While there is plenty of high-quality imagery of the German retreat through the Falaise-Argentan gap, few photos are captioned in detail. Therefore, while finding these locations was easy in some cases, it proved quite difficult in others. Some of the photos are shown below next to modern-day satellite imagery, all of which comes from Google Earth.
This junction is on the D26 near La Haute Oraille. The Germans used this route to reach Putanges, with its bridge over the Orne. The westerly location of this photo graphically illustrates the long trek that many German units had to undertake before they even reached the Falaise pocket. Long stretches of this road run across open fields that would have offered minimal cover from patrolling Allied fighter-bombers. This location was found by my former colleague, Steve Lloyd, an ex-RAF intelligence officer.
From Putanges, the retreating German forces passed through the Falaise-Argentan gap at the village of Clinchamps, in the commune of Montabard. Many of the orchards have sadly been felled since 1944, but the area is otherwise largely unchanged.
The Germans then moved into the Bois de Feullet en route to Trun and Chambois. This was another easy location to find due to the absence of significant change and the proximity of the wood to Clinchamps.
By contrast, this photograph of Gouffern Forest, north of Argentan and east of the D113 road, was extremely difficult to locate. The roads and tracks visible in 1944 have since largely been hidden by the growth of the forest. The forest offered valuable cover to German forces during their retreat into the Falaise pocket.
Ultimately, however, the Germans had to break cover and retreat across the open fields to find crossing points over the River Dives. This location, west of Tournai Sur Dives, also took some finding, and it was impossible to replicate the oblique angle of the 1944 shot. The most useful common features included the distinctive bend in the road and the boundary of the village in the background.
The rocket attack between Tournai and Chambois. Again, I could not reproduce the same oblique angle, but the road features and the driveway to the farm allowed this position to be firmly anchored.
After crossing the Dives, many German units took the Trun-Vimoutiers road (numbered D916). The sharp bend in the farm driveway was the obvious give-away for locating this position.
This photograph was taken over the D26, South of Vimoutiers, at the intersection with D242 near Le Tertre. The sharp bend was the most distinctive feature.
The most southerly of the photographs taken in the area of The Chase between Vimoutiers and the River Seine. This location lies on the Route de Meulles, the main road from Vimoutiers to Orbec, where it passes through the Bois de Mille.
The photo of the Spitfire strike was taken on the more northerly road from Livarot to Orbec (the D4), where it emerges from the woods to the east of Livarot.
This was the most northerly of the photographs taken in the area between the Falaise Pocket and Orbec. All the other photographs of The Chase were taken in the area of the Seine, and most locations can be established from their proximity to the river. This location actually lies just north-east of Orbec. It was another difficult spot, partly because the photo was originally orientated in the wrong direction and partly because of the disappearance of the orchard.
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