Chambois () is a former commune in the

Orne Orne (; or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune

Gouffern en Auge Gouffern en Auge (, literally ''Gouffern in Pays d'Auge, Auge'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former com ...

.Arrêté préfectoral
6 October 2016 Its population was 380 in 2022. The town is remarkable for its 12th-century Norman

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

and was involved in the closure of the

Falaise pocket The Falaise pocket or battle of the Falaise pocket (; 12–21 August 1944) was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy in the Second World War. Allied forces formed a pocket around Falaise, Calvados, in which German Army Group B, c ...

in 1944 during the

Battle of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...

Norman keep

The Norman keep or

Donjon A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residenc ...

was built in the 12th century. It is one of the rare surviving examples of a square keeps in Normandy.

Closure of the Falaise Pocket

The Battle of Chambois was the scene of some of the bitterest fighting during the Normandy campaign. In August 1944, the

(or Falaise gap) was closed when Canadian, Polish ( 1st Armoured Division ( Polish ''1 Dywizja Pancerna'')) and US (

90th Infantry Division 90th Division may refer to: ;Infantry * 90th Division (1st Formation) (People's Republic of China), 1949–1950 * 90th Division (2nd Formation) (People's Republic of China), 1950–1952 * 90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) * 90th Infantry Di ...

formations sealed off the gap on 19/20 August 1944. For two days, Poles and Americans defended the town against continuous assaults launched by overwhelming enemy forces (mostly remnants of the German 7th Army), taking thousands of prisoners. The battle ultimately was ended as Allied air support finally destroyed what was left of the German forces. The

Coudehard-Montormel Memorial The Coudehard-Montormel Memorial (''mémorial de Coudehard-Montormel'' or ''mémorial de Montormel'') is a historical museum in Mont-Ormel in France, dedicated to the battle of the Falaise pocket, the last episode in the battle of Normandy. It ...

on the neighbouring

Hill 262 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 Operation Overlord, Normandy Cam ...

, details the history of the battle and closure of the Falaise pocket.

References

External links

History of the Falaise pocket at memorial-montormel.org
Former communes of Orne {{Argentan-geo-stub

Norman keep

Closure of the Falaise Pocket

See also

References

External links