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{{Short description|Allied liberation of Le Havre in WW2}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=Operation Astonia
|partof= The [[Western Front (World War II)|Western Front]] in the [[Second World War]]
| image= The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 BU859.jpg
| image_size = 300px
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* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[49th (West Riding) Infantry Division|49th Infantry Division]]
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[51st (Highland) Division|51st Infantry Division]]
* {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[
* {{flagicon|Canada|1921}} [[1st Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment|1st Armoured Carrier Regiment]]
|strength2={{flagicon|Nazi Germany}} Fortress cadre unit:
* [[226th Infantry Division]]
* * battalion, Security Regiment 5
* marines and naval personnel
|casualties1=388–500<br />40 armoured vehicles
|casualties2= 600 killed<br />11,300 captured
|casualties3 =
|campaignbox =
{{Campaignbox
{{Canadian military actions in World War II}}
}}
'''Operation Astonia''' was the codename for an [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] attack on the German-held [[
From 26 August, [[Royal Navy]] ships and [[Royal Air Force]] aircraft carried out a blockade and an extensive preparatory bombardment of the city, which killed over 2,000 civilians and 19 German troops. The land attack was carried out by British infantry, aided by specialist armoured vehicles from the [[79th Armoured Division]], including Canadian troops. The German garrison of about 11,000 men surrendered on 12 September; the port was badly damaged but it was re-opened on 9 October.
==Background==▼
▲==Background==
===Invasion of Normandy===
{{main|Operation Neptune}}
On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Allied troops landed in [[Normandy]] on the north coast of France in [[Operation Overlord]] and began the [[Liberation of France#Liberation of France|liberation of France]].{{sfn|Ellis|2004|p=6}} On D-Day, Allied aircraft laid a smoke screen off Le Havre to blind the coastal artillery; a torpedo-boat flotilla and a flotilla of patrol ships sailed from the port, using the smoke for camouflage. The German boats managed to fire 15 torpedoes off the Orne at 05:30, hit and sink {{HNoMS|Svenner|G03|6}} and forced several other ships to take evasive action.{{sfn|Ellis|2004a|p=199}}{{sfn|Doherty|2004|p=125}}{{efn|In June 1944, the chief of ''Kriegsmarine'' Group Command West (Admiral [[Theodor Krancke]]) had five torpedo boats, 50 minesweepers and 21 patrol vessels at Le Havre.{{sfn|Ellis|2004a|p=519}}}} On 6 July, Allied ships reported an "unusual object" passing through the Trout line, the eastern flank of the invasion area.
▲[[File:TVA Marder.JPG|thumb|{{centre|''Neger'' (sic) midget submarine}}]]
▲On D-Day, 6 June 1944, Allied troops landed in [[Normandy]] on the north coast of France in [[Operation Overlord]] and began the [[Liberation of France#Liberation of France|liberation of France]].{{sfn|Ellis|2004|p=6}} On D-Day, Allied aircraft laid a smoke screen off Le Havre to blind the coastal artillery; a torpedo-boat flotilla and a flotilla of patrol ships sailed from the port, using the smoke for camouflage. The German boats managed to fire 15 torpedoes off the Orne at 05:30, hit and sink {{HNoMS|Svenner|G03|6}} and forced several other ships to take evasive action.{{sfn|Ellis|2004a|p=199}}{{sfn|Doherty|2004|p=125}}{{efn|In June 1944, the chief of ''Kriegsmarine'' Group Command West (Admiral [[Theodor Krancke]]) had five torpedo boats, 50 minesweepers and 21 patrol vessels at Le Havre.