FLEURÉ/BOUCÉ Orne - 5 and 10 km south of Argentan Patton and Leclerc were stopped in front of Argentan At the beginning of August 1944, the Panzergruppe Eberbach occupied the southern front in Normandy. The German armoured divisions were bleeded white, they counted no more than a few tens of tanks per division, hardly twenty for the 116th Panzer-Division. The Germans could not delay the onrush of General Patton 3rd Army, who came up from the south to close the Falaise pocket. In the evening of 12 August, an order of General Bradley stopped the Allied Forces advance in front of Argentan. A thirty-eight kilometers wide corridor stood between the Allied Armies, and the 7th German Army used it to the limit to evacuate the pocket. On 13 August, a patrol of the 2nd French Armoured Division entered Fleuré; the French destroyed an abandoned Mark IV and several vehicles. The 1st Squadron of the 1er Régiment de Marche de Spahis Marocains liberated Boucé. The 2nd Armoured Division was put at rest, General Leclerc set up his headquarters near Fleuré for a few days.
General Leclerc monument Fleuré Monument commemorating the establishment of General Leclerc Headquarter at this place, from 12 to 25 August 1944. Situation : at the edge of the D2 road north of the town
Mac Donell and 2nd Armoured Division plaque Boucé Plaque dedicated to Henneth Mac Donnell, American pilot who crashed on 13 August 1944. Two soldiers of the 2nd French Armoured Division, killed on 14 and 15 August, are honoured. Situation : in the town center, on the War Memorial
ROAD MAP			INTERESTING WEB SITES Orne departmental tourism office web site http://www.ornetourisme.com/ Personal web site about the 2nd French Armoured Division http://www.marechal-leclerc.fr.st Personal page about the 2nd French Armoured Division http://perso.wanadoo.fr/stephane.delogu/division-leclerc.html Conseil général de l’Orne web site about the liberation of the départment http://1944.orne.fr/ Personal web site about the French Sherman tanks http://www.chars-francais.net/listing_m4.htm   All rights of photos, texts, maps and graphics design are reserved