Operation Perch
| Operation Perch | |||||||
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| Part of the Battle for Caen | |||||||
 Centaur IV tank of the Royal Marines Armoured Support Group near Tilly-sur-Seulles |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom
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 Germany
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Bernard Montgomery Miles C. Dempsey Gerard Bucknall
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Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg Sepp Dietrich
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| Strength | |||||||
| 1 Armoured Division 2 Infantry Divisions 2 Armoured Brigades |
3 Panzer Divisions 1 Infantry Division 1 heavy tank battalion |
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
Coordinates: 49°05′N 0°39′W / 49.083°N 0.650°W
Operation Perch was a British offensive of the Second World War which took place from 7–14 June 1944, during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy. The operation was intended to encircle and seize the German occupied city of Caen, which was a D-Day objective for the British 3rd Infantry Division in the early phases of Operation Overlord. Operation Perch was to begin immediately after the British beach landings with an advance to the south-east of Caen by XXX Corps. Three days after the invasion the city was still in German hands and the operation was amended. The operation was expanded to include I Corps for a pincer attack on Caen.
Next day XXX Corps in the west, pushed south to Tilly-sur-Seulles but then encountered the Panzer-Lehr Division and the village changed hands several times. I Corps began the eastern thrust two days later from the Orne bridgehead, which had been secured in Operation Tonga by elements of the British 6th Airborne Division on D-Day. I Corps was also delayed by constant counter-attacks of the 21st Panzer Division. With mounting casualties and no sign of an imminent German collapse, the offensive east of Caen was suspended on 13 June.
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