DAVID CURRIE

In August 1944, as Allied forces attempted to close the Falaise Gap, a Canadian major led a small battlegroup into a French village to prevent the enemy escaping

- ALEX BOWERS

Alone with darkness drawing in, head bowed under a maelstrom of mortar shells, Major David Currie entered the German-held village of Saint Lambert-surDives. The air was tinged with the smell of cordite, masonry littered the streets and enemy outposts surrounded the 32-year-old Canadian officer, who took note of their locations as he moved forward on foot. A short distance away, he spied the two knocked-out Sherman tanks from his armoured reconnaissance force that had earlier attempted to penetrate the Norman commune only to be disabled by 3.5in (88mm) guns. The Saskatchewan native, casting a distinct presence with his tall and lean stature, greeted the beleaguered crews upon discovering them. His reconnoitre complete, his "boys" - as he called them - saved from an uncertain fate, all that was left was to pull out and prepare for the fierce fighting ahead. It was 18 August 1944, and Currie's biggest test was yet to come.

Two German armies had been trapped by the Allies in what had become known as the Falaise Pocket. Some 100,000 desperate troops, against Hitler's orders, hoped to escape encirclement via a narrow opening between Chambois, Saint Lambert-sur-Dives and Trun. But standing in their way to the northwest were the Polish and Canadians, including Currie's 29th Canadian Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment (South Alberta Regiment) of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division. Of particular importance was Saint Lambert-sur-Dives' main bridge over the River Dives, which needed to be captured and held at all costs if the enemy were to be denied their retreat from that point.