Road To Falaise: 0 (Battle Zone Normandy)

By mid-July 1944, the Normandy campaign had apparently degenerated into a bloody attritional war of mat\233riel. During late July, however, Operations Cobra and Bluecoat tore the German front wide open. The Germans' XLVII Panzer Corps hastily prepared for offensive action, but by striving for unrealistic objectives, Hitler condemned the German Army in the West to destruction by pushing it deeper into a trap. By 8 August, it became clear to the Allies that the encirclement and subsequent annihilation of an entire German army was now feasible. It was in this context that Lieutenant-General Guy G. Simonds' II Canadian Corps launched two set-piece offensives, Operations Totalize and Tractable, in order to prevent the German Seventh Army's escape and seal the pocket completely. Despite fierce German resistance, Canadian infantry embussed in armored vehicles alongside the tanks swiftly penetrated the entire depth of the German defenses.