Operation Windsor

Operation Windsor
Part of Battle for Caen
Rockets fired from a Hawker Typhoon of No 181 Squadron, RAF, at buildings on Carpiquet airfield. The 3rd Canadian Division took Carpiquet on 4 July.
Date 4–5 July 1944 Location Carpiquet, Normandy, France 49°11′06″N 0°26′42″W / 49.185°N 0.445°W / 49.185; -0.445 Result Canadian victory Territorial changes Carpiquet village captured by Canadians[1]
Belligerents
Canada  United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Rod Keller	Kurt Meyer
Strength
4 Infantry Battalions 1 Machine Gun Battalion 2 Armoured Regiments	1 battalion each from SS Panzergrenadier Regiments 26 and 1 1 Flak Battery 15 tanks initially
Casualties and losses
377 casualties 17 tanks	c. 270 infantry, c. 20 tanks

Operation Windsor (4–5 July 1944), was a Canadian attack of the Battle of Normandy during the Second World War. The attack was undertaken by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division to take Carpiquet and the adjacent airfield from troops of the 12th SS-Panzer Division Hitler Jugend of Panzergruppe West. The attack was originally intended to take place during the later stages of Operation Epsom, to protect the eastern flank of the main assault but was postponed for a week.

On 4 July, the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade and an attached battalion of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division attacked Carpiquet, supported on the flanks by the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade. The village was captured by mid-afternoon but German resistance in the south defeated two attacks on the airfield, despite significant Allied tank and air support. Next day the Canadians repulsed German counter-attacks and held the village, which served as a base for Operation Charnwood, a Second Army attack on Caen, involving the rest of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on 8 July, and the airfield was captured by the Canadians on 9 July.