Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Normandy, France.

One month after D-Day.

A Canadian regiment confronts a notorious SS Panzer unit

accused of horrific war crimes.

TIM: The Canadians and the 12th SS Hitler Youth had clashed,

uh since the 7th of June.

So, the Canadians and the 12th SS have a very vicious personal war.

NARRATOR: For the Germans, this leaves no room for compromise.

PETER: It's only victory or death.

NARRATOR: On June 6th, 1944 allied forces finally land troops in Normandy

to open the western front.

(speaking in German).

But Nazi fanatics and diehards continue to fight ruthlessly for survival.

D-Day was a battle.

The allies still need to win the war.

♪ ♪

July 8th, 1944.

Outskirts of Caen, France.

The Canadian Regina Rifles prepare to do their part to liberate the French city.

They scout the approach to their objective in the northwest sector.

-And what they saw they didn't like.

It was extremely flat.

There was very little cover.

NARRATOR: Lieutenant Colonel Foster Matheson has brought along his company commanders:

Acting Major Gordon Brown, Major Eric Syme, and Major Stuart Tubb,

to find the best way forward.

-And they're driving around in universal carriers and at one point they get lost.

NARRATOR: The driver takes a wrong turn

and they find themselves in the midst of fighting.

The Regina Rifles quickly come under attack.

(gunfire)

One of the drivers is shot and killed, the passengers dive for cover.

(gunfire)

As the battle rages around them, the vehicles try to reverse course.

(gunfire)

In the confusion, the carriers start to pull away leaving the officers behind.

It proves to be yet another setback in the quest to take Caen.

Only 12 miles from the coast allied forces had planned to take the city on D-Day.

But more than a month later, the goal has proved stubbornly elusive.

DAVID: Both sides understood that the capture of Caen was crucial to going through

the rest of the country, that if you could capture Caen,

you could enter the rest of France.

NARRATOR: 860,000 allied troops are bottled up at the Normandy beachhead.

The allies need their forces to break out into France,

then east for Paris.

Caen is a critical road and rail hub.

-The Germans understood, if you can defend Caen, you can block the Allies' advance.

-These are armored divisions that had hundreds of tanks.

They needed good roads and so they were going to be passing through Caen to strike

at the Allies who were on the beaches and who of course were very vulnerable.

NARRATOR: The Regina Rifles have landed in a battle between the

German 12th SS Panzer division and other Canadian forces.

This is not the first time the rifles have encountered the 12th SS.

A month earlier, on D-Day plus one,

the Reginas had seized the town of Bretteville, not far away.

The Reginas withstood four counterattacks from the 12th SS Panzer division,

inflicting 152 German casualties and destroying six tanks to hold the town,

and earned battle honors for their unit.

At a distinct disadvantage here, the trucks make a desperate escape.

The officers of the Regina Rifles are in danger of being left behind.

-Go, Go! Go!

(gunfire)

NARRATOR: They haul themselves onto the back of a vehicle loaded to their surprise,

with crates of explosives.

They duck for cover as enemy fire riddles the vehicle, and can only hope,

that a bullet doesn't ignite a fatal explosion.

(gunfire)

♪ ♪

After finally clearing the battle scene the officers take up their reconnaissance

position in the nearby village of Authie.

Earlier that day, General Bernard Montgomery launched Operation Charnwood,

the British Second Army's latest attempt to seize Caen.

To support the operation, the Regina Rifles must take the Abbaye D'ardenne,

which guards the northwest approach.

A high stone wall surrounds the 12th century church and its adjoining buildings.

TIM: It was a stone fortress. It had a large tower.

And from the heights of that tower they could see the entire countryside.

And so, it's a really critical position.

A strong point that the Germans will use both to observe the Allies coming

off the beaches and from where they will launch their counterattacks.

NARRATOR: Flat grain fields surround the Abbaye on all sides,

providing clear lines of sight for German snipers.

The Germans occupy the only cover:

a dirt mound, that once held anti-aircraft guns, partway across the field.

(inaudible).

Matheson plans for Major Syme's B Company to advance 400 yards from the village of

Authie and take the mounds.

