Osprey Campaign 149 : Falaise 1944 : Death of an Army

The battle around Falaise in Normandy during August 1944 saw the destruction of the German Seventh Army. This book details the chain of events which led to the German retreat and the ensuing liberation of France. The British and American breakout battles had released motorised units to wage a more mobile war against the German static defensive tactics. At Falaise, the armoured units of US Third Army encircled the German Seventh Army, squeezed them into an ever smaller cauldron of chaos and crushed them against the advancing British Second Army. The results were devastating, those troops able to escape the disaster fled, those who remained were killed or captured and vast quantities of armour and equipment were lost. Text by Ken Ford with illustrations by Howard Gerrard.

Contents

• Origins of the Battle
• Chronology
• Opposing Commanders
• Opposing Armies
• Orders of Battle
• Opposing Plans
• The Breakout Battles
• The Advance
• Closing the Gap
• Destruction of an Army
• Aftermath
• The Battlefield Today
• Further Reading
• Index