Closing of the Gap Memorial

Chambois, FR

The Closing of the Gap Memorial at Chambois marks the spot where, on August 19, 1944, Polish and American forces met to seal the **Falaise Pocket** — one of the decisive moments of the Normandy campaign. Elements of the **1st Polish Armoured Division** advancing from the north encountered the **90th US Infantry Division** (part of **Patton's 3rd Army**) pushing north, completing the encirclement of the German 7th Army and 5th Panzer Army. The juncture at Chambois represented the culmination of Allied strategy following the **breakout from Saint-Lô**: the simultaneous Allied advance from the north (British and Canadians) and the sweeping end run from the south (American forces) converging to trap the bulk of German ground forces in Normandy. The meeting at Chambois sealed the fate of German operations in France — even though thousands of troops continued to escape over the following days, the organized Wehrmacht formations in Normandy had been destroyed. The memorial symbolises the multinational nature of the Allied effort: American, Canadian, British, Polish, and French forces all played essential roles in achieving the encirclement.