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Attack on Panzer Group West's HQ
Part of Battle of Normandy
Modern photograph of the Chateau where Panzer Group West's headquarters was located.
Date 10 June 1944 Location La Caine, France Result HQ rendered non-operational
Belligerents
Aircraft of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force	HQ of Panzer Group West
Strength
40 Hawker Typhoon ground attack aircraft 61 Mitchells bombers
Casualties and losses
None recorded	Killed: Sigismund-Helmut von Dawans and 17 other staff officers Wounded: Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg

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The Attack on Panzer Group West's headquarters at La Caine in Normandy was an attempt by aircraft of the RAF's Second Tactical Air Force on 10 June 1944 to knock out the German control of troops.

The attack resulted in the death of the Panzer group commander and the breakdown of communications.

Attack

During the Battle of Normandy, the headquarters of Panzer Group West was established in the Chateau at La Caine. On 9 June 1944, only three days after the Normandy landings, the headquarters' new location was revealed to the British Intelligence by decyphering of German signals traffic. On 10 June 1944, aircraft of the Second Tactical Air Force bombed the village. The raid was carried out by 40 rocket-armed Typhoons which attacked in three waves from low altitude and by 61 Mitchells which dropped 500 lb bombs from 12,000 ft.

Casualties and damage

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

Effects

The HQ was rendered non-operational and withdrawn to Paris. German command of the sector was temporarily given to the I SS Panzer Corps. The attack destroyed the only western German Army unit capable of handling a large number of mobile divisions.

References

1. ^ "D-Day 1944 Air Power Over the Normandy Beaches and Beyond" (HTML). HyperWar Foundation. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
2. ^ RAF Air Historical Branch Records (typed manuscript), The Liberation of North-West Europe - Operation "Overlord", Volume 3 - The Landings in Normandy, pages 129 and 130.
3. "Liste des généraux morts durant la bataille de Normandie" (HTML) (in French). debarquement.com. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
4. "New Zealanders with the Royal Air Force – (Vol. II) - Chapter 10 Normandy" (HTML). New Zealand Electronic Text Service. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
5. Wilmot, C.: "The Struggle for Europe", pages 331 and 332. The Reprint Society, 1954
6. Murray, Williamson (July August 1984). "ULTRA: Some Thoughts on its Impact on the Second World War" (HTML). Air University Review. Air University. Retrieved 2007-09-30. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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