Bloody Verrieres

The I. SS-Panzerkorps Defence of the Verrieres-Bourguebus Ridges: Volume I: Operations Goodwood and Atlantic, July 18–22, 1944

De: Arthur W. Gullachsen

Narrado por: Bruce Mann

South of the Norman city of Caen, the twin features of the Verrieres and Bourguebus ridges were key stepping stones for the British Second Army in late July 1944. To capture this vital ground, Allied forces would have to defeat arguably the strongest German armored formation in Normandy: the I. SS-Panzerkorps "Leibstandarte." The resulting battles of late July and early August 1944 saw powerful German defensive counterattacks south of Caen inflict tremendous casualties, regain lost ground, and at times defeat Anglo-Canadian operations in detail.

These defeats and the experience of meeting an enemy with near-equal resources exposed a flawed Anglo-Canadian offensive tactical doctrine that was overly dependent on the supremacy of its artillery forces. Furthermore, weaknesses in Allied tank technology inhibited their armored forces from fighting a decisive armored battle. Confronted with the full force of the Panzerwaffe, Anglo-Canadian doctrine at times floundered. In response, the Royal Artillery and Royal Canadian Artillery units pummeled the German tankers and grenadiers, but despite their best efforts, ground could not be captured by concentrated artillery fire alone.

This is a detailed account of the success of I. SS-Panzerkorps' defensive operations, aimed at holding the Verrieres-Bourgebus ridges in late July 1944.

©2021 Arthur W. Gullachsen (P)2022 Tantor

Detailed Account of Operations Goodwood and Atlantic.

This is the kind of audiobook I enjoy the most.

Kudos to Audible for getting its act together and offering something other than the countless mushy romance novels, skanky erotic rubbish and pointless self-help guides that pollute this site.

If you want a detailed analysis of I.SS Panzerkorps defense of Burguebus Ridge during Operation Goodwood (and who on Earth wouldn’t FFS….) then look no further.

I suggest you find a 1:100,000 or better yet a 1:50,000 topo map of the area south of Caen from the Orne River to the west to Vimont to the east and Rocquancourt to the south. www.ign.fr - the French Institute Geographique National - is a go to website for maps of that scale.

Give this audiobook some time to get rolling. The beginning chapters give a rather exhausting explanation of I.SS Panzerkorps organization on the eve of Operation Goodwood.

I hope you enjoy this audiobook as much as I did. Drop the dime - it’s well worth your time.