I didn't hear anything about this alleged episode. I wouldn't put the blame on French units.
It was rather Canadian 4th Armoured Division that messed up:
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August 19th, the 4th Canadian armoured detached a column made up of South Alberta Regiment and Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders under the command of major D.V. Currie, in direction of Saint Lambert sur Dives. During three days, this group would repel the massive attacks of the Germans seeking to leave the pocket, and will take hundreds of prisoners. During Currie’s struggle for Saint Lambert, main Canadian forces were driving towards Polish positions on hill 262, but were stopped on hill 240 by negligible German opposition. It failed to deliver its attack before the morning of August 21st, which obliged the Poles to fight isolated, and made it possible for thousands of Germans to escape from the Falaise pocket. This controversial performance resulted in Kitching, commander of the Canadian division, being dismissed from his command.
And here is an article about Polish involvement in the battle:
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Prelude:
In the final stages of the Normandy Campaign the bulk of two German armies had become surrounded by the Allies near the town of Falaise, and the Mont Ormel ridge, with its commanding view of the area, sat astride the Germans' only escape route. Polish forces seized the ridge's northern height on 19 August and, despite being isolated and coming under sustained attack, held it until noon on 21 August, contributing greatly to the decisive Allied victory that followed.
The American success of Operation Cobra provided the Allies with an opportunity to cut off and destroy most of the German forces west of the River Seine. American, British and Canadian armies converged on the area around Falaise, trapping the German Seventh Army and elements of the Fifth Panzer Army. On 20 August Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model ordered a withdrawal, but by this time the Allies were already across his path; during the night of 19 August, two battlegroups of Stanisław Maczek's Polish 1st Armoured Division had established themselves in the mouth of the Falaise pocket on the northernmost of the Mont Ormel ridge's two peaks.
His forces encircled, on 20 August Model organised attacks on the ridge from both within and outside the pocket, and the Germans managed to isolate the position and force open an escape route. Lacking the fighting power to close the corridor, the Poles nevertheless directed constant and accurate artillery fire on German units leaving the sector, causing heavy casualties. Exasperated, the Germans launched fierce attacks throughout 20 August, inflicting severe losses on Hill 262's entrenched defenders. Exhausted and dangerously low on ammunition, the Poles managed to retain their foothold on the ridge. The following day, less intense attacks continued until midday, when the last German effort to overrun the position was defeated at close quarters. The Poles were relieved by the Canadian Grenadier Guards shortly after noon; their dogged stand had ensured the Falaise pocket's closure and the collapse of the German position in Normandy.
The Canadians reorganised and on 14 August launched Operation Tractable. Three days later Falaise fell. The Allied noose was closing around von Kluge's force and it fell to the Poles to draw it tight. In a meeting with his divisional commanders on 19 August, Simonds emphasised the importance of quickly closing the Falaise Pocket to General Stanisław Maczek. Assigned responsibility for the Moissy–Chambois–Coudehard area, Maczek's Polish 1st Armoured Division had split into three battlegroups each composed of an armoured regiment and an infantry battalion and been sweeping the countryside north of Chambois. However, facing stiff German resistance and with Loszutski's battlegroup having "gone astray" and needing to be rescued, the division had not yet taken Chambois, Coudehard, or the Mont Ormel ridge. Following his meeting with Simonds, Maczek was determined to get his men onto their objectives as soon as possible. The 10th Dragoons (10th Polish Motorised infantry Battalion) and 10th Polish Mounted Rifle Regiment (the division's armoured reconnaissance regiment) drove hard on Chambois, the capture of which would effect a link-up with the United States 90th Infantry Division who were simultaneously attacking the town from the south. Having taken Trun and Champeaux, the 4th Canadian Armoured Division reinforced the Poles, and by the evening of 19 August the town was in Allied hands.
Although the arms of the encirclement were now in contact, the Allies were not yet astride Seventh Army's escape route in any great strength and their positions came under frenzied assault. During the day an armoured column from the 2nd Panzer Division had broken through the Canadians in St. Lambert, taking half the village and keeping a road open for six hours until it was closed again towards nightfall. Many Germans escaped along this route, and numerous small parties infiltrated through to the River Dives during the night.