Brown's D Company on the left along with Tubb's C Company on the right

are to pass the mounds and advance the remaining 700 yards to the Abbaye.

At 1700 hours allied artillery begins to shell the Abbaye D'ardenne,

in preparation for the assault.

The barrage is meant to soften up German defenses and keep German heads down

as the Canadians approach.

The artillery will last for 30 minutes,

after which the Regina Rifles will launch their attack.

The Abbaye D'ardenne is the headquarters of the 12th Panzer division

they had encountered earlier.

Their commanding officer is Standartenfuhrer Kurt Meyer.

The 33-year old colonel is one of Germany's youngest divisional commanders.

-Kurt Meyer is an extremely courageous and brave officer.

But at the same times, he's also extremely ruthless.

He's very much determined to the cause of Nazism and is also determined

to instill this ideology into his men.

NARRATOR: Meyer's Panzer division is made up of former Hitlerjugend.

The infamous "Hitler Youth" movement Raised a generation of German children

to believe in their Aryan superiority.

-For the SS leadership, 12th SS Panzer Division Hitler Youth

is a kind of symbol for the next generation of Nazism.

NARRATOR: Meyer withstands the barrage inside the Abbaye complex.

-The main building, as such, would be too much exposed to allied artillery fire or

allied air bombardment.

So, he situates his headquarters in a secondary building, in the cellar,

so that he's protected.

NARRATOR: As the allied shelling of the Abbaye continues, Brown,

and the rest of the Regina Rifles try to move into the

field from which they are to attack.

But it proves difficult.

-Well the Regina Rifles are pinned down because the village

of Authie is not cleared.

This means that the Germans are also able to bring fire to bear down on the Rifles.

NARRATOR: German counter battery fire also opens up.

Several allied tanks position themselves nearby.

But as their jump-off time approaches a hidden German 88 begins to launch shells.

The 88 millimeter gun is the most effective artillery piece in the Nazi arsenal,

and feared by allied tankers everywhere.

In ground combat, it has a maximum range of over 16,000 yards.

And a well-trained crew can fire a round every three seconds.

♪ ♪

The 88 quickly destroys three Sherman tanks.

As their crews escape, they draw German machine gun fire from the nearby mound.

Unwilling to stay exposed to the German artillery, the remaining tanks retreat.

-The fighting in Normandy is often envisioned as a slashing tank assaults,

um and almost blitzkrieg like attacks on the enemy.

But, this was combined arms warfare and if the tanks got too far in front of the infantry,

they were easily knocked out by anti-tank guns that are very effective

at this point in the war.

NARRATOR: With their tank support gone,

all three Regina Rifle companies are trapped in the open.

The German barrage continues.

The Canadians risk being wiped out before they can even leave their lines.

NARRATOR: July 8th, 1944.

German artillery targets the Regina Rifles' position as they prepare to attack the

Abbaye D'ardenne, which blocks access to the French city of Caen.

(explosions)

The Regina Rifles are dubbed "farmer johns" by other Canadian units

because they come from a rural part of Canada.

TIM: Obviously the Farmer John's is meant as, a, a bit of a put down.

But ah, the John's they seem to have shortened it, they got rid of the farmer part

and they proudly, they embraced it.

NARRATOR: Pinned down due to enemy fire, the Johns miss the jump-off

time for their attack against the Abbaye.

-In the chaos and the confusion, units are late arriving to the front and

in fact most of the, the uh three attacking, um Regina companies get there,

um after the barrage has gone off.

And so, with communications broken down there's really a dire situation here.

The Reginas are looking at attacking this fortress with almost no artillery support.

NARRATOR: The Reginas can only take cover and wait for the German barrage to ease.

(explosions)

When it finally does acting Major Gordon Brown and his fellow officers

hurry to organize their men.

At 1800 hours, 30 minutes after their jump off time,

the Reginas commence their assault,

with Major Eric Syme's B Company in the lead.

The Germans have put the time to good use.

PETER: During this pause, the German defenders are able to regroup and

sight their machine guns, sight their anti-tank guns.

And this is the worst-case scenario for any army.

NARRATOR: As the three Regina companies start out Baker Company is to advance

400 yards from the village and take the mound the only cover, in the field.