{{sfn|Ellis|2004a|p=519}}}} On 6 July, Allied ships reported an "unusual object" passing through the Trout line, the eastern flank of the invasion area. The object was fired on, launched a torpedo and sailed away. Several more objects appeared soon after, well dispersed and were also fired on. The devices managed to sink two minesweepers for a loss of nine sunk and fifteen losses from all causes of the 26 that had sailed from Le Havre; it was later found that they were ''[[Neger]]'' midget submarines of the ''[[K-Verband]]'' (Small Battle Units).{{sfn|Doherty|2004|p=188}}{{sfn|Brown|1990|p=115}} On the night of {{nowrap|7/8 July,}} 21 ''Neger'' left Le Havre and all were sunk, most of their operators being killed, for one British minesweeper sunk and the Polish cruiser [[HMS Dragon (D46)|ORP ''Dragon'']] damaged and scuttled off Sword Beach.{{sfn|Doherty|2004|p=188}}{{sfn|Brown|1990|p=115}}
===June–August===
[[RAF Bomber Command]] attacked Le Havre in the evening 14 June, twenty-two [[
Admiral [[Theodor Krancke]], then Chief of ''Kriegsmarine'' Group Command West, called the raid a catastrophe and in the war diary wrote "It will be hardly possible to carry out the operations planned...since yesterday's attack on Le Havre". Some E-boats reached Le Havre in mid-June but by the end of July, only six E-boats on the channel coast were operational.{{sfn|Ellis|2004a|p=243}} The Navy formed the Support Squadron Eastern Flank, a group of small gun-armed vessels, which came inshore during the day to bombard land targets and patrolled offshore at night. The squadron fought many engagements with E-boats and ''K-Verband''; on the night of {{nowrap|2/3 August,}} the Germans sent twenty ''Linsen'' (explosive motor boat) sorties, over fifty [[Marder (submarine)|''Marder'']] (midget submarines) and several E-boat attacks with new ''Dackel'' TIIId circling torpedoes; most of the German craft were sunk.{{sfn|Roskill|1998|pp=391–392}} The night sorties by E-boats transferred to Le Havre after D-Day sank a [[Motor Torpedo Boat]], two [[Landing Ship, Tank]], three merchant ships, two landing craft and two tugs; six E-boats were sunk and ten damaged in the exchanges.{{sfn|Ellis|2004a|p=143}}
===''Festung'' Le Havre===
{{See also|Operation Maple}}
[[File:Baie-du-Havre 14 07 2005.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|{{centre|Le Havre in 2005}}]]
Le Havre was the most important of the [[Channel Ports]] and second only to Marseilles amongst French ports for tonnage capacity, having {{
sides, the Channel to the west, the valley of the Lézarde River to the east and to the south by the estuary of the Seine estuary the Canal de Tancarville.{{sfn|Stacey|1960|p=332}} North of Le Havre, the ground rises steeply to high ground as far as the cliffs of Cap de la Hève and the coast to the north. The Lézarde and Fontaine river valleys cut the area into two plateaux, the north plateau being between the rivers and the south plateau to the south and west of the Fontaine, which overlooks the port; {{
The Germans had dug an anti-tank ditch from the Lézarde valley past [[Montivilliers]] to the coast at [[Octeville-sur-Mer]], covered by minefields, barbed wire and concrete defensive positions. At the crest of the southern plateau, two fortified positions covered the town and port entrance and the Grand Clos coastal artillery battery could engage approaching ships. The garrison had 115 guns, plenty of machine-guns and mortars (many of its anti-tank guns were sent to Normandy before September and lost) ammunition and supplies for 14,000 men for ninety days.{{sfn|Saunders|Richards|1975|p=190}}{{sfn|Shulman|2003|p=215}}{{sfn|Ellis|2004|p=13}} Near Fontaine La Mallet lay Strongpoint 8, with several concrete gun emplacements, the first of a series to cover the northern approaches to the port. The minefields and tank obstacles had been hurriedly built and were superimposed on an earlier and unfinished scheme based on strongpoints. West of Strongpoint 8 the ground is unsuitable for tanks but from the strongpoint to the Lézarde the ground is flat and unobstructed, with a gentle {{
