Atlas of Battles

battle, major, interwar and Second World War

Battle for Caen

Battle for Caen was a battle fought on 6 June 1944 at Caen, in what is now France; it lasted 2 months. It was part of Operation Overlord. The recorded result: Allied victory.

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British Sherman tanks and a 6-pdr anti-tank gun in the centre of Caen, Normandy, 10 July 1944. Sherman tanks and 6-pdr anti-tank gun in the centre of Caen, 10 July 1944.
British Sherman tanks and a 6-pdr anti-tank gun in the centre of Caen, Normandy, 10 July 1944. Sherman tanks and 6-pdr anti-tank gun in the centre of Caen, 10 July 1944.. No 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit, Christie (Sgt), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought6 June 1944lasted 2 months
WhereCaen, France49.186N, 0.362W
OutcomeAllied victory
BelligerentsUnited Kingdom; CanadaagainstNazi Germany
Casualties and lossesabout 50,539 casualties; 450 tanks (253 destroyed)and550 tanks destroyed
Part ofOperation Overlord1944

Where it sits in Operation Overlord

Battle for Caen, 1944Battle of Cherbourg, 1944Battle of Carentan, 1944Battle of Bréville, 1944Battle of Bloody Gulch, 1944Battle of La Haye-du-Puits, 1944Second Battle of the Odon, 1944Battle for Brest, 1944Falaise Pocket, 1944Liberation of Paris, 194419441944Battle for Caen, 1944
10 placed engagements of Operation Overlord in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date6 June 1944
to 6 August 1944
PlaceCaen, France
49.186N, 0.362W
KindBattle, interwar and Second World War
Strength4 armoured divisions; 10 infantry divisions; 1 airborne division; 5 armoured brigades; 3 tank brigades; 2 commando brigades7 infantry divisions; 8 panzer divisions; 3 heavy panzer battalions; 1 heavy panzerjäger battalion; 2 sturmgeschütz brigades; 3 nebelwerfer brigades
Casualties and lossesabout 50,539 casualties; 450 tanks (253 destroyed)550 tanks destroyed
Commanders
Battle for CaenBattle for CaenBattle of CaenSiege of CaenSiege of CaenBattle of Verrières RidgeBattle of Douvres Radar StationBattle of Verrières RidgeBattle of Douvres Radar StationLe HavreRennesRouenLe MansCherbourgDieppeSt.-Brieuc100 km49.186N, 0.362W
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle for Caen
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle for Caen today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-04-02. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 27 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from -8 to 92 m, 100 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 56% built-up, 25% tree cover, 14% grassland.

built-up: 56%tree cover: 25%grassland: 14%cropland: 3%built-up 56%tree cover 25%grassland 14%cropland 3%
west to east, 10.0 km0 to 51 mnorth to south, 10.0 km0 to 68 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 4 times between 1346 and 1944.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1944

Battle for Caen is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 1,383 in present-day France.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q696823, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle for Caen, revision 1385284150, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.