Operation Martlet

Operation Martlet
Part of the Battle for Caen of the Second World War
Battle for Caen: Operation Martlet (left edge of map)
Date 25 June – 1 July 1944 Location Odon Valley, France 49°09′12″N 0°34′23″W / 49.15333°N 0.57306°W / 49.15333; -0.57306 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Gerard C. Bucknall Evelyn Barker	Kurt Meyer Otto Weidinger
Strength
49th (West Riding) Infantry Division 8th Armoured Brigade	12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend Kampfgruppe Weidinger of 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich 9th SS-Panzer Division Hohenstaufen
Casualties and losses
c. 772 (incomplete)	includes German losses during Operation Epsom: 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend 1,240 9th SS-Panzer Division Hohenstaufen 1,145 Kampfgruppe Weidinger 642 c. 48 tanks

Operation Martlet (also known as Operation Dauntless) was part of a series of British attacks to capture the French town of Caen and its environs from German forces during the Battle of Normandy of World War II begun by the Allies. It was a preliminary operation undertaken on 25 June 1944 by XXX Corps of the British Second Army, to capture Rauray and the area around Noyers. The attack was to protect the right flank of VIII Corps as it began Operation Epsom, an offensive into the Odon Valley west of Caen, on 26 June. The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division were to capture Juvigny-sur-Seulles, Vendes and Rauray, to prevent German counter-attacks against VIII Corps from the area of the Rauray Spur and then extend the attack towards Noyers and Aunay-sur-Odon. It was the first time in Normandy that the 49th (West Riding) Division operated as a division.

The attack front was held by the right flank of the Panzer Lehr Division and the left flank of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, with the support of 60–80 88 mm guns of the III Flak Corps. The attack failed to achieve its objectives by the end of 25 June and the 49th (West Riding) Division continued the operation until 1 July, when the division defeated a counter-attack by Kampfgruppe Weidinger of 2nd SS-Panzer Division Das Reich and the 9th SS-Panzer Division Hohenstaufen, which lost c. 35 tanks and other armoured vehicles. The II SS Panzerkorps, had been intended for a counter-offensive west of Caen towards Bayeux but was so depleted by the losses of operations Martlet and Epsom and the danger of another British offensive near Caen, that it was reduced to the static defence of the Odon valley.