« Falaise pocket ». The tactical group Warabiot was given the mission to reach Ecouché via St. Christophe Le Jajolet and Fleuré, with the order going to sub-group Putz to cover Ecouché on the west flank by going through Boucé. In the east, the Americans were given the task of capturing Argentan. Approach : 12 August 1944 At Sées, at 1300 hours, the order was given to « push on towards Ecouché ». Roger de Normandie, a resistance member and retired officer from Macé, volunteered to lead the Warabiot column. This was penetrate deep into the enemy lines by way of country lanes and the Cance river bed. At St. Christophe Le Jajolet, the French Sherman tank, Keren, was disabled (3 fatalities) by a German tank, but the others were able to carry on. Reaching Fleuré by the evening, the column destroyed a German convoy retreating towards Ecouché. Capture : 13 August 1944 At sunrise, an advance force, jeeps and half-tracks, followed closely by the tanks of Captain Buis and the motorised convoys, reached the level crossing at Ecouché and made a surprise attack. The 2nd French Armored Division (2nd DB) of General Leclerc entered Ecouché, blocking the German retreat on the main road, the current D924. In the centre of Écouché surprised a German motorised column which was in the process of retreating towards the north (Mortgaroult). The Germans were trapped in a tremendous bottleneck in the narrow streets of the village. It was a carnage. A rearguard Panther tank delayed the French advance. The shell exchanges came to an end to the advantage of the French, who established a bridgehead on the farside bank, but the Germans remained in command of the heights north of the village for the whole week. Udon, a village slightly west of Ecouché and defended by the German SS, had to be taken house by house. The French set up their position at the Udon crossroads. Their aim was to resist the pressure of the German troops as they retreated west. In the east, the Americans were delayed. They had not succeeded in taking Argentan and they needed to hold Meheudin and Fontenai, both small villages between Argentan and Ecouché. The objective was achieved. The 116 Panzer Division(German tank division) was cut in two and suffered heavy losses compared with the 2nd DB, whose losses in men and equipment were minimized. Colonel Warabiot’s