79 Infantry Division (USA) seizing Nogent-le-Roi
The 79th Infantry Division again shifted the direction of its attack, this time from north towards Argentan to east towards Paris and the Seine River.
Even as the Falaise Pocket was closing, General George S. Patton envisioned deeper hooks, further entrapments, and a hot pursuit across the German border.
The 79th Infantry Division raced ahead against ineffective resistance, seizing Nogent-le-Roi and a bridgehead across the Eure River on 16 August.
The Seine River was next.
The 79th Infantry Division had reached Mantes- Gassicourt by the evening of 19 August.
Here the river varied in width from 500 to 800 feet. In the midst of a torrential rainfall an infantry regiment inched across the top of a dam in single file, each man touching the man ahead to maintain contact and avoid missteps.
This daring approach worked.
By the following day the division was solidly established on the far side of the Seine, and the Allies had their first bridgehead across that critical river.