campaign

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