Operation Charnwood took place from 8 to 9 July, to capture Caen and prevent the transfer of German armoured units from the Anglo-Canadian front in the east to the American sector. Hill was an intermediate objective on the way to the River Orne crossings but such was the German reaction, that the 23rd Hussars were only able to capture and hold the hill with difficulty. The first battle for Hill was fought at the end of Operation Epsom, when the tanks of 11th Armoured Division broke out from a bridgehead established by the 2nd Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanderspart of th Highland Infantry Brigade 15th Scottish Infantry Divisionat Tourmauville. A stone memorial to the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division was built on the hill in the late s. The British advance went well at first but fighting for Hill took all day and Maltot changed hands several times.īritish operations of the Second Battle of the Odon conducted in the Odon valley continued in July and the 53rd Welsh Infantry Division occupied Hill almost unopposed on 4 August, after the Germans withdrew during Operation Cobra and Operation Bluecoat further west. It was hoped that the initial objectives could be captured by a.
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