Chambois, Orne

Chambois
12th century donjon 12th century donjon
Coat of arms of Chambois Coat of arms
Chambois
Location within Lower Normandy region Chambois
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Department	Orne
Arrondissement	Argentan
Canton	Trun
Intercommunality	Pays d'Exmes
Area1	8.3 km2 (3.2 sq mi)
Population (1999)2	475
• Density	57/km2 (150/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	61083 / 61160
Elevation	89–156 m (292–512 ft) (avg. 110 m or 360 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Chambois is a commune in the Orne département in north-western France. The town is remarkable for its Norman keep (12th century) and was part of the Falaise pocket in 1944.

Norman keep

The Norman keep or Donjon was built in the 12th century. One of the rare surviving square keeps in Normandy.

In the Falaise Gap

Chambois was the scene of one of the bitterest battles of the Normandy campaign, in August 1944, which was also known as the Falaise pocket or the Falaise gap. Here, the 90th Infantry Division (United States) finally met 10th Dragoons from 1st Armoured Division (Poland) (Polish 1 Dywizja Pancerna) in the evening of 19 August 1944.

For two days, Poles and Americans defended the town against continuous assaults launched by overwhelming enemy forces (mostly remnants of the German 7th Army), taking thousands of prisoners. The battle ultimately was ended as Allied air support finally destroyed what was left of the German forces.

The Memorial of Coudehard – Montormel [1], on the neighboring Hill 262, keeps the memory of the Falaise pocket.

Video games

In the video game Call of Duty 3, the player is involved in a series of missions as the Allies move in the Falaise Gap toward Chambois. The Battle for Chambois is the final chapter of the game.

In the video game Company of Heroes, the player is tasked to take and defend a series of bridges against German attacks at Chambois. This culminates with the American forces linking up with Canadian and Polish soldiers.

See also

• Communes of the Orne department

External links

• History of the Falaise pocket at memorial-montormel.org
• INSEE commune file