For educational purposes
The French city of Caen was identified by the Allies as an early goal for troops coming ashore during the D-Day invasion.
Rather than quickly falling, the struggle for Caen became a bloody, grinding affair that lasted for seven weeks due to intense German resistance.
While a costly struggle, the fighting around Caen pinned down German troops which facilitated Operation Cobra in late July.
This saw the Allies breakout of the beachhead and move to encircle German forces in Normandy.