German forces open fire on them from all directions.

(gunfire)

Caen is considered so critical, General Field Marshall Erwin Rommel

has assigned elite units to defend it.

Overseeing the defense of Normandy, Rommel had invested heavily in the Atlantic wall.

PETER: It is a series of bunkers, block houses, casements, fortified positions

along the French, Belgian, Dutch, Danish and Norwegian coast.

It is supposed to ward off an Allied invasion.

NARRATOR: Based on Rommel's experience with the allies in North Africa he knew German

tanks were vulnerable to allied air superiority.

Rommel believed the allies had to be defeated on the beaches

in the earliest hours of the invasion.

The German failure to do so on D-Day, makes the fighting more desperate.

-Germans are still determined to fight, because they think if the Allies win the war,

this would mean the annihilation of the German people.

NARRATOR: This was especially true of German military leadership, like Kurt Meyer,

who commands the 12th SS Panzer division, which holds the Abbaye.

-How they understand war is that it must be fought in the most ruthless way

because it is a struggle for survival.

NARRATOR: Meyer has encountered Canadian units before.

-The Canadians and the 12th SS Hitler Youth had clashed,

uh, since the 7th of June.

So, really the second day of the fighting.

Um, and there had been fierce battles all over the front.

NARRATOR: On June 7th and 8th Meyer's unit executed 18 Canadian prisoners of war

at the Abbaye D'ardenne, in flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention.

-For people like Meyer or for SS officers, it's all or nothing.

And there is no way of compromising with the enemy so it's only victory or death.

(gunshot)

NARRATOR: Now, the 12th SS Hitlerjugend believed that if

they are captured or surrender to the Canadians,

they will be executed in retaliation.

-And so, the Canadians and the 12th SS have a very vicious, personal war.

NARRATOR: Regina rifles B Company, still leads the advance towards the

German occupied mound partway across the field.

Faced with heavy gunfire, B Company must run, or crawl,

in short bursts to avoid being hit.

-The Germans open up with mortar fire, machine gun fire, sniper fire.

And the Regina Rifles are being picked off one by one.

(speaking in German)

(gunfire)

NARRATOR: As they inch their way forward, the company suffers heavy casualties.

-There's no easy way to take out machine guns.

Machine guns firing 500 bullets a minute, firing on an arc.

You have to sacrifice soldiers to take that out.

NARRATOR: They have no choice but to keep moving.

NARRATOR: Three companies of the Regina Rifles commence

an assault against the Abbaye D'ardenne.

Across more than 1100 yards of open field, without tank support,

and one half hour after their artillery barrage lifts.

B Company leads the way.

DAVID: Baker Company advances slowly and using whatever cover is available.

But there's not a lot of cover.

So, this means you gotta stay low.

You gotta stay in the grass.

You gotta try to stay out of sight of any sort of German sniper,

German artillery, or German machine gun.

So, it is a very slow process and it causes significant casualties

because every time they pop up, they get shot.

NARRATOR: As the casualties mount weeks of strain also take their toll.

TIM: The Regina Rifles were very weak at this point.

They had lost a lot of soldiers in the fighting in the first month of Normandy.

NARRATOR: As frontline troops at the sharp end, they get very little sleep

and endure unimaginable stress.

-There's no question that the lack of sleep and the continual engagement

with the enemy that just combined will wear anyone down.

NARRATOR: It has been four weeks of constant combat.

-So as these soldiers are engaged with the German enemy, as they're approaching the

Abbey, there are soldiers that are breaking down.

There are soldiers that are crying.

There are soldiers that are catatonic and can't even move.

NARRATOR: This now includes baker company's commander, Major Syme,

who succumbs to what is called, battle exhaustion.

-Major! Major! I need a medic!

NARRATOR: Though the Canadian division had undertaken psychiatric screening prior to

deployment conditions like battle exhaustion or battle fatigue prove unpredictable

and claim many soldiers.

By late July 1944, battle fatigue makes up 25% of

all non-fatal casualties to the allies.

After D-Day the British and Canadian army group

established front-line centers to treat battle exhaustion.

