Operation Charnwood

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Battle of Normandy
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During World War II, Operation Charnwood (Allies, 1944) had the objective to capture Caen and its surroundings during the Battle of Normandy. Caen had been a D-Day objective for the British 2nd Army and the Canadian 1st Army. The capture of Caen and its surrounding plain was considered important to allow the Allies space to build airfields. Caen sat astride the Orne river, so its capture would give the British and the Canadians a foothold across it. Repeated attempts were made to seize the city in June and July 1944.

Charnwood included the use of heavy bombers to shock and destroy German defenders, clear obstacles and boost the morale of the hard-pressed British and Canadian Infantry. It started at 9:50 p.m. on July 7, 1944 when 467 Allied aircraft dropped 2,300 tons of bombs on the city. In forty minutes, the medieval city was reduced to rubble. This was the first time Bomber Command used heavy bombers tactically. The attack front was 4,000 yards wide. Naval gunfire was also used in the operation.

The major effects of the bombing were counterproductive. Because the bombs were dropped on an urban area, many French civilians were killed. The shock value was ineffective because the bombing was not followed by an immediate assault, while the defenders were stunned. Instead the ground attack started the following morning at 4:30 a.m. July 8th. Finally, the bombers used very heavy bombs (500 and 1,000 pounders) which created huge piles of rubble. This actually had the effect of delaying Allied tank movement into the city. After the capture of the city, a survey to determine the bombing's effectiveness found that there was virtually no sign of enemy gun positions, tanks, or German dead in the target.

A lesson learned from Charnwood was to use light bombs in huge quantities, to avoid the massive rubbling of the attack area. This lesson was applied to operations that followed such as Operation Goodwood and to a lesser extent, Operation Cobra.

Charnwood was a limited tactical success for the Allies. The west end of Caen was captured but the eastern half including the Colombelles steel works (with its high observation points) remained in German hands. As one of a series of British attacks in Normandy, it contributed to the impending sense of stalemate felt in high Allied command in July. However, in the strategic sense it aided the Allied objective in Normandy by continuing the German belief that the main Allied offensive would happen in the British sector. Ultimately that German focus helped win the Normandy campaign for the Allies.