Orne
Orne (; nrf, Ôrne or ) is a département in the northwest of France, named after the river Orne. It had a population of 279,942 in 2019.France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune
Gouffern en Auge
Gouffern en Auge (, literally ''Gouffern in Auge'') is a commune in the department of Orne, northwestern France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former communes of Silly-en-Gouffern (the seat), Aubry-en-Exmes, ...
.Arrêté préfectoral 6 October 2016 Its population was 385 in 2019. The town is remarkable for its 12th-century Norman
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
and was involved in the closure of the Falaise pocket in 1944 during the
Battle of Normandy
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
.
Norman keep
The Norman keep or
Donjon
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in ...
was built in the 12th century. It is one of the rare surviving examples of a square keeps in Normandy.
Closure of the Falaise Pocket
The
Battle of Chambois
The Battle of Chambois was an August 1944 battle during the Battle of Normandy in World War II. Prior to the battle, a pocket had formed around Falaise, Calvados, where the German Army Group B, with the 7th Army and the Fifth Panzer Army (former ...
was the scene of some of the bitterest fighting during the
Normandy campaign
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
90th Infantry Division 90th Division may refer to:
;Infantry
* 90th Division (1st Formation)(People's Republic of China), 1949–1950
* 90th Division (2nd Formation)(People's Republic of China), 1950–1952
* 90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
* 90th Infantry Divi ...
formations sealed off the gap on 19/20 August 1944.
For two days, Poles and Americans defended the town against continuous assaults launched by overwhelming enemy forces (mostly remnants of the German 7th Army), taking thousands of prisoners. The battle ultimately was ended as Allied air support finally destroyed what was left of the German forces.
The
Coudehard-Montormel Memorial
The Coudehard-Montormel Memorial (''mémorial de Coudehard-Montormel'' or ''mémorial de Montormel'') is a historical museum in Mont-Ormel in France, dedicated to the battle of the Falaise pocket, the last episode in the battle of Normandy. It ...
on the neighbouring
Hill 262
Battle of Hill 262, or the Mont Ormel ridge (elevation ), is an area of high ground above the village of Coudehard in Normandy that was the location of a bloody engagement in the final stages of the Battle of Falaise in the Normandy Campaign du ...
, details the history of the battle and closure of the Falaise pocket.