06/16/2025
The British are still focused on Caen, despite the defeat at Villers-Bocage the day before. The 7th Armored had been forced to abandon the town, but today a large air bombardment of towns and villages in front of the Brits/Canadians is used to facilitate a breakthrough and recapture of Villers-Bocage. However, German tactics have evolved. They hold outposts with a thin screen connecting them. The main forces are kept to the rear. After a bombardment, the main forces push into the bombed areas to counterattack. These tactics work as the 7th Armored’s attack is unsuccessful. Tiger tanks with their 88 mm guns continue to wreak havoc on Allied tanks. And 88mm anti-tank guns give the Desert Rats flashbacks to North Africa.
On the American front, Gen. Collins’ VII Corps continues its drive to cut the Cotentin Peninsula. The village of Bonneville is captured, but progress is slowed despite encountering German forces that are much inferior to the forces facing the British at Caen. The Germans make great use of the bocage to turn the offensive into a series of battles over individual fields.
The German 8.8 cm. Flak gun is considered one of the greatest weapons of WWII. It was so iconic that its name became synonymous with anti-aircraft fire defending German cities. British and American air crews called those nasty bursts “flak”. Designed as only an anti-aircraft gun, it wasn’t long before Germans realized it also made an awesome anti-tank weapon. It first became famous in the desert of North Africa. The Germans called it the “acht, acht”, but the Anglo-Americans referred to it as the “eighty eight”. Allied soldiers described it as “anti-aircraft, anti-tank, and anti-social”.
