BARON-SUR-ODON Calvados - 7 km west of Caen
The VIIIth Corps was assigned to cross Odon
 The objective of the Operation Epsom was to capture the bridges on the river Odon, and established a bridgehead to get a departure base for the advance toward Falaise. Three Allied Army Corps launched the assault on 26 June 1944. In the middle of the offensive, General O'Connor VIIIth Corps seized Saint-Manvieux and Cheux, but the progression met fierce resistance of the Hitlerjugend SS grenadiere and Panzers. The next day, the attack was renewed and, in the end of the afternoon, a bridgehead was set up on the river Odon. On 28 June, the 23rd Hussars cross Baron-sur-Odon, and took Hill 112, but the British were finally pinned down by several ambushed German Tiger. On 29 June, the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division settled in Baron-sur-Odon in spite of German snipers harassment. Then the VIIIth Corps diged in, and awaited the counter-attack of the Ist and IInd SS Panzer-Korps.
  
     
   
 
     
 

43th Wessex Infantry Division monument
 Monument dedicated to the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division soldiers, who gave their lives for freedom in June and July 1944, in the fighting for the Fontaine castle capture, and the liberation of Maltot and Eterville. A British Churchill tank stands next to the monument.
 Situation : at the edge of the D8 road, in Baron-sur-Odon area
 
 
     
  British Churchill tank
Slow and heavily armoured, this tank was outdated but its many versions made it the second most manufactured British tank of the Second World War.
Situation : near the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division monument
 
  Bois Calloué stele
 Stele remembering the fierce fighting that took place here in June and July 1944.
 Situation : take a path 200 meters along starting from the 43rd Wessex Infantry Division monument
 
  General Mac Intosh-Walker plaque
 Plaque remembering a tragic event that took place in Baron-sur-Odon in the night of 15 to 16 July. A German shell fell on the command post of the 227th Infantry Brigade, killing Brigadier Mac Intosh Walker and several staff officers.
Situation : on the cemetery wall, near the church
  British soldiers plaque
 Plaque in memory of the British soldiers fallen in Normandy, and for the liberation of Baron-sur-Odon.
 Situation : on the War Memorial in the centre of the town
   
ROAD MAP
 
INTERESTING WEB SITES

Personal web site about Hill 112 fighting
http://www.hill112.com/index2.htm
Personal web site - veterans memories, D-day, Normandy...
http://www.normandy1944.info/
Personal web site about D-day and Normandy battle
http://www.dday-overlord.com/index.htm

 
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