Alerted by their ULTRA code-breaking operation, the British were well aware of the impending counterattack. Montgomery, fearful of the 11th Armoured Division's tanks being cut off around Hill 112, decided that he would pull back the 4th and 29th Armoured Brigades from the bridgeheads south of the Odon and concentrate his tanks to beat back the German attack on the flanks of the Scottish Corridor.

The Waffen-SS stands firm

Using his ULTRA intelligence, Montgomery now decided to unleash his artillery and airpower against II SS Panzer Corps. The Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg Divisions were caught in their assembly areas around Noyers by huge artillery barrages, then waves of RAF Typhoons swooped down to machine-gun and rocket their columns.

The Hohenstaufen was given the objective of Cheux, at the heart of the Scottish Corridor. An attack by 100 RAF Lancaster bombers played havoc with its attack and it did not roll forward until the early afternoon. With its two panzergrenadier regiments in the lead, the division quickly secured Grainville-sur-Odon. As the Waffen-SS Panzer IVs, Panthers and StuG IIIs took the lead for the advance on Cheux they ran into the British 4th Armoured Brigade. By the end of the day some 60 British tanks were burning in the fields. Around 30 panzers and assault guns were lost in this battle, which failed to produce the decisive breakthrough that its tacticians had anticipated.

At the same time, the Leibstandarte kampfgruppe tried to push westwards in order to effect a link-up with the Hohenstaufen Division. However, the Leibstandarte's attack never got beyond its start-line: the Waffen-SS troopers had been hit hard by a British armoured regiment. Although the kampfgruppe did manage to destroy 12 tanks, later on it was forced to retreat and surrender 2 villages to the British 43rd Division.

South of the Odon River, the Frundsberg Division was ordered to clear the British from Hill 112. A barrage from 60 Nebelwerfers swept the hill prior to the assault and then Frundsberg pressed home its attacks, assisted by Hitlerjugend tanks firing from the southern and eastern slopes. Soon, Frundsberg and Hitlerjugend Panzer IVs were on the summit of Hill 112, and panzergrenadiers were then sent forward to mop up the last remaining British bridgeheads over the Odon.

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