The Falaise pocket or battle of the Falaise pocket (; 12–21 August 1944) was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. Allied forces formed a pocket around Falaise, Calvados, in which German Army Group B, consisting of the 7th Army and the Fifth Panzer Army (formerly ), were encircled by the Western Allies. The battle resulted in the destruction of most of Army Group B west of the Seine, which opened the way to Paris and the Franco-German border.
Six weeks after the 6 June 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, German forces were in turmoil, having expended irreplaceable resources defending the frontline and with Allied air superiority threatening the availability of food and ammunition. However, on the Allied side, British forces had expected to liberate Caen immediately after the invasion, an operation which ended up taking nearly two months, and US forces had expected to control Saint-Lô by 7 June, yet German resistance delayed this until after Caen's liberation.
The Allied armies developed a multi-stage operation, beginning with Operation Goodwood on 18 July, and continuing with Operation Cobra on 25 July, which saw American forces pushing into a gap around Saint-Lô and overwhelming the defending German forces. On 1 August, Lieutenant General George S. Patton was named the commanding officer of the newly recommissioned US Third Army, which included large segments of the force that had broken through the German lines. The Third Army quickly pushed south and then east, meeting little resistance. Concurrently, the British/Canadian troops pushed south in Operation Bluecoat, attempting to keep the German armour engaged. Four depleted panzer divisions were insufficient to defeat the First US Army, driving the Germans deeper into the Allied envelopment.
On 8 August, Allied ground forces commander General Bernard Montgomery ordered the Allied armies to converge on the Falaise–Chambois area to envelop Army Group B, with the First US Army forming the southern arm, the British the base, and the Canadians the northern arm of the encirclement. The Germans began to withdraw on 17 August, and on 19 August the Allies linked up in Chambois. German counter-attacks forced gaps in the Allied lines, the most significant of which was a corridor forced past the 1st Polish Armoured Division on Hill 262, a commanding position at the pocket mouth. By the evening of 21 August, the pocket had been sealed, with an estimated 50,000 Germans trapped inside. Approximately 20–50,000 German troops managed to escape the pocket before it was closed. The Allied Liberation of Paris came a few days later, and on 30 August the remnants of Army Group B retreated across the Seine, completing Operation Overlord.
Background Operation Overlord
Early Allied objectives in the wake of the D-Day invasion of German-occupied France included the deep water port of Cherbourg and the area surrounding the town of Caen.Van der Vat, p. 110 Allied attacks to expand the bridgehead had rapidly defeated the initial German attempts to destroy the invasion force, but bad weatherThe Mulberry harbours built off the landing beaches were damaged in a storm on 19 June in the English Channel delayed the Allied build-up of supplies and reinforcements, while enabling the Germans to move troops and supplies with less interference from the Allied air forces.Williams, p. 114Griess, pp. 308–310 Cherbourg was not captured by the VII US Corps until 27 June, and the German defence of Caen lasted until 20 July, when the southern districts were taken by the British/Canadians in Operation Goodwood and Operation Atlantic.Hastings, p. 165Trew, p. 48
General Bernard Montgomery, the Allied ground forces commander, had planned a strategy of attracting German forces to the east end of the bridgehead against the British/Canadians, while the US First Army advanced down the west side of the Cotentin Peninsula to Avranches.Hart, p. 38. On 25 July the US First Army commander, Lieutenant-General Omar Bradley, began Operation Cobra.Wilmot, pp. 390–392 The US First Army broke through the German defences near Saint-Lô and by the end of the third day had advanced south of its start line at several points.Hastings, p. 257.Wilmot, p. 393. Avranches was captured on 30 July and within 24 hours the US VIII Corps of the US Third Army crossed the bridge at Pontaubault into Brittany and continued south and west through open country, almost without opposition.Williams, p. 185Wilmot, p. 394Hastings, p. 280
Operation Lüttich
The US advance was swift and by 8 August, Le Mans, the former headquarters of the German 7th Army, had been captured.Williams, p. 194 After Operation Cobra, Operation Bluecoat and Operation Spring, the German army in Normandy was so reduced that "only a few SS fanatics still entertained hopes of avoiding defeat".Hastings, p. 277 On the Eastern Front, Operation Bagration had begun against Army Group Centre which left no possibility of reinforcement of the Western Front. Adolf Hitler sent a directive to Field Marshal Günther von Kluge, the replacement commander of Army Group B after the sacking of Gerd von Rundstedt, ordering "an immediate counter-attack between Mortain and Avranches" to "annihilate" the enemy and make contact with the west coast of the Cotentin peninsula.D'Este, p. 414Williams, p. 196
Eight of the nine Panzer divisions in Normandy were to be used in the attack, but only four could be made ready in time.Wilmot, p. 401 The German commanders protested that their forces were incapable of an offensive, but the warnings were ignored and Operation Lüttich commenced on 7 August around Mortain.Hastings, p. 283 The first attacks were made by the 2nd Panzer Division, SS Division Leibstandarte and the SS Division Das Reich, but they had only 75 Panzer IVs, 70 Panthers and 32 self-propelled guns.Hastings, p. 285 The Allies were forewarned by Ultra signals intercepts, and although the offensive continued until 13 August, the threat of Operation Lüttich had been ended within 24 hours.Messenger, pp. 213–217Bennett 1979, pp. 112–119Hastings, p. 286 Operation Lüttich had led to the most powerful remaining German units being defeated at the west side of the Cotentin Peninsula by the US First Army, and the Normandy front on the verge of collapse.Hastings, p. 335 Bradley said,