Initial drive for Falaise:
Operation Tractable began at 12:00 on August 14 when 800 Lancaster and Halifax bombers struck German positions along the front. As with Totalize, many of the bombers mistakenly dropped short of their targets, causing 400 Polish and Canadian casualties. Covered by a smokescreen laid down by their artillery, two Canadian divisions moved forwards. Although their line of sight was reduced, German units still managed to inflict severe casualties on the 4th Canadian Armoured Division, which included its Armoured Brigade commander Brigadier Leslie Booth as the division moved southward towards Falaise. Throughout the day, continual attacks by the 4th Canadian and Polish 1st Armoured Divisions managed to force a crossing of the Laison River. Limited access to the crossing points over the Dives River, allowed counterattacks by the German 102nd SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. The town of Potigny fell to Polish forces in the late afternoon. By the end of the first day, elements of the 3rd and 4th Canadian Divisions had reached Point 159, directly north of Falaise, although they had been unable to break into the town. In order to bolster his offensive, Simonds ordered the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division to move towards the front, with the hope that this reinforcement would be sufficient to enable his divisions to capture the town.
Although the first day's progress was slower than expected, Operation Tractable resumed on August 15; both armoured divisions pushed southeast towards Falaise. The 2nd and 3rd Canadian Infantry Divisions, with the support of the 2nd Canadian (Armoured) Brigade continued their drive south towards the town. After harsh fighting, the 4th Armoured Division captured Soulangy but the gains made were minimal as strong German resistance prevented a breakthrough to Trun. On August 16, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division broke into Falaise, encountering minor opposition from Waffen SS units and scattered pockets of German infantry. Although it would take two more days to clear all resistance in the town, the first major objective of Operation Tractable had been achieved. Simonds began to reorganize the bulk of his armoured forces for a renewed push towards Trun to close the Falaise Pocket.
Drives for Trun and Chambois:
A Polish Bren Gun Carrier moving through Fontaine-les-Bassets, towards the final objective of Chambois. The drive for Trun by Polish and Canadian Armoured Divisions began on August 16, with preliminary attacks in preparation for an assault against Trun and Chambois. On August 17, both armoured divisions of the 1st Canadian Army advanced. By early afternoon, the Polish 1st Armoured Division had outflanked the 12th SS Panzer Division, enabling several Polish formations to both reach the 4th Armoured Division's objectives and significantly expand the bridgehead northwest of Trun. Stanisław Maczek, the Polish divisional commander, split his forces into three battlegroups each of an armoured regiment and an infantry battalion. One of these struck southwest, cutting off Trun and establishing itself on the high ground dominating the town and the Dives river valley, allowing for a powerful assault by the 4th Canadian Armoured Division on Trun. The town was liberated on the morning of August 18.
As Canadian and Polish forces liberated Trun, Maczek's second armoured battlegroup manoeuvred southeast, capturing Champeaux and anchoring future attacks against Chambois across a six-mile front. At its closest, the front was four miles from forces of the US V Corps in the town. By the evening of August 18, all of Maczek's battlegroups had established themselves directly north of Chambois (one outside of the town, one near Vimoutiers and one at the foot of Hill 262). With reinforcements quickly arriving from the 4th Canadian Armoured Division, Maczek was in an ideal position to close the gap the following day. The presence of the Polish Armoured Division also alerted Field Marshal Model of the need to keep the pocket open.
