INFANTRYMEN PICKING THEIR WAY THROUGH DEBRIS and rubble in Domfront in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. When the Falaise-Argentan pocket was closed, Allied divisions inside the pocket pressed in on the remnants of the German divisions.] [Illustration: FRANCE INFANTRYMEN FIRING ON THE ENEMY during the house-to-house fighting in Saint-Malo (top). Infantrymen prepare to fire on enemy positions in Saint-Malo with their .30-caliber Browning machine gun M1917A1 (bottom). During the rapid advances to the east, the fighting on the Brittany Peninsula was still going on. On 17 August the last Germans in the citadel of Saint-Malo had been captured, and the U. S. division taking the city was moved to the southeast to cover the Loire flank west of Tours.] [Illustration] [Illustration: FRANCE THE HARBOR AT SAINT-MALO. In the strongly defended forts in and around the harbor stubborn groups of Germans held out against the U. S. attacking forces.] [Illustration: FRANCE SWABBING OUT THE BARREL OF AN 81-MM. MORTAR M 1 before firing. During the battle of the Falaise-Argentan pocket U. S. artillery poured shells of all calibers into the pocket, and Allied aircraft hammered the Germans relentlessly.] [Illustration: FRANCE PREPARING TO FIRE A 60-MM. MORTAR M2. The intense artillery fire and aerial bombing littered the countryside with all types of German vehicles and equipment. German commanders were able to control only small groups of their troops, so great was the confusion.] [Illustration: FRANCE INFANTRYMEN, ARMED WITH CARBINES M1 AND RIFLE M1, discuss the action in which they have taken part (top). Engineers of an armored division relax in a French town during the advance of the U. S. troops (bottom). In the battle of the Falaise-Argentan pocket the Allies did not accomplish the utter destruction of the German forces in Normandy, but the enemy troops were broken as an effective fighting force and the way across France was open. During this period enemy losses included 70,000 killed and captured.] [Illustration] [Illustration: FRANCE MEN AND VEHICLES ADVANCING TOWARD PARIS (3-inch gun motor carriage M10). Mopping-up the Falaise-Argentan pocket was assigned to troops of the 21 Army Group, while the First Army forces moved eastward. The Third Army was again moving eastward, and by the evening of 25 August the Allies held most of the Seine River west of Paris. On 15 August the Seventh U. S. Army invaded southern France and moved northward to join forces with the Allies in northern France.] [Illustration] [Illustration: FRANCE