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On the 6th of August 1944, General Montgomery,
Commander of the Allied groundforces in Europe, issued a statement in which the next phase
of the operations in Europe was laid down. The goal '...to destroy the enemy in the area
west of the river Seine and north of the river Loire...'. This battle, which would lead to
the factual annihiliation of tow German armies, the 5th and the 7th Panzer Army, would be
known in history as the Battle of the Falaise Pocket.
In a last attempt to stop an Allied breakthrough, Hilter ordered the remnants of his 5th and 7th Armies to attack the US bulge near Avranches. However, General Omar N. Bradley forsaw this assault and could stop it in its track. At the same time, he ordered his 12th Army Group to bypass the German Armies and to make contact with the British Armies in the north.
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Plan of attack 12th Army Group (original military map of operations) |
Original staffmap of the Falaise
Pocket and troop positions |
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The Germans were virtually completely surrounded. Only one exit remained, a small opening between Trun and Chambois: The Corridor of Death. |
| The Corridor of Death |
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Recommended books:
Death of a Nazi army: The Falaise Pocket
(William Breuer, 1997):
A Fine night for tanks: the
road to falaise (Ken Tout, 1998)
The Battle of Normandty; The
Falaise gap (James Lucas, 1978)
Half Interest in Hell: A Hero
Fighting at the Crossroads of His Soul-the Argentan-Falaise Gap (Tommy Tomkins, 1994)
Click here to find books about the Battle of the Falaise Pocket! |
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