Hill 112: The Key to Defeating Hitler in Normandy

by Tim Saunders

'He who holds Hill 112 holds Normandy' seemed an unlikely maxim when the hill is viewed from a distance, but on reaching its plateau, the vistas unfold in every direction across a huge swath of Normandy. For the Germans it was their vital defensive ground, but for the British it was an essential steppingstone en route to the River Orne and access to the open country south to Falaise.

The Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division lost Hill 112 to 4th armored Brigade when the Scots captured the Tourmauville Bridge intact, but the essence of Hill 112's tactical problem soon became clear. It was impossible for armor to survive on its broad plateau, while the infantry could only hold the skeletal orchards and woods at the cost of crushing casualties. With II SS Panzer Corps preparing to attack the British, the toe hold was given up and 11th armored Division was left holding a bridgehead across the River Odon.

Ten days later, 43rd Wessex Division was ordered to resume the advance to the Orne with Hill 112 its first objective. As the west countrymen and tanks rose to advance, they met withering fire from the stronghold that Hill 112 had become. The scene was set for one of the grimmest battles of the campaign.

For six weeks from the end of June into August, when the Allied advances finally gained momentum, Hill 112 was far too important to let the opposition hold and exploit it. Consequently, it was regularly shelled and mortared, and shrouded with smoke and dust, while soldiers of both sides clung to their respective rims of the plateau.

By the end, Hill 112 had developed a reputation as evil as that of any spot on the First World War's Western Front.

Genres: World War II

323 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 20, 2022

About the author

Tim Saunders MBE MA (1956 - ????) served in the British Army as an officer in the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment and The Rifles for over 30 years before leaving to become a full time military historian. In his second career he brings together the overlapping spheres of writing, battlefield guiding and military history film making. His intuitive knowledge of warfare and soldiers that is abundantly clear from his insightful and entertaining writing is a result, of his military training, service across the world and his operational experience.
Tim's portfolio of work is wide, with videos from Vikings to WW2 being made with Battlefield History TV and Pen & Sword Digital, variously as presenter, director and editor, His books, now totalling more than twenty title, however, are mainly focused on the Napoleonic Wars and the battles of the Second World War
Tim lives on the edge of the Army's Salisbury Plain Training area and often finds himself writing to the accompaniment of the sound of real tanks and gunfire.