https://trace.tennessee.edu/cgi/view...t=utk_gradthes
I am amazed this is dated 2019. That version of the Villers Bocage engagement is 20 years out of date. I suspect it was a long time getting into print. The authors contempt for Monty and all things Commonwealth surfaces in the opening pages:
The initial objective of the combined Commonwealth Forces was to seize Caen within the first twenty-four hours of landing. However, greater than expected German resistance meant that the British fell well short of their goal. This was of great concern to the Supreme Allied Commander, American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and much to the chagrin of the Ground
Forces Commander, British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The British leader was fully aware that Eisenhower considered him far too timid in executing his operations. Almost immediately, Montgomery and his staff began planning for a new offensive to seize Caen in order to prove both to the British people and their American allies that he was up to the task of
leading the push towards Paris. .................................., Montgomery
confidently wrote in a letter to his chief of staff, “Will move on Villers-Bocage and Noyers tomorrow. All this very good and Pz Lehr may be in grave danger tomorrow.”
Ironically, trying to challenge his reputation for timidity would prove to be disastrous..................they were facing an infamous German Tiger: a tank whose reputation alone was fearsome enough to force the British infantry and tankers into action before even a single shot was fired.
Once the actual fighting started around Point 213, many were so convinced that resistance was futile, they abandoned fully functional and undamaged vehicles to cower in a ditch rather than trust their lives to tanks, weapons, and equipment that they believed were abjectly inferior to the German Panzerkampfwagen.
And of course the usual digs about 'tea':
As officers and non-commissioned argued among themselves how to alleviate the congestion, many soldiers decided it was a good time to step out of their vehicles and stretch their legs. Some even took the opportunity to set up stoves on the roadside and brew a morning cup of tea
...............The only recorded report of a British reaction from that first, terrifying moment came from Sergeant O’Conner of the 1st Rifle Brigade. He sat in his stationary half-track on RN 175, possibly enjoying a steaming mug of fresh tea