Falaise 1944
The battle around Falaise in Normandy during August 1944 saw the destruction of the German Seventh army. This book details the chain of events which led to the German retreat and the ensuing liberation of France.
The British and American breakout battles had released motorised units to wage a more mobile war against the German static defensive tactics. At Falaise, the armoured units of US Third Army encircled the German Seventh Army, squeezed them into an ever-smaller cauldron of chaos and crushed them against the advancing British Second Army.
The results were devastating: those troops able to escape the disaster fled, those who remained were killed or captured and vast quantities of armour and equipment were lost.
Ken Ford was born in Hampshire in 1943. He trained as an engineer and spent almost 30 years in the telecommunications industry. He is now a bookseller specialising in military history, and an author, having written a number of books on various Second World War subjects. Previous titles for Osprey in the Campaign series include volumes 127: ‘Dieppe 1942’ and 134: ‘Cassino 1944’.
Howard Gerrard studied at the Wallasey School of Art and has been a freelance designer and illustrator for over 20 years. He has worked for a number of publishers and is an associate member of the Guild of Aviation Artists. He has won both the Society of British Aerospace Companies Award and the Wilkinson Sword Trophy and has illustrated a number of books for Osprey including Campaign 69: ‘Nagashino 1575’ and Campaign 72: ‘Jutland 1916’. Howard lives and works in Kent.