 Prior to the early September launch of the British-led Operation Astonia to take the port city Wildermuth had requested that French citizens be evacuated before heavy pre-assault naval and air bombardment commenced.His offer was rebuffed by Lt-General John Crocker, in command of the 1st British Corps which had laid siege to the city.Crocker would later argue that if Wildermuth cared about the civilian population, he could have surrendered the garrison before the bombing began, and that acceding to Wildermuth's request would have served only the German interest, by gaining time and removing potentially disruptive French civilians from the defended fortress.