7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) division engaged tanks of the Panzer-Lehr-Division and the Heavy SS-Panzer Battalion 101 in the Battle of Villers-Bocage. Following the capture of Caen, the division took part in Operation Spring, which was intended to keep the German forces pinned to the British front away from the Americans who were launching Operation Cobra and then Operation Bluecoat, an attack to support the American break-out and intercept German reinforcements moving to stop it. After the Battle of the Falaise Gap, which saw most of the German Army in Normandy destroyed, the 7th Armoured Division then took part in the Allied advance from Paris
11th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) Hussars absorb the remainder of the 24th Lancers (of the 8th Armoured Brigade). The 11th Armoured was directed again to the west, to take part in Operation "Bluecoat". Beginning on 30 July 1944 it seized Saint-Martin-des-Besaces. The division spotted an intact bridge on the Souleuvre river, which enabled it to drive the Germans back. In what became the famous "Charge of the Bull", the division liberated Le Bény-Bocage on 1 August and quickly progressed southward. Although severely weakened at that time, the German army remained ever-present and dangerous. From 5 August, The 11th Armoured worked with the Guards Armoured Division