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Hill 112, Esquay-Notre-Dame, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France

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Location Category ID: 6015
Added to Database: April 2009
Last Edited: 23 May 2009
Address: D8, 14210 Esquay-Notre-Dame
Telephone:
Email:
Opening Times: Accessible at any time
Official Website: Hill 112
Other Links: Operation Jupiter
Operation Epsom
Hill 112
Memories of Hill 112
Tanks in France
Wessex Division
Videogame dramatisation
Churchill Register
Latitude, Longitude: 49.12332053 , -0.46015978
Location Accuracy: 10
Tanks Previously Here:


There is a monument at Hill 112, approximately equidistant between Baron-sur-Odon, Esquay-Notre-Dame and Vieux, on the main D8 road that passes beside Esquay-Notre-Dame. It includes a Churchill tank, and nearby there is also a monument to the 43rd (Wessex) Division.

The Churchill tank is one the best known British tanks of the Second World War, and was the last Infantry Tank to be produced. At the start of the war, the War Office felt that conditions on the Western Front might not be very different from those experienced in the First World War. A specification was issued for a heavy tank invulnerable to anti-tank fire and with a wide trench-crossing ability. Harland and Wolff built pilot models of this A20 design but it fared badly in trials. Vauxhall redesigned it, and it went into production as the A22 Infantry Tank Mark IV in 1941, the name “Churchill” being adopted soon after. It saw a number of design changes during its life including a change from the initial 2pdr main armament to the more powerful 6pdr. However a major redesign resulted in the Mark VII (A22F) which had thicker armour and was designed specifically to mount the 75mm gun.

There is an NTL Totem nearby that reads as follows:

HILL 112: JUST LIKE VERDUN

Between the valleys of the Rivers Odon and Orne, Hill 112, southwest of Caen, is a vantage point overlooking gently undulating ground. From there a vast area can be seen and controlled, including Carpiquet airfield. This high ground, crowned with a thin copse, had definite strategic value. “Whoever holds Hill 112, holds all of Normandy”, it was said.

“EPSOM”: THE SHARP CHECK (26TH JUNE – 1ST JULY 1944)
In the course of this offensive, launched on 26th June, the Scottish of 15th Division crossed the Odon, British 11th Armoured Division advanced as far as Hill 112, but German counterstrokes by the 2nd SS Tank Corps managed to contain the front along the right bank of the Odon.

“JUPITER”: CAPTURING HILL 112 (10TH – 11TH JULY)
The day following the capture of Caen, British 43rd Infantry Division was given orders to take the height. Opposite, 9th and 10th SS Division had turned the area into a defensive position. By the evening of 10th July, the devastated summit had become a no man’s land.
Hill 112, the “Hill of Cornwall” for the British, the “Hill of Calvary” for the Germans, was the object of continuous fighting in a landscape reminiscent of Verdun.

7,000 MEN
Such was the price paid by the Allies, in the course of a terrible war of position, in order to capture a section of slightly higher ground in the plain of Caen, Hill 112 did not finally fall into British hands until 12th August, with the general withdrawal of the German forces.

Location Images - Photographs and NavPix (click to expand or browse)

August 2007

Overview
1: Overview

Taken: 26 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Location Photo ID: 18
Added: 23 May 2009
Views: 310
Has Priority: 0
    

 

Plaque
2: Plaque

Taken: 26 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Location Photo ID: 19
Added: 23 May 2009
Views: 277
Has Priority: 0
    

 

NTL Totem
3: NTL Totem

Taken: 26 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Location Photo ID: 20
Added: 23 May 2009
Views: 304
Has Priority: 0
    



Wessex Memorial
4: Wessex Memorial

Taken: 26 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Location Photo ID: 21
Added: 23 May 2009
Views: 287
Has Priority: 0
    



Wessex plaque
5: Wessex plaque

Taken: 26 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Location Photo ID: 22
Added: 23 May 2009
Views: 262
Has Priority: 0
    



Overview
6: Overview

Taken: 26 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Location Photo ID: 23
Added: 23 May 2009
Views: 271
Has Priority: 0
    



Map table
7: Map table

Taken: 26 August 2007
Contributor: T. Larkum
Location Photo ID: 24
Added: 23 May 2009
Views: 280
Has Priority: 0