Mont Ormel Hill 262

Coudehard, FR

Hill 262, known as **Mont Ormel** or the **Maczuga** (mace), is the dominant terrain feature of the Falaise battlefield — a long wooded ridge overlooking the Dives River valley through which German forces attempted to escape the encirclement in August 1944. The **1st Polish Armoured Division** seized the northern knoll (Hill 262 North) on August 19, 1944, cutting the last viable escape road. For 48 hours the Poles held against overwhelming pressure from German formations desperate to break out, including elements of the **2nd SS Panzer Corps** and remnants of **seven panzer divisions**. Relief arrived only on August 21 when Canadian forces linked up from the west. The ridge became one of the most intensely contested pieces of ground in the entire Normandy campaign — the Poles suffered nearly 2,000 casualties holding it. The topography of Hill 262 made it a perfect killing ground: troops in the valley below were enfiladed from the ridge while attempting to cross the Dives in disorder, their vehicles and equipment packed into a catastrophic traffic jam under Allied artillery and air attack.