Falaise Pocket

After the failure of the german counter-offensive, the rout was on. The Britishm Canadians and Polish forces were finally pushing the Germans back. Meanwhile, the American Forces had cleared the Cherborg peninsula and were heading towards central France. The combine efforts afforded an opportunity to encircle the German army. The Germans were most aware of this peril and began to push eastward. First the pace was deliberate, but then it turned into a panicked retreat.

The problem was there were only two bridges and a narrow ford over the small, but deep Dives river at Saint-Lambert-sur-Dive, southest of Falaise. The German Forces were stuck trying to get men, horse-drawn carts, tanks and other ground vehicles over these chokepoints. The alllied forces were able to close off the two bridges leaving just the small ford as a means to escape. German troops began to drop their supplies and equipment and abandone their vehicles. Overhead, the allied air forces made the situation even worse. MNY German troops were eliminated or surrendered. However, the Americans and Polish forces were not able to close the gap completely and about 200,000 troops were able to escape towards eastern France. This was more of a matter of timing than a failure of the allied forces.

Fittingly, we ended the day at the only Polish cemetery where those brave men who fought so hard had paid the ultimate price. The fight was more than just against the Germans. They also were treated poorly by their allied partners who thought they were not up to par with their standards.