Accompanied by the 31st Tank Brigade, the 15th (Scottish) Division made steady progress and by the end of the first day had overrun much of the German outpost line, although some difficulties remained in securing the flanks.

In mutually-costly fighting over the following two days, a foothold was secured across the River Odon and efforts were made to expand this, by capturing tactically valuable points around the salient and moving up the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division.

Many casualties were suffered by both sides but unlike General Bernard Montgomery, the Allied commander in Normandy, Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel was unable to withdraw units into reserve after the battle, as they were needed to hold the front line.

The intention was to acquire space for airfields and to protect the left flank of the US First Army (Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley), while it fought the Battle of Cherbourg.

In such an event 3 British Division will contain the enemy in CAEN and retain the bulk of its forces disposed for mobile operations inside the covering position.

[2][page needed] Possession of Caen and its surroundings would give the Second Army a suitable staging area for a push south to capture Falaise, which could be used as the pivot for a swing left to advance on Argentan and then towards the Touques River.

[6][7] To force Panzer-Lehr to withdraw or surrender and to keep operations fluid, part of the 7th Armoured Division pushed through a gap in the German front line near Caumont and captured Villers-Bocage.

[8][9] The Battle of Villers-Bocage led to the vanguard of the 7th Armoured Division being ambushed and withdrawing from the town but by 17 June, Panzer Lehr had also been forced back and XXX Corps had taken Tilly-sur-Seulles.

[14] Planning began for a second offensive, Operation Dreadnought, from the Orne bridgehead by the British VIII Corps (Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor), outflanking Caen from the east.

[17] On 20 June, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the commander of Heeresgruppe B (Army Group B), was ordered by Hitler to launch a counter-offensive against the Allies between the towns of Caumont-l'Éventé (Caumont) and Saint-Lô.

[39] Informed during the afternoon that a big British offensive was under way further east, SS-Standartenführer Kurt Meyer of 12th SS Panzer called off the counter-attack and ordered his tank companies to return to their positions south of Rauray.

The Germans in Rauray, which had not been captured the previous day, were able to subject the British brigades to observed artillery and indirect tank fire, causing considerable casualties and destruction, especially in Cheux.

The Highlanders immediately ran into stiff opposition from elements of the 12th SS Panzer Division and despite artillery support were unable to advance all day, fighting that was costly for both sides.

[60][62] For the rest of the morning and afternoon, the Scottish infantry and the 4th and 29th Armoured brigades expanded the salient north of the Odon and secured the rear of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.

[63] During late evening the men of the 159th Infantry Brigade (11th Armoured Division) were transported in trucks through the narrow "Scottish Corridor" to Tourville, where they dismounted and crossed the Odon on foot to reinforce the bridgehead.

At 0810, General Friedrich Dollmann, the 7th Army commander, ordered SS-Obergruppenführer Paul Hausser to divert the II SS Panzer Corps, to counter-attack south of Cheux.

[69] The German command was thrown into disarray by Dollmann's sudden death, when Rommel and Gerd von Rundstedt (OB West) were en route to a conference with Hitler and out of touch with the situation.

[71] Frey's battle group managed to gain control of Mouen and British counter-attacks supported by tanks halted any further advance but were unable to retake the village.

[78]) held their positions, launching local counter-attacks to retake lost ground and eventually the German offensive was stopped, within 0.6 mi (0.97 km) of linking up with the lead elements of Kampfgruppe Frey.

[79] Several counter-attacks were launched by 12th SS Panzer and the battered Hussars were relieved at 1500 by the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment but neither side was able to take complete control of the hill.

[81] With the weather improving over the United Kingdom and Normandy, Hausser's preparations for his counter stroke came under continual harassment from Allied aircraft and artillery fire, delaying the start of the attack to the afternoon.

Confused fighting, at times hand-to-hand, took place outside Grainville and the Panzergrenadiers captured a tactically important wood, before being forced back by a British counter-attack.

Following clashes earlier in the day the British were waiting but after five hours of battle, the Scottish infantry defending Gavrus had been pushed back into a pocket around the bridge, north of the village.

[100] Believing the German attacks on 29 June indicated more counter-attacks for the following day, Dempsey reinforced the Odon bridgehead with a brigade of the 43rd division and pulled in its perimeter.

[62] In the evening Hausser, commanding the 7th Army, informed Rommel's headquarters that his counter-attacks had been temporarily suspended due to "tenacious enemy resistance" and intensive Allied artillery and naval gunfire.

Unaware that the British had ended their operation and with overcast weather interfering with Allied air support, Bittrich believed he had an opportunity to prevent the 11th Armoured Division continuing its advance across the Orne.

[115][116] Further German attacks throughout the day, were met with intense artillery fire and made no progress, in the early evening a British counter-attack with Sherman and flame-throwing Churchill Crocodile tanks restored the original front line.

Encouraged by the fighting in the valley of the Odon, Hitler stated that "we must not allow mobile warfare to develop", committing his troops in Normandy to "a policy of aggressive and unyielding defence".

[120] Max Hastings wrote in 1985 that "no sane commander" would mount an attack as big as Epsom without "every hope of breaking through the German defences, or at least of causing the enemy to make substantial withdrawals".

[150][151] Fighting in the Odon Valley continued and on 10 July Operation Jupiter was launched by VIII Corps to push back the German forces near the village of Baron-sur-Odon, retake Hill 112 and advance to the River Orne.