The city of Caen, was without doubt, the greatest major obstacle stopping the advance inland for the allies who were landing in Normandy.
The failure to capture the city on D-Day was understandable, but to still not have possession   of the city at the beginning of July was becoming  unacceptable.
Montgomery's reputation was severely damaged, with the American allies demanding the victory needed at Caen to enable the Battle for Normandy to continue to a successful conclusion.

"Monty" was totally opposed to a direct frontal attack on Caen, he did not want to see such a beautiful city completely destroyed, neither did he relish the loss of hundreds of his British and Canadian soldiers.
The decision was taken to  attack the city from the west, deploying the British Second Army, under the command of Leftenant-General Dempsey, who was 2 I.C. to "Monty" himself.
The code name for this plan was :OPERATION EPSOM.

June 26th. after several diversionary attacks to the east, the main thrust moved into battle. The British V111 Corps were given the task to secure the city. 60,000 men along with 600 tanks moved forward!!
The German resistance was ferocious!!
Artillery was laid down in advance of the British troops, flame throwing tanks were used to clear any resistance, whole villages were raised to the ground.
The Germans troops here were of the highest calibre, none other than the dreaded Waffen SS.

June 29th. the 11 SS Panzer Corps who had been hurriedly transferred from the Eastern Front, along with two Waffen SS Divisions, counter attacked the British. The intensity of the German counter attack was so powerful that on the 30th June  R.A.F. Bomber Command were used to try and stop them. Eventually it took the combined efforts of the R.A.F. the
Royal Artillery, and massive tank defences to repel the German thrust.

The German counter attack, although stopped by the British, was successful for them as it brought Operation Epsom to a grinding halt.
The overall firepower of the German troops cannot be overstated, no less than Five Armoured Divisions were used : Four of which were Waffen SS.
They don't come any tougher than that!!

The picture to left shows the tough and brutal,

The morale of the front line troops in Normandy remained high, unlike the commanders back at SHAEF headquarters, who were rapidly losing confidence in Montgomery. The Americans in particular were beginning to question the wisdom of a British General being in overall command of the Allied Invasion Force.
General Eisenhower stayed calm and proved his leadership under pressure, by defending Montgomery against all the criticism, and allowing him to conduct the battle his way…..