A large group of British soldiers fell into German hands during the battle in and around Villers-Bocage. After the battle most prisoners were marched off by food, heading for Caen. Among them was Lt-Col Lord Cranley, commander of the 4th CLY. He was captured the next day, on 14 June, after hiding from the Germans.

According to a found roll of film, in the Bundesarchive, the march of the group prisoners, the route taken was a particular one. The first pictures were taken in Vieux. One would expect that the route taken after that would lead north, towards Caen, more or less, eastbound. But according to the follow through of the pictures, they went from Vieux to the south, to Amayé-sur-Orne.

Central in the picture above shows Major James Wright (the tall person with the beret). He was commander of A Company, 1st Rifle Brigade. The man behind him, with the moustache and his head held high, is Captain Bernard Rose, a 4th CLY adjutant. He was slightly injured when the Cromwell of Captain Dyas was hit by the Tiger of Wittmann. The man with the officers cap, next to Major Wright, wears a hopscotch of clothing and wears German boots. His face looks scorched, if it is covered in soot. Is it possible that his clothing was severely torn that he was ‘dressed’ by the Germans?

When the prisoners reached Amayé-sur-Orne, they were split into smaller groups, so the Germans could observe the prisoners better. The pictures show a group next to the church, while another group is placed at the head of the church, near the church gate (last picture not published here). South of the church, next a large farm building, there was another small group under guard. That picture is shown below (notice the ‘Desert Rat’ emblem on the soldiers shoulder on the right.

The pictures above are shot by photographer Veneman of the German Propaganda-Kompanie. The pictures were located in the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz by Daniel Taylor, writer of the book Villers-Bocage, Through the Lens of the German War Photographer.

Villers-Bocage was a town which was still undamaged in the early hours of 13 June. But at the end of the day, the main street, Rue Pasteur and the surroundings of the train station was a mess of destroyed and burning vehicles, houses in ruins and dead soldiers. Inspection by the Germans of the crippled Tiger tanks around the ambush site of Lt. Cotton, were probably very burned and they were left where they came to a halt. A couple of striking pictures exist which show Tiger ‘222’ towing another tank. The crew of Tiger ‘222’ expose a proud body language. They are not towing just any Tiger,… this is Tiger ‘231’. This is a special one, this must be the Tiger which Wittmann was operating in Villers-Bocage. I have not seen other pictures which show the recovery of other German tanks after the battle of Villers-Boage. Such pictures are of no use for the propaganda machine (‘why recover tanks, they are in plenty supply’) unless it is the tank of a ‘hero’, such a Wittmann.

Tiger tanks were important for Germany, not only for propaganda use, but more important as a weapon. Tiger tanks were in short supply, but there were a couple left behind in Villers-Bocage. Maybe they were burned, but they could be recovered and rebuilt. The Tigers on the pictures taken after the battle in Villers-Bocage, look scarred, but recoverable, but they left them behind.

Maybe the Germans had the idea they would recover them after a while, but after 30 June it was not possible anymore. On that day 266 bombers dropped 1100 tons of bombs which flattened almost Villers-Bocage. This bombardment was to stop the attack of the 2. en 9. Panzer Division. During this bomb run two Lancasters were lost.

Traces of the battle for Villers-Bocage are sparse. The city was almost rebuilt completely and configured in a slightly other pattern. A good comparison with the old situation is almost impossible. One of the few places that were undisturbed during the battle, can be found at the crossroad of Rue Jean Bacon en Rue Emile Samson. This is the place where a Tiger of 1. Kompanie was put out of action. ‘Point 213’ on the other hand has little changed. One can imagine the positions of both sides as it was in 1944.

After the debacle of Operation Perch, a new operation was brought to life. On 26 June 1944 Operation Epson started to move out to Caen. Through the west 8th Corps was heading for ‘Hill 112’ (15 km north of Villers-Bocage. Next phase would be to cross the river Orne. But the German opposition meant that the hard fought battle for ‘Hill 112’ was lost and the hill was left on 29 June. Operation Epson was cancelled.

After two failed operations to encircle Caen, Montgomery decided to storm the city from three sides. Operation Charnwood started on 4 Juli with an attack to the airport, south-west of Caen. Canadian troops fought for four day’s before the 12 SS-Panzer Division retreated. On 7 July, to support the operation, 2500 tons of bombs were dropped on Caen. Not only the city was almost wiped out, around 3000 civilians lost their lives. The destruction and the German resistance slowed the attack through Caen. On 8 July, the Canadian 3rd Division reached the centre of the city, but by then Germans were already retreating.

Montgomery, a nut for code names for operations, ordered an offensive south of Caen, with Operation Goodwood. On 18 July the operation was started with a bombardment of 2000 tons of bombs on German positions. Next the British and Canadian troops headed south. After just 9 kilometres the attack came to a standstill in a chaos of broken vehicles. 8th Corps lost in one day 220 tanks to good organised German anti-tank guns. The next day the operation was again on the ‘road’. But it started to rain and Operation Goodwood became stuck in the mud.

It was not until 8 August when Operation Totalize was started and the Commonwealth troops broke out to the south to make a connection with the Americans, which would lead to the so called ‘Falaise Pocket’ .