The Allied forces failed to achieve a quick breakthrough after the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944, and the whole front was locked in a hard-fought battle with the German army, and the battle line was in a state of stalemate, which was certainly not something they wanted to see, and the German commanders were naturally not stupid, and both sides spared no effort to send a large number of troops to this small landing site in order to break the stalemate.

Saint-Lô is an important transportation hub in the southwest of Normandy, with the N-172 and N-174 corridors passing through the city, and if the American forces capture Saint-Lô, they can quickly penetrate to the southeast of Normandy and outflank the German western armored group fighting west of Caen from the left flank. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the Germans urgently mobilized elite armored units from the Eastern Front to launch a desperate counterattack against the air superiority and heavy artillery fire of the Allies.

The SS2 (i.e., the Imperial Division), which had just arrived from Bordeaux in southern France, immediately responded to the American attack by organizing a battle group on 8 July to attack the American left flank from the vicinity of Saint-Sebastian-Setern. The Leopard tanks of the 2nd Panzer Regiment of the 4th Panzer Regiment rushed to the front. SS Commando Captain 4th Ernst Backman nervously looked out from his Leopard 424 tank, and soon the American armored forces exchanged fire with them, Buckman was the first to destroy one Sherman tank, and even the other brothers in the company also taught the arrogant Americans a hard lesson. The defeated Americans immediately called for artillery support, and the attacking ranks of the 4th Panzer Company were immediately covered by dense artillery and were forced to retreat after suffering losses.

Oil painting of the Lelore ambush, the American Sherman is on fire, pay attention to the Allied bombers arriving for reinforcements

On July 12, the 4th Panzer Company engaged the U.S. forces again, and Buckman destroyed two U.S. tanks and paralyzed another. The next day, just after the battle on the outskirts of the village of Pokaki, an infantry report was received that the American column was heading here, and that there were anti-tank guns hanging behind the half-tracks. Considering that the retreating American troops would certainly inform friendly forces of the location of their companies, Backman decided to use his tanks to actively search for the enemy around the assembly area. The Leopard tank encountered the vanguard of the American army in the woods, and the American gunners had already set up the anti-tank gun, and an armor-piercing shell flew past the Leopard turret, but the Leopard tank destroyed it at once. Almost at the same time, a 75-mm American shell "boom" happened to hit a few centimeters under the Panther shield's lookout hole, the shell bounced into the car, the tank burned, and under the order of Buckman, several crew members fled the tank in a hurry, and Buckman found that the gunner Bergdorff was missing, so he ran back to the tank and dragged the stunned gunner out. Unexpectedly, there was a fear of tigers and leopards among the American troops and they retreated. The ammunition in the car did not detonate, so the tankmen extinguished the fire and drove the tank back to the repair company.

Buckman's Leopard in Normandy

On July 14, after tank battles and the rescue of the wounded, the tracks of the Buckman tank were damaged by the U.S. Army, during which time he managed to destroy seven U.S. tanks and replace them with the repaired No. 424.

On 25 July, the "Cobra" offensive kicked off with a large-scale U.S. air strike, and U.S. armored units launched a major attack on Avranche after the air strike. The armored instructors on the front of the German defense had already been blown up and lost most of their combat effectiveness, and the SS2 2nd Panzer Regiment was forced to retreat to fill the defensive gap left by the armored instructors, and the Allied air forces immediately launched an air attack on the SS2 Imperial Division for 2 days and 2 nights, and the German vehicles were only able to maneuver to avoid the air attack, and during a march, the carburetor of the No. 424 Leopard tank failed, and in order to save time, the maintenance soldiers carried out repairs on the spot without taking any concealment measures. Four Allied attack planes spotted the Leopard lying on the ground, and heavy strafing ensued, the tank's radiator hose and oil cooler were punctured, and the engine caught fire. After the Allied planes flew away, the German tank crews immediately got out from under the tanks to extinguish the fire, and after the maintenance crews worked hard all night, the tanks were finally repaired on the afternoon of the 27th, and the Buckman crew drove the tanks to chase the evacuated company.

