Operation Blackcock

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Operation Blackcock
Part of the Western Front of the Second World War
Dispositions in the Roer Triangle, January 1945.
Date 13–27 January 1945 Location Limburg (Netherlands) and Heinsberg (Germany) Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  Canada	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Neil Ritchie Lewis Lyne Ivor Thomas E. Hakewill-Smith	Günther Blumentritt C.J. Landau Wolfgang Lange Friedrich Hübner
Units involved
XII Corps 7th Armoured Division 8th Armoured Brigade 43rd Infantry Division 52nd Infantry Division	XII SS Corps 176th Infantry Division 183rd Volksgrenadier-Division Fallschirmjäger Regiment Hübner
Strength
1 armoured division 2 infantry divisions 1 commando brigade	2 infantry divisions 2 paratroop regiments 1 heavy panzer battalion
Casualties and losses
1,152 casualties 20 tanks destroyed 23 tanks broken down 4 aircraft destroyed 2 aircraft crashed	2,000 casualties

Operation Blackcock was an operation to clear German troops from the Roer Triangle, formed by the towns of Roermond and Sittard in the Netherlands and Heinsberg in Germany during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. It was conducted by the British Second Army between 13 and 26 January 1945. The objective was to drive the German 15th Army back across the rivers Roer and Wurm and move the frontline further into Germany. The operation was carried out by Lieutenant-General Neil Ritchie's XII Corps by three divisions: the 7th Armoured Division (Major-General Lewis Lyne), the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division (Major-General Ivor Thomas) and the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division (Major-General Edmund Hakewill-Smith). The operation, named after the Scottish male black grouse, is relatively unknown.^[1]