August 19 - Closing the Gap:
Early on August 19, General Simonds met with his divisional commanders to finalize plans for closing the gap. The 4th Armoured Division would attack towards Chambois, on the western flank of two battlegroups of the Polish 1st Armoured Division. Two additional Polish battlegroups would strike eastward, securing Hill 262 to cover the eastern flanks of the assault. The 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions would continue their grinding offensives against the northern extremities of the Falaise Pocket, inflicting heavy casualties on the exhausted remains of the 12th SS Panzer Division. The assault began almost immediately after the meeting, with one battlegroup of the Polish 1st advancing towards Chambois and "Currie Task Force" of the 4th Armoured Division covering their advance. Simultaneously, two Polish battlegroups moved for Hill 262. Despite heavy German resistance, Battlegroup Zgorzelski was able to secure Point 137, directly west of Hill 262. By early afternoon, Battlegroup Stefanowicz had captured the hill, annihilating a German infantry company in the process.
By late afternoon of August 19, Canadian and Polish forces had linked with the American 80th Division and 90th Division already stationed in the town. The Falaise Gap had been closed, trapping Model's forces. As the linkup occurred, Model's 2nd SS Panzer Corps had begun its counterattack against Polish forces on Hill 262, hoping to reopen the pocket. With American and Canadian forces facing German counterattacks in their sectors, the Polish forces would have to defend against two veteran Panzer divisions to keep the gap closed.
Hill 262 (Mont Ormel):
Northeast of Chambois, an elongated, wooded ridge runs roughly north–south above the village of Coudehard. The ridge's two highest peaks - Points 262 North (262N) and 262 South (262S) - lie either side of a pass within which the hamlet of Mont Ormel, from which the ridge takes its name, is situated. A road runs through the pass east from Chambois, heading for Vimoutiers and the River Seine. Historian Michael Reynolds describes Point 262N as offering "spectacular views over much of the Falaise Pocket". Viewing the feature on an Allied map, Maczek commented that it resembled a caveman's club with two bulbous heads; the Poles nicknamed it the Maczuga, Polish for "mace". The ridge, known to the Allies as Hill 262, formed a crucial blocking position for sealing the Falaise Pocket and preventing any outside attempts to relieve the German Seventh Army.
19 August:
Shortly after noon on 19 August, Lieutenant-Colonel Zgorzelski's battlegroup (the 1st Armoured Regiment, the 9th Infantry Battalion, and a company of anti-tank guns) made a thrust towards Coudehard and the Mont Ormel ridge. Two companies of the Polish Highland (Podhalian) Battalion led the assault up the north peak, followed by the squadrons of the 1st Armoured Regiment who picked their way up the ridge's only vehicular access—a narrow, winding track. The Poles reached the summit at approximately 12:40 and took captive a number of demoralised Germans before proceeding to shell a mixed column of tanks and other vehicles moving through the pass between the peaks along the Chambois–Vimoutiers road. The Germans, despite being "shocked" to discover that Point 262N was now in Polish hands, quickly responded with a bombardment from rocket-launchers and anti-tank guns. The Poles counterattacked and more Germans, including wounded, were taken prisoner. These were moved to a hunting lodge (the Zameczek) on the ridge's northern slope. Point 137, near Coudehard, fell just after 15:30, yielding further captives.
At around 17:00 Lieutenant-Colonel Koszutski's battlegroup, consisting of the 2nd Armoured Regiment and the 8th Infantry Battalion, arrived at the ridge, followed by the rest of the Polish Highland Battalion and elements of the 9th Infantry Battalion at 19:30. The remainder of the 9th Infantry Battalion and the anti-tank company had remained around Boisjos 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of Coudehard, but the bulk of two battlegroups—some 80 tanks, 20 anti-tank guns, and around 1,500 infantrymen was now concentrated on and around Point 262N. However, the Poles did not occupy Point 262S. Although Lieutenant-Colonel Zdzisław Szydlowski, commanding the 9th Infantry Battalion, was given orders to take the southern peak, with darkness falling and thick smoke from the burning German column obscuring the battlefield, this was deemed too hazardous to attempt before next light. The Poles spent the night fortifying Point 262N and entrenching the southern, southwestern, and northeastern approaches to their positions.
