Operation Atlantic

 is a scenario in Back to Hell, set at Colombelles on July 18th, 1944.

Briefing
Operation Atlantic covers the Canadian contribution to the larger British Operation Goodwood.

The objective was to secure the Bourguebus-Verrières Ridge South of Caen to deny the Germans any chance of holding the city any longer: while British armored divisions were to charge in open country East of the Orne River, the Canadian infantry was to advance alongside the river, securing the tanks' right flank.

But from the start, things didn't go as planned, and the British armored divisions quickly went behind schedule, giving the Germans time to recover from the preliminary Allied bombardement and forcing 11th Armoured, the leading British armoured division, to leave its infantry behind to deal with pockets of resistance …

Historical outcome
Briefly liberated but quickly abandoned twice on June 6th & 7th, Escoville had to wait for Operation Atlantic to be liberated almost without a fight on the wake of the preliminary barrage.

The Canadians had been ordered to secure Colombelles village and its steelworks (or the ruins of it) at all cost … and so they did. Despite heavy casualties, they secured the village at 5 PM, while another battalion entered the steelworks just before dusk: the hunt for German snipers and isolated pockets of resistance went on all night, but the steelworks was definitively in Canadian hands the next morning.

The Northern outskirts of Giberville were captured by the Canadians, but had to be abandoned in the face of an incoming Allied barrage, before being reoccupied later. By the end of the day, only part of the village was really secured.

Objectives

 * Allies:
 * Capture the steelworks and the villages of Escoville & Giberville to open the way to the Bourguebus Ridge to the British armored divisions.
 * Avoid excessive casualties.
 * Germans:
 * Hold or recapture the steelworks and the villages of Escoville & Giberville to foil Operation Goodwood.
 * Inflict enough casualties to break the Canadian morale

Available forces

 * Canadians:
 * 3rd Canadian Infantry Division: attacking Colombelles village & steelworks with one brigade in front, 3rd CID relies mostly on riflemen, Vickers HMG, mortars and light AT guns, with plenty of fighter-bombers in support. But with only a dozen Shermans, it will have to rely a lot on its British counterpart to deal with any serious armored threat.


 * 11th Armoured Division: the « Black Bull » fields plenty of Cromwell, Shermans & Firefly and lead charges in tank country. Unfortunately, with its already few motor infantry delayed in the rear, it lacks most means to deal with villages and wooded area. Bypassing them or cooperating closely with the Canadian infantry will be the key to advancing.

Germans

 * 16. Luftwaffe-Felddivision: the disheartened Luftwaffe infantry is no match for the Canadians, but they have ample MG and Flak guns to support them and clear the sky over their head. But with only a few medium anti-tank guns and only two StuGs of its own, it will have to rely on its counterpart to deal with major armored threat … or wait for the heavy tanks from s.Panzer-Abteilung 503 later in the day.


 * 21. Panzer: KG von Luck is a well-balanced armored battlegroup composed of armored infantry & artillery, Panzer IV, assault guns and tank destroyers. Its main weaknesses lie with its modest air defense capacity, a defect its counterpart can compensate, and its limited amount of therefore precious infantry. Later in the day, its medium tanks are reinforced with some heavy ones from s.Panzer-Abteilung 503.