Gaps and Chaps: A Fresh Look at the Escape of the German Army from Normandy, 1944

Hear historian Marc Milner discuss the supposed failure of the British Army to prevent the escape of the Germans during the Normandy campaign of 1944.

The apparent failure to close the 'Falaise Gap', and the consequent escape of German 5th Panzer and 7th Armies across the River Seine, remains one of the great controversies of the Normandy campaign of 1944. Most historians seem content to declare the Gap closed on 19 August, when Montgomery told Alanbrooke that it was, and then move on to the next phase of the campaign in France: the liberation of Paris.

But the Falaise Gap was never closed: Montgomery never intended it to be. On 19 August, 70,000 Germans, including two army and four corps HQs, the combat echelons of five Panzer and eight infantry divisions, plus thousands of stragglers remained west of the River Dives. Over the next two days, they poured across the Dives between Falaise and Chambois on their way to the Seine crossings. Most got through. Then, with the Americans focused on Paris and the British Army paused, the attempt at a long envelopment at the Seine was botched. A critical cadre of Germany’s army escaped to form the rallying force that would extend the war until the spring of 1945.

About the speaker

Marc Milner worked on the official histories of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy in the Second World War before joining the History Department at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in 1986. Until his retirement in 2019, Milner was Director of UNB’s Military and Strategic Studies Program, Chair of the History Department, and Director of the Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society. In 2016, he was awarded The Admiral’s Medal for his contributions to Canada’s maritime history and awareness and was appointed an Honorary Colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Milner is best known for his work on naval history, with his latest book, 'Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry and the Hidden Story of the Normandy Campaign', published by Yale University Press in May 2025.