MARTIN MARIX EVANS

Actions speak louder than words. In the days to come the

Goddess of Victory will bestow h e r laurels only on those who
are p r e p a r e d to act with daring.
Heinz Guderian, 1937.
 THE INVASION OF FRANCE AND THE LOW COUNTRIES, MAY 1940

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For their help in making some inroads in my ignorance of what happened where memoir of the action at Amiens and has also provided a sketch of his battalion's
in Belgium I must thank Michael Baert of the Belgian Tourist Office, Brussels dispositions. I am indebted to the Hon. Caroline Ponsonby for being allowed to
and Ardennes, in London, Pierre Gosset, former secretary to C.R.I.B.A. in quote from the papers of her father, Major Lord Sysonby. I have also had the
Belgium and Guy Blockmans in Brussels and Patrice Legros in Liege. Mr H. good fortune to be given a first-hand account of his experiences as an anti-aircraft
Lardinois of the Institut Geographique National in Brussels directed me to gunner by Albert Smith. At the time of going to press the owners of certain copy-
contemporary mapping. I thank Andrew Saunders for his help in introducing me rights have not been traced and I would be grateful for information as to their
to Robert Gils of Simon Stevinstchting, and to Mr Gils for his help in giving me identity and whereabouts.
what modest understanding of the Belgian fortresses I now possess as well as The maps used are mostly those published in Berlin by the army in preparation
guiding me to appropriate maps. Captain David Horn of the Guards Museum for the invasion of France and the Low Countries or German maps made later in
in London, Richard Callaghan of the Royal Sussex Regiment Museum and the war showing useful detail of important locations. Some come from my own
Alan Readman of the West Sussex Record Office gave valuable advice and collection while the rest are from the Bodleian Library, Oxford, and carry the
introductions. Mrs P. James and Roy Harding of the Queen's Royal Surrey annotation 'BL' and the appropriate shelf number. Permission to reproduce maps
Regiment Museum were very helpful to me. David Fletcher and his colleagues at from the Bodleian Library is gratefully acknowledged and, even more important
the Tank Museum, Bovington, were unfailing in their kindness. Peter Liddle and to me, the patience and helpfulness of the staff of the Map Room deserves high
Claire Harder of the Second World War Experience Centre produced some praise. The British maps are from a private collection and I am grateful for the
fascinating material for me, in spite of having been operational for only a grant of access. Ordnance Survey maps are Crown Copyright.
matter of weeks. In the Netherlands Wybo Boersma gave me guidance and my The photographs from the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz are annotated with the letter B
sister, Amina Marix Evans, undertook research for me and discovered valuable and the reference number of the image, while those from the Imperial War Museum
information about the events of May 1940. are marked IWM and those from the Tank Museum TM, with their reference
I have relied to a considerable extent on the memoirs of Heinz Guderian and numbers. I am grateful for permission to reproduce these pictures and for the assistance
Erwin Rommel as published in English translations in the preparation of this given to me in my research at these archives. I am also grateful for being allowed to
book. Those sources, and the sources of many other quotations by individuals are use illustrations from private collections, some of which were taken by the owners
from their published works, listed in detail in the bibliography. I am extremely themselves. In the Netherlands Mr Wybo Boersma of the Airborne Museum,
grateful to the Second World War Experience Centre for the information on the Hartenstein, Mr G. Koenen, Mr A. C. Duijvestijn and the Dutch Marines have been
experience of T. G. P. Crick and the quotations from C. N. Barker and W most kind in this respect. Bart van Bulck, Franck Vernier and David Playne have
Marett. The Queens Royal Surrey Regimental Museum is the source of the contributed photographs of installations in Belgium. Amina Marix Evans has
memoirs of Stanley Rayner, John Redfern and John Naylor. I am particularly contributed to the modern colour photographs, most of which are my own.
grateful to Douglas Swift who has allowed me to quote from his unpublished Attributions are included in the captions.
 CONTENTS
PART ONE PART SIX
THE PHONEY WAR 6 DYNAMO 101

PART TWO PART SEVEN

THE STORMING OF THE LOW FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE
COUNTRIES 27 119

PART THREE PART EIGHT

THROUGH THE ARDENNES 48 THE FALL OF FRANCE 142

PART FOUR
SICHELSCHNITT 66 BIBLIOGRAPHY 157

PART FIVE
RETURN TO FLANDERS FIELDS 83 INDEX 158

MAPS AND PLANS

Place and date of publication given where possible. German 1:25,000 mapping made in France during the
occupation is annotated GM, and was not available to them in 1940.

12/28 Waterways, Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France, 92 The Panzer Arras situation map
Berlin, 1939. 93 Geology of north-eastern France, near Dunkirk, Berlin,
29 Eastern Netherlands, road map, Berlin, October 1939. February 1940.
32 Central Rotterdam, Berlin, 1939. 99 Calais, GM.
33 Southern approaches to Rotterdam, Berlin, October 1939. 101 Canal d'Aire (La Bassee canal), Cuinchy to La Bassee,
40 Belgian defences around Maastricht, Berlin, November 1939. GM.
44 Plan D, copy of marked up G H Q maps, London, 1937. 104 Dunkirk enclave, situation on afternoon of 28 May.
48 North-east France, Gewasserabschnitte, Berlin, February 1940. 109 Dunkirk enclave, situation on morning of 30 May.
55 Meuse crossing places at Sedan, GM. 114 Shore from West Bastion, Dunkirk, to Zuydcoote, GM.
56 Meuse crossing places at Dinant and Houx, Brussels, 1940. 124 Somme crossing place, Conde-Folie to Hangest, GM.
58 Meuse crossing place at Montherme, GM. 132 The Seine from Les Andelys to Rouen and beyond,
60 South and west from Sedan, Gewasserabschnitte, Berlin, Strassenkarte, Berlin 1940.
February 1940. 133 Andelle crossing place near Argeuil, Strassenkarte, Berlin
68 Routes from the Meuse to the English Channel, 1940.
Gewasserabschnitte, Berlin, February 1940. 144 Surroundings of Rethel, Gewasserabschnitte, Berlin,
69 West from Dinant, Brussels, 1940. February 1940.
74 Crecy-sur-Serre, GM. 145 Langres to Besancon, Gewasserabschnitte, Berlin, February
84 The Escaut south of Audenarde, Brussels, 1939/1949. 1940.
86 Surroundings of Arras, GM. 152 The Cotentin Peninsula, Strassenkarte, Berlin 1938.
 6
PART ONE

THE PHONEY WAR

W
hen Britain finally went to war alongside when the time came. As far as air power was
France against Germany on 3 September concerned, it was calculated the Allies had about 850
1939, it was with the confidence that her each of fighters and bombers and some 950
own lack of sufficient, trained troops would be reconnaissance and army co-operation aircraft against
compensated for by the might of the French army. T h e 1,000 fighters, nearly twice as many bombers and
five divisions available for the British Expeditionary about 800 reconnaissance and army co-operation
Force (BEF) would be followed by a further five and aircraft. There appears to have been little, if any,
take their place in the line with a much greater discussion of armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) -
number of French divisions. As Winston Churchill tanks, armoured cars and armoured troop carriers.
was to remark, 'Thank God for the French army!' The battlefield, it was assumed, would be on the
BELOW Deneys Reitz, South
T h e serious preparations for war had begun only French borders. T h e east, facing Germany, was already
Africa's Deputy Prime some six months earlier. It was then thought that equipped with the most sophisticated and secure
Minister and Minister of France would be able to mobilise 72 divisions to complex of fortresses Europe had ever seen, the
Native Affairs (centre) is add to the fortress troops which numbered some 12 Maginot Line. Within a steel and concrete carapace,
shown around the front by divisions. The Germans, it was estimated, would be in for the most part buried underground and with
British Foreign Minister a position to put 116 divisions in the field, but because artillery-bearing turrets commanding the approaches,
Anthony Eden, 12 November they would have to conquer Poland before attacking hundreds of men could eat, sleep, relax, exercise and
1 9 3 9 . (IWM 0212) France, that number would be somewhat depleted stand guard to preserve the integrity of French soil.
 THE PHONEY WAR

Andre Maurois wrote; W h e n Maurois's book, The Battle of France, was

ABOVE General Sir Edmund
'What has already, before the supreme test, deserved later published he added a footnote to his chapter on
Ironside, Chief of the Imperial
all the wonder and praise is the fact alone that generals the Maginot Line, saying:
General Staff (left) and
and engineers have dared to convert into fortresses not 'We know now that the Maginot line-complex was a
only whole mountains, but a whole range of mountains, General the Viscount Gort,
dangerous disease of the mind; but I publish this as it was
that they should have impregnated with fire every inch of written in January, 1940.' Commander-in-Chief of the

the threatened ground all along our north-eastern In November 1939 the South African High British Expeditionary Force,
frontiers and found Government after Government Commissioner to London, Deneys Reitz, visited with General Maurice
willing to give them the necessary millions ... The English France. Reitz had fought his first war 40 years earlier, Gamelin, who had just
never wearied of poring over the annotated photographs, against the British in the Second Anglo-Boer War. His bestowed the Legion of
the firing-maps, the drawings and the diagrams which second had been not for, but, as he explained, with the Honour on his British allies,
mean that on a single telephone call of three or four British against the Germans, when he rose to the and General Joseph Georges.
figures, a storm of shells will rain on such and such a command of the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers. Now, the (IWM F2083)

