days of inconclusive fighting. By 17 June, Panzer Lehr had been forced to withdraw. Like all German armoured units engaged in Normandy, Panzer Lehr suffered heavy losses in its transport from Allied air attacks. By the end of June, the division's armoured component was severely depleted. Despite this, it continued to hold against the British and Commonwealth forces, engaging in heavy fighting near the town of Tilly-sur-Seulles. By the end of June, the Panzer Lehr Division had suffered 2,972 casualties and reported the loss of 51 tanks and assault guns, 82 halftracks and 294 other vehicles. The Saint-Lô battles On 1 July 1944, Panzer Lehr had only 36 operational Panzer IV tanks (additional 29 in short term repair and 10 in long term repair); 32 operational Panther tanks (additional 26 in short term repair and 8 in long term repair) and 28 operational Jagdpanzer and Sturmgeschutz (9 more in short term repair and 1 in long term repair). On 7 July, the division was ordered to pull out of Tilly-sur-Seules and head west to provide support to the divisions resisting the American advance near Saint-Lô. The area around Saint-Lô consists of small fields with high ancient hedgerows and sunken lanes, known as bocage. The bocage made it extremely difficult for armor to maneuver and provided superb defensive positions to the infantry on both sides of the battle. On 10 July, Panzer-Lehr launched a counterattack against elements of the American 9th and 30th infantry divisions around the village of Le Dézert. American M10 tank destroyers knocked out 30 of the Panzer Lehr's tanks and forced the remaining tanks to withdraw over the Vire Canal to relative safety. Over the next two weeks, the division fought a defensive battle of attrition. On 19 July, Saint-Lô fell to the Americans. Six days later, the Americans launched Operation Cobra, their breakout from the Normandy lodgment. By that time, the division had only 2,200 combat troops remaining and 12 Panzer IV and 16 Panthers fit for action and 30 tanks in various states of repair behind the lines. The operation was preceded by a massive aerial bombardment by over 1,500 allied bombers. Panzer Lehr was directly in the path of attack and the division suffered about 1,000 casualties during this bombardment. The division also lost at least 14 assault guns and 10 tanks. Despite strong initial resistance, by 27 July the German defenses has been