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+[[Image:Information.svg|25px]] Please do not delete content or templates from pages on Wikipedia{{#if:Template:Same-sex unions|, as you did to [[:Template:Same-sex unions]],}} without giving a valid reason for the removal in the [[Help:Edit summary|edit summary]]. Your content removal does not appear constructive, and has been [[Help:Reverting|reverted]]. Please make use of the [[Wikipedia:Sandbox|sandbox]] if you'd like to experiment with test edits. {{#if:|{{{2}}}|Thank you.}}<!-- Template:uw-delete2 --> <font face="papyrus">[[User:Ctjf83|'''<font color="#ff0000">C</font><font color="#ff6600">T</font><font color="#ffff00">J</font><font color="#009900">F</font><font color="#0000ff">8</font><font color="#6600cc">3</font>''']][[User Talk:Ctjf83|Talk]]</font> 18:18, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
-'''Hill 262''' in Normandy (elevation 262 m), also known as The Mace (in [[Polish language|Polish]] ''Maczuga'' - because the ridge on this hill resembled a caveman's mace with two bulbous heads) and Mount Ormel, was a vital command post during [[World War II]]. It has an excellent view on the area around [[Chambois]] and [[Vimoutiers]].
-It was held by the Germans throughout the war until it was captured by the Polish [[1st Armoured Division (Poland)|1st Armoured Division]]. The battle for Hill 262 is an action normally ignored in the West, but vital to the Allied breakout.
-The Mace is a level on the popular video game [[Call of Duty 3]].
-==Battle==
-For two days, the Polish Armoured Division defended the area against continuous assaults launched by overwhelming enemy forces (mostly remnants of the German 7th Army), taking thousands of prisoners. The Poles finally captured it on the evening of [[August 19]] [[1944]] as the Canadian II Corps reached and reinforced their positions.
-Capturing Hill 262 meant that German positions within Falaise were in danger of being surrounded, as another Polish Battlegroup was on the verge of linking up with American forces in Chambois.  As a result, [[2nd SS Panzer Corps]] was ordered to "eliminate Polish positions on Mont Ormel".
-Throughout three days of fighting, two Polish battlegroups managed to hold off seven German divisions (including three SS Panzer Divisions), taking extremely high casualties throughout.  Through coordinated use of artillery fire and skilled infantry tactics, Polish forces were able to ensure that Hill 262 remained in Allied possession.  However, upwards of 20% of the [[Polish 1st Armoured Division]]'s fighting strength was killed or wounded in the defense of Hill 262.
-"The Poles had closed the [[Falaise Pocket]]. The Poles had opened the gate to [[Paris]]."<ref> {{cite book | author = Dallas, Gregor | title = 1945: The War That Never Ended | publisher = Yale University Press | year = 2005 | id = ISBN 0-30010-980-6 | pages = 160 | url =http://books.google.com/books?id=LXdVF6LmTa8C&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=The+War+That+Never+Ended+Poles+had+opened+the+gate+to+Paris&source=web&ots=Y6lebp1Tpy&sig=K-m8Ox5UrLZtBmXMZTRVNliOSGk&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result }}. Retrieved on [[2008-06-17]].</ref>
-==Aftermath==
-The battle for Hill 262 had cost the Polish 1st Armored Division severely: 1,290 troops killed, 3,820 wounded, and 22 missing in action. It is estimated that from 20,000 to 40,000 Germans managed to escape across the only remaining crossing at [[Saint-Lambert, Calvados|Saint-Lambert]] before the Falaise pocket closed completely on [[August 21]]. However, 10,000 had been killed and 50,000 taken prisoner, and nearly all the German tanks and artillery pieces had been left behind or destroyed.
-Approximately 650 Polish fighters are buried at the nearby Polish Military Cemetery in [[Grainville-Langannerie]].
-On the 20th anniversary of Falaise, former President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] commented, "No other battlefield presented such a horrible sight of death, hell, and total destruction."
-==Notes==
-{{reflist}}
-==References==
-* [http://www.historynet.com/magazines/world_war_2/3024756.html?page=1&c=y Guttman, Jon. "World War II: Closing the Falaise Pocket" (originally in the September 2001 issue of World War II magazine], retrieved on: [[September 1]] [[2007]].
-* [http://montormel.evl.pl/?id=69 "August 19th, 1944: the closing of the pocket" Memorial of Coudehard - Montormel], retrieved on: [[September 1]] [[2007]].
-* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/46/a2450846.shtml A Polish Battle, Normandy 1944 (Translated from the French) by Jim Dillon, BBC], retrieved on: [[September 1]] [[2007]].
-* {{cite book | author = McGilvray, E. | title = The Black Devil's March - A Doomed Odyssey: The 1st Polish Armoured Division 1939-1945 | publisher = Helion & Company Ltd | year = 2005 | id = ISBN 1-87462-242-6}}
-* {{cite book | author = Dallas, Gregor | title = 1945: The War That Never Ended | publisher = Yale University Press | year = 2005 | id = ISBN 0-30010-980-6 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=LXdVF6LmTa8C&pg=PA157&lpg=PA157&dq=Maczuga+The+War+that+never+Ended&source=web&ots=Y6lebp0YwB&sig=wi_FdWWTCyRSnjbMkEAYp_rfscA&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result }} Pages 157 - 160.
-{{coord|48|50|60|N|0|81|15|E|type=mountain|name=Hill 262|display=title}}
-{{World War II}}
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill 262, Battle of}}
-[[Category:Conflicts in 1944]]
-[[Category:Battles involving Canada]]
-[[Category:Battles involving Germany]]
-[[Category:Battles involving Poland]]
-[[Category:Battles involving the United States]]