Polish operations 19 August:
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20 August:
Of the approximately 20 German infantry and armoured divisions trapped in the Falaise pocket, around 12 were still operating with a degree of combat-effectiveness. As these formations retreated eastwards, they fought desperately to keep the jaws of the encirclement—formed by the Canadians in Trun and St. Lambert, and the Poles and Americans in Chambois—from closing. German movement out of the pocket throughout the night of 19 August cut off the Polish battlegroups on the Mont Ormel ridge. On discovering this, Lieutenant-Colonel Aleksander Stefanowicz, in command of the Polish 1st Armoured Regiment, conferred with Koszutski. Lacking sufficient means to either seal the pocket or fight their way clear, the two decided that their forces' only chance of survival lay in holding fast until relieved. Although the Polish soldiers on Point 262N could hear movement from the valley below, other than some mortar rounds that landed among the positions of the 8th Infantry Battalion the night passed uneventfully. Without possession of Point 262S the Poles were unable to interfere with the large numbers of German troops slipping past the southern slopes of the ridge. The uneven, wooded terrain, interspersed with thick hedgerows, made control of the ground to the west and southwest difficult by day, and impossible by night. As it grew light on 20 August Szydlowski prepared to fulfil his orders of the previous night and organised two companies of his 9th Infantry Battalion, supported by the 1st Armoured Regiment, for an attack across the road towards Point 262S. However, hampered by the wreckage littering the pass the attack soon bogged down in the face of fierce German resistance.
While Currie's force stalled German forces outside of St. Lambert, two battlegroups of Maczek's Polish 1st Armoured Division were engaged in a protracted battle with two well-trained SS Panzer divisions. Throughout the night of the 19th, Polish forces had entrenched themselves along the south, southwest and northeastern lines of approach to Hill 262. Directly southwest of Mont Ormel, German units moved along what would later become known as "The Corridor of Death", as the Polish inflicted heavy casualties on German forces moving towards Mont Ormel with a well-coordinated artillery barrage.
From the northeast, the 2nd SS Panzer Division planned an assault in force against the four infantry battalions and two armoured regiments of the Polish 1st Armoured Division dug in on Hill 262. The 9th SS Panzer Division would attack from the north, while simultaneously preventing Canadian units from reinforcing the Polish armoured division. Having managed to break out of the Falaise Pocket, the 12th SS, 10th SS and 116th Panzer Divisions would then attack Hill 262 from the southwest. If this major obstacle could be cleared, German units could initiate a full withdrawal from the Falaise Pocket.
The first attack against Polish positions was by the "Der Führer" Regiment of the 2nd SS Panzer Division. Although the Podhale Rifles battalion was able to repel the attack, it expended a substantial amount of its ammunition in doing so. The second attack was devastating to the dwindling armoured forces of the Polish battlegroups. A single German tank, positioned on Point 239 (northeast of Mont Ormel), was able to destroy five Sherman tanks within two minutes. At this time, the 3rd Parachute Division, along with an armoured regiment of the 1st SS Panzer Division, attacked Mont Ormel from inside the Falaise Pocket. This attack was repulsed by Polish artillery, which "massacred" German infantry and armour closing in on their positions.
Around midday the Germans opened up an artillery and mortar barrage that caused casualties among the ridge's defenders, and would last for the entire afternoon. As the assault from the southwest ran out of steam, the 2nd SS Panzer Division resumed its attack on the northeast of the ridge. Since Polish units were now concentrated on the southern edges of the position, the 2nd SS Panzer Division was able to force a path through to the 3rd Parachute Division by noon, opening a corridor out of the pocket. At about the same time, Kampfgruppe Weidinger seized an important road junction northeast of Coudehard. By mid afternoon, several units of the 10th SS, 12th SS, and 116th Panzer Divisions managed to clear a corridor past Point 262N, and upwards 10,000 German troops had escaped out of the pocket. Despite being overwhelmed by strong counterattacks, Polish forces continued to hold the high ground on Mont Ormel, which they referred to as "The Mace" (Maczuga), exacting a deadly toll on passing German forces through the use of well-coordinated artillery fire.
