Operation Windsor was a Canadian attack, which was part of the Battle of Normandy during the Second World War. The attack was undertaken by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division to take Carpiquet and the adjacent airfield, from troops of the of . The attack was originally intended to take place during the later stages of Operation Epsom, to protect the eastern flank of the main assault but was postponed for a week. On 4 July, the 8th Canadian Infantry Brigade and an attached battalion of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division attacked Carpiquet, supported on the flanks by the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade. The village was captured by mid-afternoon but German resistance in the south defeated two attacks on the airfield, despite significant Allied tank and air support. Next day the Canadians repulsed German counter-attacks and held the village, which served as a base for Operation Charnwood, a Second Army attack on Caen, involving the rest of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division on 8 July and the airfield was captured by the Canadians on 9 July. Background Caen was an Operation Overlord goal for I Corps of the Anglo-Canadian Second Army, which landed forces on two Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944, to capture the city and the Carpiquet area. German resistance prevented the town from being captured on D-Day, a result considered possible by Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey the Second Army commander. For the next three weeks, positional warfare took place around Caen as both sides attacked and counter-attacked for minor tactical advantage on the Anglo-Canadian front and as part of a strategic intent to force the Germans to keep their most powerful armoured units away from the US First Army, as it captured Cherbourg and then pushed southwards through the bocage towards St. Lô. From the Second Army conducted Operation Epsom, with the VIII Corps which had recently arrived from Britain, to outflank Caen from the west and seize the high ground across the Orne near Bretteville-sur-Laize to the south. VIII Corps advanced through extensive field fortifications but the Germans were able to contain the offensive, after committing their last reserves. Depending on the success of VIII Corps, the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade were to capture the village and airfield of Carpiquet in Operation Ottawa, which was postponed. After the Allied advance to the west of Caen, the I SS Panzer Corps held positions