, 17 August 1944. The German 7th Army and elements of 5th Panzer Army face encirclement. Following the success of
Operation Totalize south of
Caen on August 8 and 9, General
Harry Crerar, commander of the
First Canadian Army, pushed south.
Operation Tractable was launched to break through the German lines and capture the tactically important towns of
Falaise and then the smaller towns of
Trun and
Chambois and to encircle large German formations. On August 18, 1944, Canadian forces captured Trun, while General
Stanisław Maczek's Polish
1st Armoured Division headed towards Chambois to encircle 110,000 Germans in the Falaise pocket. Small corridors east of Chambois allowed small numbers of Germans to escape the pocket and head towards the river Seine. To the south of Chambois, the American
90th Infantry Division pushed north to close the pocket at Chambois. On the morning of August 19
Saint-Lambert-sur-Dives was taken by Canadian forces, and at midday Polish forces attacked towards Chambois and against German positions on what was known as
Hill 262, located north-east of Chambois. Polish forces then attacked the outskirts of Chambois. Chambois had been heavily shelled and was in ruins with German soldiers from various battered units flowing into the area. To the east of Chambois, Polish and American forces linked up to finally close the Falaise pocket. The Allies continued to attack retreating elements of the German 5th and 7th armies and the
116th Panzer Division. A German counter-attack organised by General
Paul Hausser on August 20 failed to break Polish lines but did allow further German troops to escape the pocket. German troops and vehicles were trapped on the congested narrow roads and were easy prey for Allied artillery and air attacks. Late on August 20, Chambois finally fell to Polish forces and the Falaise pocket was sealed on August 21 with approximately 50,000 Germans trapped inside. ==Aftermath==