Operation Totalize
The First Canadian Army was ordered to capture high ground north of Falaise to trap Army Group B.D'Este, p. 404 The Canadians planned Operation Totalize, with attacks by strategic bombers and a novel night attack using Kangaroo armoured personnel carriers.Hastings, p. 296Zuehlke, p. 168 Operation Totalize began on the night of 7/8 August; the leading infantry rode on the Kangaroos, guided by electronic aids and illuminants, against the , which held a front, supported by the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion and remnants of the 89th Infantry Division.Williams, p. 198 Verrières Ridge and Cintheaux were captured on 9 August, but the advance was slowed by German resistance and some poor Canadian unit leadership, which led to many casualties in the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division and 1st Polish Armoured Division.Hastings, p. 299Bercuson, p. 230 By 10 August, Anglo-Canadian forces had reached Hill 195, north of Falaise. The following day, Canadian commander Guy Simonds relieved the armoured divisions with infantry divisions, ending the offensive.Hastings, p. 300
Allied plan Still expecting Kluge to withdraw his forces from the tightening Allied noose, Montgomery had for some time been planning a "long envelopment", by which the British/Canadians would pivot left from Falaise toward the River Seine while the US Third Army blocked the escape route between the Seine and the Loire, trapping all surviving German forces in western France.Hastings, p. 353. In a telephone conversation on 8 August, the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, recommended an American proposal for a shorter envelopment at Argentan. Montgomery and Patton had misgivings; if the Allies did not take Argentan, Alençon and Falaise quickly, many Germans might escape. Believing he could always fall back on the original plan if necessary, Montgomery accepted the wishes of Bradley as the man on the spot, and the proposal was adopted.
Although the Allies held significant advantages over the Germans—including air superiority, greater numbers of tanks, and a favourable operational position—none of their commanders had planned or executed a land operation of such complexity and scale.
Battle It is also referred to as the battle of the Falaise gap (after the corridor which the Germans sought to maintain to allow their escape).
Operation Tractable
The Third Army advance from the south made good progress on 12 August; Alençon was captured and Kluge was forced to commit troops he had been gathering for a counter-attack. The next day, the US 5th Armored Division of the US XV Corps advanced and reached positions overlooking Argentan.Wilmot, p. 417 On 13 August, Bradley overruled orders by Patton for a further push northwards towards Falaise by the 5th Armoured Division. Bradley instead ordered the XV Corps to "concentrate for operations in another direction".Essame, p. 168 The US troops near Argentan were ordered to withdraw, which ended the pincer movement by the XV Corps.Essame, p. 182 Patton objected but complied, which left an exit for the German forces in the Falaise pocket.
With the Americans on the southern flank halted and then engaged with Panzer Group Eberbach, and with the British pressing in from the north-west, the First Canadian Army, which included the Polish 1st Armoured Division, was ordered to close the trap.Wilmot, p. 419 After a limited attack by the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division down the Laize valley on 12–13 August, most of the time since Totalize had been spent preparing for Operation Tractable, a set-piece attack on Falaise.Hastings, p. 301 The operation commenced on 14 August at 11:42, covered by an artillery smokescreen that mimicked the night attack of Operation Totalize.Bercuson, p. 231 The 4th Canadian Armoured Division and the 1st Polish Armoured Division crossed the Laison, but delays at the River Dives gave time for the Tiger tanks of the to counter-attack.
Navigating through the smoke slowed progress, and the mistaken use by the First Canadian Army of yellow smoke to identify their positions—the same colour strategic bombers used to mark targets—led to some bombing of the Canadians and slower progress than planned.Hastings, p. 354Hastings, p. 302 On 15 August, the 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions and the 2nd Canadian (Armoured) Brigade continued the offensive, but progress remained slow.Van Der Vat, p. 169 The 4th Armoured Division captured Soulangy against determined German resistance and several German counter-attacks, which prevented a breakthrough to Trun.Bercuson, p. 232 The next day, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division entered Falaise against minor opposition from Waffen SS units and scattered pockets of German infantry, and by 17 August had secured the town.Copp (2006), p. 104
At midday on 16 August, Kluge had refused an order from Hitler for another counter-attack, and in the afternoon Hitler agreed to a withdrawal but became suspicious that Kluge intended to surrender to the Allies.Wilmot, p. 420 Late on 17 August, Hitler sacked Kluge and recalled him to Germany; Kluge then killed himself with potassium cyanide, fearing reprisal for his involvement in the 20 July plot.Moczarski, 1981, pp. 226–234 Kluge was succeeded by Field Marshal Walter Model, whose first act was to order the immediate retreat of the 7th Army and Fifth Panzer Army, while the II SS Panzer Corps—with the remnants of four Panzer divisions—held the north face of the escape route against the British/Canadians, and the XLVII Panzer Corps—with what was left of two Panzer divisions—held the southern face against the Third US Army.