The Falaise Gap

Heroes Remember

The Falaise Gap

Transcript

The entire regiment was in on that one, and we were in a position I suppose. For one thing we were involved quite actively in the approach from Caen towards Falaise. There were two attempts to get to Falaise, the first one our assembly areas were bombed by mistake by the American Air Force, the second one we were bombed by mistake by our own air force. That was an exciting day that, that one. It's quite an experience to look up at a Lancaster bomber and be able to count the bombs in the bomb bay. Interviewer: Was your regiment in particular, did it sustain any damage in either one of those bombings? Yeah, we lost 56 vehicles in the second bombing. Interview: And do you remember the number of men that may have been casualties? Just one. The Padre's driver. Interviewer: As the battle of Falaise Gap continued, did the regiment take any direct part in the closing of the Gap? Yes, yes by that time, well as I say we had heavy fire power, and the Germans were trying, attempting to force their way out of the Gap to go eastward and to get to the Somme or the Seine and set up a line of defence. So yes, we were all three squadrons up at that point on the northern flank of the Falaise Gap. We'd been involved in searching out river crossings before that, the Laison River was a barrier to vehicles, armoured vehicles especially, and we spent some time looking for crossings, fjords, one of our troops found a damaged bridge which they managed to repair to make it strong enough to take a few vehicles across so that was recce work, but it wasn't direct enemy contact recce work, but it was quite effective because it enabled a lot of equipment and men to get forward into the battle zone. Interviewer: When you think back to that particular time with the battle raging, the German Army trying to extricate itself, flee back to re-form, how would you describe the nature of the fighting that you saw? Well, the Germans were desperate of course, they were desperate. They were fighting very, very hard, there's no question, but they were out numbered and they got to know it after awhile. I don't know how many prisoners were taken in the Falaise Gap but they were, well they were in the hundreds of thousands. There's no question about that. Because the Americans coming up from the south they met us at, I think it was Argentan, the town where the two armies met and after a couple of flurries of shooting at each other, the Gap was closed there.

Description

Mr. Jamieson describes the involvement of his regiment in the push to close the Falaise Gap and surround the German Army.

Douglas K. Jamieson

Mr. Jamieson was the oldest of two boys in the family and was born in Toronto on April 3, 1919. At the age of sixteen he moved to Montreal. While in university Mr. Jamieson joined the Canadian Officer Training Corps. His unit was converted to a regular force unit and he was shipped overseas as part a reconnaissance unit in the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division with whom he served in England, France, Holland and Germany.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 03:22
Person Interviewed:: Douglas K. Jamieson
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: France
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: 17th Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars-Recce
Occupation:: Reconnaissance Officer

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Date modified:: 2019-04-03