Irritated by the presence of these units, which were exacting a heavy toll on his men, Colonel General Paul Hausser — commanding the Seventh Army — ordered the positions to be "eliminated". At 15:00, substantial forces, including remnants of the 352nd Infantry Division and several battle groups from the 2nd SS Panzer Division, inflicted heavy casualties on the 8th and 9th Infantry Battalions. By 17:00 the attack was at its height and the Poles were contending with German tanks and infantry inside their perimeter. Grenadiers of the 2nd SS Panzer Division very nearly reached the summit of the mace before they were repulsed by the well dug in Polish defenders. The integrity of the position was not restored until 19:00, by which time the Poles had expended almost all their ammunition, leaving themselves in a precarious situation. At about this time a 20-minute ceasefire was arranged to allow the Germans to evacuate a large medical convoy, after which fighting resumed with redoubled intensity.
Earlier in the day, Simonds had ordered his troops to "make every effort" to reach the forces on Hill 262. At a "sacrificial" cost, the surviving remnants of the 9th SS Panzer and 3rd Parachute Divisions had succeeded in preventing the Canadians from intervening. Dangerously low on supplies and unable to evacuate their prisoners or the wounded of both sides—many of whom had received further injuries from the unremitting hail of mortar bombs—by the evening the Poles had hoped to see the Canadian 4th Armoured Division coming to their rescue. However, it became clear that no Allied relief force would reach the ridge that day. Lacking the means to interfere, the exhausted Poles were forced to watch as the remnants of the XLVII Panzer Corps left the pocket. Fighting died down as night fell and was sporadic throughout the hours of darkness; after the brutality of the day's combat, both sides avoided contact. However, frequent Polish artillery strikes continued to harass German forces retreating from the sector and bombard every German unit that entered the evacuation corridor.
20 August - German counterattacks and breakthrough attempts repelled by Poles:
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20 August - St. Lambert-sur-Dives and Hill 117:
On the morning of August 20, at the same time when two German formations, the 2nd and 9th SS-Panzer Divisions, attacked Polish positions on Hill 262, the 16th Infantry and 12th SS Panzer divisions attacked American and Canadian forces from within the pocket, opening small channels through Allied positions. By mid-morning, 2,000 survivors of the German 2nd Fallschirmjäger Korps had managed to breach Canadian positions along the Dives River, as well as at Point 117. At approximately noon, several units of the 10th SS, 12th SS and 116th Panzer Divisions managed to break through these weakened positions.
By mid afternoon, reinforcements from an armoured battlegroup under Major David Vivian Currie managed to reach St. Lambert-sur-Dives, denying two German armies evacuation of the pocket. Over the next 36 hours, the battlegroup repulsed almost continual attacks by German forces, destroying 7 German tanks, 12 88 mm antitank guns and 40 vehicles. In the brutal fighting around Lambert-sur-Dives, Currie's battlegroup was able to inflict nearly 2,000 casualties on attacking German forces, including 300 killed and 1,100 captured. By the evening of August 20, the Germans had exhausted their attack against St. Lambert-sur-Dives; the surviving members of the 84th Korps, commanded by General Elfeld, surrendered to Canadian and American forces near Chambois. For his actions at St. Lambert-sur-Dives, Major Currie was awarded the Victoria Cross, the only Canadian so honoured for service in the Normandy Campaign.
21 August:
After the brutality of the combat that had occurred during the day, night was welcomed by both German and Polish forces surrounding Mont Ormel. Fighting was sporadic, as both sides avoided contact with one another. Frequent Polish artillery barrages interrupted German attempts to retreat from the sector.
In the morning, despite poor flying weather, an effort was made to air-drop ammunition to Stefanowicz's men. Learning that the Canadians had resumed their push to reach the ridge and were making for Point 239, at 07:00 a platoon of the 1st Armoured Regiment's 3rd Squadron reconnoitred the German positions below the Zameczek.