Therapy is simple: sedation and sleep.

-You want to treat them quickly.

You want to treat them effectively and then you want them back in the front line.

(gunfire)

NARRATOR: As Major Syme is carried from the field the remainder of B Company

continues to press to the mound.

-As they are making those hard yards, Riflemen would lay down fire,

Bren machine gunners would lay down heavier fire.

The way they knocked out those machine guns was to use grenades for the most part.

And those grenades explode and they send shrapnel of course and that's how,

ultimately, they knock out the mound.

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: The Germans are forced to retreat back towards the Abbaye.

♪ ♪

To achieve the objective, Baker Company is gutted.

61 out of 100 men become casualties.

With the mound finally in Canadian hands, C Company and D Company now continue the

advance and pass through the remains of B Company.

DAVID: From that position, Baker Company can then provide

covering fire for the other two companies.

You have Dog Company on the left, Charlie Company on the right.

And Baker Company will provide very important covering fire, which will allow the other

troops to move up slowly.

So, the idea simply here is what we call fire and movement.

Someone's shooting. Someone's moving.

NARRATOR: To prevent his men from meeting B Company's fate, Major Stu Tubb,

the commander of C Company, orders high explosive mortars against the Abbaye complex.

He hopes the distraction will provide his men much needed coverage.

But Tubb receives word that the Reginas have no high explosive mortars available,

and he is offered smoke instead.

This works for a while, until the wind comes up.

-They're now wide open and exposed completely to German fire.

All Hell breaks loose.

(gunfire)

♪ ♪

NARRATOR: Facing heavy enemy fire C and D Companies of the Canadian Regina Rifles

must attack the Abbaye D'ardenne across 700 yards of open field.

They have just learned that they've run out of high explosive mortars to subdue

the German counter fire.

Such shortages have proved a problem across the allied front.

Just three weeks before a Major storm struck the Normandy coast.

800 ships and vessels were stranded, damaged or destroyed on June 19th.

To further cripple allied supply lines, already hindered,

by a lack of a deep-water port.

All units were having to make do.

Advancing in the open would be suicidal.

So, the Reginas fire smoke to cover their advance.

Once more, acting Major Gordon Brown and D Company press forward

on the left flank.

But with the men still 500 yards short of the Abbaye, wind clears the smoke.

With the companies now exposed.

(speaking in German)

NARRATOR: The Germans have clear shots.

(gunfire)

In the chaos C company's 13th platoon stumbles into a minefield.

(explosions)

TIM: You don't know where to step, and they are set up for a number of reasons.

One is to cause casualties of course.

But secondly to slow an advance.

NARRATOR: The minefield creates a shooting gallery.

-Riflemen and snipers and machine gunners will turn upon those isolated soldiers who

are stuck in the middle, unsure of where is safe.

NARRATOR: As their losses mount,

Major Stu Tubb enters the minefield to help extract his men.

Tubb falls to German machine gun fire.

His second-in-command moves forward to help, and is killed.

C company's third in command is wounded moments later.

Wiping out the enemy's leadership is a time honored military strategy.

-And that is a technique that the Allies and the Germans use,

that snipers would aim for those NCOs or those lieutenants or those captains

to try to in, in effect decapitate the unit.

(gunfire)

NARRATOR: Without leadership C Company retreats to the mound.

They have lost 85 out of 106 men.

General Bernard Montgomery's stated goal at Caen was to draw in German troops to kill,

wound or capture as many as possible.

A war of attrition.

But the campaign to capture Caen proves costly to everyone involved.

Allied aerial bombing to support Operation Charnwood began the night before,

on July 7th.

More than 460 aircraft dropped 6000 bombs on the city.

While the bombing improved the morale of allied soldiers,

the strategic impact on German troops was minimal.

The rubble created hinders the allied advance and retreat by German forces.

PETER: It also has got an impact on French civilian population.

Because, French civilians perished and this had a negative influence on the

attitude of the French population towards the Allies.

NARRATOR: Now, to the northwest of the city the remaining 15 able-bodied

members of C Company retreat to Authie to bring back stretchers for their wounded.