When Buckman drove to the entrance of the village of Lelore, a group of infantry and logistics personnel surrounded him as if they had seen a life-saving straw, and told them that a large number of American tanks were advancing along the road towards Kudowns! There is no doubt that the Germans were also retreating to Kudowns at this time, and if the American troops were allowed to seize the city, the consequences would be unimaginable, and the roar of the American tanks became louder and louder.

"Prepare for battle! The U.S. tank came from the left, kill the first one!" Buckman gave the order, and the Leopard-shaped 75-mm armor-piercing shell immediately burst out of the chamber, directly penetrating Sherman's side armor, and the U.S. tank immediately burst into flames and exploded. Only then the second vehicle was also paralyzed to the ground, and the American troops were immediately in chaos, and Buckman took advantage of the situation to destroy the other two Shermans blocking the intersection. Seeing that it was a Leopard tank, the U.S. troops instinctively began to retreat, and even a few tanks that had rushed through the intersection retreated.

The Leopard tank took advantage of the chaos to rush onto the road, and the accurate 75mm tank gun destroyed the American half-tracks and jeeps along the way. An artillery shell hit the ammunition delivery truck, and the whole vehicle ammunition was instantly detonated, and the road suddenly became a fire field. The two Shermans drove off the road and made a detour to the Leopard from the left field in an attempt to attack the weak flanks of the Leopard, and although Sherman's 75 mm gun could not cope with the Leopard's 120 mm equivalent of positive armor, it was easy to penetrate the 57 mm thick side armor at such a distance. The face-to-face tank battle began, the gunner Bogodorf quickly and calmly turned the muzzle to destroy one, and destroyed the other before the opponent entered the position, during which the Leopard was hit twice, although it did not cause a penetration, but the power compartment burned again, but the automatic fire extinguishing device acted in time to extinguish the fire.

The U.S. bombers appeared, and several near-misses violently shook the Leopard tank, the shock wave tore off some of the track shoes draped on the turret, and the shrapnel flying around made the tank clang, and the crew was also dizzy, and several Shermans took the opportunity to spread out the formation and outflank them, and the Leopard was hit again and again, one hit the hull welding, the other broke the tracks, and the driving wheels were also broken. Due to the failure of the ventilation system, the gunpowder smoke emitted after the fire could not be extracted in time, and a large amount of toxic gases were filled with the car. The German armored corps' excellent combat qualities and superb skills were demonstrated at this critical moment, and the crew continued to fight while using the time to repair the vehicles, and the two Shermans took the opportunity to attack the Leopard with broken tracks, but were destroyed by the opponent who could not move. The Buckman crew used the woods as cover to fight and retreat, and although they were hit several times, they did not cause serious damage, after all, the three performance of the Leopard were better than Sherman's. After destroying the nearest U.S. tank, the 424 Leopard finally disengaged with the U.S. forces and drove to the safety of the village of Negev for rest.

Buckman's ambush succeeded in disrupting the U.S. plan to capture Ludowns first, buying valuable time for the Germans to retreat from Kudowns. On July 28, Buckman's tank dragged two powerless Leopards to Kutangs, but street fighting had already begun in the city, and the American anti-tank guns in ambush in the shadows destroyed a wounded Leopard, Buckman and others bypassed the American defense point and continued to retreat, and were bombed by American planes on the way, Buckman was hit by shrapnel in the lower leg, and the loader was also injured. On 30 July, the German detachment blew up two depleted Leopards and fled back to their positions on foot, engaging the 4th Panzer Company of the 2nd Panzer Regiment of the SS2 Imperial Division on 5 August.

On 27 August, Buckman was awarded the Knight's Cross for his service at Leloré, and later commanded the 401 Leopard in the Ardennes counterattack. Buckman survived the war.