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During August 1944, the Falaise pocket [1] was the area between the four towns of Trun, Argentan, Vimoutiers and Chambois near Falaise in France, in which Allied forces tried to encircle and destroy the German Seventh Army and Fifth Panzer Army as part of the larger Battle of Normandy, during World War II. Trun Orne is a Village and commune in the Orne département of north-western France. Argentan is a commune, and the capital of two cantons and of an arrondissement of the Orne department in northwestern France Vimoutiers is a town and commune in the Orne département, in Normandy, northwestern France. Chambois is a commune of Orne, in France. The city is remarkable for its Norman Keep (12th century and was part of the Falaise is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in Normandy, northwestern This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Allies of World War II were the countries officially opposed to the Axis powers during the Second World War. The 7th Army (7 Armee Oberkommando was a World War II field army The 5th Panzer Army, also known as Panzer Group West and Panzer Group Eberbach (German 5 World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including
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Background
While Allied troops made slow progress in Normandy through most of June and July, the US 12th Army Group under General Omar Bradley started to make rapid progress at the beginning of August, thanks to the success of Operation Cobra. Normandy (Normandie Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. The Twelfth United States Army Group was the largest and most powerful American military formation ever to take to the field Omar Nelson Bradley KCB ( February 12, 1893 &ndash April 8, 1981) was one of the main U Operation Cobra was the codename for the World War II operation planned by United States Army General Omar Bradley to break out from the By August 4 the German front facing the 12th Army Group had largely collapsed. Events 70 - The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. A small but fierce German counter-offensive (Operation Lüttich) was launched on August 7 at Mortain. Operation Lüttich was a German counterattack during the Battle of Normandy, taking place around the American positions near Mortain from August 7&mdashAugust Events 322 BC - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon following the death of Alexander the Great. Mortain is a small town and commune in the Manche département, France. This was a last-ditch attempt at halting the Allied breakthrough by cutting off General George Patton's Third Army. For the 19th century Scottish jurist/politician see George Patton Lord Glenalmond. With the aid of air support and advance warning thanks to ULTRA, the Germans had been repelled by the evening, and Bradley had retaken Mortain. ULTra ("Urban Light Transport" is a Personal rapid transit system from Advanced Transport Systems Ltd a company based in Cardiff, Wales. [2]
The Germans' Mortain counterattack was an unwise move because it shifted the weight of their forces westward at the very time when they needed to retreat eastward. In the process the Germans had been weakened, and Allied commanders Bradley and Bernard Montgomery moved to exploit the situation with a plan to encircle the Germans. Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC, (məntˈgʌmərɪ əv ˈæləmeɪn
The initial plan was to cut off the Germans by sending the First Canadian Army, under Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar, south through Falaise[2]to meet elements of the American Third Army, which was attacking northwards to Argentan. The First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the Second World War. General Henry Duncan Graham "Harry" Crerar CH, CB, DSO, KStJ, CD, PC ( April 28, 1888 Realising that the Germans might escape, Montgomery later modified the plan to close the gap between Trun and Chambois 11 miles (18 km) further to the east. Trun Orne is a Village and commune in the Orne département of north-western France. Chambois is a commune of Orne, in France. The city is remarkable for its Norman Keep (12th century and was part of the
Battle
South
Headed by General Leclerc's French 2nd Armored Division, which had taken Le Mans on August 9, the U.S. XV Corps of Patton's Third Army received orders on August 10 to move rapidly north. Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque ( November 22, 1902 – November 28, 1947) was a French general during World War II The 2nd Armored Division (2e Division Blindée 2e DB commanded by General Leclerc, fought during the final phases of World War II in the Western Front Le Mans (ləmɑ̃ in French) is a city in France, located on the Sarthe River. Events 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus Initially constituted on October 1 1933 as part of the Organized Reserves the XV Corps was activated on 15 February 1943 at Camp Beauregard Events 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire On August 12 it entered Alençon, then moved on to Ecouché and finally Argentan on August 14, 14 miles (22 km) south of Falaise, where they were ordered to halt by Bradley since he needed Montgomery's permission to cross army boundary lines (a decision supported by Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower) and for fear of running into the Canadians to the north—the rapid changes in troop locations were causing confusion in the Allied communication lines. Events 1099 - First Crusade: Battle of Ascalon - Crusaders under the command of Godfrey of Bouillon defeat Fatimid Alençon is a town and commune in Normandy, France, préfecture (capital of the Orne department. Argentan is a commune, and the capital of two cantons and of an arrondissement of the Orne department in northwestern France Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general The halt in the northward advance is thought to have enabled several thousand German troops to escape.
