Battle of Bréville 1944
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 13 June 1944 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1944 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Operation Overlord | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 49.2403, 0.2262 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Bréville was fought by the British 6th Airborne Division and the German 346th Infantry Division, between 8 and 13 June 1944, during the early phases of the invasion of Normandy in the Second World War.
In June 1944, units of the 346th Infantry Division occupied Bréville-les-Monts, a village on a watershed between the rivers Orne and Dives. From this vantage point, they could observe the positions of the 6th Airborne Division, defending the River Orne and Caen Canal bridges and beyond them the British Sword at Ouistreham. Following several German attacks on British positions from Bréville-les-Monts, the capture of the village became essential to secure the 6th Airborne Division positions and protect the Allied beachhead.
The British attack occurred over the night of 12/13 June 1944, when Major-General Richard Nelson Gale committed his only reserves, the 12th (Yorkshire) Parachute Battalion, a company from the 12th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment and the 22nd Independent Parachute Company. To support the attack, a tank squadron from the 13th/18th Royal Hussars and five regiments of artillery were assigned to the division. The assault had to negotiate both the British and German artillery fire, which killed or wounded several men, including some senior officers.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Bréville (revision 1378086505), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Operation Overlord
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- Battle of La Haye-du-Puits 1944
- Falaise pocket 1944
- Liberation of Paris 1944
All 8 battles of the Operation Overlord →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · World War II era battles