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CRISTOT
Calvados - 15 km west of Caen
The Polar bears in the Norman bocage
Mid-June
1944, the Operation Perch starts west of Caen. The 8th Armoured Brigade
tanks came in the vicinity of Tilly-sur-Seulles. A German counter-attack
of Panther tanks was pushed back at hill 103. On 11 June, the 6th
Green Howard, with support of the 4/7th Dragoon Guards Sherman, launched
the attack east of Cristot. Near Les Hauts Vents, the British met
with strong resistance of the 12nd SS Panzer-Division Hitlerjugend.
German machine guns and anti tanks fire caused heavy losses in the
British soldiers ranks, who had to pull back. On 16 June, the 146th
Brigade of the 49th West Riding Infantry Division, under command of
General Barker, renewed the assault with all available support : artillery,
armoured, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy. The 1/4th Battalion
The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry entered Cristot, but the Germans
had left the town clear.
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49th Infantry Division plaque