Montgomery modified the northern boundary on August 15 after Bradley had waited for a crucial 24 hrs, enabling the Americans to advance further north, and on August 19 the 90th Infantry Division took Chambois, 10 km north east of Argentan, where they met up with the Canadians who were heading south towards the town. Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed Events 43 BC - Octavian, later known as Augustus compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul.
Meanwhile the main focus of the U. S. attack turned to the east, and by August 20 Patton's Third Army had crossed the river Seine at Mantes, with Leclerc's tanks reaching the centre of Paris on August 24. Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine The Seine (sɛn in French) is a slow flowing major River and commercial waterway within the regions of Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie Mantes-la-Jolie (often informally called Mantes) is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar 's General Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River
North
To the north, Montgomery launched a new offensive to the south of Caen at the same time. Caen (kɑ̃ is a commune in northwestern France. It is the Prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the In its first operation Canadian First Army launched Operation Totalize on August 9. The First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the Second World War. Events 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus After an initial breakthrough, progress slowed. Although under air attack by day, the German forces (which included the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend) [2] were still able to cause serious damage. The Germans also put up fierce resistance against the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division in the woods north of Falaise on August 16. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division was an Infantry Division of the First Canadian Army, mobilized on 1 September 1939 during the Second World Events 1384 - The Hongwu Emperor of Ming China, Emperor Dong hears a case of a couple who tore paper money bills while fighting Falaise was conquered by August 17. Events 986 - A Byzantine army was destroyed in the pass of Trajan's Gate by the Bulgarians under the Comitopuli [2]
The Canadian 4th Armoured Division occupied Trun on August 18. The 4th Canadian (Armoured Division was created by conversion of 4th Canadian Infantry Division at the beginning of 1942 in Canada. Events 293 BC - The oldest known Roman temple to Venus is founded starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica. On August 19 they took the German held village of Saint-Lambert-sur-Dives and joined up with the Americans at Chambois, digging in on a line from Falaise through Trun to Chambois and fighting hard against the fleeing Germans. Events 43 BC - Octavian, later known as Augustus compels the Roman Senate to elect him Consul. Saint-Lambert-sur-Dives, commonly called Saint-Lambert, is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region The South Alberta Regiment, predecessors to today's South Alberta Light Horse along with elements of The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's) and the Lincoln and Welland Regiment, fought a vicious battle at Saint-Lambert-sur-Dives. The South Alberta Light Horse, or SALH is an armoured reconnaissance unit of the Canadian Forces Army Reserve based in Medicine Hat and Edmonton The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's, or A & SH of C is a Primary Reserve Highland Infantry Regiment of the This small force, numbering fewer than 200 Canadians, killed, captured and wounded around 3,000 Germans during the battle. Major David Currie of the South Alberta Regiment won the Victoria Cross for his leadership during the battle. David Vivian Currie VC (8 July 1912 - 20 June 1986 was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry See below the section "Separate Commonwealth awards" Note that since
Also on August 18, General Stanisław Maczek's 1st Polish Armoured Division took up position with 87 Sherman tanks on the wooded "Hill 262" (known as Mont-Ormel to the French, The Mace to the Poles) to the east of the Canadians, to prevent any counter-offensive from the east seeking to rescue the trapped Germans. Events 293 BC - The oldest known Roman temple to Venus is founded starting the institution of Vinalia Rustica. General Stanisław Maczek ( March 31, 1892 &ndash December 11, 1994) was the most The Polish 1st Armoured Division ( Polish 1 Dywizja Pancerna) was an Allied military unit during World War II, created in February 1942 at World War II foreign variants and use Lend-Lease Sherman tanks. Hill 262 in Normandy (elevation 262 m also known as The Mace (in Polish Maczuga - because the ridge on this hill resembled a caveman's mace with two bulbous From the hill they also had a commanding position overlooking the Chambois to Vimoutiers road (by now the last road out of the pocket) and proceeded to attack the fleeing Germans. Vimoutiers is a town and commune in the Orne département, in Normandy, northwestern France. In response, the isolated Poles were repeatedly and ferociously attacked, especially on August 20 when the II SS Panzer Corps, which had escaped the pocket, attacked and broke through back into the pocket from Vimoutiers. Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine The IISS-Panzerkorps was a German Waffen-SS armoured Corps which saw action on both the Eastern and Western Fronts during World The Poles had lost 325 dead, with 1,002 wounded and 114 missing when they were reinforced by the 22nd Armoured Regiment (The Canadian Grenadier Guards) in the early morning of August 21. The Canadian Grenadier Guards is the second most senior Infantry Regiment in the Reserve Force of Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan. The Germans lost around 2,000 dead, with 5,000 taken prisoner, and 359 vehicles destroyed.
