As night fell, some 50 British tanks could be seen through the darkness, burning around Cheux. Meyer's desperate measure had just held the line. Some panzers had even managed to fight their way into St Manvieu and rescue groups of pioneers engaged in fighting behind the British lines. German losses were grievous, though. The Hitlerjugend Division lost more than 750 dead, wounded or missing, some 325 from the pioneer battalion.

Montgomery and O'Connor now made the decision to pile on the pressure even more and ordered that the 43rd Wessex Division be fed into the battle, allowing the 15th Division to push its 227th Highland Brigade forward through Cheux to make a dash for the Odon. The 4th Armoured Brigade was brought up to roll behind the infantry, and was to lead the breakout.

The Battle of Rauray

Blocking the British axis of advance between Grainville-sur-Odon and Marcelet was a kampfgruppe made up of 30 Panzer IVs and a number of StuG III assault guns. Based around Rauray were 17 Panthers of the Hitlerjugend's 1st Panzer Battalion, backed by a dozen 101st Battalion Tigers. Holding the Odon were a number of 88mm batteries. A Panther company from the 2nd Panzer Division was also dispatched to help Meyer hold the line. Groups of pioneers and panzergrenadiers had turned many of the villages along the Odon into well-fortified strongpoints, but Meyer's defence plan relied on the long-range killing power of his panzer and flak guns.

The British attack got off to a slow start because Cheux was clogged with troops, tanks and supply vehicles. This chaos was not helped by the fact that the 2nd Panzer Division's Panthers made an unauthorized attack and that its move was beaten back, with the loss of four out of its seventeen tanks.

A weak attack in the morning by one Scottish regiment was easily defeated by the panzers covering Rauray. Early in the afternoon, a strong force of Scottish infantry of the Argylls backed by the 23rd Hussars pushed south towards the Odon. Shermans duelled with Panthers, Tigers and Panzer IVs all through the day.

The British take Hil 112

Just after 22:00 hours, the first tanks of the 23rd Hussars were across the Odon and fanning out towards Hill 112. Meyer heard that his vital ground was under threat when his radio interception unit picked up triumphant radio conversations from the British tanks as they advanced, apparently unopposed, from the Argylls' bridgehead at Mandrainville. Overnight the British 159th Brigade joined the Argylls, and elements of the 29th Armoured Brigade were also across the Odon, accompanied by more than 150 Sherman tanks.

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