segment of wood B17, or such and such a section of representative of his country, he toured familiar
territory 243. They were fascinated by the perfection of territory making ready for yet another war. He was not
much impressed. He reports a conversation with
Between these strongholds, to avoid their being Gamelin who complained bitterly of the lack of
outflanked and by-passed as they had been in the First Belgian co-operation in making the Maginot Line
World War, mobile interval troops supported the static complete and their continued obstinacy in refusing
works. This impressive, expensive and ultimately futile staff liaison in the face of the German threat. H e
defence ran from the Swiss border to La Ferte, 24km viewed the line under construction by the British east
(15 miles) south-east of Sedan. T h e 35 divisions of of Lille.
General G. Pretelat's Army Group 2, a third of the 'We shook our heads at what we saw. The new line,
French army, held that line. To the west of the last under hurried construction, seemed an amateurish affair.
fort a string of strongpoints, concrete bunkers and The trenches were shallow, the concrete domes the French
pill-boxes, straggled along the Meuse and across had built at intervals of eight hundred yards [730m.]
northern France towards Lille where it petered out, contained only a single anti-tank rifle apiece and the
partly because of insufficient funds, partly to avoid loopholes faced sideways with no frontal view...'
disrupting a region of immense industrial and H e visited the Maginot Line at M o n t de Welshe
commercial importance and partly to avoid excluding and found the fortifications impressive, proof against
the Belgians, allies in the last war and probable allies in frontal assault, but what of its being incomplete? O n
the next. his return to London Reitz was grudgingly granted an
PART ONE
 10
PART ONE

them. General Gaston Billotte, commanding First

Army Group and responsible for the allied left as far as
Sedan, was asked to look into this and was supported
by his superior officer, the C-in-C North-east Front,
General Joseph Georges, in resisting the plan.
The final decision grew out of a curious incident.
O n 9 January 1940 a German aircraft, an Me-108,
came down near Mechelin, a little way north of
Maastricht, having strayed in bad weather. One of the
occupants, Major H e l l m u t h Reinberger, had a
briefcase stuffed with secret papers relating to the
planned invasion of Belgium and the Netherlands. He
was unable to destroy all of them on capture and the
Belgian authorities passed the information to the
French and the Dutch. Although the Belgians did not
go as far as to admit their friends to their territory, the
information led to the adoption of the modified Dyle-
Breda Plan on 20 March. This provided for 30
divisions, the cream of First Army Group, to thrust
approach in the past and now saw his task as the forward to the Dyle and beyond, with the French
ABOVE German AFVs at
selection of a defensive position against which a Seventh Army under General Henri Giraud rushing
Granadella, Catalonia.
German attack would fail. T h e first scheme, along the Belgian coast to link with the Dutch. Two of
Valuable experience was
promulgated on 25 October, was to man a line from the three French armoured divisions would be
gained by the Germans in the
Antwerp southwards, along the Scheldt (in France involved and all three Light Mechanised Divisions
use of armour as a result of
becoming the Escaut) River, through Ghent and (DLMs), which were actually not light at all. A D L M
their participation in the was armed to the level of a Panzer Division, having,
Tournai, but this left Brussels out and Plan D , to take
Spanish Civil War. (TM 4988/A/2) typically, 80 Somua S35s, 80 Hotchkiss H35s, 60
up position on the little River Dyle, further east, on a
line through Louvain and south to Namur and Dinant, Renault A M R 3 3 light tanks and 40 Panhard P-178
BELOW RIGHT A vision that
was ordered on 15 November. That, however, left the armoured cars. T h e BEF, as a minor part of this
haunted all who had served
Dutch out of the partnership and Gamelin toyed with manoeuvre, was to take up positions due east of the
on the Western Front in the
the idea of pushing north of Antwerp to link with Belgian capital, Brussels.
First World War. This tank,
G46 commanded by Captain
D. G. Browne in the Ypres
salient on 31 July 1917, was
stopped by the mud alone;
the damage seen was the
result of subsequent shelling.
Guderian's strictures (see
page 14) on choice of terrain
were based on experience, (TM
867/A4)

OPPOSITE RIGHT German

Panzer lAs on manoeuvres in
1939. (TM2894/B/4)
 II
THE P H O N E Y WAR
 12
PART ONE

FALL GELB Yellow) was based on breaching Belgian neutrality

While all this planning was going on, nothing much with a thrust towards Ghent. W h a t was to happen
else was. T h e Germans, with their Soviet allies, had after that was not contemplated. It was a plan of so
finished the conquest of Poland with chilling little inspiration and so easily countered that it is
efficiency in precisely four weeks. In doing so they had surprising that it was given credence by the Allies, let
added valuable new lessons to those already learned in alone the Germans. Even this plan was reluctantly
the Spanish Civil War. In particular, the need to assembled by the German High Command, O K H
overcome the reluctance of front line commanders to {Oberkommando des Heeres), which was convinced that
keep moving ahead and the absolute necessity of sufficient strength to overcome France could not be
increasing the proportion of more heavily armoured assembled before 1942. T h e plan was rejected and sent
tanks, Panzer IIIs, against the thin-skinned Panzer Is. back for reworking. T h e ferocious winter then put
The German leader, Adolf Hitler, was all eagerness to matters on hold. T h e time gained not only allowed the
attack the Allies in November, but, to the vast relief of army to build itself for the coming struggle, it also
his generals, was dissuaded by a combination of truth allowed an alternative plan to evolve.
- the need to re-equip and bring more formations to
combat readiness - and incompetence - the plans THE THINKERS
offered up for the attack. T h e grand plans of both sides were being made by the
T h e original German plan, Fall Gelb, (Case established leaders, the men who had experienced
 13
THE PHONEY WAR

OPPOSITE LEFT A map

published, but with restricted
circulation, by the German
Generalstab des Heeres in
1939. It gives a schematic
picture of waterways and
their seriousness as
obstacles, measurements of
width and depth, in the
southern Netherlands,
Belgium and northern France.
Hatching is used where rivers
flow through deep gorges or
below cliffs. Most place
names are the same or
similar in German, with the
exception of Luttich which
most readers know as Liege.

(BL C28e1, MME WW2MapsMF2/14)

TOP Panzer IBs were sent to

command in the previous European war. O n the of the Somme. This was followed by the British attack Spain and still constituted a
Allies' part, the French, who as the largest contributors at Arras in April 1917 and the French assault at Berry- substantial proportion of
of manpower had the upper h a n d in strategic au-Bac later the same month and, the outstanding German AFVs in 1940. (Terry
planning, were set on defence, preferably in someone demonstration of the weapon's potential, Cambrai in Hadier and Peter Sarson, German Light
else's country, and the Germans had learned to fear the November. After the war such thinkers as J. F. C. Panzers 1932-1942, New Vanguard 26)
tenacity of the French soldier. Neither group had given Fuller, Basil Liddell Hart, E. D . Swinton and G. Le Q.
sufficient attention to new ideas. Martel in Britain had kept both the technical
BOTTOM The first version of
In September 1916 a practical indication of the development and the tactical use of armoured fighting
vehicles alive as a subject of military interest. In France the Panzer IV, used in Poland
way war was evolving had been given. The British used
tanks to attack German positions at Flers in the Battle an officer attached to the Secretariat General de la in 1939. The white cross

Defence Nationale, an advisory body to the Prime proved to offer too good an
Minister, offered his views in 1934 on a professional, aiming mark and was soon
mechanised force in a book entitled Vers l'armee de painted Over. (Bruce Culver,

metier, translated into English in 1940 under the title Panzerkampfwagen IV Medium Tank
The Army of the Future. Its author, Charles de Gaulle, 1936-1945, New Vanguard 28)
 14
PART ONE

RIGHT German infantry shelter

behind an advancing tank on
the outskirts of Warsaw, 25
September 1939. (TM 2351/D/2)

BELOW The 'Char B', Renault

B1 bis, Toulal in which
Lieutenant Caraveo fought in
May 1940 at Stonne, where it
now stands as a memorial.
(MME WW2/7/6)

0P0SITE BOTTOM March 1940

- the Renault factory building
the Char B. (TM 540/C/2)

was given much the same respectful attention as his formations, being driven to conclude that, alone, they
contemporaries over the English Channel; that is, were useless, but with artillery, engineers and tanks,
virtually none. the combination would be immensely powerful.
In Germany equal thought was being given to the Whether it was his background or his military genius
subject, and in 1937 Major-general Heinz Guderian, that led Guderian to this vision of integrated
commander of the 2nd Panzer Division, published his operations involving tanks, artillery, engineers and
book Achtung! Panzer! It did not appear in English mobile infantry is a moot point; what is important is
until 1992. Guderian served much of the First World that Guderian's views were to mould the strategy and
War in signals and became a radio specialist before tactics of the Panzer divisions. He specified three
becoming a staff officer. He then joined the staff of tactical requirements: surprise, deployment en masse
General E. Tschischwitz, head of Motor Transport and suitable terrain.
Troops, and studied the use of motorised troop Of surprise he said:
'The rapid execution of the armoured attack is of
decisive importance for the outcome of the battle;
the supporting arms that are destined for permanent
co-operation with the tanks must accordingly be just as
fast-moving as the tanks themselves, and they must also be
united with the tanks in an all-arms formation in
peacetime.'
T h e principle of deployment en masse is, he
stated, valid for all arms and as to terrain,
'the tank forces should be committed only where there
are no obstacles that exceed the capacity of their machines;
otherwise the armoured attack will break on the terrain.'
This was a truism that the strategists of the
previous war had little difficulty in flouting,
subsequently to assert that the tanks were useless. T h e
only element missing from the array of forces
Guderian discusses is the dive-bomber which is
capable of fulfilling the function of artillery. T h e
aircraft was seen, at the time of publication, as a
reconnaissance tool and as a weapon to interdict
reinforcement of the tanks' objectives.
 15

