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50,000
German soldiers surrender to the Allied
After operation Cobra and the breakthrough of the German
frontline in Avranches at the end of July, the Allied forces emerge
finally of the Norman hedgerow, and fan out in Brittany and Anjou.
A German counter-attack fails in Mortain on 7 August. On 12 August,
two armoured divisions, of which the 2nd Armoured division of General
Leclerc, reach Argentan. In the north, the Canadians are only ten
kilometers from Falaise. Between Argentan and Falaise stands a 23
kilometers wide gap, a pocket takes shape clearly. On 16 August, the
IInd Canadian Corps takes Falaise, the Germans begin to retreat. On
21 August the remnants of the 7th German Army are trapped in the pocket;
some 50,000 German soldiers are made prisoners.
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