The surprisingly aggressive “Germans” of the static 346th Infantry Division could observe positions of the British 6th Airborne Division from Bréville, using the town as a base for a series of grinding, attritional attacks that kept the paras occupied and unable to advance. I Corps’ commander, Sir John Crocker, ordered the 51st (Highland) Division to send the 5th Black Watch Battalion to the 3rd Parachute Brigade and put an end to the German impertinence. The Highlanders arrived very early on the 11th and moved forward covered by a heavy artillery barrage.

The Highlanders encountered few problems until the barrage lifted as they neared Bréville. The Germans concentrated heavy fire on them as the attacker crossed a wide stretch of open ground, which quickly sent the Black Watch reeling backwards to Château St. Côme with over 200 casualities; one Black Watch company was almost wiped out. The Germans made a counter-attack of their own, and the Scots unleashed their own fury on them, inflicting equally heavy losses.