Operation Tractable was the final attack conducted by Canadian and Polish troops, supported by a British tank brigade, during the Battle of Normandy during World War II. The operation was to capture the tactically important French town of Falaise and then the smaller towns of Trun and Chambois. It followed the success of Operation Cobra and was the last operation to be carried out by the Canadian 1st Army before the Allied invasion of Normandy in June and July 1944.
About Operation Tractable in brief
Operation Tractable was the final attack conducted by Canadian and Polish troops, supported by a British tank brigade, during the Battle of Normandy during World War II. The operation was to capture the tactically important French town of Falaise and then the smaller towns of Trun and Chambois. This operation was undertaken by the First Canadian Army with the 1st Polish Armoured Division and a British armoured brigade against Army Group B of the Westheer. It was the largest encirclement on the Western Front during the Second World War. Despite a slow start and limited gains, novel tactics enabled the Falaises Gap to be partially closed by 19 August 1944, trapping about 150,000 German soldiers. On 21 August, elements of the First Canada Army relieved the Polish survivors by linking up with the Third US Army. This led to the surrender and capture of the remaining units of the German 7th Army in the pocket. The main opposition to Canadian forces’ advance towards Trun was the 12th SS Panzer Division, which included the remnants of two infantry divisions within the Hadalaise Pocket. Once in Trun, a link-up with the American 3rd Army was achieved with the assistance of the Polish 1st Armoured Divisions, numbering approximately 10,000 men. From there, all Canadian forces would advance towards all three formations, with the additional assistance of Polish1st Division, 18 kilometres east of Falaise. By midnight on 14 August, there would be all three Canadian forces that would achieve control of all of the three formations by midnight on 15 August.
Unlike the previous operation, Tractables was launched in daylight. It incorporated lessons learned from Operation Totalize, notably the effectiveness of mechanized infantry units and tactical bombing raids by heavy bombers. It also included a large smokescreen laid down by a large Canadian artillery support brigade. The Canadian 3rd Infantry Division was protected by a smokescreen laying down by large artillery support Brigade. It would be the first time in the history of the war that the Canadian army had been able to achieve such a feat. It is the only operation to have been carried out in daylight, unlike Operation Cobra, which was carried out during the night. It followed the success of Operation Cobra and was the last operation to be carried out by the Canadian 1st Army before the Allied invasion of Normandy in June and July 1944. It ended the German offensive against the Allied beachhead in Normandy. It led to a series of defeats for the Germans, including Operation Lüttich and Operation Cobra. In the aftermath, the Allies were able to take control of the beachhead and advance towards the coast of France in the wake of the Allied landings in June 1944. In July 1944, the Germans launched an immediate counterattack against Allied forces in the form of Operation Luettich. This was defeated by concerted, large-scale fighter-bomber air strikes against the German tanks and trucks. By 10 August, Canadian troops had reached Hill 195 and were unable to advance farther immediately and they had been unable to capture Falaising.
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This page is based on the article Operation Tractable published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 08, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