THE P H O N E Y W A R
 16
PART ONE

THE MANSTEIN PLAN of likely German plans was clear from their troop
In October 1939 Colonel-general Gerd von movements after the Mechelen incident, and
Rundstedt, in command of Army Group A, had as his Manstein, with characteristic arrogance, renewed his
Chief-of-Staff Erich von Manstein, to w h o m he arguments for his plan. He was promptly posted to a
deferred in strategic planning. Neither of them were new command as general of an infantry corps. Before
taken with the Fall Gelb proposals and they sought an he went a war game undertaken on 7 February tested
alternative. the plan. It stood up well. A day or so later Colonel I.
T h e Manstein plan - to cut the best mobile French G. Schmundt, Hitler's chief adjutant, happened to
and British troops off from their support and reserves visit Rundstedt's headquarters and Manstein had a
by thrusting through to their south, and then to chance to outline the plan to him. It was the first
destroy them - was submitted to O K H in a Hitler's staff had heard of it and the concept matched
memorandum countersigned by Rundstedt and dated the Fuhrer's own, but with added precision given by a
31 October 1939. It did not mention Sedan or the trained military mind. A meeting between Hitler and
Ardennes, but did offer the destruction of the enemy. Manstein was contrived, ostensibly to mark the
It was not welcome. O K H wanted time to increase the occasion of his taking up his new command, and the
strength of the army and was mainly concerned with m o r n i n g of 17 February was spent in detailed
restraining Hitler. T h e meetings and arguments discussion. Hitler then summoned the Commander-
continued. In November Manstein s u m m o n e d in-Chief of the army, Colonel-general Walter von
Guderian, now in command of XIX Panzer Corps, to Brauchitsch and Chief-of-Staff General Franz Haider
discuss the possibility of passing a suitable force to hear the astounding plan the Fuhrer had devised. It
through the Ardennes to cross the river Meuse at could not, of course, be undertaken before late spring
Sedan and strike for Amiens. After careful and an early summer campaign would follow. This
consideration and study, Guderian assured Manstein suited O K H much better, and the army's recovery
that it was possible, provided the Panzers were present from the Polish campaign would also be nearly
in sufficient strength; preferably the entire complete. A combination of chance and insight had
complement of Panzers in the German army. given Germany a strategy that was to prove decisive.
T h e next m e m o r a n d u m , of early December,
suggested that the principal use of the Germans', SICHELSCHNITT
Panzer force should be on the Meuse. Shortly after this In Haider's hands Manstein's plan was taken to its
the errant aircraft with Major Reinberger blundered logical conclusion. T h e operations of Army Group B
BELOW An infantry tank Mark into Belgium, renewed foul weather delayed Gelb under Colonel-general Fedor von Bock were to be a
I Of 4 t h RTR (Peter Sarson, Matilda again and Hitler, appraised of the hornet's nest stirred lure to draw the French and British north into
Infantry Tank 1938-1945, New Vanguard up in Belgium and the Netherlands, cancelled Gelb for Belgium. T h e action would have to be vigorous to be
8) good. A new plan was demanded. The Allies' concept effective, but only three Panzer divisions, of which two
 17
THE PHONEY WAR

would be transferred to Rundstedt as soon as possible, PzKpfW IVs, 106 35(t)s and 288 38(t)s. Some two-
ABOVE The Dewoitine 520 of
were left to him and his force was, overall, reduced by thirds of the force of 2,499 tanks were the light,
Pierre Le Gloan GC HI/6, June
a third to 29 divisions. In the east, opposite the vulnerable and trivially-armed Is and IIs.
1 9 4 0 . (Mark Rolfe, French Aces of
Maginot Line, Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb's Army Group T h e French AFVs were present in greater numbers
World War 2, Osprey Aircraft of the
C with 19 divisions was to make much of itself to keep with 3,285 tanks available. A third of these were
Aces 28)
the French there in force. Meanwhile the 45 divisions scattered about as infantry support while the rest were
of Army Group A, which included seven Panzer divided between the DLMs and the new armoured
divisions, would deliver the major blow. T h e 'sickle- divisions, the Divisions Cuirassees (DCRs). Two
cut', sichelschnitt, would slice the Allies in two. D C R s had been formed in January 1940 and the third
in March. T h e 4th French Armoured was not in
THE TANKS existence until the German invasion was already under
The Treaty of Versailles ending the First World War way. T h e DLMs had Somua S35s, medium tanks with
had forbidden Germany to have tanks, so they were 4 0 m m of armour and armed with a 4 7 m m gun and a
obviously much to be desired. T h e Germans therefore machine gun. Their Hotchkiss H35s had only 18mm
worked with the Russians and the Swedes in laying the of armour and a 3 7 m m gun. The DCRs also had
foundations of what was to become a legendary force. Hotchkiss tanks, but their chief weapon was the
By 1939 they had Panzer divisions equipped mainly massive Renault Blbis, the Char B, with 8 0 m m of
with Panzerkampfwagen (PzKpfw) Is and IIs, the armour, a 4 7 m m gun in the turret on top and,
training and the reconnaissance AFVs. T h e former had mounted in the hull, an impressive 7 5 m m gun. T h e
a crew of two and was armed with twin 7.29mm great drawback of French tank design was that the
machine-guns, was thinly armoured at 15mm, but was turrets were small and the commander of the AFV had
light and quick. The latter was even faster, had an not only to control the tank, but also to serve and fire
additional crew member, heavier armour and the gun. T h e hull-mounted weapon of the Char B
substituted a 2 0 m m cannon for one of the machine- could be elevated and depressed, but not traversed; the
guns. Neither could be considered formidable. To whole tank had to be turned. W h a t is more, it
these had been added, after Hitler renounced the was served by the driver. A final, fatal flaw was the
interdiction on tanks in 1935, the PzKpfw III, a positioning of the radiator grille on the flank of the
serious improvement with a 5 0 m m gun, two machine- tank. It might as well have been labelled 'I am
guns, 3 0 m m of armour and a crew of five and the vulnerable here, please shoot.' T h e Char B was, none
PzKpfw IV which carried a 7 5 m m gun and 4 3 m m of the less, formidable.
armour. These were, however, much longer in the T h e British contribution included 4th and 7th
building than anticipated and were thus in short Battalions, Royal Tank Regiment, each with 50
supply at the outbreak of war. T h e shortfall was filled Infantry Tanks Mark I, known as Matildas. These two-
to some extent by Czech designs taken over after the man tanks were heavily armoured, 6 0 m m , and
Germans had seized the country that developed them. equipped with a machine gun. They were horribly
The PzKpkw 35(t) and 38(t) had 3 7 m m guns and slow, really no more than a shell-proof crawling
four man crews. They were slightly more lightly machine-gun emplacement, and were introduced in
armoured than the PzKpfw II and slower, but the February 1939. The prototype Mark I had stimulated
additional crew gave them an advantage in fighting the demand for a gun-carrying, faster version with a
ability. three-man crew. Only 23 of the 2-pounder (40mm)
In May 1940 German tank strength stood at 523 gunned Mark IIs had reached the army in May 1940.
PzKpfW Is, 955 PzKpfw IIs, 349 PzKpfW IIIs, 278 These battalions also had a small number of the
 18
PART ONE

three-man light Mark VIs, with only 14mm of armour experienced in radio, was well aware of the
ABOVE The driver position of
and two machine-guns, the AFV used by the seven developments of the early 1930s, and in Achtung!
the Char B with the 75mm
British cavalry battalions with the BEF which had 28 Panzer! wrote:
gun alongside, (TM 253.20/23)
of them each. The 1st Armoured Division started to 'Radio ... is the principal medium of control between
arrive in France at Le Havre in May 1940, with one tank units and the other forces, and radios are the main
brigade in Mark VIs and a second with Cruiser tanks, equipment of the signals elements which provide
lightly armoured but carrying a 2-pounder gun. Both communication for the tank units and their supporting
these British tanks had top speeds equal to the best of arms... Basically the signals elements maintain the
the German AFVs at 30mph (50kmph). communications between commanders and their sub-
Although attempts had been made to use wireless units, between commanders and their own superiors, and
communication with tanks and aircraft in the First with whatever neighbouring forces, aircraft and other
World War, the first practical wireless sets did not units are engaged in the common task. The signallers must
appear until 1926 when the British introduced radio- remain in the closest contact with the commanders to
telephony (R/T) which carried voice messages over whom they are assigned. In combat these commanders
short ranges, morse code signals carried by wireless- will be right up in front with their tanks, which means
telegraphy (W/T) being well-established and that armoured radio vehicles with full cross-country
operating over quite long distances. The No.2 radio set capability are essential for the panzer signals elements.'
of 1932 had a range, from a stationary tank, of 12 The Germans used VHF (very high frequency)
miles (19km). By the outbreak of the war the British radios in tanks, as did the RAF in its aircraft. The
were on the point of introducing the HF (high French placed less emphasis on communication. At
frequency) No. 19 set, vastly improved, which had the the outbreak of war only 20% of their tanks were
added advantage of giving not only external fitted with radio sets.
communication with other tanks, but also internal However, it was still a fact that the Allied tank
communication with the crew. Guderian, already strength outnumbered the German by almost 1,000
 19
THE PHONEY WAR

units in May 1940. It was to be a case of the size of the Messerschmitt Bf109 and Bf110 had speeds of
weapon being less important than how it was used. 357mph (575kph) and 336mph respectively. T h e
British Hawker Hurricane, the backbone of the RAF,
THE AIRCRAFT was capable of only 322mph (518kph), much the
In the air the Germans had numerical superiority, but same as the Dewoitine, while the Spitfire, which was
not by a very large margin. T h e predictions of early flown only from England, was the fastest at 362mph
1939 proved to be inaccurate and where the Allies (582kph), although other factors influence the
expected to have about 850 bombers available, France superiority of one machine over another. Over France,
could produce about 175 and Britain some 220. T h e however, the Germans clearly had the edge.
German strength was about three-quarters of the German Dornier 17Zs were used for high altitude
forecast 2,000 machines. In fighters the numbers were photo-reconnaissance as well as bombing and the
much as predicted; 1,000 German against 700 French Heinkel He 111H formed half of the force that went
and, in France, 130 British. As in the case of the into action on 10 May. T h e dive-bombers included
bombers, Britain could fly additional sorties from the older Henschel Hs 123A but the Junkers Ju87B,
home soil. In reconnaissance aircraft the Allies had the Stuka had the greatest impact on Allied troops. It
something less than half the forecast at 400 or so was actually fairly slow with a top speed of 242mph
against a German total of 500 but it was in the dive- (390kph) so that it depended on being unopposed in
bomber category, not even considered in the planning, the air, as so often it was, or well protected by
that the Germans were generously equipped. They Messerschmitts. Thus while numerical superiority
could put 342 such craft in the air, while the French existed, it was more in the field of technical excellence
had a mere 54 and the British had none at all. that the German advantage lay in air warfare.
T h e age and quality of the types being flown was
of yet greater significance. T h e French fighters were THE PHONEY WAR
relatively modern, the Morane 406, Bloch 152, the As both sides built their strength, one for defence and
American Curtiss H - 7 5 and, the jewel in the one for attack, troop inactivity appeared to be the
crown, the Dewoitine D 5 2 0 , of which only 36 had outstanding characteristic of the war — hence the wry
been delivered on 10 May 1940. T h e French bom American adjective. The French had made a feeble
bers were not modern at all. Nor, in truth, were the foray into the Saarland in September 1939, but had
British bombers. T h e Fairey Battle had a crew of hustled home as the Polish resistance failed. N o
three and a top speed of 257mph (4l0kph) while attempt was made to take the battle to the Germans,
the Bristol Blenheim IV was a little faster with much to the relief of the O K H . T h e BEF under the
266mph. T h e German fighters, the single-engined command of Lord Gort was kept entertained with the

