The 2nd U.S. Armored Division in the Eure – 20–25 August 1944

Objectives: Breteuil, Verneuil, Damville, Conches, Le Neubourg, Iville, Amfreville, Thuit-Signol

The end of the Battle of Normandy. When the 2nd U.S. Armored Division arrives in the Eure, it spells the end for the remnants of the German divisions caught in its path, in full retreat from the Falaise-Chambois pocket. This great American formation is one of the finest of all those committed in Normandy. Nothing has withstood it since its arrival at the front in early July 1944. Its nickname, «Hell on Wheels», is not without reason.

Formed by the renowned General Patton, it became an elite division after fighting in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Normandy. Its soldiers would drive the German occupiers out of the Eure, where they would destroy 93 panzers.

All this new information on the liberation of the towns mentioned on the cover and the communes along the route of the 10,000 G.I.s of the 2nd U.S. Armored Division was gathered and verified by the author using archives collected at the National Archives (USA). Several German veterans interviewed after the war also bear witness to these five days of fierce fighting against this Allied division. The aim of this book is also to prove that the Battle of Normandy did not end in the Falaise Pocket, but on the banks of the Seine...