Almost three hours after commencing their attack on the Abbaye D'ardenne,

Gordon Brown's D Company remain the only Regina Rifles left in the fight.

Still hundreds of yards from their objective,

the covering smoke has also just cleared on their position.

And leaves them dangerously exposed to enemy fire.

The 12th SS quickly pin down Brown and his men again.

Several of the Reginas are hit.

(gunfire)

To limit the company's casualties, Brown and his men push forward in short bursts,

often gaining just a few feet at a time.

German troops at the Abbaye have the ideal weapon

to prevent Brown from achieving his objective.

The MG-42 is arguably the best machine gun of World War II.

At 1200 rounds per minute,

its rate of fire outpaces comparable allied machine guns.

Light, reliable and easy to deploy, the MG-42 has a range of nearly 1,100 yards

to avoid the German machine guns D company's number 16 platoon makes a

flanking move to the left of the Abbaye.

The remaining Regina Rifles continue their frontal assault.

But at 2100 hours his runner reports to acting Major Gordon Brown,

that number 16 platoon has vanished.

NARRATOR: July 8th, 1944.

As darkness falls, the Regina Rifles continue their assault on the Abbaye D'ardenne.

A fortified position that controls access to the French city of Caen.

With reports that some of his men are

missing and knowing he needs them all to seize the Abbaye,

acting Major Gordon Brown goes in search of his 16th platoon.

Searching the battlefield,

he makes a disturbing discovery.

TIM: And he Stumbles into a small ditch area, which is a scene of a, a nightmare.

There are wounded soldiers bleeding,

um dying, crying out and he thinks that's his lost platoon.

It's not.

It's a group of the Can Scots, who have stumbled into the battle somehow,

and there are many wounded there.

NARRATOR: Brown tries to help.

He bandages some of the more seriously wounded.

-And he's not sure what to do, of course human instinct is to care for them,

but that's not the role of a company commander.

And so, he rightly gives them his water.

He must have been parched.

NARRATOR: Unable to do any more for them,

Brown turns back to rejoin the rest of his company.

-He did the right thing. He did what he had to do.

He did what a soldier had to do, was to keep pushing on to the final objective.

NARRATOR: When he returns Brown finds D Company in the thick of battle.

TIM: D Company is spread out over the battlefield.

They're facing a fortress a stone fortress,

the Germans are firing at them non-stop.

I'm amazed at how they could have pushed their way forward.

NARRATOR: They make a daring charge for the Abbaye walls.

-They do call in some smoke, and the smoke is quite effective.

It obscures the front, ah for precious minutes.

NARRATOR: The men shoot and throw grenades on the run.

(gunfire and explosions)

Their bold initiative pays off.

At 2200 hours, D Company reaches the Abbaye walls.

With the Regina Rifles closing in, Colonel Kurt Meyer had made plans to protect his

fighting strength and asks for permission to retreat.

PETER: He gets the answer, no. There is no way to retreat.

The, reason for that is in the mindset of the

German leadership is where does our retreat end?

(speaking in German).

NARRATOR: But Meyer withdraws anyway.

He would later claim that he knew Caen could not be held.

Hitler's order to hold the city to the last bullet,

would mean the needless and futile sacrifice of his men.

Thus, the desperate fighting on July 8th, was to bide time for the

evacuation of Meyer's wounded soldiers under the cover of darkness.

They devise a plan to delay the capture of the Abbaye,

and make it as costly as possible for the Canadians.

The Regina Rifles encounter the German soldiers left to cover the withdrawal.

(gunfire)

-They launch one final assault and they find a way through

and around those walls and drive the Germans out.

NARRATOR: Some of the Canadians begin to push into the Abbaye courtyard.

DAVID: Captain Brown calls the soldiers back and

he tells them to dig in outside of the walls.

NARRATOR: Having fought the Germans for a month now Brown knows they are not safe yet.

The Germans will have pre-ranged their guns.

-One of the nice things about occupying a position when you're on the defense is you

have it perfectly placed on your map,

which means your artillery knows exactly where to hit it.

NARRATOR: Learning that allied troops have reached the walls,

Meyer orders an artillery barrage against the Abbaye.

