Uncle Bill and World War II - Battle of the Falaise Pocket

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NOTE: My mother's brother, my Uncle Bill, participated in many of the major battles of the European theatre during World War II. This page and others reveal his experiences. For a full listing, see the bottom of this page. The photo at left is one of the rare photos I have of my uncle. It was taken after the war.

The Battle (Which has several names)

**Wikipedia* tells us that "The Falaise Pocket or Battle of the Falaise Pocket was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. A pocket was formed around Falaise, Calvados, in which the German Army Group B, with the 7th Army and the Fifth Panzer Army (formerly Panzergruppe West) were encircled by the Western Allies. The battle is also referred to as the Battle of the Falaise Gap (after the corridor which the Germans sought to maintain to allow their escape). The battle resulted in the destruction of most of Army Group B west of the Seine, which opened the way to Paris and the Franco-German border for the Allied armies on the Western Front."*

What My Uncle Saw

“We went through St. Lo which we had pounded with artillery for many days…also, bombed. It was mostly just rubble. Then we turned east for a race to surround the Germans. Then we turned north. You don’t know much [was accomplished] in any battle…just the ones closest to you, and whether you got a C ration with spam or eggs…100 to 1 it’s spam. We just knew the guns fired continuously…a mighty, unending roar. Our trucks couldn’t haul ammunition fast enough. After the battle we called it the Battle of Falaise Gap. Later the battle was identified as the battle of Mortain. ²

“Hitler had ordered his generals to throw everything….everything….every tank, every gun, everything, into breaking through the American lines at Mortain. We had two forward artillery spotters in the forward lines with the American infantry. They called accurate, unending fire on columns of German tanks and German troops. It was a killing ground for artillery."

“It was very scary for us. At night the Germans kept sending up flares. That’s a chiller for you. And then between the noise of our guns we’d hear our tanks going forward. That’s a weird sound. You’re glad they’re ours, and glad you’re not going with them, but you might pay attention reading about this battle [Battle of Falaise Pass]. It’s when I started getting my first gray hairs.

“After the battle, when all the Germans who could escape had escaped we spent one night in the centre of this destruction. I’ve never figured out why we went in there and spent a night there. Tanks destroyed, some upside down, trucks burned out, horses' bodies upside down with their legs in the air…a most horrible, putrid smell everywhere. Most of us slept upright in vehicles. No one wanted to sleep on the ground.

Bill (alias "Radar")

“Nearby, just off the road was an upturned horse- drawn German kitchen. I searched through the remains. I was looking for pots and pans and I found some. We used them the rest of the war. One pot for washing clothes. This relieved our using helmets for laundry pots because we weren’t keen on washing our socks in a stall helmet and then cooking potatoes in there. One pot was for making hot water for coffee. I was really glad to get out of there.” ³

Here are the other battles that Bill experienced:

• Normandy June 6, 1944
• The Battle of Cherbourg June 18, 1944
• Battle of the Hedgerows and Battle of Saint Lo July 7-19, 1944
• Battle of the Hurtgen Forest September 19 - December 6, 1944
• The Fall of Aachen October 2-21, 1944
• Battle of the Bulge December 15, 1944 - January 25, 1945

Or return to Main Page to check out other battles, other stories.