LEFT Bored French troops in

Chaumont, south of Sedan,
amused themselves by
carving names in the
stonework of the houses. This
'Caverne des Grognards'
makes use of the nickname
'grognards' or grumblers
adopted by Napoleon's Old
Guard. (MMEWW2/6/18)
 20
PART ONE

construction of defences and vigorous training which heavily wired, situated close to the very edge of the wood
ABOVE An inspection of the
was to stand it in good stead later. facing the Germans. The relief was quickly carried out
RAF Air Component of the
For all the apparent inaction, people were still in and the French departed leaving us in a very lonely spot.
BEF. (IWM F2344C)
danger of getting killed. C. N . Barker, a Second By day it was quiet we patrolled our wood regularly to
OPPOSITE RIGHT The Grenadier Lieutenant in the 1st Gordon Highlanders went from ensure there was no infiltration. At night it was quite
Guards digging breastworks digging trenches on the Belgian frontier to join the different our sentries listened intently for enemy patrols,
near Hem, just east of Lille, in 51st (Highland) Division when his battalion, regular owls hooted, an animal moved in the undergrowth and a
December 1939. (IWM 02288) soldiers, was sent to stiffen the territorials of the 51st tin filled with pebbles to give warning of movement
on the Saar front. He wrote explaining that the alerted us, our antenna was at full stretch. During one
interval defences of the Maginot Line were organised night after a long vigil L distinctly remember the Queen
into the Ligne de Contact, the forward position, and Mary sailing by. Strange things happen to one in such
the Ligne de Receuil, to which one fell back. circumstances. Another night a patrol approached our
'The Ligne de Contact consisted of a number of position and up went an SOS flare but down came a
dispersed platoon positions in the woods on the frontier. curtain of protective artillery fire from the French
Having previously reconnoitred the position in daylight soixante-quinze battery. We were not unduly upset, but
we moved forward in the dark with a French guide. My we were relieved at this outpost and withdrawn to the
platoon position was in the very isolated position in a Ligne de Receuil. A few days later the German offensive
wood separated from the rest of the company called Le began, the outpost was overrun and its occupants either
Petit Wolscher. We moved silently forward trying to make killed or taken prisoner, such are the fortunes of war.'
no sound and eventually arrived at what appeared Where there was no danger during the winter of
Western style stockades known as froggeries! Most of the 1939-1940, there was the cold. It was one of the worst
structure was above ground, it was constructed of logs, winters in living memory and ice and snow prevented
 21
THE P H O N E Y W A R
 22

PART ONE

commander of 2nd Corps, BEF, attended a parade on

Albert Smith was with 159 (Lloyds) Battery, 53rd City 11 November 1939 with General Corap, French
of London Regiment, RA (Ack-ack). His unit was Ninth Army. He recalled:
protecting an airfield of the British Advanced Air 7 can see those troops now. Seldom have I seen
Striking Force near Reims. Their clothing, second- anything more slovenly and badly turned out. Men
hand to start with, was First World War issue - riding unshaven, horses ungroomed, clothes and saddlery that
breeches lacing up at the calf, puttees and summer did not fit... What shook me most, however, was the look
weight coats. They huddled in half-sunken steel in the mens faces, disgruntled and insubordinate ...'
shelters, cooking in the open. Although it was important to avoid a breach of
Many of the French regiments, composed of Belgian neutrality, the requirements of Plan D , the
conscripts and reservists, became ill-disciplined. advance to the River Dyle if and when the Germans
Boredom and drunkenness were seriously damaging to invaded, made knowledge of the ground a necessity.
morale in such units. Lieutenant-general Alan Brooke, Secret missions to acquire the intelligence were
 23
THE PHONEY WAR

undertaken. In March 1940, for example, the late 'Price and Fisher had an excellent time with a Bren
Major-general F. H . N . Davidson had been sent in gun and a rifle, their bag of the enemy was put down as
civilian clothes and with a civilian passport to Brussels, 44 in an afternoon. It was all storm-troopers in that
ostensibly to deliver a diplomatic bag. He then spent action, but the Black Watch was more than a match for
some days being driven about, peering out of a car them, they proved nothing better than good target practice
window, determining the actual state of the alleged as some of the boys said.'
anti-tank defences (woeful) and checking the accuracy T h e 4th Cameron Highlanders had become aware
of their maps (deficient). Much was gained by such of German line-tapping jeopardising the security of
visits but it was deeply unsatisfactory to be constrained their telephone communications. They responded by
to behave thus when one's troops were likely to be speaking in Gaelic.
asked to put their lives at risk. Far to the west Despatch Rider Stanley Rayner of
While the war may have been phoney, it was not 2/6th East Surrey Regiment, a native of Selby in
safe. British regiments were sent on tours of duty as Yorkshire, had arrived in Le Havre early in May 1940.
interval troops on the Maginot Line. T h e 51st His battalion was billeted at Rouelles, just north of the
(Highland) Division set off for the Saar front in late town, at a chateau. In fact most of the men were in bell
April. The action was a series of petty but lethal tents in the grounds. Rayner and friends decided to
encounters as Army Group C fulfilled its mission of investigate the local scene.
keeping the attention of the French fixed on this front. '... the 'lads' were talking of going down to see Le
The 51st were not inclined to tolerate too much peace Havre — what for? well they had heard about the Red
and adopted an aggressive patrol style. O n 7 May 4th Light District there... Quite a number of us ambled
Black Watch were attacked and surrounded in the along though Rouelles to find some sort of bus to explore
village of Betting but were relieved. The next day their this novelty, out of curiosity of course... Rue de Galleon BELOW 28 October 1939:
whole brigade was the object of German attention, ... Having viewed all the establishments from the outside British Bren gun carriers
artillery followed by sustained infantry attacks. Private J. where some old crone who looked old enough to have been moving up to the front.
McCready of 1st Black Watch wrote with some relish: in the French Revolution ... was calling out in English (TM 1417/C/5)
 24
PART ONE

... "pretty girls inside, Tommy, pretty girls inside." A FINAL HANDICAP
We went in to buy a drink... Anything drinkable, T h e British came under General Georges's North-East
or perhaps not, was there for the buying at the price, as Front command which had its headquarters at La
I found to my cost, of about three times dearer than Ferte-sous-Jouarre, 40 miles (65km) east of Paris.
the cafes in Rouelles. As we sat there drinking a beer, From 6 January 1940 Georges himself reported to
one of these smashing looking young things came and General Gamelin, whose H Q was at Vincennes on the
sat on my knee. Heck I wasn't used to this so I pushed eastern edge of the capital, but at the same time a new
her onto the man alongside where she sat and had entity was created, G H Q Land Forces under General
a chinwag. Apparently they would go on the 'Game Aime Doumenc halfway between the two at Montry,
for about five years then retire with enough to buy a and interposed in the command structure as well.
milliners shop in a provincial town ... and marry Various key functions of the Staff were likewise
someone or other.' scattered about between the three headquarters.

RIGHT Men of the 1st Loyal

Regiment demonstrate the
new radio-telephone
equipment. (IWM F3081)
 25
THE PHONEY WAR

Number 1 Army Group, responsible for the front with General Giraud who observed to him:
ABOVE Preparations for an
from the North Sea to the start of the Maginot Line 'Its a most regrettable fact, but we're short of
earlier war, the neatly-dug
east of Sedan, was commanded by General Gaston everything ... aircraft! Do you know how many
trenches well-suited to
Billotte. T h e Group consisted, from west to east, of aeroplanes I, the Commander of an Army, have at my
1914-18, are inspected by
the French 7th Army under General Henri Giraud, disposal? Eight. Just eight. I know of course that there's the
the BEF, the French 1st Army under General Georges Royal Air Force and that its excellent, but if I want to the British Leader of the

Blanchard, the French 9th Army under General Andre make a reconnaissance I have to ask General Georges who Opposition, Clement Attlee, in
Corap and the French 2nd Army under General asks General Gamelin, who asks Marshal Barratt, who the winter snow, (IWM F2055)
Charles Huntziger. The BEF included an RAF Air asks Vice-Marshal Blount, who has a reconnaissance
C o m p o n e n t consisting of two squadrons of made for me, but more often than not long after it would
Hurricanes, two of Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters, have been of any real use.'
four of Blenheims, five of Lysander artillery spotting The French Air Force was not under Gamelin's
aircraft and one of Dragon Rapides for liaison. This control at all, but was commanded by an officer
was under the command of Air Vice-Marshal C. H . B. responsible to the Minister of Defence. T h e
Blount who reported to Air Marshal A. S. Barratt, Commander-in-Chief of l'Armee de l'Air was General
commanding British Air Forces in France, to whom Joseph Vuillemin to whom, fortunately, Barratt had
Air Vice-Marshal P. H . L. Playfair, the commander of been liaison officer before his new appointment.
another unit, RAF Advanced Air Striking Force, also Barratt wisely established his headquarters next to
reported. T h e latter formation consisted of eight Battle Vuillemin's and made an admirable job of reconciling
squadrons, two of Blenheims and two of Hurricanes. the vague and confusing directives and command
While operational control remained with Gort, structures imposed upon him.
command stretched back to the RAF in Britain. T h e confusion was compounded by the primitive
Andre Maurois reported a conversation he had means of communication. T h e high command rushed
 26
PART ONE

