In the early hours of 6 June 1944, the first reports of a major Allied operation were transmitted to the 12th SS Hitlerjugend Panzer Division. In anticipation of the long-awaited Allied invasion of occupied France, a company was sent to investigate the Caen area. Though the young soldiers of the division were uncertain of what actually awaited them, the first acts in a conflict that would claim most of their lives were being performed. However, defeat was not on their minds during that hectic morning—the men of the 12th SS were fixed on driving the “little fish” back into the sea.
"The Defeat of the 12th SS: 7–10 June 1944,"
Canadian Military History: Vol. 3
, Article 2.
Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/cmh/vol3/iss1/2