Brian Thank you for sharing you memories, again you have painted what must be the devils kitchen or inferno in the hell that overtook a German army in that pocket at Falaise
Brian thank you so much, when reading your pieces I can only imagine what my Grandfather went through as he pushed through the Normandy Country side and the horrors he witnessed. Thank you Kieron
Sapper, yes, thank you for sharing those horrible memories with us, it must have been terribly unpleasant, especially the smell, which you will always rememeber. I visited Dachau in 1965 and you could still smell the death in that place. General Eisenhower recalled a similar situation at Falaise where a man could walk hundreds of yards on nothing but dead bodies and decaying flesh. Horrible. It was a real pity so many of the enemy escaped to fight another day.
As many of you know, the Germans used a great many horses and of course they were caught up in the slaughter.There were horses everywhere with their legs in the air. All contributing to the stench of death. Sapper
I've talked to local survivors who described waves of flies so thick they looked like smoke covering the landscape for months after the battle. They couldn't drink the ground water for better than year. The road through MontOrmel nowadays is beautiful. You would never imagine that thousands of Germans, French folk, horses, and mules had been slaughtered there so long ago. There is a nice little brasserie atop the hill where lines of Waffen SS troops charged the Poles who defended MontOrmel. Strange to have a coffee and pastries there in the early morning and imagine what those days were actually like.
Sapper that was a most memorable account you have given us who weren't there-it was harrowing to the point of weeping. jainso31
I can recall someone telling me that what upset them most was the dead and injured horses and cattle - and the sound of unmilked cows mooing in distress - he could deal with the human carnage but found the animals hard to reconcile.
Yes I recall their misery...The dead and wounded horses of Falaise... You may find this of interest. All the little Norman Villages had a corner where the village religious statue were placed. A niche where they came to pray. Sometimes tio the Virgin Mary, others to a statue of Christ. There would be flower offerings, and often the village was centred on the (Chanteuse?) Cannot remember the name.... It was on a thread that I posted some time ago that I wrote this: I am not a religious man. But there was something quite disturbing to see a life size figure of Christ with his gown draped over his head, his arms held out before him,,,But with both hands blown off. Never forgot that bit of symbolism: all about the futility of war sapper
Thanks for the very vivid description Sapper. It's strange but it's the dead horses I remember, apart from the stench, so well. Dead Jerries didn't move me as much as seeing dead Tommies. But when I went through Falais I was really stunned by it all, but like many others who had been shelled and mortared across Normandy - it was payback time! Jim
Sapper - as always - great unforgettable stuff - and that was just one battle- there were far too many of the same ilk - what comes over to me on reading the comments on your tale is the differences of opinion...such as - "it was Eisenhower's decision to stop Bradley from closing the gap" - for years now I have believed that it was Dempsey who called it off - owing to the fact that Patton had boasted that" he should carry on and drive the British and Canadians into the sea for another Dunkirk "...before turning to "liberate Paris" as he did long before at Palermo - Monty was a so-so General - not a great leader etc etc ....always wanted a superior strength before attacking in his set piece Battles - not so in my view - he had Rommel all figured out before he landed in Egypt - and his first battle was a defensive one at Alum El Halfa - when Rommel suffered his first LOSS - then the offensive battle at El Alamein of Oct 23rd -'42 .....oh he was too slow on the follow up - said the Americans - at some length particularly from Brereton- this was true - alas - the British Arrmour were still fighting the Charge of the Light Brigade- and being slaughtered by the 88mm's in a static role - just like the Russian guns ..... Monty - was ruthless in firing people who didn't fit -true - BUT he couldn't fire Lumsden as he had NO ONE else to lead the armour until his next defensive battle at Medenine - when both Rommel - and Lumsden were fired - and Lumsden was heard to say in his club in London - " there wasn't room for two S**** in the desert . THEN - and only then was the British Armour capable of beating the Panzers at El Hamma - Tunis - and strangely at the big swan by Monty's new and improved Corps de Chasse - of 7th - 11th and Guards Armoured Divisions..... Monty was pompus after the Bulge - agreed - I thought so too - then I recalled that Patton had turned his army - left towards Bastogne - and the German 7th army took no notice - Monty had already known what Rundstedt was up to the first day- and alerted Horrocks to move his XXX corps of three divisions on the coast - over the admin tails of five other divisions of the Canadians and Polish troops - pick up two more and line the Muese....that - to me was Generalship of the highest order - as the Germans were stopped right there - then Monty got on with his own Veritable Battle - and this is why I still have the greatest respect for Monty Cheers
Sapper - what comes over to me on reading the comments on your tale is the differences of opinion...such as - "it was Eisenhower's decision to stop Bradley from closing the gap" - for years now I have believed that it was Dempsey who called it off - owing to the fact that Patton had boasted that" he should carry on and drive the British and Canadians into the sea for another Dunkirk "...before turning to "liberate Paris" as he did long before at Palermo - You hit the mark on "differences of opinion" - and many of the differing opinions seemed to commence after the war, when the guns were silent and the pens were noisy. For the most part, Dempsey (who was critical of Bradley shortly after the Falaise Pocket had closed), and Bradley seemed to do their jobs without bickering with each other at the time. From what I can tell, Eisenhower didn't have much input into halting Patton at Argentan. In fact, no one had much input into the decision. Bradley stopped Patton at Argentan because Montgomery's army group boundaries told him to; Montgomery didn't move them because Bradley didn't ask him to move them; and Eisenhower wasn't consulted during the night of August 12/13, when Patton and Bradley's HQ were discussing movements of Haislip's XV Corps, mostly because it was an army matter - though Ike had agreed upon the "short hook." In that case, Patton and Haislip were the only ones paying attention AND moving quickly (less opposition). That said, the failure to close the gap on August 13 would not have made a significant difference in the end of the war -- not that many Germans escaped, and those that did lost most of their heavy equipment.
Johnny Johnson describes an airman's view of Falaise in 'Wing Leader'. Apparently the air attack was delayed until the position of a forward Polish unit could be confirmed. For him it was an example of very good tactics, with air superiority achieved as the Luftwaffe relocated its forward bases, and the fighter bombers operating in pairs to allow much more freedom. He describes seeing a pair of Lancasters flying low along the road to allow the guuners to strafe the Germans below. Afterwards he took a team out to 'liberate' some German staff cars, but found the roads so congested with wreckage that they came back empty handed. He also described finding a young woman dead in a car, presumably a partner of one of the fleeing soldiers. The moving description at the start of the thread reminded me of the reports and pictures from the first Gulf War, when Iraqi troops suffered a similar fate as they withdrew from Kuwait.
Sapper - My thoughts exactly - way too many were allowed to escape- our friend from Georgia fails to mention that Dempsey had had enough of Patton in Sicily and therefore did his best to ignore him - but cautious of his intentions ! Cheers
