After the Allied invasion of France on June 6, 1944, at the end of July the 1st Polish Armored Division was transferred to Normandy in several stages. Its last troops reached the French coast on August 1. The vessel came ashore at Courseulles-sur-Mer in the area of Juno Beach. It entered action as part of the 2nd Canadian Corps of the 1st Canadian Army during Operation Totalize. The 2nd Canadian Corps, together with the 1st Polish Armored Division, also included: 2 infantry divisions, 2 and 3 Canadian Divisions, 51st Scottish Division and 4 Canadian Armored Division. The overall task of the 1st Canadian Army was to cut the lines of communication and retreat the German army from west to east.
On August 8, 1944, the 1st Armored Division enters combat. The first phase of combat action on August 8-15 takes place in incredibly heavy fighting to break through the enemy’s strong defense and in terrain conditions unfavorable for armored weapons. During this time, the Division captured the towns of Cavicourt, Saint-Sylvain, Soignolles, Estrees-la-Campagne, Potigny and Fontaine-le-Pin.
As a result of the rapidly changing situation on the western wing near Mortain, where the Germans began to retreat east due to the failure of the action against the Americans, the 1st Polish Armored Division was tasked with cutting off the enemy’s retreat by capturing the Chambois road junction and the nearby hills of Mont Ormel – 262, called by General Maczek “Maczuga”. The 1st Division performed the task brilliantly and with great bravado.
The leading British armored magazine “Tank” in its article from September 1944 titled “The Magnificent Fight of the Poles” wrote about this battle:
“The 1st Polish Armored Division under the command of General Maczek played a leading role in achieving the Allied victory in Normandy, closing on August 21, 1944, the gap that was the only remaining exit route east for the German army through Argentan. The division itself stopped the fury of the attack of two German SS corps, taking 5,000 prisoners, including 1 general and 140 officers”.
Of the Normandy battlefields, no other presented such a picture of hell, destruction and death as that which stretched northeast of Chambois. There, following Hitler’s personal orders, two elite SS corps carried out attack after attack, trying to break the iron ring that the 1st Armored Division had drawn around them. In this phase of the battle, the 1st Polish Division, operating 5 miles away from its American and Canadian allies, had to hold off the full brunt of the German advance.
The peak of the battle occurred on the night of August 19-20, 1944. A number of Polish units closing the gap were attacked by German tanks not only from the west, but in some periods of the battle literally from all sides. Despite difficulties with supplies, Polish troops pushed forward tirelessly and closed the gap with a steel gate. As the evening of August 20 approached, the enemy’s pressure began to weaken, only to cease almost completely overnight. It was also possible to finally evacuate the wounded from the battlefield. On August 21, victory was fully achieved. At noon on August 21, the 4th Canadian Armored Division came to the aid of the surrounded Polish units on Mont Ormel. In this situation, the German forces had no chance of breaking out of the encirclement. These fights are known as the Battle of Falaise.