Toaw Scenario: Falaise Pocket 44

France, Normandy,
August 17, 1944,

Allied army of 344 units opposed to German army of 282 units
for a battle of complexity 1.14 at Battalion(II) level
on a 2.5 Km/Hex map
for 19 turns of 6 Hours each.

by James D Burns submited on 15-12-2002

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Briefing
FALAISE POCKET The final battle of the Normandy Campaign. Date: August 17 - 21, 1944 Location: Normandy Map Scale: 2.5km per hex Time Scale: Six-hour turns Unit Scale: Battalion Length: 19 turns UNIT COLORS ALLIED US - White on Green Free French - Blue on Green UK - White on Tan Canadian - Green on Tan Polish - Black on Tan GERMAN Heer - White on Grey Luftwaffe - Blue on Grey Waffen SS - Black on Grey SIGNIFICANT EVENTS Storms will occur on turn 9, and will last from 2-4 turns. There are no VP locations on map that the allies can capture. Instead all HQ units for the German forces that start West of the Orne River will award the allies VP's upon their destruction. Including the 19 points located off map; there are a total of100 VP's in the scenario. The allied player must destroy every German HQ that starts West of the Orne River to receive an overwhelming victory. The German II SS PZ KORPS (2nd and 9th SS Pz Divisions) will become active as the allied armies begin to close the pocket. HISTORICAL NOTES After the success of Operation Cobra, and the failure of the German counter-attack at Mortain, Patton's Third Army raced through the Brittany Peninsula. After investing all of the port cities located on the peninsula, the remainder of Patton's army began their swift advance eastward through France. By the August 13th, 1944 elements of Patton's XV Corp had established positions just south of Argentan, and it looked like a large part of the German army would be trapped if the US continued to the north. Unfortunately, the US 12th Army under the command of General Bradley refused permission to advance further north in order to comply with army boundaries set by General Montgomery, the commander of all allied ground forces in France. Instead Bradley ordered part of the XV Corp to remain in place, and the rest was to continue to advance to the east towards the Seine River. Bradley's orders were based on the assumption that since the Canadians had not reached the Army Group boundary near Argentan; most of the German forces in the pocket had probably already escaped. Unfortunately for the Germans, Hitler had categorically denied any requests to retreat from the pocket, and was issuing orders to attack on a daily basis, even though his Generals told him it was impossible. Hitler would continue to deny requests for withdraw for the next several days, and only relented on August 16th, after hearing reports of the Allied landings in southern France. That nigh (August 16th-17th 1944) the German forces began to pull away from the Allied lines. The race to escape the Falaise Pocket had begun. Meanwhile on the August 16th, General Montgomery finally contacted 12th Army headquarters and suggested an attempted linkup of Allied forces near the town of Turn. With permission finally given to attack north of his Army Groups boundary, General Bradley attached the remaining Divisions from XV Corp to V Corp and ordered the attack to begin on August 17th. The next morning, Allied forces from the north and south began the final drive to close the Falaise Pocket. Was the offensive launched too late? Did Montgomery hold off releasing the US 12th Army Group too long? Only Hitler's refusal to accept the fact that German forces in Normandy were defeated gave the Allies any chance of bagging the major elements of the remaining German forces in Normandy. Even so, thousands of German troops escaped the allied trap in the end. Could an attack by the US XV Corp on the August 14th have bagged them all? Over the next several days (August 17th-21st), fighting in the pocket would be a confused mess. As the losses mounted, more and more disheartened German soldiers left their units and began walking east on their own. Estimates of the fighting suggest that anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 men escaped the pocket. The Allies estimate they captured about 50,000 prisoners, and they counted approximately 10,000 dead left on the field by the Germans. An inventory of the destruction in the pocket revealed that, in addition to 1,800 dead horses, 220 tanks, 160 self propelled artillery pieces, 700 towed artillery pieces, 130 anti-aircraft guns, 130 half-track vehicles, 5,000 motor vehicles, and 2,000 wagons had been destroyed or damaged. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank Randall C. Reed, who's extensive past research on this subject made the creation of this scenario much easier. Scenario design by: James D. Burns

Briefing

FALAISE POCKET
The final battle of the Normandy Campaign.

