On the farther bank, guides led it to an assembly area north-west of Rees. The H.L.I., fighting in this phase under the154th Brigade, was the first Canadian unit across. Strickland) began crossing the Rhine in Buffaloes under “sporadic shelling”. 80% of the town was destroyed and it lost 3,000 of its inhabitants.At 4:25 AM on the morning of 24 March the four rifle companies of The Highland Light Infantry of Canada (Lt.-Col. 30,000 Anglo-Canadian soldiers were killed. It was a Pyrrhic victory, with a devastating toll. Instead of one day, it took the Allies six weeks to capture the city. With the simultaneous Operation Atlantic, entrusted to the Canadians, the town was entirely liberated on 19 July 1944. At dawn on 18 July 6,000 tons of bombs were dropped over eastern Caen. Montgomery launched Operation Goodwood to capture the right-bank. The left-bank was liberated, together with the Ilot Sanitaire, an emergency hospital and refuge, which sheltered some 20,000 civilians. During Operation Charnwood the British and Canadian troops reached the bridges of the Orne on 9th July. The previous day the town had been bombarded by 450 bombers of the Royal Air Force and 2,600 tons of bombs had been dropped, killing 300 civilians. In the morning of 8 July, 115,000 men and 500 tanks of the British 1st Corps attacked. A few weeks later Montgomery decided to capture Caen in a frontal attack, that became known as Operation Charnwood. Within a few days the offensive was stopped at the foot of hill 112. The so called Epsom Operation brought together 60,000 men with the intention of getting around Caen across the Odon River. A further attack was planned with the British 8th Corps. On 13 June the offensive was stalled in Villers-Bocage by German Tiger tanks.
The next few days General Montgomery attempted to take Caen by a pincer movement and attacked the city from the northeast and southwest. Firmly positioned to the north and west of the city, two Panzer Divisions prevented the Allies from capturing the city in the first two days. On 6 June 1944 Caen was the main objective for the British 3rd Infantry Division, that had landed on Sword Beach.
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