World War 2: The Falaise Pocket

FALAISE POCKET: It could be said that the Battle of the Falaise Pocket was actually the culmination of many preceding battles: The German Generals and the Allied Commanders together could never have guessed the outcome of this epic battle, a turning point of World War II. The Allied encirclement of several German Armies occurred so quickly the Germans were caught without a strategy to cope, nor with any reserves to break open the relatively weak Allied encirclement. The Allies were so surprised by the magnitude of their success they were unprepared to exploit it, except for General George Patton who, if given a free hand could have ended the war in 1944.