As a result of the expansion of the Waffen-SS panzer corps in the summer of 1943, it was decided to remove the divisional Tiger companies and form two corps-level heavy tank battalions. These were nominally to have three Tiger I companies, each with 14 tanks apiece. The continued commitment of the Leibstandarte, Das Reich and Totenkopf Divisions on the Eastern Front through the winter of 1943 and into the spring of 1944 meant the two new battalions were not ready for action until just before the invasion of France in June 1944. The 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion itself was assigned to support I SS Panzer Corps, and the 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion worked for the sister corps. They were to provide each of the Waffen-SS corps with a hard-hitting strike force, or a reserve counter-punch.

101st SS Battalion

The 101st SS Battalion had been ordered to Normandy immediately after the Allied invasion, but persistent Allied air raids delayed the advance of its 37 operational tanks. It arrived in I SS Panzer Corps' sector west of Caen on 12 June, just as the Panzer Lehr Division was taking up position alongside the Hitlerjugend Division.

One of its companies, under the command of 30-year-old SS-Obersturmführer Michael Wittmann, was posted behind the army division and was to be used only as a reserve force. Wittmann was, by June 1944, one of the most highly decorated German tank commanders of the war, boasting the Knight's Cross with Oakleaves. He had received his first Tiger in early 1943, and by mid-1944 his kill tally ran to an astronomical 119 tanks, almost all of which were claimed during a particularly successful year serving with the Leibstandarte's Tiger company on the Eastern Front.

Operation Perch got under way during the afternoon of 12 June, with the 22nd Armoured Brigade leading the way. All went well until a single German anti-tank gun knocked out a British Stuart tank near the village of Livery. Rather than pressing on to exploit the open German flank during the light summer evening, the British commander, Major-General Bobby Erskine, chose to halt for the night. This was turning into no British Blitzkrieg.

Wittmann on the rampage

Suitably rested, the 7th Armoured Division started out for Villers-Bocage at first light on 13 June. By 08:00 hours, its advance guard - the Cromwell tanks of the 4th City of London Yeomanry "Sharpshooters" (4 CLY) - was passing through the town. Another British tank unit, the 5th Royal Tank Regiment, a motorized infantry battalion from the Rifle Brigade, as well as assorted anti-tank and artillery units, were in or around the small Norman town under the command of the 22nd Armoured Brigade. 4 CLY's A Squadron halted on a prominent hill feature to the east of the town in order to have a rest and brew some tea!

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