about in large motor cars to meet and eat lunch, a surprise. T h e Royal Navy sank the German destroyers
procedure that would become less convenient when protecting the Narvik landings between 10 and 13
under attack. Written messages were carried by April, but it was not until 15 April that the first
despatch rider and resort was made to the telephone. British land troops arrived there. T h e first French
Vincennes, Gamelins headquarters from which the troops arrived in Norway on 19 April. T h e Allied
overall control of the Allied land forces emanated, was response further south was feeble and the Germans
innocent of any sort of radio transmitter/receiver. had soon ferried in enough troops by air to have
Should land lines be compromised by enemy advance, secured central and southern Norway, though at the
alternative lines had to be used. Eventually Paris would cost of 10 of their 20 destroyers and three of their
be forced to communicate with Dunkirk by means of eight cruisers, a body blow to the German navy. But
a link through London. worse damage had been done to the Allies. T h e British
Upon this shaky, ill-defined and poorly-equipped had been out-manoeuvred in a maritime campaign, to
chain of command the Allied war effort depended. At the scarcely-concealed amusement of the French,
its summit was the French Cabinet, a nest of unrest and while the position of Gamelin in France became
intrigue, which communicated fitfully with the British extremely insecure and he only escaped the sack
Cabinet, an organ that operated in sad ignorance of the because Prime Minister Paul Reynaud, stricken with
actual state of affairs beyond their shores. influenza, was unable to out-manoeuvre Defence
Minister Edouard Daladier. In Britain on 9 May
NORWAY Parliament debated the failure in Norway and Prime
Attention was deflected from France and the Low Minister Neville Chamberlain was forced to resign.
BELOW The Indian Countries on 9 April 1940 when Germany overran O n 10 May Winston Churchill replaced him. T h e first
Expeditionary Force landing Denmark and landed in Norway. T h e Norwegians news to reach the new leader was of the German
at Marseille. (IWM F2005) fought bravely, but the Allies had been taken by invasion of the Netherlands and Belgium.
 27
PART T W O

THE STORMING OF THE

LOW COUNTRIES
T he Netherlands is not as flat as usually
supposed, but is a good deal smaller than.
From the German border east of Nijmegen to
Rotterdam is a mere 60 miles (100km). Along the
Belgian border and curling north on the west of the
southwards, passing east of Utrecht and reaching the
Waal at Gorinchem where the line turned south-west
to include the island of Hoekschewaard (Hoekse
Waard) north of the waterway crossed by the Moerdijk
bridge. In the extreme north the IJsselmeer dyke was
Maas (Meuse) is a ridge of higher land broken only protected by massive blockhouses which were to hold
where the Waal and Lower Rhine, which is joined by out for the duration of hostilities. In the south-west
the IJssel from the north, pass through the gap the complex of islands, Zeeland, protecting the
between Nijmegen and Arnhem to run westwards. approaches to Vlissingen (Flushing) and Antwerp were
These rivers join the sea in a complex of channels and treated as an independent defence zone.
islands with Rotterdam on the northern shore. T h e strategy was based on falling back to Fortress
T h e defence of the country could only depend on Holland from a forward line along the Maas and then
the waterways, for in the country cupped by the hills from a line some 10 miles (16km) to the west along
the land drops to a level below that of the sea, BELOW German paratroops
the little river Raam and through the Peel region to
protected by the dunes and dykes that run north from join the Maas south of Roermond. This line extended descend near the Moerdijk

Rotterdam to the long dyke that encloses the north as the Valley position west of Wageningen to the Bridge. The picture is said to
IJsselmeer (Zuider Zee). At the heart of the country IJsselmeer at Naarden. These lines were chosen to date from 10 May 1940, but
Vesting Holland, Fortress Holland, embraced follow rivers or canals, or to be supplemented by may be from a subsequent
Amsterdam, the Hague and Rotterdam. It was flooding the land, but the need to withdraw meant re-enactment made for a
defended on a line from Muiden, east of Amsterdam, preserving bridges until the latest possible moment. propaganda film. (Boersma)
 28
PART TWO

DANZIG bridges. In Maastricht they failed, but further north,

ABOVE The Netherlands
O n 3 May 1940 Colonel Hans Oster, a senior German at Gennep, it was a different story. Oberleutnant
section of the Germans'
officer, told his friend, the Dutch Military Attache Wilhelm Walther's 4 Kompanie approached the bridge
waterways map of 1939
in Berlin, Colonel Sas, that an attack was imminent. there, which carried the railway at that time,
shown in full on page 12.
Sas had been acquiring excellent intelligence from together with two Dutch members of the Nationaal
this source for some time. They met again on the Socialistische Beweging, a pro-Nazi party. They hid
evening of Thursday, 9 May, at 9.30 p.m. A single there until dawn when two German trains rolled
code-word, Danzig, had been transmitted to the towards the station, which had been taken by another
German forces half an hour before; the attack was to party of Brandenbergers. Walther's men were marched
proceed. Sas had some difficulty in persuading onto the bridge by their fake captors, the Dutch in
his chiefs in T h e Hague that the information military uniform, and overpowered the guards,
was sound, and it was not until 3 a.m. on the morning preventing the bridge from being blown as the
of 10 May that they started to blow the bridges over German train came up. T h e railway line continued to
the Maas. Uden, and the Germans were thus able to penetrate
T h e bridges were obviously crucial to the defence. the Raam-Peel Line as far as a railway halt called
T h e German efforts to seize them were not, therefore, Zeeland with two train-loads of troops as early as
limited to assault but also attempted guile. Units 4 a.m. on Friday 10 May. Elsewhere on the line of
known by the cover name of Brandenburgers had been the Maas Dutch resistance was more effective, but by
prepared for use in the Sudetenland, and also in the end of the day all those who had not been
Poland. By means of disguise they were to infiltrate overcome by the Germans were in full retreat to
and capture key locations. Dressed in Dutch uniforms, the Zuid Willems canal between 's-Hertogenbosch
the Brandenburgers now advanced on the Maas and Helmond.
 29
THE STORMING OF THE LOW COUNTRIES

THE AIRBORNE ASSAULT that had been ignited by their own bombs. T h e airlift
While the attack on their borders was expected and was hampered by Dutch anti-aircraft fire as, at 7.00
was dealt with, with greater or less success, as planned, a.m., they started to bring in the infantry and Student
the Dutch were surprised and shaken by the attack with his staff. Harassing fire from artillery north of the
from the air. They had, naturally, placed the greater river continued through the day and Dutch and
part of their forces on the principal defence lines, and British air-raids went on into the following night.
Rotterdam, for example, was no more than a supply T h e most remarkable landing at Rotterdam took
depot. It was into the lightly manned heartland of place on the river. A dozen Heinkel He 59 sea-planes
Fortress Holland that the German airborne strike was brought 120 men of the 16th Infantry into the centre
BELOW Detail from the
directed. Under General-leutnant Kurt Student, 3,500 of the city, four landing downstream of the bridges
German Generalstab des
paratroops of 7th Airborne Division were the and making for the northern end of the bridges while
Heeres Belgian military
vanguard to 12,000 men from 22nd Infantry Division some of those landing upstream actually put their men
geography road map,
airlifted into the area. ashore at the quay in front of the railway station. A
published in Berlin in October
T h e southern front was attacked by a drop of 700 Dutch policeman, Ben Raes, who attempted to arrest
some of the Germans, was killed. T h e rest of the 1939. The railway line runs
men both north and south of the Moerdijk bridges
which were taken without significant resistance. T h e upstream arrivals taxied into Koningshaven and took across the lower part of the

detonators to the demolition charges were not even in the bridges south of the island before joining their map, south of Gennep
place despite the hour, 6.40 a.m. T h e principal comrades coming from the north. These troops were towards Uden. The Peel line
waterway defence of the southern flank was already in reinforced by another 50 who landed at a sports came south from Grave along
German hands. T h e drops in Dordrecht, south of the stadium in Feyenoord and commandeered a tram to the Raam. The railway halt to
town and on the bridges, were equally successful. T h e carry them up to the bridges. O n the northern bank which the Germans advance
attack on Rotterdam was carried out with similar the Dutch reaction was immediate. A company of the by train is shown by a square
efficiency with 700 paratroops taking Waalhaven, 39th Infantry pushed the north-western development south of Zeeland. (BL C28ei, MME
although some men fell into the burning buildings of the German bridgehead back towards the river WW2Maps/3/23)

\)
 30
PART TWO

RIGHT The Germans landed at

Waalhaven airfield in south-
west Rotterdam where
preliminary bombing had set
buildings on fire. (B80/15/32)

BELOW To seize the bridges

over the river some men were
landed by seaplane. Twelve
Heinkel He 59s brought 120
men to land on the banks of
t h e M a a s . (Nederlands Instituut voor

Oorlogsdocumentatie)
 31
THE STORMING OF T H E LOW COUNTRIES

while some Dutch Marines opened fire from the

Maashotel, and then stopped an attempted advance
towards the Buers railway station. Meanwhile, from
the river, the Z-5, a Dutch gun-boat and the TM-51
torpedo boat shot up the seaplanes and exchanged fire
with the Germans before, towards noon, they ran out
of ammunition and withdrew. That afternoon the
destroyer Van Galen attempted to sail up the river to
join the battle but was hit and severely damaged by
Stukas; she later sank.
To the north of Rotterdam the Germans were
less successful. T h e airports of Schipol, Bergen,
Waalhaven, de Kooy, Sosterberg, Haastede and
Hilversum had all been bombed in the early hours and
after a bomb attack at 3.30 a.m. the airfield at
Valkenburg, south of Katwijk aan Zee, was attacked.
T h e German aircraft flew over and on out to sea,
towards England. T h e n they turned back to take the
Dutch by surprise. O n e hundred and twenty men of
Fallschirmjager Regiment (FJR) 2 dropped there. T h e
garrison, part of 3rd Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade,
was ejected but when the Ju 52s carrying the German
reinforcements arrived, the runway proved to be too
soft. T h e aircraft that landed bogged down and
blocked the way for others. Some 26 Junkers
attempted to put down on the beach between Katwijk
and Scheveningen (on the northern outskirts of T h e
Hague) of which only six took off again to return to
base. Five Fokker C-Xs of the Dutch Army Air Force
attacked the airfield with bombs and strafed the beach,

