The British Second Army thus found itself under attack by seven panzer divisions, including four SS panzer divisions and part of a fifth. At that very moment, the whole of Army Group Centre in Belorussia had just three panzer divisions, and that was after being reinforced. So Ilya Ehrenburg’s sarcastic remark that the Allies in Normandy were fighting the dregs of the German army could hardly have been further from the truth.
