With the Nazi spearhead smashed, Mortain degenerated into a five-day slugfest. Foolishly, for a time the Germans continued to press toward Avranches, a move Bradley subsequently termed 'suicidal,' for Collins's VII Corps was in position to attack the German flanks. Elements of the 2 SS Panzer Division, operating south of the devastated 1 SS Panzer Division, besieged Hill 317, in whose shadow Mortain is nestled. The defenders, a lone battalion, stood firm. Supported by Allied air (including supply drops) and artillery, this battalion heroically held out until relieved by the 35th Division on August 12. Mortain came to an end. In the fighting after August 7, the 2 SS Panzer had joined the rapidly growing roster of German armored formations shattered by Allied combined air-artillery-armor assault. Major General Rudolf-Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff, the chief of staff of the German 7 Armee, subsequently agreed that the continuation of the counterattack toward Avranches was a 'mistake.' Contributing to the German failure was the overemphasis of attacking north, between Mortain and Vire rather than farther south. In any case Mortain must be counted among the most important battles in the west and recognized for what it was-a true example of air-land action. It set the stage for the next and even greater disaster to befall German arms in France-the battle of the Falaise-Argentan pocket. After Mortain, the only course open to the Wehrmacht was headlong retreat toward the German frontier. In that retreat. Allied tactical air would offer no respite.

Closing the Gap at Falaise

In retrospect, air was more critical-and under greater pressure-at Mortain than at the subsequent fighting in the Falaise-Argentan pocket. Mortain was an Allied defensive battle whereas Falaise was an encirclement and an attempt to prevent the Germans from escaping out of the trap eastward. As the perimeter closed down, the pocket became a gap, and the Allies struggled to close it. The Falaise campaign probably began on August 7, the same day as the German counterattack at Mortain, when Canadian troops launched a ground assault called Totalize toward Falaise. For the next two weeks. Allied troops-British, American, and Polish- harassed the German forces caught inside the pocket until finally, on August 21, the gap was closed.