ABOVE LEFT Paratroops jump

from a low-flying Junkers
J U 5 2 . (Boersma)

LEFT Over Ypenburg

parachutes fill the sky.
(Boersma)
 32
PART T W O

3rd Battalion, 4th Infantry returned to the attack and Germans to defend themselves as best they could at
ABOVE Detail from the 1939
3rd Brigade, 2nd Artillery shelled Valkenburg field. Ockenrode.
German map of Rotterdam,
T h e Dutch brought raw recruits up from 2nd Infantry T h e third drop was to the east of T h e Hague at
showing how the waterways
D e p o t at Leiden, but, not surprisingly, they Ypenburg. Anti-aircraft fire broke up the approaching
restrict movement around the contributed little against crack German units. T h e formation and the paratroops were scattered far from
b r i d g e s . (BL C29:25 Rotterdam [1],
battle was further confused by civilian interventions. the airfield, with the result that the transport
WW2Maps3/19) T h e Blue Tram came stridently on the scene on its way aeroplanes were shot down on their attempting to land
from Katwijk, ringing its bell furiously, its passengers by armoured cars stationed there. Subsequent waves of
eagerly viewing the fight and loath to miss a moment transports ran into similar trouble. O n e of them was
of this 'fresh, jolly war.' A little later a farm girl came hit and crashed in the city where documents retrieved
stolidly along on her bicycle. Both sides ceased fire to from it revealed plans to capture the Dutch Royal
allow her to pass. In the midst of the conflict local Family and other dignitaries. T h e paratroops
farmers testily asked the Dutch commander when he regrouped and managed to capture part of Ypenburg
would be finished as they wanted to milk the cows. By airport, but they were attacked by 2nd and 3rd
5.30 p.m. the airfield had been regained and the Battalions, Brigade of Grenadiers and were pushed out
Germans had taken up defensive positions near again. Ignorant of the fact, Hurricanes of 32 Squadron
Wassenaar and in Valkenburg village. RAF attacked at 5 p.m. and reported that they had
T h e drop at Ockenburg, south-west of T h e destroyed the Ju 52s there, actually the wrecks of
Hague, went yet worse for the Germans. T h e aircraft shot up earlier by the Dutch.
paratroops were widely dispersed, some so isolated At 7.30 p.m. the Germans signalled to their
that they were forced to hide for days until the Dutch headquarters that the landings at Katwijk, Kijduin and
eventually surrendered. Others managed to reach the Ypenburg had largely failed due to strong ground and
airfield, but once more the runway was soon blocked air defences. Valkenburg was in German hands. T h e
by incoming aircraft. By 1.30 p.m. 1st Battalion, fate of a number of units was unknown. T h e German
Brigade of Grenadiers had retaken the position, taking forces north of Rotterdam were in desperate state,
some 130 prisoners and forcing the remaining while those south of the city and on the bridges were
 33
THE STORMING OF T H E LOW COUNTRIES

holding their own, but not without hardship. A Belgium, Plan D was in force, and so the French 7th
German soldier reported: Army under General Giraud was hurrying towards the
At 19.00 the 12th company covers us in a smoke Netherlands and their motorised troops would cross
screen... Yet another is lying there on a stretcher, our the border with Belgium early the next day. The 6th
young lieutenant, shot in the stomach. "Commandant, it's Cuirassiers had to beg fuel from the Belgians and clear
going really badly, no-one can get through that," he said the obstacles the Belgians had erected on the Dutch
with his last strength, then fell back. But still, we attack border in order to maintain their pace.
again. We have to keep control of this bridgehead... On
the opposite side the bank is brightly lit. It is dark already. THE SECOND AND FINAL DAYS
By 22.00 it gets quieter. Over there everything is ablaze.' The relief of Rotterdam went badly. The French were
Meanwhile, to the east, the German advance was bombed away from the Hollands Diep, across which
proceeding. O n the right, in the north of the country, the Moerdijk bridges pass, and the Dutch Light
progress was swift until the Germans found themselves Division was halted on the River Noord at
up against the Kornwerderzand blockhouse at the Alblasserdam, north of Dordrecht. Meanwhile the
eastern end of the great dyke on the IJsselmeer, beyond reinforcement of the German forces at Rotterdam
which they failed to make any advance. South of that continued for, although the Waalhaven airport was
BELOW The southern
wide body of water they were pushing west, and, useless, German pilots managed to put down on the
approaches to Rotterdam
further south again, the Dutch Light Division and the car park area of Feyenoord and on the Dordrecht to
from from the German
3rd Army Corps had been ordered back to Fortress Moerdijk road. The Dutch fronts to the north round
Generalstab des Heeres
Holland. T h e Dutch Commander-in-Chief, General the IJsselmeer were holding, and the German troops
Henri G. Winkelman, needed them to dislodge the around The Hague were reduced to defending the Belgian military geography

Germans at Waalhaven and on the bridges to the little enclaves to which the Dutch had reduced them. road map, published in Berlin

south. This meant the area to the rear of the Raam- In Valkenburg the citizens took what shelter they in October 1939. The Moerdijk
Peel Line would be undefended, and that the Light could find from their countrymen's bombardment of bridges are between
Division had to make its way north from Tilburg the German occupiers. Mr de Wilde, the mayor, Dordrecht and Breda, (BL C28e1,
across the Maas and the Waal before turning west. In telephoned Lieutenant-colonel Buurman, commander MME WW2Maps/3/20)
 34
PART TWO

German success now depended on a single, major

factor: 9th Panzer Division. T h e Gennep crossing
served the German armour well on 11 May. By the
afternoon the tanks were at the Zuid Willems canal at
Veghel which they crossed and by the next morning
they were to the north of Tilburg. T h e forward
reconnaissance forces of the French were encountered
between there and Breda, but offered no serious check
to progress. By late on Sunday 12 May the Moerdijk
bridges had been reached and the land-line to the
isolated paratroopers was secure. T h e balance of 9th
Panzer crossed the Moerdijk bridges the next day and
on 14 May General Student was shaking hands with
the Panzer leader, Generalmajor Alfred von Hubicki.
T h e bridges had not been too far, but it was a close-
run thing.
To the east of Utrecht the Dutch were forced back
to positions almost on the outskirts of the city, but
of the Dutch 4th Infantry surrounding the town, to here they held firm. It was in Rotterdam that the issue
ABOVE Aircraft landing at
ask him to cease firing, but nothing came of that. T h e was to be settled. Hitler was irritated that the Dutch
Valkenburg sank into the
next day, Sunday 12 May, in the afternoon, a shell hit had proved to be a harder nut to crack than he
grass airstrip and blocked it
a German ammunition lorry that was standing outside anticipated. He now gave orders that the matter be
for further landings. Some
a cafe. Attempts by the Dutch to take the town were brought to a swift conclusion and on the morning of
days later Mr G. Koenen and
frustrated by Oberleutnant Voigt with 140 men in the Tuesday 14 May General Winkelman received a
his friends went to see the dunes by the Wassenaarse Slag when the advancing message threatening the bombing of Rotterdam and
JU 52s and he made this troops presumed they were under fire from their Utrecht if resistance continued.
photograph. In due time the comrades and failed to take appropriate action. O n In Rotterdam itself the Germans had passed an
14-year-old girl second from Monday the church, in which civilians were sheltering, eventful weekend. T h e record left by the soldier
right, Adriana v.d. Zaal, was set on fire. T h e Dutch pressure would not cease quoted above continues:
became Mrs Koenen. (Photo G. until the order came to lay down their arms and the '11 May — Now the 9th Company is in front again.
Koenen, Wassenaar) inhabitants of Valkenburg suffered accordingly. They have 45 men. We have only about 30. We are c

RIGHT Attempts to land on the

beach near Wassenaar led to
crashes and to attack by the
Dutch Air Force. (Photo A. C.
Duijvestijn)
 35
THE STORMING OF THE LOW COUNTRIES

LEFT German forces at

Tilburg, 14 May. (B90/2/36A)

BELOW A Dutch soldier

carrying a flag of truce talks
to German infantrymen.
(Boersma)

ourselves if we will ever see our fatherland again! If we headquarters at 147 Statenweg. T h e opportunity to
don't get reinforcements its all over! At least we still have capitulate expired at 2.10 p.m. At that time the
a couple of machine guns. We have lost... all anti-tank Germans were operating on their own time, that is,
weapons... W, with his pack tied to his foot, crawled over Greenwich Mean Time plus two hours. Britain, France
the bridge on his stomach and bandaged the wounded... and Belgium were all on G M T plus one hour, but the
'13 May — During the night volunteers of the 16th Dutch were still operating on G M T plus 20 minutes,
Regiment) made their way across the bridge ... Rope so in their perception the ultimatum was to expire at
under the bridge, along which ammunition and 12.30 p.m., but it is not clear to what extent anyone
provisions, with help of pulleys. Constant firing from really knew what the timing was meant to be.
enemy artillery ... When are our tanks coming?' Scharroo telephoned Winkelman who demanded that
O n Tuesday 14 May, on the southern edge of
Rotterdam, the Germans were preparing for a decisive
attack. They organised themselves in three groups, the
first, Group A, consisted of tanks from Panzer
Regiment 33 and the 3rd Battalion of Infantry
Regiment 16, supported by artillery and engineers.
They were to make a dash across the bridges to
develop the bridgehead on the northern bank and
advance towards Amsterdam. They would be followed
by Group C, consisting of more tanks from Panzer
Regiment 33 and the larger part of Leibstandarte
SS-Adolf Hitler' ordered to push north-west to relieve
the paratroops beset by the Dutch at Oveschie on the
Delft road. Group B, infantry from Regiment 33 and
engineers, were to cross the Maas in barges near the
confluence with the IJssel east of the bridges and push
up into Kralingen, where the autoroute bridge now
spans the river. As overtures for a Dutch surrender
began, they were poised to move.
The message demanding surrender and
threatening an air raid was sent to Colonel P. Scharroo,
the officer commanding; in Rotterdam, at his
 36
PART TWO