===Crossing the Seine===
{{main|Operation Paddle|Operation Fusilade}}
Allied invasion plans required that the [[First Canadian Army]] (General [[Harry Crerar]]) on the left flank of the [[21st Army Group]] (General [[Bernard Montgomery]]) should cross the Seine downstream of Rouen and turn left into the Le Havre peninsula to make right-handed flanking manoeuvres to capture Le Havre and its railway connections, [[Dieppe]], [[Calais]] and [[Dunkirk]], for the Allied supply effort.{{sfn|Ellis|2004a|p=81}}{{sfn|Stacey|1960|p=329}} On the night of 26/27 August, the crossing of the [[Seine]] by the First Canadian Army began and Rouen was captured on 30 August. [[I Corps (United Kingdom)|I Corps]] improvised means to get over the lower Seine, which was not bridged and [[II Canadian Corps]] did the same further upriver. The two corps were ordered to capture Le Havre and Dieppe respectively and then clear the coastal belt up to [[Bruges]].{{sfn|Ellis|2004a|p=465}}{{sfn|Ellis|2004|p=6}}
==Prelude==
===German defences===
{{Location map+ |Seine-Maritime|AlternativeMap=Seine-Maritime department relief location map.jpg|width=250|float=right |caption={{centre|Relief map of [[Le Havre]] and the [[Pays de Caux]]}}|places=
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{{Location map~ |Seine-Maritime|lat=49.4194|long=0.2325|label=[[Honfleur]]|position=bottom |label_size=60 |marksize=6}}
}}
On 14 August 1944, Colonel [[Hermann-Eberhard Wildermuth]] took command of the fortress and later put the effective strength of the garrison at around 8,000 men, from a total of more than 11,000 personnel. Wildermuth had a ''[[Festungs Stamm Abteilung]]'' (fortress cadre unit) elements of the [[
Before the attack, the defenders were given an ultimatum and called upon to surrender; Wildermuth countered by requesting that civilians should be evacuated, given that his orders from Hitler were to hold ''[[Festung]]'' Le Havre to the last man. Wildermuth appealed to British humanity and repeated his offer ===Allied preparations===
A naval and air bombardment was planned to soften up the Le Havre fortifications. The battleship {{HMS|Warspite|03|6}} and the [[Monitor (warship)|monitor]] {{HMS|Erebus|I02|6}}, bombarded the port with more than {{cvt|4000|LT}} of shells over several days.{{sfn|Copp|2006|p=59}} On 5 September, ''Erebus'' was forced temporarily out of action by a hit from the ''Grand Clos'' battery, which had one {{cvt|14.8|in}} and two {{cvt|170|mm|order=flip}} guns; the port defences also had 44 medium and field guns and 32 anti-aircraft guns.{{sfn|Stacey|1960|p=332}}{{efn|Some guns were French or Czech which made ammunition supply awkward.{{sfn|Stacey|1960|p=332}}}}
===Allied plan===
[[File:Map commune FR insee code 76351.png|thumb|{{centre|Modern map of Le Havre (commune FR insee code 76351)}}]]
During the [[Western Front (World War II)|North-west Europe Campaign]] (6 June 1944 – 8 May 1945), British specialist tanks were held in the [[
==Assault==
===10 September===
[[File:The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 BU855.jpg|thumb|{{centre|[[Churchill tank]] crews watch the RAF bomb the defences of Le Havre, 10 September 1944}}]]
East of Strongpoint 8 the ditch was near the top of the slope down to the stream, with the minefield in front. The [[
With the assistance of specialist units from the [[ ===11–12 September===
