Falaise pocket

Battle of the Falaise pocket
Part of the Normandy Campaign
Map showing the course of the battle from 8–17 August 1944
Date 12–21 August 1944 Location Normandy, France 48°53′34″N 0°11′31″W / 48.89278°N 0.19194°W / 48.89278; -0.19194 Result Allied victory[1] Liberation of Paris
Belligerents
United States  United Kingdom  Canada Poland France	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Bernard Montgomery Omar Bradley Harry Crerar Miles Dempsey Courtney Hodges George S. Patton	Günther von Kluge † Walter Model Paul Hausser Heinrich Eberbach
Units involved
1st Army 3rd Army 1st Army 2nd Army	5th Panzer Army 7th Army Panzergruppe Eberbach
Strength
Up to 17 divisions	14–15 divisions
Casualties and losses
United States: Unknown United Kingdom: Unknown Free French: Unknown Canada: 5,679 casualties[nb 1] Poland: est. 5,150 casualties in total[3] of which 2,300 for the 1st Armoured Division.[4]	est. 60,000: est. 10,000 killed est. 50,000 captured 500 tanks/assault guns

The Falaise pocket or battle of the Falaise pocket (German: Kessel von Falaise; 12–21 August 1944) was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. Allied forces formed a pocket around Falaise, Calvados, in which German Army Group B, consisting of the 7th Army and the Fifth Panzer Army (formerly Panzergruppe West), were encircled by the Western Allies. The battle resulted in the destruction of most of Army Group B west of the Seine, which opened the way to Paris and the Franco-German border.

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