Attack on Panzer Group West's headquarters at La Caine

Attack on the Panzer Group West HQ
Part of the Battle of Normandy
Modern photograph of the château (Panzergruppe West HQ, 1944)
Date 10 June 1944 Location La Caine, France 49°02′07″N 0°31′08″W / 49.03528°N 0.51889°W / 49.03528; -0.51889Coordinates: 49°02′07″N 0°31′08″W / 49.03528°N 0.51889°W / 49.03528; -0.51889 Result Allied success
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Nazi Germany
Commanders and leaders
Arthur Coningham	Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg
Units involved
RAF Second Tactical Air Force No. 124 Wing RAF No. 181 Sqn No. 182 Sqn No. 247 Sqn No. 137 Wing No. 139 Wing	HQ of Panzergruppe West
Strength
40 Hawker Typhoon fighter-bombers 61 B-25 Mitchell medium bombers
Casualties and losses
None recorded	Killed: Sigismund-Helmut von Dawans and 17 staff officers Wounded: Geyr von Schweppenburg

RAF Second Tactical Air Force

The RAF raid on the Panzergruppe West headquarters at La Caine in Normandy was an attack by the Second Tactical Air Force of the Royal Air Force (RAF) on 10 June 1944. The attack was made on the château at La Caine, north of Thury-Harcourt which was the base of the headquarters of Panzergruppe West, the command organisation for German armoured forces in France. Several staff officers were killed in the attack and the Panzergruppe commander, General Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg was wounded. The headquarters was withdrawn to Paris, a counter-offensive being prepared against the Allied beachhead was postponed and the headquarters command functions were taken over by the headquarters of the I SS Panzer Corps; Panzergruppe West remained non-operational until 28 June.

During the Battle of Normandy, the headquarters of Panzergruppe West was established in the château at La Caine. On 8 June, the location of the headquarters was revealed to British Intelligence by Ultra. On 10 June, aircraft of the Second Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF) bombed the village. The raid was carried out by 40 rocket-armed Typhoons of No. 124 Wing, consisting of numbers 181, 182 and 247 squadrons and No. 245 Squadron of No. 121 Wing, that attacked in three waves from low altitude and by 61 B-25 Mitchells of No. 137 and 139 wings, comprising Nos. 226, 98, 180 and 320 (Dutch) squadrons, dropping 500-pound (230 kg) bombs from 12,000 feet (3,700 m).

No. 180 Squadron, headed by Wing Commander Lynn, (the 139 Wing Commander Flying), led the formation, escorted by 33 Spitfires. 42 Typhoons took part in the operation, eight were fighters armed with four 20 mm cannon and the other 34 also carried RP-3 rockets (sources vary slightly on the number of aircraft on the operation). The Typhoons attacked in two waves thirty minutes apart. The first wave of 17 aircraft from 181 and 247 Squadrons, fired 136 rockets from 2,000 feet (610 m) on the parked vehicles and the château as the Mitchells accurately dropped 536 500-pound (230 kg) bombs on the target.

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Wikipedia