St. Martin de Fontenay

After Operation Goodwood's failure, French Canadian infantry units were ordered to take and hold Saint Martin de Fontenay, a village south of Caen. Once taken British armor could push southward and link up with American forces. Two previous assaults by …

1944-08-01

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After Operation Goodwood's failure, French Canadian infantry units were ordered to take and hold Saint Martin de Fontenay, a village south of Caen. Once taken British armor could push southward and link up with American forces. Two previous assaults by the Regiment de Maisonneuve were repulsed by the men of the 9th SS Panzer Division. The Germans fortified the medieval church in Saint Martin and converted it into their HQ. This commanding position provided excellent observation of this sector of the battlefield. A third assault was planned for 1 August by the men of D Company, Regiment Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, commanded by Major Dextraze. The attack kicked off at false dawn and met stiff Resistance. Major Dextraze personally took command of the Fusiliers and led the assault home, successfully evicting the SS troops. The Falaise road was opened!

St. Martin de Fontenay, France

Operation Atlantic was a Canadian offensive during the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. The offensive, launched in conjunction with Operation Goodwood by the Second Army, was part of operations to seize the French city of Caen and vicinity from German forces. It was initially successful, with gains made on the flanks of the Orne River near Saint-André-sur-Orne but an attack by the 4th and 6th Canadian Infantry Brigades of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, against strongly defended German positions on Verrières Ridge to the south was a costly failure.

Wikipedia: Operation Atlantic

German

Canadians