On the second day, the attack continued with support from [[Hawker Typhoon]]s and armoured vehicles; facing the threat of [[Churchill Crocodile]] flame
==Aftermath==
===Analysis===
Despite the weather, Allied bombing greatly hampered the German defence of the port; the final attack, just before the Allied ground operation began on 10 September, prompted by the experience of [[Operation Charnwood]], caused much disorganisation among the defenders. The attack was a model of a combined operation in which the British advantage in set-piece attacks backed by massed firepower, was efficiently exploited. Much emphasis had been placed on maintaining the momentum of the attack, the usual caution in attack being relaxed to exploit any sign that the defenders were collapsing.{{sfn|Buckley|2014|pp=193, 195}}
===Casualties===
In the British official history, [[Lionel Ellis]] recorded the capture of 11,300 German prisoners for fewer than 500 Allied casualties.{{sfn|Ellis|2004|p=15}} In 1960, Charles Stacey, the Canadian official historian, gave 11,302 prisoners and 388 casualties in I Corps.{{sfn|Stacey|1960|p=336}} In 2014, John Plant wrote that the 22nd Dragoons lost 29 of its 33 flail tanks and two command tanks, the 222nd Assault Squadron lost five AVRE and that six tanks were lost by the 7th RTR but that most of the damage had been caused by mines and was repairable
==Notes==
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==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=David |title=Warship Losses of World War Two |publisher=Arms and Armour |location=London |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-85368-802-0}}
* {{cite book |title=Monty's Men: The British Army and the Liberation of Europe |last=
* {{cite book |first=Terry |last=Copp |title=Cinderella Army: The Canadians in Northwest Europe, 1944–1945 |year=2006 |publisher=University of Toronto Press
* {{cite book |ref={{harvid|Ellis|2004a}}|last1=Ellis |first1=Major L. F. |author1-link=Lionel Ellis |last2=Allen |first2=Captain G. R. G. |last3=Warhurst |first3=Lieutenant-Colonel A. E. |last4=Robb |first4=Air Chief-Marshal Sir J. |editor-first=J. R. M. |editor-last=Butler |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |series=[[History of the Second World War]] United Kingdom Military Series |title=Victory in the West: The Battle of Normandy |volume=I |publisher=
* {{cite book |ref={{harvid|Ellis|2004}}|last1=Ellis |first1=Major L. F. |author1-link=Lionel Ellis |last2=Allen |first2=Captain G. R. G. |last3=Warhurst |first3=Lieutenant-Colonel A. E. |last4=Robb |first4=Air Chief-Marshal Sir J. |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=Sir James |series=History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series |title=Victory in the West: The Defeat of Germany |volume=II |publisher=HMSO |location=London |edition=pbk. repr. Naval & Military Press
▲|first=Terry |last=Copp |title=Cinderella Army: The Canadians in Northwest Europe, 1944–1945 |year=2006 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location= |isbn=978-0-8020-3925-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Hinsley |first=F. H. |series=History of the Second World War |title=British Intelligence in the Second World War. Its influence on Strategy and Operations (abridged) |location=London |publisher=HMSO |year=1994 |orig-year=1993 |edition=2nd rev. |isbn=978-0-11-630961-7}}
* {{cite book |first=Field Marshal Bernard |last=Montgomery |series=Grey Arrow |issue=G80 |title=Normandy to the Baltic |publisher=Arrow Books |year=1961 |orig-year=1947 |oclc=65624728}}<!--couldn't find biblio details of a 1965 pub'n-->▼
* {{cite book |title=Infantry Tank Warfare |last=Plant |first=J.
