The town is known for the battle of the "Falaise pocket" during the Allied reconquest of France in August 1944 in which two German armies were encircled and destroyed. Some 10,000 German troops were killed and 50,000 taken prisoner. Two-thirds of Falaise was destroyed by Allied bombing before the town was taken by Canadian and Polish troops. Falaise was largely restored after the war.
Miscellaneous
Exhibits at the Museum of the Battle of the Falaise Pocket include several military vehicles, pieces of artillery, and other weapons.
July 31, 2005, Faucon, near Avignon, France), finance minister (1973-77) and head of the central bank (1982-97) of the Netherlands and president of the European Monetary Institute (1997-98) and of the European Central Bank (1998-2003).
After France left Vietnam in 1954, he rose through the ranks of a newly formed South Vietnamese army, where he was known as "Big Minh" because fellow troops were dwarfed by his six-foot frame, and to distinguish him from other officers with the same name.
He fled to southern France where he lived in luxury in Cannes until his wife left him and took his children and most of their cash.
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