Permanent historical factsheet

Operation Tractable

Canada · Warfare / World War, 2nd. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.

18Records
1944Date range
3Named people
2Places

Chronological records

1944

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar10 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

By August 10, Canadian troops had reached Hill 195, north of Falaise

Guy Simonds10 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

By August 10, Canadian troops had reached Hill 195, north of Falaise

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar14 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

Many of the bombers mistakenly dropped short of their targets, causing 400 Polish and Canadian casualties.

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar14 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

Operation Tractable began at 12:00 on August 14 when 800 Lancaster and Halifax bombers struck German positions along the front.

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar14 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

The Canadians attempt to encircle the 5th Panzer, 7th Army & Panzer Gruppe Eberbach.

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar14 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

Throughout the day, continual attacks by the 4th Canadian and Polish 1st Armoured Divisions managed to force a crossing of the Laison River.

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar14 August 1944

Caen · Warfare / World War, 2nd

Crerar's army continued the advance from the Caen sector toward Falaise and Trun.

Guy Simonds14 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

Operation Tractable began at 12:00 on August 14 when 800 Lancaster and Halifax bombers struck German positions along the front. Many of the bombers mistakenly dropped short of their targets, causing 400 Polish and Canadian casualties

Guy Granville Simonds14 August 1944

Caen · Warfare / World War, 2nd

Simonds launched Tractable as the next armoured drive from the Caen-Falaise axis.

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar15 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

Although the first days progress was slower than expected, Operation Tractable resumed on August 15; both armoured divisions pushed southeast towards Falaise

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar16 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

The drive for Trun by Polish and Canadian Armoured Divisions began on August 16, with preliminary attacks in preparation for an assault against Trun and Chambois. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division break into Falaise, encountering minor opposition from Waffen SS units and scattered pockets of German infantry

Guy Simonds16 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

The drive for Trun by Polish and Canadian Armoured Divisions began on August 16, with preliminary attacks in preparation for an assault against Trun and Chambois. The 2nd Canadian Infantry Division break into Falaise, encountering minor opposition from Waffen SS units and scattered pockets of German infantry

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar19 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

Novel tactics by Polish 1st Armoured Division, under the command of Stanislaw Maczek during the drive for Chambois, enabled the Falaise Gap to be partially closed by August 19, 1944, trapping about 150,000 German soldiers in the Falaise Pocket

Henry Duncan Graham Crerar21 August 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

Surrender and capture of the remaining units of the German 7th Army which were trapped in the Falaise Pocket. Elements of the First Canadian Army relieved the Polish Armys survivors of this Battle and the Canadian Army was finally able to close the Falaise Pocket by linking up with the troops of the American 3rd Army on the other side

Henry Duncan Graham CrerarAugust 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

This record states: And it was a part of the largest encirclement on the German Western Front during World War II.

Henry Duncan Graham CrerarAugust 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

This record states: Operation Tractable is the final offensive conducted by Canadian Army and Polish Army troops as part of the Battle of Normandy.

Henry Duncan Graham CrerarAugust 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

This record states: The goal of operation Totalize is to capture the strategically important French town of Falaise, and following that, the smaller towns of Trun and Chambois.

Henry Duncan Graham CrerarAugust 1944

Falaise · Warfare / World War, 2nd

This record states: This operation was undertaken by the Polish 1st Armoured Division and the First Canadian Army against the Wehrmachts Army Group B.

Names involved

Guy Granville SimondsGuy SimondsHenry Duncan Graham Crerar

Provenance

This factsheet is generated from stored World History Database records matching the country, broad category, detailed category and exact Event value shown above. Duplicate display records are collapsed; database wording is otherwise preserved. Source provenance varies by record, so formal academic citation should be checked against the relevant primary source, archive or specialist historical reference.