During Charnwood, the division was driven from its positions in Buron and nearby villages of Gruchy and Cussy and the divisional command post in the Ardenne Abbey, which had been occupied since before D-Day, was lost. Witt was killed in action by a Royal Navy naval artillery barrage which hit the divisional command post at Venoix on 14 June 1944. Kurt Meyer was placed in command of the division. During their retreat from France, members of the LSSAH and the Hitlerjugend division murdered 34 French civilians in the towns of Tavaux and Plomion. The units in the division that were not fit for combat were ordered to pull back to Germany on 8 September, leaving behind a small "Kampfgruppe" attached to the SS Division Das Reich. The division losses during the fighting in Normandy, in the three months from June to September, amounted to ca. 8,000 men, over 80% of its tanks, 70% of its armored vehicles, 60% of its artillery and 50% of its motor vehicles.