Inside the pocket
Under the combined pressure of the Americans and French to the south, the British to the west, and the Canadians and Poles to the north, by August 10 the Germans were aware of the danger of encirclement, although Hitler was demanding another counter-attack on Avranches rather than a deliberate withdrawal. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Events 612 BC - Killing of Sinsharishkun, King of Assyrian Empire Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately
On August 15, Hitler replaced Field Marshal Günther von Kluge with Walther Model. Events 778 - The Battle of Roncevaux Pass, at which Roland is killed Günther “Hans” von Kluge ( October 30, 1882 – August 19, 1944) was a German military leader Otto Moritz Walter Model ('modəl (24 January 1891 – 21 April 1945 was a German general and later field marshal during World War II. Kluge was absent from his headquarters for most of that day. Hitler, already suspicious of von Kluge after his implication by forced confessions from members of the July Plot, later alleged that von Kluge had attempted to surrender his armies to the Allies but was prevented because Allied plenipotentiaries failed to make contact. The word plenipotentiary (from the Latin, plenus + potens, full + power has two meanings [2] Kluge's version of events (supported by other German officers) was that his car was knocked out by Allied fighter-bombers and he had then been pinned down until nightfall by Allied artillery fire. No Allied account makes any mention of an offer of surrender or of any contact with von Kluge. (Von Kluge committed suicide a few days later. )
The following day, with the remaining 150,000 troops of the German Seventh Army and Fifth Panzer Army almost encircled, Hitler finally ordered a general withdrawal of troops towards the Seine River. The 7th Army (7 Armee Oberkommando was a World War II field army The 5th Panzer Army, also known as Panzer Group West and Panzer Group Eberbach (German 5 The Seine (sɛn in French) is a slow flowing major River and commercial waterway within the regions of Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie On the ground, the retreat had effectively been underway since August 14 (planned by Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff), in an attempt to save what remained of the German armored divisions. Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures Rudolf Christoph Freiherr Von Gersdorff ( March 27, 1905 – January 27, 1980) was a military officer in The German infantry, spread out over the bocage without support, became increasingly disordered as the troops tried to reach the narrow Falaise Gap and safety. Bocage is a Norman word which has entered both the French and English languages
For most of the Normandy campaign, Allied fighter-bombers of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force and USAAF Ninth Air Force had controlled the skies over the battlefield, but the Germans had suffered few actual casualties since they occupied dispersed and camouflaged defensive positions and moved at night only. The former RAF Second Tactical Air Force ( 2TAF) was one of three Tactical air forces within the Royal Air Force (RAF during and after World War Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central is a Numbered Air Force in Air Combat Command (ACC From the Mortain counter-offensive on August 7, they had been compelled to move by daylight, and losses had increased. Events 322 BC - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon following the death of Alexander the Great. Now they were compressed into a narrow pocket and attempting to flee by day, and the Allied fighter-bombers and artillery caused havoc. Salient Salients can be formed in a number of ways An attacker can produce a salient in the defender's line by either intentionally making a Pincer movement around the Eventually, the pall of smoke from burning vehicles prevented the Allied aircraft from finding further targets. In a single attack by the Royal Air Force aircraft, the German army lost 175 tanks and hundreds of men.
