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=== Battle of Authie ===
[[File:North Nova Scotia Highlanders le long de l'Orne-Vaucelles.jpg|thumb|North Nova Scotia Highlanders along the Orne-Vaucelles, July 1944]]
The 12 SS Panzer Division was ordered to halt the advance near the [[Orne (river)|Orne River]], and force the Allies back into the Atlantic Ocean.{{sfn|Margolian|1998|p=38}} The 25th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, led by Colonel Kurt Meyer, was among the first [[Hitler Youth]] units to reach the front.{{sfn|Margolian|1998|p=38}} Meyer was a fanatical believer in the Nazi ideology. In the East, his regiment had razed multiple villages to the ground — slaughtering their inhabitants in the process.{{sfn|Margolian|1998|p=38}} Meyer set up his headquarters in a chateau near [[Caen]] on the night of June 6.{{sfn|Margolian|1998|p=40}} By this time, the 716th division had been almost entirely decimated, and could no longer function as a cohesive unit.{{sfn|Margolian|1998|p=40}} Meyer received orders to destroy the Juno beachhead at 4:00 PM on June 7 — giving him less than 15 hours to prepare his forces.{{sfn|Meyer|2005|p=213}} The German commander was forced to deploy his forces piecemeal, because many elements had been delayed by strafing from allied fighter-bombers.{{sfn|Kortenhaus|2014|p=24}}
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