D-Day +77

Map of German encirclement

By August 22nd 1944, thousands of Germans had been slaughtered during their desperate attempt to escape the tight pocket created by the Allies at Falaise. The end of the German 7th Army in Normandy had been brought about by a well coordinated team effort. What had started hesitantly finally developed into an aggressive and devastating action. Montgomery's 21st Army group which consisted of British, Canadian, and Polish troops had squeezed the Germans from the North and West, while the American forces of Courtenay Hodges' First Army and Patton's Third Army completed the encirclement from the South and East.

Open "Killing Grounds"

General Gerow

Although elements of the 2nd SS Panzer Division had attacked the village of Le Bourg-St-Leonard (mentioned in the previous post) and ousted the US 90th Division on August 17th, thus temporarily holding the shoulder of the pocket, the arrival of a new American Corps commander, who was put in charge of the three American Divisions in the area, helped seal the German's fate.

Lieutenant General Leonard Townsend Gerow of Petersburg Virginia, was a tough WWI veteran, a favorite of Eisenhower, and a talented strategist. It was Gerow who tightened the noose around the necks of the retreating Germans. Gerow's V Corps was part of Hodges' 1st army and now here he was taking over elements of Patton's Third Army, unbeknown even to the great general himself, who had already embarked on his lightening dash to the German border.

There were also changes in the German 7th Army command. The despondent Gunther von Kluge was replaced by fervent Nazi Field Marshal Walther Model. Von Kluge, who was loosely suspected of being involved in the July 20th bomb plot against Hitler, was recalled to Germany. He committed suicide en-route.

Escaping on foot

Incredibly, and despite intense Allied pressure, the retreating German forces did not become a disorganized rabble, they continued to receive limited supplies by air and kept trudging on in their typically disciplined way.

Under Gerow's stewardship, the 90th Division re-took Le Bourg-St-Leonard at midnight on August 18th and prepared to advance on Chambois for the final "coup de gras." The Germans put up a strong defense and the American forces were not successful in their initial attempt to overrun the ancient Normand town. Enemy artillery knocked out four shermans, and the Werfer Brigade of the 116th Panzer Division launched barrage after barrage of rockets at the GIs of the 90th Division.

Chambois

Chambois, signs to Hill 262

Polish and American officers meeting at Chambois

Other Allies were progressing. The Canadians took Falaise, and the important village of Trun was almost within their grasp. Polish forces had attacked in the direction of Mont Ormel which overlooked the whole axis of the German retreat and dominated the one and only remaining escape route. By noon on August 19th, Hill 262, as it became known, was in the hands of a section of the Polish forces, while other units of Poles moved on Chambois at the foot of the hill. They met up with Americans from the 90th Division on the afternoon of August 19th. The scene that greeted these Allies was one of total carnage. The fetid stench of burning flesh, the roads jammed with the detritus of war, and the crumbling ruins of old buildings were but a prelude to what was to be perhaps the most apocalyptic action of the war.

View from Mont Ormel "Hill 262"

With the Poles on Mont Ormel, the Canadians in Trun, and the Americans in Chambois, the pocket was reduced to a few kilometers in width. From the Foret de Gouffern, Germans continued to make the dash towards Mont Ormel and comparative escape.

The small town of St. Lambert sur Dives was the epicenter of this desperate German exodus and one that became famous for it's corridor of death," and a Canadian Major, David Vivian Currie, who was awarded The Victoria Cross for his actions in halting the Germans.

"Corridor of Death"

In addition to the mighty array of Allied tanks, artillery, and infantry zeroing in on the remnants of a once formidable army, RAF fighter bombers, who had absolute control of the skies, were able to patrol at will, firing on vehicles and horse drawn transports, sending them skywards in plumes of flame and smoke.

On August 20th, the Polish forces on Hill 262 came under attack from elements the 2nd SS Panzer Division, who had already escaped the pocket and had returned to clear a way for the remainder of their comrades. This action, together with an attack on the Polish perimeter at the hamlet of Coudehard, which lies just beneath the summit of Hill 262, by paratroopers of General Eugene Meindl's 3rd Parachute Division, had the effect of compressing the Polish perimeter and opening a narrow escape route.

