How the Allies outmaneuvered German Armies trapping them in the Falaise Pocket. From Joni Nuutinen: by a wargamer for the wargamers since 2011. Last update on March 2026.

Situation on August 7, 1944: British and Canadian troops had tied down elite German formations near Caen while the entire US Third Army had broken through from Normandy to Brittany via Avranches.

However, German HQ realized that by advancing just 30 km (20 miles) from Mortain to Avranches, they could cut off the First and Third US Army. As the Germans had fortified all the port cities, the Allied supply logistics still relied on Normandy beaches.

This was a lot to ask from weary German units, but this was the absolutely last chance to contain the Allied landings in the Normandy area, maybe even pushing the Allies back into the ocean, and ultimately change the course of the war.

Surely throwing eight battle-hardened Panzer divisions against a small sector of the front line could push it forward a short distance of 30 km? In addition, the Germans committed all their aerial reserves to this undertaking.

The Allies realized that if they could contain this last German attempt to take the initiative in Normandy and swing around the American forces that had broken through, they might be able to encircle the 7th German Army and the Fifth Panzer Army in the Falaise area.

The only thing was sure: At the end of this maneuvering, either several German or American armies would be cut off, and that side would suffer losses measured in hundreds of thousands of men—a scale so far unprecedented on the Western Front of WWII.

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