Hill 112: Marshal Rommel’s Key to Normandy | Frontlines Ep. 05 | Documentary

Field Marshal Rommel called it ‘the Key to Normandy’ - to be held at any cost. Three weeks after D-Day, it is the target for a massive British breakthrough of the German frontline and then following a highly controversial withdrawal, the graveyard for the British soldiers that try to re-take it. Their offensive is marred with debateable decisions, the refusal of British units to support each other and the sacrifice of two untested battalions. The killing fields around Hill 112 become a brutal war of attrition that the Nazis cannot afford to fight. Hill 112 is a strategic ridgeline overlooking a river valley that controls the route around Caen and into France, blocked by the largest grouping of SS Panzer Divisions since the world’s biggest tank battle at Kursk (in 1943.) The fighting in Normandy is far worse than anyone predicted - or planned for. The Germans exploit the natural terrain brilliantly - particularly the thick ‘bocage’ hedgerows - and make the Allies bleed for every metre. It