Second Battle of the Odon
1944 battle in the Second World War / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Second Battle of the Odon comprised operations fought by the British Second Army during the Second World War. Attacks took place in mid-July 1944 against Panzergruppe West, as part of the Battle of Normandy. Operations Greenline and Pomegranate were intended to draw German attention away from Operation Goodwood, an attack from the Orne bridgehead on 18 July.
Second Battle of the Odon | |||||||
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Part of Battle for Caen | |||||||
Vicinity of operations Greenline and Pomegranate | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom | Germany | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
General Miles Dempsey | General Heinrich Eberbach | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
6 infantry divisions 5 tank/armoured brigades |
4 infantry divisions 3 Panzer divisions 1 heavy tank battalion | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
3,000–3,500 | c. 2,000 | ||||||
The British wanted to prevent the Germans from withdrawing panzer divisions from opposite the Second Army to create an armoured reserve which could oppose the First US Army during the Operation Cobra offensive in the west. The operations in the Odon valley kept three German armoured divisions in the front line west of Caen, away from the Goodwood battlefield, east of the Orne.[lower-alpha 1]