Operation Tractable - Background

Background

Following breakout by the U.S. 1st and 3rd Armies from the beachhead during the Battle of Normandy during Operation Cobra on 25 July 1944, Adolf Hitler ordered an immediate counterattack against Allied forces in the form of Operation Lüttich. Lieutenant General Omar Bradley—the commanding general of the U.S. 12th Army Group—was notified of the counterattack in advance through signals intercepted via Ultra radio intercepts and deciphering and thus prepared his troops and their commanders to defeat this counteroffensive and to encircle as much of the Wehrmacht force as possible. By the afternoon of 7 August, Operation Lüttich had been defeated by concerted, large-scale fighter-bomber air strikes against the German Panzers and trucks. In the process, forces of the German 7th Army became further enveloped by the Allied advance out of Normandy.

Following these failed German offensives, the town of Falaise became a major objective of Commonwealth forces, since its capture would cut off virtually all of Generalfeldmarschall Günther von Kluge's Army Group B. To achieve this, General Harry Crerar, commanding the newly-formed Canadian 1st Army and Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds—commanding the Canadian II Corps, planned an Anglo-Canadian offensive with the code name of Operation Totalize. This offensive was designed to break through the defenses in the Anglo-Canadian sector of the Normandy front. Operation Totalize would rely on an unusual night attack using heavy bombers and the new Kangaroo armored personnel carriers to achieve a breakthrough of German defenses. Despite initial gains on Verrières Ridge and near Cintheaux, the Canadian Army's offensive stalled on 9 August, with strong Wehrmacht counterattacks resulting in heavy casualties for the Canadian and Polish armoured and infantry divisions. By 10 August, Canadian troops had reached Hill 195, north of Falaise. They were unable to advance farther immediately and they had been unable to capture Falaise.