Roads to Falaise: 'Cobra' and 'Goodwood' Reassessed

The twin armored advances of 'Goodwood' and 'Cobra', unleashed six weeks after the Allied landings in Normandy in June 1944, were intended to trap a German army within a wider pincer movement. Myths that have grown up since the end of the war suggested that 'Goodwood', a British initiative, foundered whilst 'Cobra', undertaken by the Americans, prospered. The author contends, however, that together these operations started a series of advances, which were to culminate in the encirclement and ultimate destruction or capture of masses of German troops within the notorious Falaise Pocket in August 1944. Combining his compelling narrative with the eyewitness accounts of those who were there, Ken Tout explodes the myths surrounding these operations and claims 'Goodwood' as an important advance at not too great a cost. Credit is given to soldiers on both sides, whether American, British, Canadian or German, for their resolute efforts in almost impossible situations.