page_title: Operation Perch
section_title: 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
hierarchical_section_title: Operation Perch / Battle / 14 June / 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
caption_attribution_description: English: Knocked-out German Panther tanks on the outskirts of Lingevres, 20 June 1944 Dansk: Ødelagt tysk Panther Kampvogn i udkanten af Lingevres, 20. juni 1944
context_page_description: Operation Perch was a British offensive of the Second World War which took place from 7 to 14 June 1944, during the early stages of the Battle of Normandy. The operation was intended to encircle and seize the German occupied city of Caen, which was a D-Day objective for the British 3rd Infantry Division in the early phases of Operation Overlord. Operation Perch was to begin immediately after the British beach landings with an advance to the south-east of Caen by XXX Corps. Three days after the invasion the city was still in German hands and the operation was amended. The operation was expanded to include I Corps for a pincer attack on Caen.
  On the next day, XXX Corps in the west pushed south to Tilly-sur-Seulles, which was occupied by the Panzer-Lehr Division and the village was captured and re-captured several times. I Corps began the eastern thrust two days later from the Orne bridgehead, which had been secured in Operation Tonga on D-Day. I Corps was also delayed by constant counter-attacks of the 21st Panzer Division. With mounting casualties and no sign of a German collapse, the offensive east of Caen was suspended on 13 June.
context_section_description: On the morning of 14 June, Montgomery abandoned the pincer attack on Caen, because he lacked "sufficient strength to act offensively on both flanks". XXX Corps was ordered to continue in a "concentrated single blow" while in the I Corps area, the attack by the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was "piped down". The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division continued the attack southwards, to pin down German forces. On 14 June, supported by the divisional artillery and the Royal Air Force, the division attacked with two brigades towards la Senaudière, la Belle Epine, Lingèvres and Verrières. If the attack succeeded, it was to be exploited to capture Hottot-les-Bagues. To prepare the route of the attack, a reconnaissance-in-force was conducted the evening before but the panzergrenadiers of the Panzer-Lehr Division inflicted many casualties on the British troops; German casualties are unknown, although one tank was destroyed.
  The main attack began at 10:15 the next morning, when the 151st (Durham) Infantry Brigade and tanks of the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, advanced towards Lingèvres and Verrières. The German defenders held their fire until the British were less than 150 yd (140 m) from their position. The fighting culminated with an assault by the 6th Durham Light Infantry (DLI), with much artillery support, that captured the German positions. Two companies advanced to Verrières, which was found to be unoccupied but further advances were checked by German infantry and tanks. The 9th DLI was also held up by German machine-gun fire and needed their reserve companies, to break through the German positions. At about 13:30, the battalion captured Lingèvres and moved anti-tank guns into the village, although most of these were put out of action by the first German counter-attack.
  Two Panthers were spotted approaching Lingèvres by Sergeant Wilfred Harris, commander of a Sherman Firefly, who engaged at 400 yd (370 m), destroying the first and disabling the second. While Harris moved, an infantry tank-hunting party, led by Major John Mogg (acting battalion commander of the 9th DLI) finished off the damaged Panther. Other tank-hunting parties drove off another Panther, a British M4 Sherman was destroyed and a third Panther was knocked out by a Sherman. Three more Panthers moved towards the village and Harris destroyed the lead vehicle outside the village and the other two inside, including one in the centre of Lingèvres. The 231st Infantry Brigade reached its objectives by nightfall and linked with the 151st Infantry Brigade. A 6th DLI officer said that the attack was the best one launched by the battalion during the campaign. Nine German tanks were knocked out during the day but the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division had been unable to break through the Panzer-Lehr defences and the DLI suffered c. 353 casualties.
caption: Two of the five Panther tanks knocked out by Sergeant Wilfred "Spit" Harris (commanding a Sherman Firefly) and Trooper Ian Mackillop (the tank gunner) are visible at the west end of Lingèvres, where the second attack was launched.[84]
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