The Battle of Saint-Aignan-de-Cramesnil (8 August 1944) was a major tank battle of the Battle of Normandy during World War II. The 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion under Michael Wittmann was engaged by the Polish 1st Armored Division under Stanislaw Maczek and defeated due to Allied air support and the cutting of the German supply lines by British forces.
Background[]
The German panzer ace Michael Wittmann fought with the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler unit during the invasion of Poland at the start of World War II in 1939, assisting in Nazi Germany's occupation of the Polish motherland. The Polish were forced to retreat to exile in the United Kingdom, their ally in the war, who trained their units to fight back against the Axis when they began their invasion of Europe again. In 1944, the 16,000-strong Polish 1st Armored Division under Stanislaw Maczek was one of the units that landed with the Allies at the beaches of Normandy, and they pushed inlands into France's countryside to guard the western flank of the allied Canadian 4th Armored Division and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders unit. However, the Polish forces were halted in their advance towards the town of Falaise in the Falaise Gap (the corridor in between the advancing Allied armies in which German forces were trapped) by the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion, which included Wittmann and many other German tankers. The Germans had advantages in armor and supplies, so the Poles had to cut Wittmann's supply lines in order for them to defeat the Germans. The United Kingdom's Special Air Service (SAS) raided a German fuel depot at Autun and destroyed the oil supply of the German tanks, weakening Wittmann's forces. On 8 August, a day after the raid, the Polish forces launched their attack with support from Allied planes.
The Polish 1st Armored Division was made up mainly of Sherman Firefly tanks that were given to them by the United States, although they also included some infantry. The German forces included infantry, transport vehicles, half-tracks, Kubelwagon jeeps, and tanks such as the King Tiger and Panzer IV. The German forces were mainly remnants of other forces that were defeated in the battles for Normandy, so their morale was low and many of their forces fled at the first sight of Polish armor. In addition, the Polish had support from Allied tanks and attack bombers.
Battle[]
The Polish tank squadrons attacked the German positions in the French countryside that surrounded the town first, engaging them in former farms and in fields. The German tanks were overwhelmed at first, but the Germans brought up their strong Tiger tanks, who had a thicker layer of metal and stronger armaments. The tank squadron under Major Stan Jackowicz flanked the Germans to the right through a forest trail and destroyed three of their advanced King Tigers, while also pounding retreating German transport vehicles and mowing down soldiers with the tanks' machine-guns. Wittmann himself was cowardly, retreating towards the town with many German tanks. German anti-tank guns and soldiers ambushed the Poles on the outskirts of the village in barns, and they managed to destroy or damage a few tanks. However, the Allied attack-bombers bombed the village to soften up the Axis defenses, and the Polish forces moved in. Their tanks fought the German tanks at every turn, including a graveyard. In a field to the north of the town, Polish and German tanks fought a huge battle as Commander Jackowicz and his crew pursued Wittmann into town. Wittmann was killed after an Allied air bombardment and a final shot from the Polish tank, and his forces fell apart. The result of the battle was the loss of over 18 German tanks and at least 3 Polish Sherman Fireflies.