Date: August 17 - 21, 1944
Location: Normandy
Map Scale: 2.5km per hex
Time Scale: Six-hour turns
Unit Scale: Battalion
Length: 19 turns

UNIT COLORS
ALLIED
US - White on Green
Free French - Blue on Green
UK - White on Tan
Canadian - Green on Tan
Polish - Black on Tan

GERMAN
Heer - White on Grey
Luftwaffe - Blue on Grey
Waffen SS - Black on Grey

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS

Storms will occur on turn 9, and will last from 2-4 turns.

There are no VP locations on map that the allies can capture. Instead all HQ units for the German forces that start West of the Orne River will award the allies VP's upon their destruction.

Including the 19 points located off map; there are a total of100 VP's in the scenario. The allied player must destroy every German HQ that starts West of the Orne River to receive an overwhelming victory.

The German II SS PZ KORPS (2nd and 9th SS Pz Divisions) will become active as the allied armies begin to close the pocket.

HISTORICAL NOTES

After the success of Operation Cobra, and the failure of the German counter-attack at Mortain, Patton's Third Army raced through the Brittany Peninsula. After investing all of the port cities located on the peninsula, the remainder of Patton's army began their swift advance eastward through France.

By the August 13th, 1944 elements of Patton's XV Corp had established positions just south of Argentan, and it looked like a large part of the German army would be trapped if the US continued to the north. Unfortunately, the US 12th Army under the command of General Bradley refused permission to advance further north in order to comply with army boundaries set by General Montgomery, the commander of all allied ground forces in France.

Instead Bradley ordered part of the XV Corp to remain in place, and the rest was to continue to advance to the east towards the Seine River. Bradley's orders were based on the assumption that since the Canadians had not reached the Army Group boundary near Argentan; most of the German forces in the pocket had probably already escaped.

Unfortunately for the Germans, Hitler had categorically denied any requests to retreat from the pocket, and was issuing orders to attack on a daily basis, even though his Generals told him it was impossible. Hitler would continue to deny requests for withdraw for the next several days, and only relented on August 16th, after hearing reports of the Allied landings in southern France.

That nigh (August 16th-17th 1944) the German forces began to pull away from the Allied lines. The race to escape the Falaise Pocket had begun.

Meanwhile on the August 16th, General Montgomery finally contacted 12th Army headquarters and suggested an attempted linkup of Allied forces near the town of Turn. With permission finally given to attack north of his Army Groups boundary, General Bradley attached the remaining Divisions from XV Corp to V Corp and ordered the attack to begin on August 17th.

The next morning, Allied forces from the north and south began the final drive to close the Falaise Pocket. Was the offensive launched too late? Did Montgomery hold off releasing the US 12th Army Group too long? Only Hitler's refusal to accept the fact that German forces in Normandy were defeated gave the Allies any chance of bagging the major elements of the remaining German forces in Normandy. Even so, thousands of German troops escaped the allied trap in the end. Could an attack by the US XV Corp on the August 14th have bagged them all?

Over the next several days (August 17th-21st), fighting in the pocket would be a confused mess. As the losses mounted, more and more disheartened German soldiers left their units and began walking east on their own.

Estimates of the fighting suggest that anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 men escaped the pocket. The Allies estimate they captured about 50,000 prisoners, and they counted approximately 10,000 dead left on the field by the Germans.

An inventory of the destruction in the pocket revealed that, in addition to 1,800 dead horses, 220 tanks, 160 self propelled artillery pieces, 700 towed artillery pieces, 130 anti-aircraft guns, 130 half-track vehicles, 5,000 motor vehicles, and 2,000 wagons had been destroyed or damaged.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank Randall C. Reed, who's extensive past research on this subject made the creation of this scenario much easier.

Scenario design by: James D. Burns