Landing during the night of June 6, the airborne forces captured key bridges and artillery positions east of Caen.
Britain had declared war in 1939 to maintain the balance of power in Europe; merely being on the winning side would not be enough to secure British war aims, with the rise of the USSR and the US as superpowers. At Operation Perch was intended to create the threat of a British break-out to the south-east of Caen by XXX Corps, with the I Corps was delayed moving into position because the state of the Channel slowed the arrival of follow-up divisions and its attack was delayed until 12 June. The British also emphasised support for the infantry and tanks by all arms and provided plenty of equipment and ammunition, while the Germans had to improvise and lurch from crisis to crisis.In 2006, Stephen Badsey wrote that the 6th Airborne Division achieved its objectives on 6 June but the scattering of the US airborne divisions on the western flank, led the Germans to believe that the Allied The Germans persisted with counter-attacks after 6 June and Badsey wrote that the invasion could only have been defeated by a fundamental change in the German defensive scheme, implemented several months before the invasion. Still, day by day, the bodies of their fellow-citizens are being dug out of the ruins.By the end of the Battle for Caen, the civilian population of Caen had fallen from 60,000 to 17,000. The 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade attack on Bernières and St Aubin sur Mer met determined German resistance, and the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade followed on as the tide rose higher and faster than usual, which narrowed the beach, making traffic jams at the beach exits much worse. As the German counter-offensive faltered a "roping-off" policy would be substituted to hold the ground dominating the road axes around the In April 1944, Hitler imposed a compromise in which the 21st, 2nd and 116th Panzer divisions were subordinated to Command of the German defences of the Western Front was conducted by Hitler through There was no continuous second position but field guns and anti-tank guns were dug in 2–4 mi (3.2–6.4 km) behind the coast and infantry reserves were billeted in villages, to contain a breakthrough until mobile reserves arrived.The naval bombardment and bombing by the Allied air forces failed to have the destructive effect on German beach defences hoped for, and in many places Allied infantry, engineers and tanks had to fight their way forward. A force of several thousand ships assaulted the beaches in Normandy, supported by approximately 3,000 aircraft. Royal engineers clearing mines and traps in the ruined city, Caen 1944Landing during the night of June 6, the airborne forces captured key bridges and artillery positions east of Caen.