44th Infantry Brigade ( United Kingdom ) The 44th Infantry Brigade was a brigade of the British Army ' s 15th ( Scottish ) Division which served in both World War I and World War II . World War II . As 44th ( Lowland ) Infantry Brigade , the formation was a second line Territorial Army Brigade part of 15th ( Scottish ) Division , which was the duplicate of the British 52nd ( Lowland ) Division and served in the Second World War . Its remained in England for most of the war crossing the channel to Normandy on the 13th June 1944 . Its infantry battalions were initially 8th Battalion , The Royal Scots , 6th Battalion , The Royal Scots Fusiliers , and 6th Battalion , The King ' s Own Scottish Borderers . Operation Epsom . Operation Epsom was a British attack intended to outflank and seize Caen in France during the Battle of Normandy during World War II . It failed but forced the Germans to abandon their offensive plans and tied most of their armoured units to a defensive role . A preliminary attack , Operation Martlet , was launched on June 25 by the 49th ( West Riding ) Infantry Division of XXX Corps , to secure ground on the flank of the intended advance . The attack gained some ground but the weather was still foul and the attackers were hampered by muddy ground and lack of air support . Some dominating terrain on the right flank of the intended attack by VIII Corps was still in German hands . Nevertheless , to be certain of anticipating any German attack the main attack was launched on June 26 . Although held up on parts of the front by infantry of 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend , the 15th ( Scottish ) Infantry Division and the 31st Armoured Brigade gained four miles on their left flank . Further to their left the 43rd ( Wessex Infantry Division ) also gained ground . John Keegan described their advance : " " … The division was attacking two brigades up , which meant that six of its infantry battalions were in the first wave , with the other three waiting in the rear to support the leaders . As each brigade also attacked two up , however , this meant there were in fact only four battalions on the start line , each strung out along a front of about 1000 yards . And since each battalion , about 750 men strong , likewise kept two of their four companies in reserve , the true number of men who started forward into the cornfields that morning was probably no more than 700 . They are best pictured , as they would have looked from the cockpit of any passing spotter aircraft , as 24 groups of 30 riflemen , called platoons , separated by intervals of about 150 yards … Each platoon consisted of three smaller groups , called sections , which were led by a corporal , and were based on the Bren machine gun which gave them their firepower … " . " On June 27 , after repulsing small armoured counter - attacks , the 15th ( Scottish ) Infantry Division gained more ground and captured a bridge over the River Odon . The 11th Armoured Division passed through to capture Hill 112 , a mile to the southeast . This deep penetration alarmed the German command and Hausser was ordered to commit his units to contain and eliminate the Allied salient . The German command was in some disarray , as General Dollmann , commanding the German Seventh Army died of a heart attack immediately after ordering Hausser to mount the counter - attack and Field Marshals Rommel and von Rundstedt were en route to a conference with Adolf Hitler and out of touch with their headquarters . Hill 112 , Operation Jupiter . The British forces included the men of the 15th Scottish Division , 11th Armoured Division , 43rd Wessex Division and 53rd Welsh Division . Principal among the units fighting on Hill 112 , and the tanks of 7th and 9th Royal Tank Regiment s , plus numerous other units . Approximately 63 , 000 men over a period of seven weeks fought on and around Hill 112 . The main attack on Hill 112 was strategically designed to FIX the German panzers and tactically to gain ' elbow room ' in what was still a tight beachhead . The German defenders survived naval bombardment , air attack and artillery fire but held their ground , crucially supported by Tiger II tanks from the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion . These mighty tanks armed with the 88 mm gun had both greater protection and firepower and outclassed the opposing British Churchill tank and Sherman tank . Even though the hill was not captured and was left as a no - man ' s - land between the two armies , important surrounding villages had been taken . Above all , however , the 9th Hohenstaufen SS Panzer Division , which had been in the process of moving out of the line to form an operational reserve , was brought back to contain the British . Therefore , on the strategic level Operation JUPITER was a significant success . It was not until American troops eventually started to break out from the Normandy lodgement , as Operation Cobra developed momentum , in August 1944 , that the Germans withdrew from Hill 112 and the 53rd Welsh Division occupied the feature , with barely a fight . Casualties during that period amounted to approximately 25 , 000 British troops and 500 British tanks . Operation Bluecoat . Operation Bluecoat was an attack by the British Second Army in the Battle of Normandy , from 30 July 1944 to 7 August 1944 . The objectives of the attack were to secure the key road junction of Vire and the high ground of Mont Pinçon . Strategically , the attack was made to support the American exploitation of their breakout on the western flank of the Normandy beachhead . Miles Dempsey was switched westward towards Villers - Bocage adjacent to the American army . Originally , Dempsey planned to attack on August 2 , but the speed of events on the American front forced him to advance the date . Initially , only two weak German infantry divisions held the intended attack frontage , south and east of Caumont , although they had laid extensive minefields and constructed substantial defences . They also occupied ideal terrain for defence , the bocage . Afterwards they fought virtually continuously from then on through Caumont , the Seine Crossing , the Gheel Bridgehead , Best , Tilburg , Meijel , Blerwick , the Maas and across the Rhine .