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 Battle of Falaise in 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 only escape route still open to the Germans. Polish forces seized the northern height of the ridge on 19 August and held it until noon on 21 August, despite determined attempts by German units to overrun the position, contributing greatly to the Allied victory.
The 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 7th Army and elements of the 5th 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 battle groups of the Polish 1st Armoured Division (Major-General Stanisław Maczek) had established themselves in the mouth of the Falaise pocket on and around the northernmost of the two peaks of Mont Ormel ridge.
On 20 August, with his forces encircled, Model organised attacks on the Polish position from both sides of the pocket. The Germans managed to isolate the ridge and force open a narrow corridor. Lacking the fighting power to close the corridor, the Poles directed constant and accurate artillery fire on German units retreating from the pocket, causing heavy casualties. The Germans launched fierce attacks throughout 20 August which inflicted losses on the Poles on Hill 262. 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 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.Wilmot, pp. 390–392 Although intended only to cut a corridor through to Brittany to emerge from the bocage,Hastings (2006), pp. 250–252 the offensive caused a 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 effective formations in the Operation Lüttich counter-offensive.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. The Allied ground forces commander General Bernard Montgomery ordered the Third U.S. Army (General George Patton) 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 operational First Canadian Army (General Harry Crerar). Crerar and Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds, commander of the II Canadian Corps, planned an Anglo-Canadian offensive, 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 and the 4th Canadian and 1st Polish Armoured Divisions suffered many casualties.Reid, pp. 357, 366Bercuson, p. 230 Anglo-Canadian forces reached Hill 195 north of Falaise on 10 August but were unable to make further progress and Totalize was terminated.
The Canadians reorganised and on 14 August began Operation Tractable; three days later Falaise fell.Copp (2006), p. 104 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, the 1st Polish Armoured Division had split into three battlegroups of an armoured regiment and an infantry battalion each and were sweeping the countryside north of Chambois.Stacey, pp. 259-260Stacey, p. 260 Facing determined 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 divisional armoured reconnaissance regiment) drove hard on Chambois, the capture of which would effect a link with the U.S. 90th Infantry Division which was attacking simultaneously the town from the south.Stacey, p. 261Jarymowycz, 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 pocket had been closed, the Allies were not yet astride the escape route of the 7th Army 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
Mont Ormel ridge Northeast of Chambois and overlooking the Dives River valley, an elongated, wooded ridge runs roughly north–south above the village of Coudehard.McGilvray, p. 46 The ridge's two highest peaks—Points 262 North (262N) and 262 South (262S)—lie either side of a pass within which the hamlet of Mont Ormel, from which the ridge takes its name, is situated. One of the few westbound roads in the area runs from Chambois through the pass, heading towards Vimoutiers and the River Seine.Stacey, p. 262 Historian Michael Reynolds describes Point 262N as offering "spectacular views over much of the Falaise Pocket".Reynolds (2001), p. 273 Viewing the feature on an Allied map, Maczek commented that it resembled a caveman's club with two bulbous heads; the Poles nicknamed it the Maczuga, Polish for "mace".Dallas, p. 158 The ridge, known to the Allies as Hill 262,McGilvray, p. 41 formed a crucial blocking position for sealing the Falaise Pocket and preventing any outside attempts to relieve the German 7th Army.
19 August
Shortly after noon on 19 August, Battlegroup Zgorzelski (the 1st Armoured Regiment, 9th Infantry Battalion, and a company of anti-tank guns) made a thrust towards Coudehard and the Mont Ormel ridge. While part of the battlegroup remained in Coudehard, two companies of the Polish Highland (Podhalan) Battalion led the assault up the north peak, followed by the squadrons of the 1st Armoured Regiment (Lieutenant-Colonel ) who picked their way up a narrow, winding track.Lucas & Barker, p. 143 The Poles reached the summit at approximately 12:40 and took captive a number of demoralised Germans before proceeding to shell a -long column of Panther tanks, armoured cars, 88 mm and 105 mm guns, Nebelwerfer, trucks and many horse-drawn carts. Three companies of the Polish 1st Armoured Regiment opened fire from every machine gun and gun. The lead vehicles were quickly destroyed and the Panthers, because of bad positioning, could not hit the Shermans at the top of the hill (the shells were passing just above the turrets of the Shermans). Because of the destruction of the equipment and the few POWs taken, the Poles called the remnants of the column that approached them through the pass along the Chambois–Vimoutiers road: (Dog's Field).Lucas & Barker, p. 144 The victory was hard-won over a period of a few hours; the Germans, despite being "shocked" to discover that Point 262N was in Polish hands, quickly responded with a bombardment from Nebelwerfer and anti-tank guns. The Poles counter-attacked and more Germans, including wounded, were taken prisoner.McGilvray, pp. 46–47 The prisoners were moved to a hunting lodge (the ) on the northern slope. Point 137, near Coudehard, fell just after 15:30, yielding further captives.
At around 17:00, Battlegroup Koszutski, consisting of the 2nd Armoured Regiment and the 8th Infantry Battalion, arrived at the ridge, followed by the rest of the Polish Highland Battalion and elements of the 9th Infantry Battalion at 19:30. The remainder of the 9th Infantry Battalion and the anti-tank company had remained around Boisjos north of Coudehard but the bulk of two battlegroups, about 80 tanks, 20 anti-tank guns, and around 1,500 infantry was concentrated on and around Point 262N. The Poles did not occupy Point 262S. Although Lieutenant-Colonel Zdzisław Szydłowski, commanding the 9th Infantry Battalion, was given orders to take the southern peak. With darkness falling and thick smoke from the burning German column in the pass obscuring the battlefield, this was deemed too hazardous to attempt before next light.McGilvray, p. 48 The Poles spent the night fortifying Point 262N and entrenching the southern, southwestern and northeastern approaches to their positions.D'Este, p. 456
20 August
Of the approximately 20 German infantry and armoured divisions trapped in the Falaise pocket around twelve were still battleworthy. As these formations retreated eastwards they fought desperately to keep the jaws of the encirclement—formed by the Canadians in Trun and St. Lambert and the Poles and Americans in Chambois—from closing. German movement out of the pocket on the night of 19/20 August cut off the Polish battle groups on the Mont Ormel ridge. On discovering this Stefanowicz conferred with Koszutski. Lacking the means to seal the pocket or fight their way out, they decided that they could only hold fast until relieved.
Although the Poles on Point 262N could hear movement from the valley, other than some mortar rounds that landed among the positions of the 8th Infantry Battalion, the night passed uneventfully. Without possession of Point 262S the Poles were unable to interfere with the large numbers of German troops slipping past the southern slopes of the ridge. The uneven, wooded terrain, interspersed with thick hedgerows, made control of the ground to the west and south-west difficult by day and impossible by night.Reynolds (2001), pp. 273–274 As it grew light on 20 August Szydłowsky organised two companies of the 9th Infantry Battalion, supported by the 1st Armoured Regiment, for an attack across the road towards Point 262S. Hampered by the wreckage littering the pass, the attack soon bogged down.