#0704_01: Carpiquet - Operation Windsor - Battles of Normandy

Carpiquet, West of Caen: July 4th, 1944. (Scenario Size: Brigade. Head to Head or Allied Human vs Axis AI) With the failure of Operation Epsom to achieve a breakthrough it was decided to try and clear Carpiquet airfield again. Carpiquet airfield was on a 1.9 km expanse of level ground, which offered a "killing ground" for the defenders. The airfield had been fortified with minefields, field gun and machine gun emplacements, manned by I Battalion, SS-Panzergrenadier Regiment 26, an anti-aircraft battery and fifteen tanks. Operation Windsor was planned to commence at 05:00 on 4 July, following a bombardment by 21 artillery regiments, with Le Régiment de la Chaudière and The North Shore Regiment attacking Carpiquet, as a squadron of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers protected the northern flank with a diversionary attack on Franqueville. To the south, the Royal Winninpeg Rifles was to advance and seize the hangars of Carpiquet airfield. At the same time as the Canadian attack, the 43rd Division was to attack further south down the north side of the Odon to capture Verson. Once the regiments had captured Carpiquet, the Canadian reserves would push through and take control of the airfield control buildings. The capture of the airfield would enable further Anglo-Canadian attacks against Caen.