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Hill 262, or the Mont Ormel ridge (elevation ), is an area of high ground above the village of Coudehard in Normandy that was the location of a bloody engagement in the final stages of the Normandy Campaign during the Second World War. By late summer 1944, the bulk of two German armies had become surrounded by the Allies near the town of Falaise. The Mont Ormel ridge, with its commanding view of the area, sat astride the Germans' only escape route. Polish forces seized the ridge's northern height on 19 August and, despite being isolated and coming under sustained attack, held it until noon on 21 August, contributing greatly to the decisive Allied victory that followed. The American success of Operation Cobra provided the Allies with an opportunity to cut off and destroy most German forces west of the River Seine. American, British and Canadian armies converged on the area around Falaise, trapping the German Seventh Army and elements of the Fifth Panzer Army in what became known as the "Falaise pocket". On 20 August ''Generalfeldmarschall'' Walter Model ordered a withdrawal, but by this time the Allies were already blocking his path. During the night of 19 August, two battlegroups of Stanisław Maczek's Polish 1st Armoured Division had established themselves in the mouth of the Falaise pocket on and around the northernmost of the Mont Ormel ridge's two peaks. On 20 August, with his forces encircled, Model organised attacks on the Polish position from both within and outside the pocket. The Germans managed to isolate the ridge and force open a narrow escape corridor. Lacking the fighting power to close the corridor, the Poles nevertheless directed constant and accurate artillery fire on German units retreating from the pocket, causing heavy casualties. Exasperated, the Germans launched fierce attacks throughout 20 August which inflicted losses on Hill 262's entrenched defenders. Exhausted and dangerously low on ammunition, the Poles managed to retain their foothold on the ridge. The following day, less intense attacks continued until midday, when the last German effort to overrun the position was defeated at close quarters. The Poles were relieved by the Canadian Grenadier Guards shortly after noon; their dogged stand had ensured the closure of the Falaise pocket and the collapse of the German position in Normandy. ==Background== On 25 July 1944, Lieutenant General Omar Bradley launched Operation Cobra against the German defences penning his First United States Army into its Normandy beachhead.〔Wilmot, pp. 390–392〕 Although intended only to cut a corridor through to Brittany thereby freeing his forces of the constraints of operating in the bocage,〔Hastings (2006), pp. 250–252〕 the offensive precipitated a general collapse of the German position opposite the American sector when ''Generalfeldmarschall'' Günther von Kluge's Army Group B was slow to withdraw and expended many of its remaining combat-effective formations in futile counterattacks.〔Williams, p. 197〕 With the German left flank in ruins the Americans began a headlong advance into Brittany, but a large concentration of German forces—including most of their armoured strength—remained opposite the British and Canadian sector. Sensing the opportunity to encircle these forces and inflict a decisive defeat and with Bradley's urging, the Allied ground forces commander General Bernard Montgomery sanctioned General George Patton's United States Third Army to swing north towards the town of Falaise.〔 Its capture would cut off virtually all the remaining German forces in Normandy.〔D'Este, p. 404〕 While the Americans pressed in from the south and the British Second Army from the west, the task of completing the encirclement fell to the newly inaugurated First Canadian Army under General Harry Crerar. To accomplish this, Crerar and Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, of II Canadian Corps, planned an Anglo-Canadian offensive code-named Operation Totalize.〔Hastings (2006), p. 296〕 Intended to seize an area of high ground north of Falaise, by 9 August the offensive was in trouble despite initial gains on Verrières Ridge and near Cintheaux.〔Hastings (2006), p. 301〕 Strong German defences and indecision and hesitation in the Canadian chain of command hampered Allied efforts,〔Reid, pp. 357 and 366〕 and the 4th Canadian and 1st Polish Armoured Divisions suffered heavy casualties.〔Bercuson, p. 230〕 Anglo-Canadian forces reached Hill 195 north of Falaise on 10 August but were unable to make further progress, so Totalize was called off.〔 The Canadians reorganised and on 14 August they launched Operation Tractable; three days later Falaise fell.〔Copp (2006), p. 104〕 The Allied noose was relentlessly closing around von Kluge's force, and it fell to the 1st Polish Armoured Division to draw it tight.〔Wilmot, p. 419〕 In a meeting with his divisional commanders on 19 August, Simonds emphasised the importance of quickly closing the Falaise Pocket to General Stanisław Maczek. Assigned responsibility for the Moissy–Chambois–Coudehard area,〔Stacey, pp. 259-260〕 Maczek's 1st Polish Armoured Division had split into three battlegroups—each of an armoured regiment and an infantry battalion—and were sweeping the countryside north of Chambois.〔Stacey, p. 260〕 However, facing stiff German resistance and with Koszutski's battlegroup having "gone astray" and needing to be rescued, the division had not yet taken Chambois, Coudehard, or the Mont Ormel ridge.〔Copp (2003), p. 240〕 Galvanised by Simonds, Maczek was determined to get his men onto their objectives as soon as possible.〔Copp (2003), p. 243〕 The 10th Dragoons (10th Polish Motorised infantry Battalion) and 10th Polish Mounted Rifle Regiment (the division's armoured reconnaissance regiment) drove hard on Chambois,〔Stacey, p. 261〕 the capture of which would effect a link-up with the United States 90th Infantry Division who were simultaneously attacking the town from the south.〔〔Jarymowycz, p. 195〕 Having taken Trun and Champeaux the 4th Canadian Armoured Division was able to assist, and by the evening of 19 August the town was in Allied hands.〔 Although the arms of the encirclement had now made contact, the Allies were not yet astride Seventh Army's escape route in any great strength and their positions came under frenzied assault.〔〔Copp (2003), p. 244〕 During the day an armoured column from the 2nd Panzer Division broke through the Canadians in St. Lambert, capturing half the village and maintaining an open road for six hours until being forced out.〔Wilmot, p. 422〕 Many Germans escaped along this route and numerous small parties infiltrated on foot through to the River Dives during the night.〔Wilmot, p.423〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hill 262」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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