Another view of the carnage

Below the summit of Hill 262, scenes as one might expect to see in Dante's inferno were unfolding. The remnants of thousands of men and horses, disemboweled by artillery and mortar fire littered every lane and hedgerow. Body parts hung from trees and the smouldering wreckage of vehicles filled the skies with acrid smoke. Even the most battle hardened combat veterans had to look away from the abject horror.

View along the "Corridor of Death" towards forest of Gueffern

Moissy Ford 1944

Sherman, top right, moves in to get a look.

In addition to the two bridges over the river Dives at St Lambert, further along the river towards Chambois is Moissy Ford, which offered another possibility for the Germans, but all approaches to this crossing point were open and in full view of Allied tanks and artillery. It was like shooting fish in a barrel and very soon the area was another scene of unmentionable carnage.

Moissy Ford 2011

Meindl, with paratroopers in the pocket

On the ground, responsibility for the final evacuation of the remaining Germans had fallen to two men, Paratroop General Meindl and SS General Paul Hausser, who was known as "Papa" to his men. Hausser cared deeply for the soldiers under his command. He disobeyed a direct order from Model to "get out of there immediately!"

Instead, he remained with his men until the last minute.

Original footbridge in St. Lambert, crossed by Hauser and thousands of soldiers

Knowing the breach in the Polish lines could not be maintained for long, the two Generals decided to move the wounded first. All traffic was stopped and a convoy of vehicles bedecked with Red Cross flags moved off across the main road. Not a single shot was fired and the transports carrying the seriously wounded men were allowed to climb the hill unmolested.

After the convoy has passed, the firing resumed.

Meindl wrote later, "and I can openly acknowledge the feeling of gratitude to the chivalrous enemy. . . ."

Meindl and a substantial group of his men made good their escape that night. Hausser, seriously wounded, was carried out on a surviving tank.

Monument inscription to the Poles

For the Poles on Mont Ormel the situation was dire. They had received no supplies and they were under attack from three sides. They had taken over 800 prisoners and they had more than 300 wounded lying out in the open under enemy fire. By the afternoon of August 21st, the Canadians linked up with the Poles, and supplies arrived in the nick of time. Before the arrival of the Canadians, Stefanowicz commander of the Polish battle group on hill 262 said to his men,

"Gentlemen. Everything is lost. I do not believe the Canadians will manage to help us. We have only 110 men left, with 50 rounds per gun and 5 rounds per tank ... Fight to the end! To surrender to the SS is senseless, you know it well. Gentlemen! Good luck – tonight, we will die for Poland and civilization. We will fight to the last platoon, to the last tank, then to the last man."

After the battle, Polish soldiers survey the scene on the road to Mont Ormel

Fortunately, it didn't come to that. By the evening of the 21st of August 1944, the majority of Germans who were still trapped in the pocket had surrendered. Although as many as 50,000 Germans had escaped, it is estimated that between 80,000 and 150,000 were either killed or taken prisoner. Two days later, Paris was liberated.

View from Coudehard church

The gentle countryside around Mont Ormel was scarred for years and the water courses were poisoned with the toxic effluent produced by decaying flesh. For several years, tankers of water had to be brought in to supply the local population. Even at 2,000 feet, pilots complained of giant black clouds of flies and an unimaginable stench.

General Eisenhower, visiting the area 48 hours after the closing of the pocket, reported,

"The battlefield at Falaise was unquestionably one of the greatest 'killing fields' of any of the war areas. Forty-eight hours after the closing of the gap I was conducted through it on foot, to encounter scenes that could be described only by Dante. It was literally possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, stepping on nothing but dead and decaying flesh."

Author Martin Blumenson wrote in "Breakout and Pursuit,"

“The carnage wrought (in the Pocket) in the final days was perhaps the greatest of the war. The roads and fields were littered with thousands of enemy dead and wounded, wrecked and burning vehicles, smashed artillery pieces, carts laden with the loot of France overturned and smouldering, dead horses and cattle swelling in the summer’s heat….”

The destruction of the German 7th Army in the Falaise pocket sent a clear message to the German High Command, "The Thousand Year Reich will be destroyed."

This was not the end,

but it was the beginning of the end.