Operation Goodwood Over The Battlefield

444 Pages·2005·18.64 MB·English

by  Ian Daglish

First published in Great Britain in 2005 by
Pen & Sword Military
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Ltd
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 2AS
Copyright © Ian Daglish, 2005
9781783034888
The right of Ian Daglish, to be identified as Author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical
including photocopying, recording or by any information
storage
and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in
writing.

Typeset in 10pt Palatino by Pen & Sword Books Limited
Printed and bound in England by CPI UK

Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of
Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Maritime, Pen & Sword
Military,
Wharncliffe Local History, Pen & Sword Select,
Pen & Sword Military Classics and Leo Cooper.
For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact
PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England
E-mail: [email protected] • website: www.pen-
and-sword.co.uk

To my father , Tony Daglish: 1922 – 2005
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
Title Page
Dedication
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
FOREWORD
NOTES ON TERMINOLOGY
Chapter 1 - JULY, 1944: THE OPPONENTS
Chapter 2 - MID-JULY: THE APPROACH TO BATTLE
Chapter 3 - 18 JULY, DAWN: THE BOMBING
Chapter 4 - 18 JULY MORNING: THE BRITISH TANK RUN
Chapter 5 - 18 JULY, MORNING: THE GERMAN RESPONSE
Chapter 6 - 18 JULY, MID-MORNING: THINGS FALL APART
Chapter 7 - 18 JULY, MIDDAY: THE RIDGE AND THE
CAULDRON
Chapter 8 - 18 JULY, AFTERNOON AND EVENING:
TWILIGHT OF AMBITION
Chapter 9 - 19 & 20 JULY: THE END AND THE RECKONING
APPENDIX I - THE GOODWOOD BATTLEGROUND
APPENDIX II - ARMY MAPS AND MAP REFERENCES
APPENDIX III - TELLING THE TIME
APPENDIX IV - ARMOUR IN COMBAT DURING GOODWOOD
APPENDIX V - LESSONS LEARNED FROM GOODWOOD
APPENDIX VI - 11TH ARMOURED DIVISION GOODWOOD
ORDER OF BATTLE 18 JULY, 1944
APPENDIX VII - 21. PANZERDIVISION GOODWOOD ORDER
OF BATTLE 18 JULY, 1944
APPENDIX VIII - BOMBING THE GOODWOOD
BATTLEFIELD
APPENDIX IX - THE QUESTION OF THE CAGNY ‘88s’
APPENDIX X - MIKE WETZ
INDEX
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author remains deeply indebted to the many historians
and old soldiers who have made the lengthy process of
researching this book such a rewarding experience.
Thanks are extended to the custodians of the primary
material so valuable to researchers: David Fletcher, Historian
at The Tank Museum, Bovington; Allan Williams, Air Photo
Archive Manager at The Aerial Reconnaissance Archive (TARA)
at Keele University; David Porter at the Tactical Doctrine
Retrieval Cell (TDRC); Peter Elliott at the RAF Museum,
Hendon; and Stephen Walton, Archivist at the Imperial War
Museum, Duxford. Though sadly stripped of its time-honoured
title of ‘Public Record Office’, the ‘National Archives’ at Kew
remains despite its drab and utilitarian new name a vital asset:
its staff as helpful as ever and its treasures no less valuable.
Alderley Edge Library has consistently triumphed in locating
rare and out-of-print works needed by the author. Personal
insights have come from several former soldiers on both sides
of the action: Bill Close and Jim Caswell of 3rd Royal Tank
Regiment; Richard Freiherr von Rosen and Alfred Rubbel of
503. schwere Panzer-Abteilung; Patrick Delaforce and Denis
Handford of 13th Royal Horse Artillery. Further help has come
from the growing body of keen historians striving to solve the
remaining puzzles of the Normandy campaign: Alain Verwicht,
Didier Lodieu, Bernard Paiche, and Jean-Claude Perrigault.
Charles Markuss has freely shared his comprehensive
knowledge of the German Army; both he and Friedrich Tichy
have assisted with German nomenclature and translations.
Very special thanks are extended to Kevin Baverstock,
cartographer and Normandy historian, for his continued
encouragement and image processing expertise.