The Allies’ tribute to the 1st Polish Armored Division in Montormel (Orne).
27 August 2017: Commemorations of the end of the Battle of Normandy
Author: Eric Mas
Source: Tendance Ouest
The commemoration of the 73rd anniversary of the end of the Battle of Normandy took place this Saturday afternoon, August 26, 2017, at the Montormel Memorial, near Argentan (Orne).
It is one of the key sites of the Allied victory over the occupying forces in 1944. Two and a half months after D-Day and the landings, the Germans had been pushed back only about 50 kilometers south of the D-Day beaches.
The battle raged from August 18 to 22, 1944, on a hill in Montormel, near Argentan (Orne), which closed the Falaise-Chambois plain, where the German army had found itself surrounded.
The tribute began at 3:30 p.m. this Saturday, August 26, 2017, at the Montormel Memorial, in front of the bust of Commander Maczek. While Americans, Canadians, British, and French contributed, it was the soldiers of the 1st Polish Armored Division who closed this pocket, surrounding 100,000 German soldiers. Ten thousand perished on the spot.
The tribute was attended by delegations from Allied countries, particularly Great Britain, with this year a special veteran: Captain Mylchreest, aboard a 1941 Cadillac, a huge limousine, identical to the one used at the time by U.S. President Roosevelt!
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