The National Army Museum will host a talk on 13 June by Marc Milner who will discuss the supposed failure of the British Army to prevent the escape of the Germans during the Normandy campaign of 1944.
The perceived inability to seal the ‘Falaise Gap’, along with the subsequent escape of the German 5th Panzer and 7th Armies across the River Seine, continues to be one of the significant controversies surrounding the Normandy campaign of 1944. Many historians appear satisfied to assert that the Gap was closed on 19 August, following Montgomery’s assurance to Alanbrooke, and subsequently shift their focus to the next stage of the campaign in France: the liberation of Paris.
However, the Falaise Gap was never truly closed: Montgomery had no intention of doing so. On 19 August, approximately 70,000 Germans, which included two army and four corps headquarters, the combat elements of five Panzer and eight infantry divisions, along with thousands of stragglers, remained west of the River Dives.
In the following two days, they crossed the Dives between Falaise and Chambois en route to the Seine crossings. The majority successfully made it through. Subsequently, with the Americans concentrating on Paris and the British Army momentarily halted, the effort for a prolonged encirclement at the Seine was mishandled. A vital segment of Germany’s military managed to escape, forming the core force that would prolong the conflict until the spring of 1945.
Marc Milner contributed to the official histories of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War prior to his appointment in the History Department at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) in 1986. Until his retirement in 2019, Milner held the positions of 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 received The Admiral’s Medal in recognition of his contributions to Canada’s maritime history and awareness, and he was also appointed as an Honorary Colonel in the Royal Canadian Air Force.
Milner is primarily recognized for his expertise in naval history, with his most recent publication, ‘Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry and the Hidden Story of the Normandy Campaign’, released by Yale University Press in May 2025.
For more information and on how to book or watch online visit: https://www.nam.ac.uk/whats-on/gaps-and-chaps-fresh-look-escape-german-army-normandy-1944
