Falaise

The open door ...

A gap in central France through which a large portion of the German army escaped during 8th to 20th August 1944.

The arrow represents the advance of Gen George Patton's Third Army and on the inside of the "bag" created by Third Army's encirclement were 11 divisions of the German army. Patton was ordered to halt at Falaise and wait for General Montgomery to close the gap (Montgomery’s 21st Army Group was north of Argentan).

The German forces attempted to cross the Dives River near Chambois, south-east of Falaise. They pushed between the Canadian, British and Polish forces coming from the north, and the US forces driving from the south. This gap in the pincer attack was known as the Falaise gap.

It took Montgomery 2 weeks to close the gap, during which most of the German divisions escaped. Had Patton been allowed to close the gap trapping 100,000 German troops, the war would probably have ended in August 1944.