Further German attacks were launched during the morning, both from inside the pocket along the Chambois–Vimoutiers road, and from the east. Raids from the direction of Coudehard managed to penetrate the Polish defences on Mont Ormel on and take captives. As the remaining Polish forces repelled the assault, their tanks were forced to use the last of their ammunition. The final German effort was launched at around 11:00 by SS remnants who had infiltrated through the wooded hills to the rear of the 1st Armoured Regiment's dressing station. This "suicidal" assault was defeated at point-blank range by the 9th Infantry Battalion, with the 1st Armoured's tanks using their anti-aircraft machine guns in support. The machine guns' tracer set fire to the grass amongst the German troops, killing wounded men on the slope. As the final infantry assaults melted away, the German artillery and mortar fire targeting the hill finally subsided as well. There would be no further attacks; the two battlegroups of the Polish 1st Armoured Division had survived the onslaught, despite being surrounded by German forces for three days. At 12:00 a Polish forward patrol encountered the Canadian vanguard around 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) north of Point 262N, near Point 239. The Canadian Grenadier Guards reached the ridge just over an hour later, having fought for more than five hours and accounted for two Panthers, a Panzer IV, and two self-propelled guns along their route. By 14:00, with the arrival of the first supply convoy, the position was relieved.
The Falaise pocket was finally considered closed by evening of 21 August. Tanks of the Canadian 4th Armoured Division had linked up with the Polish forces in Coudehard, and the Canadian 3rd and 4th Infantry Divisions had fully secured St. Lambert and the northern passage to Chambois.
Aftermath:
Both Reynolds and McGilvray place the Polish losses on the Hill 262 at 351 killed and wounded and 11 tanks lost. McGilvray estimates the German losses in their assaults on the ridge as around 500 dead with a further 1,000 taken prisoner and many hundreds wounded, most of these from the 12th SS Panzer Division. He also records "scores" of Tiger, Panther and Panzer IV tanks destroyed, as well as a significant quantity of artillery pieces. Within an hour, The Canadian Grenadier Guards managed to link up with what remained of Stefanowicz's men. By late afternoon the remainder of the 2nd and 9th SS Panzer Divisions had begun their retreat to the Seine River. The Falaise Gap had been permanently closed, with a large number of German forces still trapped in the pocket.
According to military historian Gregor Dallas: "The Poles had closed the Falaise Pocket. The Poles had opened the gate to Paris." Simonds stated that he had "never seen such wholesale havoc in his life", and Canadian engineers erected a sign on Mont Ormel's summit reading simply "A Polish Battlefield".
In 1965 on the battle's 20th anniversary, a monument to the Polish, Canadian, American and French units that took part in the battle was erected on Hill 262. Marking the occasion, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower commented that "no other battlefield presented such a horrible sight of death, hell, and total destruction." The Mémorial de Coudehard–Montormel museum was constructed on the same site on the battle's 50th anniversary in 1994.
Due to the rapidity of successive offensives during early August, exact Canadian casualties for Operation Tractable are unknown. However, figures for the combined losses during Totalize and Tractable are put at 5,500 Canadian casualties.
Exact German casualty figures during Operation Tractable are also uncertain. Although semi-reliable figures can be found for total casualties within the Falaise Pocket, no statistics are available for how many of these were taken as a result of Canadian operations during Tractable. In the aftermath of the Falaise Pocket, the German 7th Army was effectively annihilated, losing anywhere from 50,000–200,000 men in the pocket, as well as over 200 tanks, 1,000 guns, and 5,000 other vehicles. In the fighting around Hill 262 alone, German casualties totaled 2,000 killed, 5,000 taken prisoner, in addition to 55 tanks, 44 guns and 152 armoured vehicles.
By contrast, Polish casualty figures for Operation Tractable (until 22 August) are known. The Poles reported a total of 1,441 casualties during the operation. Of these, 325 were killed (including 21 officers), 1,002 were wounded (35 officers), and 114 missing. This includes 263 men lost before the Chambois and Ormel actions on August 14–18. Of the Polish losses, 50 were killed (and many dozens wounded) by American bombs during the second American bombing on 14 August.
Polish operations on 21 August:
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