The German retreat turned into a desperate flight along what became known to the Germans as "the death road" (Todesgang) between the villages of Chambois, Saint Lambert, Trun and Tournai-sur-Dives. Chambois is a commune of Orne, in France. The city is remarkable for its Norman Keep (12th century and was part of the Saint-Lambert-sur-Dives, commonly called Saint-Lambert, is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region Trun Orne is a Village and commune in the Orne département of north-western France. Late on August 21, after French priest Abbé Launay pleaded with the German field commander, the remaining German troops in the pocket were ordered to surrender. Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan.
Aftermath
Although perhaps 100,000 German troops succeeded in escaping the Allies because of the delay in closing the gap (many of them wounded), they left behind 40,000-50,000 prisoners, over 10,000 dead, and the road was practically impassable because of the destroyed vehicles (including 730 tanks and tank destroyers out of an original force of 880). None of the Panzer divisions in Normandy escaped with more than 15 tanks. Out of the 56 infantry divisions that had fought west of the Seine, 18 were utterly destroyed. Among those not captured were one army commander, four corps commanders and 14 division commanders. The German forces lost about 10,000 guns and vehicles. Only the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen and Panzerlehrdivision had more than 15 combat-ready tanks by August 22. The 9 Waffen SS Panzerdivision "Hohenstaufen", also known as SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 9, SS-Panzergrenadier-Division 9 Hohenstaufen or The Panzerlehrdivision (also called Panzer-Lehr-Division commonly known as Panzer Lehr, was a German armored division during World Events 392 - Arbogast has Eugenius elected Western Roman Emperor.
The Canadians also suffered heavy losses, with some 5,500 dead, wounded, and missing (including 1,470 killed). Polish forces lost 1,441 men, including 325 killed and 114 missing.
The failure to capture greater numbers of German troops was questioned by some commanders and postwar writers. The formation and reduction of the pocket was a great Allied success; there was however a sense, even as the pocket closed, that the prisoner haul could have been more. This gave the basis for allegations that perhaps a number of German prisoners of war were executed by the Polish troops in revenge for the brutal suppression of the Warsaw Uprising.
The U. S. forces pushing northward were halted by an inter-Army boundary line. Bradley did not request that the boundary be moved (not an uncommon procedure) nor did Montgomery suggest it. Although there was a legitimate need to avoid friendly-fire incidents, and fast moving units might have fallen victim to friendly fire if link-ups were not carefully coordinated, a boundary change would not necessarily have led to fratricide. Fratricide (from the Latin word frater, meaning "brother" and cide meaning to kill is the act of a person Killing his or her Bradley also stated that he preferred a strong force able to hold in place rather than a weak one, over-extended in an attempt to seal the pocket. However, his eastward attack by XV Corps even before the pocket was closed belies this position.
With strong personalities on both sides of the question the controversy was quite heated, especially postwar as competing memoirs were published.
Notes
- ^ Less common names for the pocket are the Chambois pocket, Falaise-Chambois pocket or Argentan-Falaise pocket. The gap through which the Germans escaped envelopment is often referred to as the Falaise gap.
- ^ a b c d e Messenger, Charles (1999). The Illustrated Book of World War II. San Diego, CA: Thunder Bay Publishing, 213-217.
John Keegan, "The Second World War" (Info on casualties of tanks. )
External links
- Closing of the Falaise Pocket at memorial-montormel.org
- Canadians in the Falaise Gap
- The Battle of Hill 195
- The Battle at St. Lambert-Sur-dives
- Account of the Polish battle on hill 262
- Captain Kazimierz DUDA - 1st Polish Armoured Division - C.K.M.
- Bridge, Arthur (Summer 2000). "In the Eye of the Storm". Canadian Military History Volume 9 (no. 3): pp. 61-68. First hand account by a Canadian soldier.
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