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Détail

  • Nom
    Belvedere des Canadiens
  • Lieu
    SAINT-LAMBERT-SUR-DIVE
  • Contribution
    Grasset Jacques
  • ID
    3148.3272

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Historic Places
Belvedere des Canadiens
Belvedere des Canadiens

Place in memory of the combatantsCanadians, with explanations of how the battle of "the Falaise pocket" unfolded.
Panel text

From D-Day on June 6 to July 24, 1944, Allied air, ground and naval forces waged a costly battle of attrition against a determined enemy On July 25, while the bulk of the German armored division was concentrated in the British and Canadian sectors, east of the Orne River, the US 1st Army launched Operation Cobra, breaking through enemy defenses at St Lo. On July 30, the British 2nd Army backed up the assault with operation Bluecoatet, and on August 1, the US 3rd Army moved out of Normandy, advancing west to Brittany and east towards Paris.


The enemy then launched a counter-attack from Mortain towards Avranches on August 6, ( hoping to split the 3rd Army. The failure of the attack enabled the Allies to surround the German forces west of the River Orne. On August 8, 2 Canadian Corps, supported by 51' (Highland) and 1 Polish Armored Division, uses tanks and improvised armored personnel carriers for a daring night attack, Operation Totalize. Well-organized enemy forces prevented a breakthrough as far as Falaise, but 15 Corps of the US 3' Army and the French 2 Armored Division reached Argentan without too much difficulty on August 12.

Intelligence reports indicating the imminence of a major German counter-attack against 15 Corps explain the controversial decision to halt the American advance to seal off the Falaise-Argentan pocket on the north side. On August 14th, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, together with the 53rd (Welsh) Division, advanced on Falaise from the west, while the 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions attacked across the River Laison as part of Operation Tractable. Falaise fell on August 17, and the 4th Canadian Armoured Division reached Trun the following day. Part of the Polish armored division joins the American 90th Division at Chambois on August 19, completing the encirclement of the enemy.

The German army has begun to withdraw its non-essential elements and Hitler authorizes the general retreat on August 12. Allied aircraft inflicted huge losses on the enemy, but many still escaped encirclement. During the night of August 19 and throughout the following day, the enemy, caught in the poche de Falaise, makes one last desperate attempt to reach Vimoutiers and the Seine crossing. ends on August 21, 76 days after it began on the landing beaches. Successes on the battlefield lead to the liberation of Paris and much of France and Belgium, a giant step on the road to victory in Europe.

To the memory of those who fought, with no promise of reward or rest, until the liberation of Europe and the hope of a better world.

Credit and Photos: Grasset Jacques

 
Belvedere des Canadiens
Belvedere des Canadiens.
Lieux Historiques
Belvedere des Canadiens
Belvedere des Canadiens.
Lieux Historiques
Belvedere des Canadiens
Belvedere des Canadiens.
Lieux Historiques
Belvedere des Canadiens
Belvedere des Canadiens.
Lieux Historiques
Belvedere des Canadiens
Belvedere des Canadiens.
Lieux Historiques

Belvedere des Canadiens

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