Stacey offers a second line of analysis on the Canadians' failure to advance to Line Oak, suggesting that difficulties encountered by the British 3rd Infantry Division on Sword caused Dempsey to halt the advance of the entire British Second Army. The British encountered heavy counterattacks by the 21st Panzer Division, which prevented the British 9th Brigade from establishing contact with the Canadians at Juno. Copp wrote that, "Before this withdrawal the 21st Panzer Division became evident, Dempsey had concluded that more armoured counter-attacks could be expected. So he ordered the three assault divisions to dig in at their second line of objectives. This decision was relayed to subordinate commanders somewhere after 19:00", just as the 9th Canadian Brigade was preparing to advance south towards Carpiquet. Wilmot wrote that the British 3rd Infantry Division brigade commanders were overly cautious in advancing towards Caen and this slowed the Anglo-Canadian advance, especially given the reports of counter-attacks Dempsey received from Sword.