 In a frontal assault on 8–9 July the northern half of the city was captured.German forces still held part of the city on the southern side of the Orne river, including the Colombelles steel works, a vantage point for artillery observers.On 10 July General Bernard Montgomery, commander of all Allied ground forces in Normandy, held a meeting with Lieutenant-Generals Miles Dempsey and Omar Bradley, respectively the commanders of British Second Army and the United States First Army, at his headquarters to discuss the next attacks to be launched by 21st Army Group following the conclusion of Operation Charnwood and the failure of the First Army's initial breakout offensive.