Operation Goodwood

Montgomery always claimed that Goodwood had two aims – one to breakout, the other to wreck German armoured reserves and draw them away from the western sector where the US forces were preparing for Cobra. Dempsey’s first and main aim was to achieve the breakout. The plan began with a massive aerial bombardment, using the strategic air force’s four-engined heavies to spearhead the attack. Lt-General Richard O’Connor’s VIII Corps comprising three whole armoured divisions – 11th, 7th and Guards - and spearheaded by Major-General ‘Pip’ Roberts’s 11th would then rush forward, overwhelm the stunned German defenders and create the breakout the Allies so desperately required. To cover the flanks the Canadians would fight their way along the eastern suburbs of Caen, while the British 3rd Infantry and 51st Highland Divisions would cover the left flank, further to the east.

http://www.strategos.demon.co.uk/D-Day/Goodwood...