Operation Astonia

Operation Astonia Part of Siegfried Line Campaign Churchill bridgelayers, Sherman flail tanks and infantry during the assault on Le Havre, 13 September 1944 Date 10–12 September 1944 Location Normandy, France Result Allied Victory Belligerents  United Kingdom Canada  Germany Commanders Harry Crerar Percy Hobart Evelyn Barker T.G.Rennie Eberhard Wildermuth Strength 45,000 troops including specialised AVRE vehicles[1] at least 12,000 Casualties and losses less than 500, including 35 armoured vehicles[2] 600 killed 11,300 captured[2]

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Operation Astonia was a battle fought during the Siegfried Line Campaign of World War II from 10 September 1944 to 12 September 1944.^[3] The Allied objective of the operation was the capture of the German-held port of Le Havre. The attack on a fort described by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery as "one of the strongest fortresses of the Atlantic Wall"^[2][4] was a combined attack with elements of both the Canadian and British armed forces and participation from naval and aviation units, and has been described as 'a model of combined operations', with the fort falling within three days of the first assault.^[3]

Background

On 6 June 1944 Allied troops landed at various beaches on the north coast of France as the start of Operation Overlord, with the goal being the liberation of France. Plans for the invasion required four^[2] ports on the French coast to be captured as to allow Allied forces to be reinforced and supplied. The first port at Dieppe was liberated by the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division on 1 September 1944, and Le Havre was selected as the next target.^[2]

Le Havre was considered one of the strongest fortifications in the Atlantic Wall, and had a series of strong natural defences; bodies of water completely prevented access from the south, east and west.^[2] The north side of the port was heavily fortified, with a 6/7 meter deep and 3 meter wide anti-tank ditch stretching across the entire approach, pillboxes fitted with anti-tank and machine guns and 1,500 mines.^[2] Intelligence before the attack estimated there were between 7,300 and 8,700 soldiers in the city, of which 4,000 were artillery troops, 1,300 were naval personnel and the rest were a mixture of low-quality infantry and a battalion from the 36th Grenadier Regiment.^[2]

Preparations

Plans called for a massive artillery bombardment to soften up the fortifications. As such two Royal Navy vessels, HMS Warspite and HMS Erebus bombarded the port for several days, firing more than 4,000 tons of shells.^[3] In addition the aircraft of the Royal Air Force assaulted the defences in a 3-day long attack that saw 1,900 bombers drop 8,200 tons of high explosive bombs on the city.^[2]

Assault on Le Havre

The assault began at 1745 hours on 10 September, with both naval vessels engaging the coastal batteries defending the port and RAF bombers dropping approximately 5,000 tons of bombs in an attack ninety minutes prior to the two divisions conducting their assault.^[4] The attack was divided into two phases; firstly to penetrate the German defences to allow further forces to attack and secondly to further these gains and capture the city. With the assistance of specialist units from the 79th Armoured Division and the 1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment, such as Kangaroos and Sherman Crab vehicles, the first part of the assault proceeded swiftly, with gaps cleared through the minefield and anti-tank ditches breached.^[2] The 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division breached the north-eastern section of the Le Havre perimeter first, followed by the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division.^[4] The assault was costly for the specialised armour, however, with the 79th Armoured Division losing 29 Crab tanks and 6 AVRE vehicles.

The first phase continued into the second day with support from various aircraft and armoured vehicles, and the last strongpoints of the outer defences finally surrendered at 1400 hours after they were threatened with the use of Churchill Crocodiles. On the third day of the assault the town centre was finally cleared by elements of both divisions, and the German garrison commander officially surrendered the port at 1145; 12,000 German troops were captured and interned as prisoners of war.^[2][4]

Aftermath

The port had been successfully captured with few military casualties. The civilian damage, however, was severe; the artillery and air assaults had destroyed 350 ships and 18 kilometres of docks, as well as 15,000 buildings, significantly reducing the usefulness of Le Havre as a supply port.^[2]

British officer William Douglas-Home was imprisoned for his refusal to participate in the operation after civilians were not allowed to be evacuated.

References

Bibliography

• Montgomery, Field Marshal Bernard (1965). Normandy to the Baltic. Grey Arrow. 
• Copp, Terry (2006). The Canadians in Northwest Europe, 1944-1945. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 9780802039255. 
• Delaforce, Patrick (2000). Churchill's Secret Weapons: The Story of Hobart's Funnies. Robert Hale Ltd. ISBN 0709067224. 
• Delafoce, Patrick (1999). The Polar Bears: Monty's Left Flank: From Normandy to the Relief of Holland with the 49th Division. Chancellor Press. ISBN 0753702657.