After a tank battle at Vireuil-Bocage, British tank crew members were killed by German forces. British soldiers who were defeated by German forces died beside their vehicles.

    During World War II, in the village of Vire-sur-Mer in the southwestern part of France, British tank crew members were killed by German forces following a tank battle. The British soldiers, whose vehicles had been destroyed by German forces, were killed alongside their tanks. The bodies of the British tank crew members were photographed on June 17, 1944.

   The Battle of Vireule-Bocage (June 13, 1944) was a major engagement during World War II, following the Normandy landings. German forces nearly annihilated British units, forcing them to retreat. It was the first large-scale battle to take place after the capture of Caen on D-Day. On June 12, the British Army launched an operation to attack German forces in Caen from the flank by capturing the Villers-Bocage area, where the German Army had established a strong defensive line. During the night of June 12–13, British forces reached Livry through this gap.On the morning of June 13, British forces advanced 8 kilometers east from Livry to Vireuil-Bocage. 

When the German forces attacked, the British did not anticipate the attack along the main road. The German forces detected the British advance and, on June 12, German tank units arrived in the Normandy region and were deployed east of Vireuil-Bocage.On the morning of June 13, Michael Wittmann, who would become a hero of the German SS, conducted reconnaissance of the British advance with his tank unit. He approached Villers-Bocage at point 213 east of the British vanguard.

    Wittmann's tank alone quickly destroyed three British tanks. The German tanks advanced west along the main road and destroyed the British tanks at the western end of the street. The Germans destroyed the remaining British tanks, half-tracks, grenade launchers, and lorries. With infantry support, many British soldiers were killed or captured. Wittmann returned to the village and charged into a British ambush, losing all his tanks. The German forces were ordered to sweep the town, resulting in fierce fighting where both sides lost tanks. By late afternoon on June 13, the British forces withdrew from Villers-Bocage. British casualties were extremely heavy, with 62 killed and 100 captured.