A Polish Battlefield

To help close the gap in the Falaise Pocket, the Polish 1st Armored Division occupied Hill 262, which the Poles called Maczuga (the Mace). The Mace overlooked the Chambois-to-Vimoutiers road which was the Germans' only hope of escape. Occupying a ridge to the north of the Mace, the …

1944-08-20

AP129

To help close the gap in the Falaise Pocket, the Polish 1st Armored Division occupied Hill 262, which the Poles called Maczuga (the Mace). The Mace overlooked the Chambois-to-Vimoutiers road which was the Germans' only hope of escape. Occupying a ridge to the north of the Mace, the Germans had cut the Poles off from the rest of the Allied forces. Lacking enough fuel for a breakout, the Poles were forced to hold their position. Because the Mace was the cork holding them in the pocket, the Germans had no choice but to attack the hill itself.

Hill 262, France

Operation Tractable was the final attack conducted by Canadian and Polish troops, supported by a British tank brigade, during the Battle of Normandy during World War II. The operation was to capture the tactically important French town of Falaise and then the smaller towns of Trun and Chambois. This operation was undertaken by the First Canadian Army with the 1st Polish Armoured Division (Generał brygady Stanisław Maczek) and a British armoured brigade against Army Group B of the Westheer in what became the largest encirclement on the Western Front during the Second World War. Despite a slow start and limited gains north of Falaise, novel tactics by the 1st Polish Armoured Division during the drive for Chambois enabled the Falaise Gap to be partially closed by 19 August 1944, trapping about 150,000 German soldiers in the Falaise Pocket. Although the Falaise Gap was narrowed to a distance of several hundred metres/yards, as a result of attacks and counter-attacks between battle groups of the 1st Polish Armoured Division and the II SS Panzer Corps on Hill 262 (Mont Ormel) the gap was not closed quickly and thousands of German troops escaped on foot. During two days of nearly continuous fighting, the Polish forces assisted by artillery-fire, managed to hold off counter-attacks by seven German divisions in hand-to-hand fighting. On 21 August, elements of the First Canadian Army relieved the Polish survivors and sealed the Falaise Pocket by linking up with the Third US Army. This led to the surrender and capture of the remaining units of the German 7th Army in the pocket.

German

Polish

Scenario Type = Standard