From Argentan to the Seine – The Panther Battalion of the 9. Panzerdivision Against the XVth US Corps

On 13 August 1944, when the 2e D.B. raised the tricolour over the town hall of Argentan, it was too early to declare the Allied victory secured — all the more so as General Leclerc received orders to withdraw his troops from the town: it was reserved for the Americans.

If Argentan falls, the entire German army in Normandy will be annihilated. Hitler's order is unequivocal: "The destruction of the American forces in the vicinity of Argentan must be undertaken immediately." As a result, the remnants of the Panzerdivisionen set out to oppose the Allied army corps, of which the 2e D.B. formed a part. A fresh unit was also dispatched to the area: the Panther battalion of the 9. Panzer-Division, then held in reserve near Avignon. Its tankmen had already seen everything Russia could throw at them — but they had no idea what awaited them.

Drawing on seven years of research in military archives, veteran interviews and study of the operational theatre, the author delivers a gripping account of a little-known phase of the Battle of Normandy. The reader will find new material on every page, and the numerous testimonies superbly illustrate the violence and horror of the fighting from the Falaise Pocket to the banks of the Seine.