the Colonel seek clarification of the provenance of the 900 people. Colonel Scharroo went immediately to see
ABOVE The bombed heart of
message, so Captain Jan Backer was sent off under a Schmidt at Prins Hendrikkade and sign the surrender,
Rotterdam. The Laurenskerk
flag of truce to the ice-cream parlour at 66 Prins protesting at the same time the needless loss of civilian
is on the left and the bridge
Hendrikkade where Generalleutnant Rudolf Schmidt, lives.
to the right carries the
commander of XXXIX Army Corps, had just arrived. At 3.30 in the afternoon surgeon C. van Staveren
r a i l w a y . (Photo A. C. Duijvestijn)
He countersigned the offer and extended the time was dealing with a flood of civilian casualties at the
limit to 6 p.m. (4.20 p.m.), and simply required Bergweg hospital when he was interrupted by one of
Dutch surrender and access to north Rotterdam by his his staff. Here, he said, was General Student. Staveren
troops. N o mention was made in this document of turned to see a figure on a stretcher, covered in bloody
bombing, for Schmidt had come to the conclusion his head smashed and brain tissue exposed, but still
that a cessation of hostilities was in negotiation and conscious. He had been hit on the head, so the
had sent a order to call off the raid. T h e bombers, surgeon was told, by a falling beam when the
however, were already airborne and observing radio command post on Statenweg was hit by a shell.
silence. Supervised by armed German medical orderlies,
The Heinkel He I I I s were given the triangle of Staveren operated. T h e temptation to make a fatal
the city centre north of the bridges as their target, but mistake was almost overwhelming, but his integrity as
were also instructed to look out for red flares which a surgeon won over his human desire for revenge on
were to mark the positions of their own troops. Flares the man who had reduced his city to ashes. Student's
in the target area were to cancel the operation. T h e recovery was slow but complete and when visited by
formation approaching from the south-east, 36 the surgeon he repeatedly mumbled 'You saved my
aircraft, saw the flares and most turned away, but the life, you saved my life.' To Staveren it was a rebuke.
56 machines coming from the east did not see any In Student's absence the final surrender of all
signal and dropped their full load. Some 97 tons Dutch forces was signed on 15 May by General
of bombs fell on central Rotterdam, killing about Winkelman and General von Kuchler at Student's
 37
THE STORMING OF THE LOW COUNTRIES

RIGHT The memorial to the

fallen at the
Marinevliegkamp,
Valkenburg. (Audivisuelle-Dienst

Kon. Marine, A9402-378)

BELOW Graves of the fallen

Dutch at Crooswijk Military
Cemetery. (Photo Amina Marix

Evans)

BELOW RIGHT Memorial to the

Dutch surrender of 15 May
outside the former school
building at 101
Rijksstraatweg in Rijswoord.
(Photo Amina Marix Evans)
 38
PART T W O

headquarters, a school in Rijsoord, south-east of started the Maginot Line in 1930, interest in building
Rotterdam. similar forts in Belgium was aroused, but the strategic
Many of the Dutch commanders were angry and concept for their organisation was ill-defined. Some
incredulous. They had not, they felt, been defeated, wished to preserve the integrity of Belgian soil, others
but they were ill-informed about the situation as a were for sacrificing immediate control of some
whole. Many naval units escaped for England, and the territory in order to present the invader with a decisive
forces in Zeeland held on, together with the French, mass of soldiery. C o m m o n to both approaches was the
for some days. T h e Breda variation on Plan D was, idea of the 'organised battlefield' - a space in which
however, over and the French were given orders to the enemy could be corralled and destroyed.
withdraw in support of Brussels. T h e Germans had Unfortunately it demanded a degree of co-operation
expected only token resistance in the Netherlands and from an adversary that was not forthcoming.
found instead that they had a real fight on their hands. In the early 20th century great forts protected
None the less, in only five days it was over. T h e Dutch major cities such as Liege and Namur. These were
army had suffered 2,157 men killed while the Air overcome by the unexpected power of German artillery
Force had lost 75 and the Navy 125 men. Civilian in 1914. Four yet more powerful forts were constructed
deaths numbered 2,559 men, women and children. and 15 old ones refurbished to create the Position
T h e figures seem small compared to those recorded for Fortifiee de Liege (PFL) and the Position Fortifiee de
other countries later in the war, but the sacrifice of the Namur (PFN), while the PFA was arranged around
slain was none the less just because they were few. Antwerp by transforming 27 forts into infantry strong-
points. Lines of pillboxes and anti-tank ditches ran
THE STRIKE INTO BELGIUM along the Albert Canal (which had been dug with the
T h e Belgian defences had, since 1936 when King spoil piled on the southern side in the 1930s) from
Leopold declared neutrality, developed without liaison Antwerp south-eastwards in front of Maastricht to
with their French or Dutch neighbours. W h e n France the PFL at Liege and then along the Maas (Meuse)

RIGHT From Eben-Emael

above the Albert Canal, the
Maas is overlooked to the
SOUth-eaSt. (B751/96/27A)
 39
THE STORMING OF T H E LOW COUNTRIES

south-west to Namur. Forward of that line the Stelling

Grens was a curtain of some 400 pillboxes closer to the
border. A puny line of pillboxes stretched tentatively
towards France along the Meuse south of Namur.
Within this defensive complex the Main Resistance
Position included the PFA, the K W (Koningshooikt-
Wavre) line and the P F N The K W line was created in
1939-1940 to provide the Dyle position envisaged by
Plan D and the northern section was furnished with
pillboxes and anti-tank fences. South of Wavre as far as
Namur there were only fences and, by May 1940, it
was still little more than an idea. Skimpy lines of
pillboxes gave some cover to the Ardennes, but the
strategy was based on the abandonment of that region
should the Germans attack. T h e policy of neutrality
also gave rise to the Ninove-Waterloo Position, a line of
55 pillboxes facing France, south of Brussels. As only
25 miles (40km) of anti-tank ditches and 125 miles
(200 km) of anti-tank fencing had been completed by
1940, the defences were anything but continuous. T h e
out-dated concept of the continuous defence line was
itself invalidated by incomplete works.
The jewel in the crown of the system was the vast
new fort of Eben-Emael, overlooking the Albert Canal.
It was at the northern end of the new ring of forts
around Liege (PFL) which continued with Aubin-
Neufchateau, Battice (the keystone of the complex) and
Tancremont-Pepinster. It was armed with two 120mm
and 16 75mm guns in great steel turrets and concrete
casemates, as well as numerous machine-guns, and could
cover approaches through Maastricht attempting to
outflank the northern end of the PFL as well as offer
supporting fire to Fort Neufchateau. O n the side close to
the Albert Canal 60mm anti-tank guns supplemented

ABOVE The 120mm gun turret

in the centre of Eben Emael,
the scar of a hollow charge
Can jUSt be Seen. (Bernard

Vrijens)

LEFT German soldiers

carrying 50 kg hollow
charges at Fort Aubin-
NeufChateau (Coll. Franck Vernier)
 40
PART T W O

LEFT The German map of

the Belgian defences
around Maastricht -
Befestigungskarte
Niederlande - dated 15
November 1939. Eben-Emael
stands near the junction of
the Albert Canal and the
Maas, south of Maastricht.
(BL C29(21C), MME WW2/0/24)

RIGHT Key to the German map

of Belgian defences, (MME
WW2/0/26)
 41
THE STORMING OF T H E LOW COUNTRIES

the machine-guns. The garrison numbered 1,400 men.

The German armoured attack, aiming for the
Gembloux gap halfway between Wavre and Namur, had
to pass through the appendix of Dutch territory in
which Maastricht stands, and thus had to undertake the
flanking movement the fort was designed to prevent.
Clearly it had to be neutralised. On 10 May 1940 it was.

ON SILENT WINGS
The seizure of the Albert Canal crossings was a task
given to a special detachment under the command of
Hauptmann W. Koch made up of men of Fallschirm-
jager Regiment 1 and a platoon of engineers under
Oberleutnant Rudolf Witzig. They had been given
detailed and intensive training, isolated from family
and comrades, for an attack on an unnamed objective.
As evening approached on 9 May they learnt what it
was. They were organised in four groups, to be carried
by glider to swoop on their targets early the next
day. Sturmgruppe Stahl (Steel) was to take the
bridge over the canal near Veldwezelt, west-
north-west of Maastricht, Group Concrete the bridge

ABOVE A 60mm anti-tank gun,

probably the best in the world
in May 1940, at Fort Battice
(Coll. Franck Vernier)

LEFT Fort Liezele, between

Puurs and Breedonk, south-
west of Antwerp, was
completed in 1913 to
supplement the early 19th
century defences of the
seaport. It was not taken by
the Germans in 1914, but
yielded as part of the general
surrender. It was armed with
machine guns in 1939-40.
(Photo Bart van Bulck)
 42
PART TWO