* {{cite book |title=The Navy at War 1939–1945 |last=Roskill |first=S. W. |year=1998 |orig-year=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, MD |edition=Wordsworth, London |isbn=978-1-85326-697-3}}▼
▲|last1=Ellis |first1=Major L. F. |author1-link=Lionel Ellis |last2=Allen |first2=Captain G. R. G. |last3=Warhurst |first3=Lieutenant-Colonel A. E. |last4=Robb |first4=Air Chief-Marshal Sir J. |editor-first=J. R. M. |editor-last=Butler |editor-link=James Ramsay Montagu Butler |series=[[History of the Second World War]] United Kingdom Military Series |title=Victory in the West: The Battle of Normandy |volume=I |publisher=[[HMSO]] |location=London |edition=repr. Naval & Military Press, Uckfield |year=2004a |orig-year=1962 |isbn=978-1-84574-058-0 |display-authors=1}}
* {{cite book |title=Royal Air Force 1939–45: The Fight is Won |volume=III |last1=
* {{cite book |first=Milton |last=Shulman |title=Defeat in the West |publisher=Martin Secker & Warburg |location=London |year=2003 |orig-year=1947 |edition=repr. Cassell Military Paperbacks |isbn=978-0-304-36603-3}}▼
▲|last1=Ellis |first1=Major L. F. |author1-link=Lionel Ellis |last2=Allen |first2=Captain G. R. G. |last3=Warhurst |first3=Lieutenant-Colonel A. E. |last4=Robb |first4=Air Chief-Marshal Sir J. |editor-last=Butler |editor-first=Sir James |series=History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series |title=Victory in the West: The Defeat of Germany |volume=II |publisher=Naval & Military Press |location=Uckfield, UK |year=2004 |orig-year=1st. pub. [[HMSO]]:1968 |isbn=978-1-84574-059-7 |display-authors=1}}
* {{cite book |
▲|first=Field Marshal Bernard |last=Montgomery |series=Grey Arrow |issue=G80 |title=Normandy to the Baltic |publisher=Arrow Books |year=1961 |orig-year=1947 |oclc=65624728}}<!--couldn't find biblio details of a 1965 pub'n-->
▲|title=Infantry Tank Warfare |last=Plant |first=J. |authorlink= |year=2014 |publisher=New Generation |location=London |edition=rev. enl. |isbn=978-1-78507-158-4}}
▲|title=The Navy at War 1939–1945 |last=Roskill |first=S. W. |year=1998 |orig-year=1960 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |location=Annapolis, MD |edition=Wordsworth, London |isbn=978-1-85326-697-3}}
▲|title=Royal Air Force 1939–45: The Fight is Won |volume=III |last1=St George Saunders |first1=H. |last2=Richards |first2=D. |authorlink= |year=1975 |orig-year=1954 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |edition=pbk. |isbn=978-0-11-771594-3}}
▲|first=Milton |last=Shulman |title=Defeat in the West |publisher=Martin Secker & Warburg |location=London |year=2003 |orig-year=1947 |edition=repr. Cassell Military Paperbacks |isbn=978-0-304-36603-3}}
▲|last=Stacey |authorlink= |author2=Bond, Major C. C. J. |series=Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War |volume=III |title=The Victory Campaign: The operations in North-West Europe 1944–1945 |publisher=The Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery Ottawa |year=1960 |url=http://www.cmp-cpm.forces.gc.ca/dhh-dhp/his/docs/Victory_e.pdf |first=Colonel C. P. |accessdate=26 November 2017 |format=pdf |oclc=606015967}}
{{refend}}
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |first=Patrick |last=Delaforce |title=Churchill's Secret Weapons: The Story of Hobart's Funnies |publisher=Robert Hale |year=2000 |orig-year=1998 |isbn=978-0-7090-6722-1 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |first=Patrick |last=Delaforce |title=The Polar Bears: Monty's Left Flank: From Normandy to the Relief of Holland with the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division |publisher=Chancellor Press |year=1999 |orig-year=1995 |isbn=978-0-7537-0265-9 |ref=none}}
* {{cite journal |last=Delderfield |first=R. F. |
==External links==
* [http://www.normandythenandnow.com/a-photographic-record-of-the-storm-of-iron-le-havre-1944/ A photographic record of the storm of iron & fire; Le Havre 1944]
* [http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/1153/Smith%20William%20Douglas%20Home.pdf;sequence=1 Refusal of Orders: the
{{Liberation of France}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astonia}}
[[Category:Operation Overlord]]
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving Canada]]
[[Category:Land battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom|
[[Category:Battles of World War II involving Germany]]
[[Category:September 1944 events]]
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