A steady rain was falling in the early afternoon of June 26, 1944. Elements of the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers, stationed in and about St. Mauvieu, caught motion to the east through the screen of precipitation: Germans on the approach! Portions of the 12th SS and 21st Panzer Divisions approached over the soaked terrain. Fortunately for the Scots, they had been stiffened with a decent collection of armor and AT weaponry. Opening shots by Archer TD's and 17-PDR AT guns took out a platoon of SS Panzer IV's, as well as causing consternation and confusion among a group of SS Marder TD's. A couple of air strikes by Douglas Boston attack aircraft yielded no positive results, but artillery support slowed the moves of the enemy infantry.

Still, the Germans pressed on relentlessly. As their armor drew nearer it was able to remove the Archers and a handful of Shermans from the contest, while the Grenadiers and occasional artillery barrages disrupted the Fusiliers' defenses. Within an hour, the Germans had closed to within short range of the town, and the three easternmost hexes soon became the scenes of close-in struggles (the SS in the northernmost hex, with the 21st Panzer in the other two, supported by Panzer IV's.)

Further south, the 6th Kings Own Scottish Borderers realized that the main thrust was hitting the Fusiliers - and with no pressure on their front, the Borderers moved up west of the Fusiliers, taking over defense of the westernmost town hexes and allowing the Fusiliers defending those locations to be fed into the ongoing assaults to the east, where the losses were mounting.

Several times, the defenders in the eastern hexes were close to breaking entirely, but the reinforcements - and the harassing of potential German reinforcements by artillery and mortars - kept the issue in doubt. Meanwhile, in the western town hexes adjacent to the assaults, Shermans and 6-PDR AT guns took potshots at the German vehicles in the assault hexes, slowly whittling the German strength down.

The issue was in doubt clear up to the end, but by steadily grinding down the German attackers, the Scots were able to keep the enemy from controlling a single hex of St. Mauvieu - and thus came away winners. It was at a fearful cost to both sides, however, especially in Scot infantry and German armor. The losses:

6th RSF: 9 RIF steps and 1 WPN step, plus a Major and a Lieutenant. 6th KOSB: 1 RIF step 12th SS Panzer: 2 GREN steps, 2 Marder steps, 2 PZ-IVH steps 21st Panzer: 2 GREN steps, 3 PZ-IVH steps, 1 STUG step