Stele 7th Armored Division

Stele in tribute to the soldiers of the 7th British Armoured Division.

Stele text:
Remember with honor and gratitude those of the 7th Armored Division who fought and died here for freedom on 06/13/1944.

On the morning of June 13, elements of a British armored battalion and a motorized battalion of the 7th armored division approached Villers-Bocage from the northwest. German Captain Michael Wittmann, who had arrived just the day before, had set up with six tanks to the east of the town. In what was one of the most offensive actions by a small unit in the Second World War, he charged the British column with his tank, engaging the British vehicles at point-blank range before skirting and crossing the British lines in the village. The other tanks in this small German group destroyed other British vehicles. British material losses were considerable. This battle was significant not for the number of troops involved, but for the fact that it ended the possibility of taking the city of Caen in the early days of the Battle of Normandy. Caen was an objective to be taken on D-Day (June 6) by the British 2nd Army. The capture of Caen and the bridges over the Orne by British troops would have given the Allies a stronger position on the eastern flank of the Normandy front. (Source Wikipedia)

Stele in tribute to the soldiers of the 7th British Armoured Division. Stele text: Remember with honor and gratitude those of the 7th Armored Division who fought and died here for freedom on 06 13 1944. On the morning of June 13, elements of a British armored battalion and a motorized battalion of the 7th armored division approached Villers-Bocage from the northwest. German Captain Michael Wittmann, who had arrived just the day before, had set up with six tanks to the east of the town. In what was one of the most offensive actions by a small unit in the Second World War, he charged the British column with his tank, engaging the British vehicles at point-blank range before skirting and crossing the British lines in the village. The other tanks in this small German group destroyed other British vehicles. British material losses were considerable. This battle was significant not for the number of troops involved, but for the fact that it ended the possibility of taking the city of Caen in the early days of the Battle of Normandy. Caen was an objective to be taken on D-Day (June 6) by the British 2nd Army. The capture of Caen and the bridges over the Orne by British troops would have given the Allies a stronger position on the eastern flank of the Normandy front. (Source Wikipedia)