Falaise

Troops in liberated Falaise, France, August 1944, with destroyed buildings in the background. Following the D-day landings, advancing Canadian, British, and US forces encircled some 80,000 German troops in a pocket centred on Falaise. After heavy fighting, the area was taken by the Allies on 21st August 1944.

Town situated 32 km/20 mi southeast of Caen, in Calvados département, Normandy, northern France; population (1990) 8,100. Perched on a cliff (French falaise) above the River Ante, it is a market centre, manufacturing cotton and leather goods, and trading in livestock and cheese. The 12th–13th-century castle belonged to Robert, one of the first dukes of Normandy. William the Conqueror was born here in 1027.

In August 1944, some 50,000 German troops were captured by the Allies in the Falaise pocket as they attempted to avoid encirclement by British and Canadian troops advancing from the south and US troops from the east and north. The town was largely destroyed in the fighting and was rebuilt in the 1950s.

The town has a church dating back to the 11th century and another dating back to the 13th century. There is an equestrian statue of William the Conqueror here.