Operation Tractable

Operation Tractable
Part of Operation Overlord
Canadian forces moving toward Falaise on 14 August 1944
Date 14–21 August 1944 Location North of Falaise, Normandy, France 48°53′34″N 0°11′31″W / 48.89278°N 0.19194°W / 48.89278; -0.19194 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Canada Poland  United Kingdom[1]	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Harry Crerar Guy Simonds Stanisław Maczek	Walter Model Kurt Meyer
Strength
2 infantry divisions 2 armoured divisions 1 armoured brigade 1 tank brigade[1]	1 SS panzer division 2 infantry divisions
Casualties and losses
Canada: 5,500 casualties Poland: 325 killed 1,002 wounded 114 missing	2,000 killed 5,000 captured 55 tanks destroyed 152 armoured vehicles destroyed 44 guns destroyed

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, by 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 parts of 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.