Tiger Vs Churchill - Hill 112

That's surprising actually, you don't hear as much about the Churchill on the battlefield. In the old historical footage I usually see Fireflies and Cromwells.

 

Just finishing 'Tank Tracks: 9th Battalion Royal Tank Regiment at War, 1940-45
Peter Beale'.

Great book, with details and stories of warfare by the soldiers themselves.

I did not know the insects and mosquitos were so nasty that the soldiers were covered with blisters....

 

Kai what is mentioned on this battle in your book title ? still looking for the ultimate book on this carnage if there is indeed one printed ........ ?

I note both web-sites I posted earlier are still up and running but both have shown no updates for some while

 

Operation Jupiter, the plans for which had been drawn up some days before, had the strategic objective of bringing German armour back to the British front ( instead of the US side ), and the tactical objective of reaching River Orne south of Caen. The spesific objectives were: On the right flank Hill 112, on the left flank Chateau de Fontaine, Eterville,Maltot.

9 July: reports showed that I corps was breaking into Caen from the north and east. By 1800 hrs all Caen north of the river Orne had been captured;Carpiquet aerodrome and the road Verson-Caen were also reported clear. Operation Jupiter was now possible.

10 July

At 0300 hrs the battalion moved to FUP area Fontainen-Etoupefour. The move was covered by artillery, and no difficulties were encountered.

Phase I. At 0500 hrs B squadron advanced with 5th Dorsets and in fifteen minutes Les Daims had been taken and only machine-gun fire had been encountered. It was known that elements of 10th SS panzer divisions threatened the left flank and twelve Panthers were reported roaming in the area of Eterville.A troop of 17-pounder self-propelled AT guns took up positions to guard against this threat while B squadron pushed on to the Chateau. At 0614 the objective was reported secure with the infantry firmly established on the line of the road from Fontaine-Etoupefour to Maltot.

Phase 2: by 0635 hrs C sqaudron were advancing to Eterville with the 4th Dorsets. As 4th Dorsets neared Eterville B squadron moved up and gave added support from the right flank, destroying two anti-tank guns. By 0735 hrs Eterville had been taken and B squadron rallied north of Les Daims.

Phase 3: At 0815 hrs A squadron advanced between B and C squadrons supporting 7th Hampshires in their attack on Maltot.Up to now the whole attack had gone perfectly, but at 0835 hrs A squadron was severely worried by anti-tank fire from four German SP´s in the area of the orchards just north of Maltot.

On the right of 9 RTR, 7 RTR were attacking Hill 112 in support of 129 Brigade. They had made substantial progress, but at 0933 hrs strong enemy counter-attack was made on hill 112. The right flank of 9 RTR´s advance was thus enfiladed, and anti-tank fire was also reported from the high ground dominating Maltot to the west of River Orne. Two Tigers were in Maltot making the advance of the infantry extremely difficult and A squadron´s movement was hampered by a troop of Tigers on the southern slope of Hill112, firing north-east.

At 1156 hrs A squadron were still struggling to support the infantry in Maltot who were now confronted with another Tiger. The German infantry were now counter-attacking, and only nine tanks of A squadron were left.

By 1200 hrs 2 i/c A squadron reported that he had only four tanks capable of fighting. Further reports stated that counter-attacks were being made with tanks and infantry from north-east and south-west of Maltot.

From 1300 to 1600 hrs there was a stalemate, the enemy making no attempts to push their counter-attack any further.A new plan was devised , and the advance began at 1640 hrs. Despite antitank fire from south-west of Maltot C squadron had put the infantry into the village by 1700 hrs. Ten minutes later C squadron were being shot at from the rear, for once again enemy tanks had infiltrated under cover of the spur north-east of Hill112. Eight Tigers were also moving in on the left flank, and the infantry were pulling out of Maltot.

At 1935 hrs C squadron was also forced to withdraw under the cover of supporting fire from B squadron. At 2030 hrs all tanks rallied at the FUP; later they moved to join A Echelon north-east of Mouen to replenish and collect reinforcements.

Druing this day the battalion suffered 65 casualties, of whom 22 were killed, 34 wounded, and nine taken prisoner. Sixteen tanks had been knocked out, of which six were recoverable.

 

Some Hill 112 shots from IWM Collections:
Imperial War Museum Collections Online Database

Cheers,
Adam.

 

I really like that first picture.

 

Me too.
I just hope those poor buggers finished the day alive.

 

great photo lot von P.

Kai it is interesting to note that the 10th W-SS Panzer regiment was quite understrength so much so that it never received a Panther Abteilung during Normandie. the Panthers may have been from the 9th SS which was in support of the 10th......it is a tad confusing, the Tigers from the 102nd W-SS Schw. Pz Abt.

 

thereis imo no reason a 3.7in aa gun could not have been stuck on a churchill,none at all.too many lazy old men patting themselves on the back at leyland...good chap,a 6pdr will do.4th wilts

 

ready for the magic wand...here we go.

 

If you were to aquaint yourself with the physical size of the 3.7 then you would understand the error of your claim

 

Of course, what the British probably should have done was have Bomber Command just carpet bomb the hill and surrounding countryside like the US did further south. Panzer Lehr ceased to exist after one of these raids. No reason the British couldn't have pulled the same thing.

 

Do you know what town I am from?

HINT: It begins with "L"

 

I imagine he means Leyland the company Joe.
Though if I recall, they had little or nothing to do with developing the Churchill, working on producing A13, Covenanter, Cromwell, Comet & Cent as complete vehicles and providing engines for the Matilda.
The insult is probably intended against Vauxhall as the Churchill's 'parent' company, though as neither firm had anything to do with the choice of Armament and worked to specifications laid down by the Tank Boards and war office I remain, as ever, puzzled .

Back to the actual events of Hill 112...

Just remembered this.
Strong stuff from The Tank Museum a while back, relating to a veteran of those actions:
Hill 112 Churchill veteran faces his demons.


Cheers,

Adam.

Edit: Bovington's updated it's website, so the link has died, truncated version here:
MOD_112_Veteran
& cached Bovington article (sans pictures) here;
Cached Google article on Ray 'Flash' Gordon.

 

i am not sure of the exact date,its in a book somewhere,but maj.gen pip roberts,smashed his 11th armd div,onto hill 112,but was ordered to withdraw because the div was out on a limb.does anyone agree with me that the 11th armd div should have dug in.
with 4 armd regts,motor bn,inf bde and other arty regts etc,it would imo been in a very strong position,with t.a.f during daylight,and wot not.yours,4th wilts.

 

Yes, I know.
A while ago almost all the schools emptied into Leyland, It was the biggest employer in the area I think.

 

i do not remember writing about an m10 g.m.c,either.a late war churchil,with said rr meteor engine,and a new turret designed around a 3.7in A.A.gun.could it have worked?,well imho yes,despite others protestations.
i am an engineer,and worked in a large firm of some note,and the old men were quite content,building slowly.us young troublemakers,as they called us ,tried in vain to change manufacturing techniques,but were shouted down,or else.....silly old men,waiting for retirement..4th wilts.

 

I am sorry I took the original question about 3.7 in AA guns as a serious query. There is no point in responding to a poster who is not able to see the obvious

 

if jerry can somehow stick an 88mm derived A.A gun in a tank,the russians can somehow stick an 85mm derived A.A.gun in a tank,why oh why could the british not do a similar thing with 3.7in...90mm derived A.A.gun?

 

dear m-kenny,that is not nice.i would never say anyone had head problems.that is nasty,not required.4th wilts.