Brown's shrewd orders prevent further casualties amongst his men.

But they have yet to completely achieve their objective to occupy the Abbaye itself.

(explosions)

NARRATOR: Heavy German shelling prevents acting Major Gordon Brown

and the rest of the Regina Rifles' D Company from fully capturing the Abbaye D'ardenne.

(gunfire)

As the men endure the barrage, their lost platoon finally reappears.

During their absence, 16th platoon has been busy.

DAVID: 16th Platoon is able to achieve something pretty remarkable.

NARRATOR: They've knocked out a battery of German 88 guns.

-This means that any Sherman tanks coming up behind them are now free to move

in the open countryside.

NARRATOR: The platoon's reappearance brings the company's strength to

70 soldiers but Brown knows he needs more men,

if he's going to take and hold the Abbaye.

TIM: They've fought for five and a half hours.

They've lost about 200 soldiers killed and wounded.

Many of them left strewn over the battlefield.

And now in the dark crying out for help.

Um, but there's no communication from front to rear.

Um, though, there's no wireless.

There's no telephones.

NARRATOR: Brown, and a lieutenant return to the village of Authie on foot to

request reinforcements and inform headquarters of their progress.

But on their way, the two men are caught in a sustained mortar attack.

(explosions)

They endure the 80-round bombardment.

The shelling is another phase of Colonel Kurt Meyer's

plan to cover the German retreat of the 12th SS from Caen.

Meyer's withdrawal proves sensible, to protect the unit's fighting strength.

By the second week of July, German battle casualties in

western Europe totaled more than 100,000 men.

Yet German command had managed to replace only 9% of their manpower losses.

Late into the night Brown returns to the Abbaye walls with reinforcements...

the Regina Rifles A-Company, which had been held in reserve.

(gunfire)

In the early morning hours of July 9th, the German shelling stops.

-It's an eerie calm.

I couldn't imagine what it'd be like to look around

and not hear bullets whizzing by your face.

And not hear artillery rounds exploding around you.

And suddenly realize that for a brief period there's some calm.

You've done it.

NARRATOR: At first light, the Regina Rifles A and D Companies

advance cautiously into the courtyard.

PETER: So, when Meyer retreats, he

tries to delay the enemy's advance by leaving snipers.

This gives his own troops time to withdraw in good order.

With snipers and booby traps, the enemy doesn't feel secure.

He doesn't know where the enemy is, where he's coming from,

so he must be very cautious when he advances.

NARRATOR: It takes them until mid-afternoon to clear the Abbaye of German snipers.

♪ ♪

Inside the Abbaye they discover the headquarters in the cellar.

♪ ♪

-Captain Brown who himself is beyond exhaustion.

He, he later talks about almost being delirious, uh, hallucinating.

NARRATOR: An exhausted Gordon Brown pours a drink, climbs into the bed,

and falls asleep.

The western half of Caen to the Orne River would fall to

the allies by the end of July 9th.

During Operation Charnwood, the Regina Rifles suffer 216 casualties,

including 36 men killed.

-In terms of the casualties on that day, something like 50% of the combat soldiers

were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.

The casualties were so severe for Charlie Company and Baker Company that after

this combat on the 8th and 9th of July, they were non-operational.

NARRATOR: French civilians are also deeply affected.

Up to 75% of Caen lay in ruins and hundreds were killed.

After the war, Colonel Kurt Meyer faces trial for war crimes for his part

in the execution of Canadian prisoners of war at the Abbaye D'ardenne.

Meyer would be sentenced to death later commuted to life imprisonment.

He serves nine years before being released.

The two Canadian company commanders,

Majors Stuart Tubb and Eric Symes,

recover and survive the war.

Major Tubb is later awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership and

coolness in the face of enemy fire.

Gordon Brown continues to serve throughout the war, and would earn the

Distinguished Service Order for personal valor and devotion to duty.

While ultimately successful, the capture of Caen, confirms that allied gains

could be slow and sometimes measured only in yards.

PETER: It is clear to the Allies the road to Berlin is not a simple walkover.

It will be a costly and bloody campaign.

NARRATOR: And the war in Europe would continue for another 10 months.

Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.