Hohlladung or hollow charges, of which they had 26 of

12.5kg. and 28 of 50 kg. These attempted to make use
of the Monroe Effect which focused the forces released
by the explosive in the direction of the hollow in a
block of T N T . Later these would be developed to a
state in which a fierce, narrow flame burned a hole
through the target, but the primitive beehive versions
available in 1940 used brute force, the effects of which
can be seen to this day on the turrets of the fortress.
A 12.5kg. charge blew a gun back into its casemate,
and a 50kg. charge on the observation dome killed
two men within. It was followed by grenades
dropped through the hole which killed two more
men. Germans spread from the other gliders to
attack casemates, turrets and observation points with
remarkable success. T h e retractable turret, Coupole
Sud, rose in spite of a 50kg. charge being detonated on
it and swept the surface of the fort with fire from its
twin 7 5 m m guns. Oberleutnant Witzig arrived at 7.30
a.m. after improvising an airstrip and calling up a
at Vroenhoven, further south, Iron the bridge at replacement tow aircraft. Stukas were called in to deal
Canne and, at the southern end of the sector of with Coupole Sud which was forced to retract. Witzig
operations, Group Granite, commanded by Witzig, then had his men take the fight inside the fort, but
was to attack the fortress of Eben Emael and hold it before they could penetrate the entrances Belgian
until Pioneer Battalion 51 and Infantry Regiment 151 troops were making their way up the north-western
could arrive to relieve them and hold the position. slopes and the Germans had to defend their gains.
At 4.15 a.m. on Friday 10 May Group Concrete, Meanwhile the forts of Barchon and Pontisse shelled
under Leutnant Gerhadt Schacht landed from ten the surface of Eben Emael. T h e Belgian attacks of
gliders, one having broken its tow-line. Half an hour 12.30 p.m. and 5 p.m. failed and at 8 p.m. the
later Hauptman Koch flew in to set up his command Belgians withdrew. During the night the Germans
post. The bridge was taken, but the Belgian 18th renewed their attacks and men of Infantry Regiment
Regiment of the Line fought back and held the invaders
to their confined positions until the next day. At
Veldwezelt the Belgian 2nd Carabiniers opened fire at
4.20 a.m., bringing down one of the gliders, but fifteen
minutes later the Germans had taken their objective. In
the morning four Belgian T-13 tanks approached, but
two of them were knocked out by anti-tank rifle fire and
the others withdrew. Late in the day elements of the
French 3rd Light Mechanised Division reconnoitred the
position but by that time 4 Panzer had managed to
come up and take over. The bridge at Canne was blown
by the Belgian 2nd Grenadiers as Group Iron attacked,
but the bridgehead was held until the German infantry
came up in the afternoon.
Group Granite's approach started badly when one
ABOVE The heroes of the of the Ju 52s had to take evasive action to avoid
attack, decorated with the another aircraft and its towed glider. T h e glider
Knight's Cross by Adolf Hitler. carrying the commander, Rudolf Witzig, crashed. T h e
From the left, Delica, Witzig, remaining gliders lost another of their number before
Koch, Zierach, Ringler, reaching the objective, and thus only nine came
Meissner, Kiess, Altmann and hissing out of the darkness at 4.20 a.m. to land on top
Jager. (B74/113/13)
of Eben Emael. T h e Germans set about the turrets
immediately with explosive charges. They had 83
RIGHT German troops cross a Geballte Ladung 3 kg. which were conventional
makeshift bridge at demolition charges that could also be used as satchel
Maastricht. (Boersma) or pole charges, but more interesting were their
 43
THE STORMING OF T H E LOW COUNTRIES

151 crossed the Albert Canal in rubber boats to attack

the north block with flame-throwers and 50kg.
charges. Within the fort the garrison were in favour of
surrender, but their commander, Major J. Jottrand,
tried to rally them to fresh efforts. It was clearly
hopeless. Shortly after noon on 11 May Eben Emael
was surrendered. T h e last resistance on the Albert
Canal was over.
To the east the bridges at Maastricht had been
blown, but not entirely destroyed. Infantry were
picking their way across the ruins and a makeshift
footbridge supported by rubber boats. By 3.30 a.m.
on Saturday 11 May engineers of 4 Panzer were
ferrying men and light vehicles across the Maas on
pontoons. By 4.30 a.m. the first pontoon bridge, a
16 ton-carrying structure capable of taking a tank,
was operational. T h e Panzers were on the loose in
Belgium.
Allied air response was attempted. Records and
reports of the successive actions are contradictory and
confusing, but it appears that Air Marshal Barratt
ordered the Blenheims of 114 Squadron, based at
Conde Vraux, near Soissons, to stand by and the
aircraft were fuelled and bombed-up, ready to go when
nine Dornier 17s of II/KG2 raced in, bombing and
strafing. T h e squadron was destroyed. As daylight
strengthened on the morning of Saturday, 11 May,
nine Fairey Battles of the 5th Squadron, Belgian 3rd
Group, took off to attack the German-held bridges.
T h e anti-aircraft guns were already in position and the
lumbering Battles were easy targets. Six of the aircraft
survived long enough to press home the attack but

ABOVE British troops entering

Belgium, passing through
Herseaux, east of Tourcoing,
10 May 1940. (iwwiF4335)

RIGHT A French Hotchkiss

H35/39 receives an
enthusiastic welcome to
Belgium. (TM2433/D/2)
 44
PART T W O

then the bomb release mechanisms failed to operate.

ABOVE A copy of the GHQ map
Only three aircraft returned. O n Saturday afternoon
for Plan D. Lille is lower left.
the British tried. Twenty-three Blenheims flew to the
The lower red line shows
attack, 110 Squadron on Maastricht and 21 Squadron
Route A to Wavre on the River
on the road through Vroenhoven to Tongres. Two
Dyle while the upper red line
aircraft were lost to German fighters and the others
leads to Louvain. Gembloux is
were thoroughly shot-up. Then the French sent 13
halfway between Wavre and
Namur at the foot of the map,
Leo45s of the 12th Squadron against the pontoon
and the forward positions of
bridge at Maastricht; the ten that returned were badly
the French Cavalry Corps east
damaged by anti-aircraft fire. O n Sunday morning a
of Gembloux and north of Huy
last, desperate attack was undertaken by British Battles
and the 12th Lancers north of flying from Amifontaine near Reims. All the crews of
Tienen in front of the British 12 Squadron volunteered and the six on standby were
line are shown with a blue chosen for the attacks on the bridges at Vroenhoven
dotted line. (Private collection. MME
and Veldwezeldt. They were surprised to be fired on as
WW2MapsMF1/18)
they approached Tongres; the Germans had advanced
further than anyone supposed. T h e covering squadron
RIGHT Left, an Oberschutze of of Hurricanes engaged a swarm of Messerschmitt 109s
49th Infantry carrying while the Vroenhoven bridge was attacked; two aircraft
ammunition boxes and, right, were shot down at once and the third was downed by
an assault boat engineer of damage from an encounter with a 109. At Veldwezeldt
30th Pioneer Battalion carrying the three Battles were also shot down, that of Flying
an MP28/II Schmeisser sub- Officer Donald Garland and Sergeant Tom Gray being
machine gun and M1924 flown into the western end of the bridge and
stick-grenades. (Stephen exploding with its bombs. Both men were awarded
Andrew, The German Army 1939-45 (1), posthumous Victoria Crosses. T h e Germans had a
Men-at-Arms311) pontoon bridge in action within the hour.
 45
THE STORMING OF T H E LOW COUNTRIES

further east, the Belgian 7th Infantry Division

collapsed, leaving the road open for 4 Panzer.
T h e BEF was on the move to take up its positions
east of Brussels. In the vanguard were the 12th Royal
Lancers who were to form the forward screen
alongside and to the north of the French cavalry. They
were slightly delayed by a Belgian official who was
u n h a p p y with their lack of documentation for
entering his country, but overcame this by driving
through his barrier. T h e reception given to the troops
by the Belgians was enthusiastic. Major Lord Sysonby
of lst/5th T h e Queen's Royal Regiment wrote home:
'When we stopped for a cup of coffee in the big town
halfway [possibly Ath] we were surrounded by a jabbering
mass of people who were overpoweringly enthusiastic at
our appearance... The standard greeting seemed to be
"Goodbye Tipperary" said with a heavy accent to which we
usually replied "Good night Leicester Square" which
nobody seemed to understand but took in very good part.'
Lieutenant Christopher Seton-Watson of 2
Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery reported:
'Fruit and packets of biscuits and chocolate were
thrown into our trucks ... Wheeler and I were presented
with huge sprays of white lilac by a charming peasant girl,
who threw her arms round his neck and kissed him on both
cheeks. He completely failed to register the embarrassment
PLAN D IN ACTION to be expected from a respectable married man.'
At 6.45 a.m. on Friday 10 May, two hours after the There was a great fear of spies and fifth-
German attacks had begun, the Belgians at last invited columnists. Sysonby wrote:
the French and British to cross their borders. T h e 'This part of the world is literally honeycombed with
French cavalry units rushed on as quickly as possible to spies and Basil Hunt has had a busy day chasing them.
throw a screen in front of the approaching allies as The first was a man who was seen by Corporal Simmonds
they took up position on the Dyle and elements letting off pigeons out of a loft at dawn this morning. After
of 2nd and 3rd D L M reached their positions near that we have had a series of people cutting the grass or
Liege just in time the next day. O n Saturday, as the air ploughing the fields in extraordinary patterns which are
forces of three countries were attacking the bridges obviously signals to enemy aeroplanes. The air, as usual, is

ABOVE Left, a French cavalry

AFV crewman of the
Armoured Car branch and,
right, a captain, Chars de
Combat, in campaign dress.
(Mike Chappell, The French Army 1939-

45(1),Men-at-Arms 315)

LEFT German Panzers

southwest of Tongres at
about noon, 11 May. (B96/16/3A)
 46
PART TWO

THE BATTLE OF THE GEMBLOUX GAP

T h e French First Army under General Blanchard and
the Cavalry Corps under General Rene Prioux were
south of the BEF, holding a line between Wavre and
the valley of the Meuse (Maas) river. Today the
autoroute takes advantage of the flat, easy, rather dull
country alongside the deep river valley and the hills of
the western Ardennes. In 1940 the French saw it as the
perfect route for the Panzers to sweep forward and the
Germans were eager to behave in such a way as to
convince the Allies that this was, indeed, their
principal axis of attack. T h e vehicles of the 3rd and 4th
Panzer Divisions poured over the Maastricht crossings
and gathered themselves for action.
O n the afternoon of Sunday, 12 May, Lieutenant
Robert Le Bel, 3rd D L M looked from the turret of his
Hotchkiss H-39, near Jandrain, to see:
'... an extraordinary show which was played out
about three kilometres [2 miles] away: a panzer division
shaping itself for battle. The massive gathering of this
alive with rumours, the best one being that Divisional armoured armada was an unforgettable sight, the more
ABOVE On the road from
Headquarters is surrounded by enraged German so that it appeared even more terrifying through the
Tongres to Waremme, a light
parachutists. So far we do not know why they are enraged!' glasses... Some men, probably officers, walked to and fro
machine-gun troop of the
And again on Wednesday, 15 May, he reported: gesticulating in front of the tanks. They were probably
33rd Schutzen (carrier borne)
'Today we had our usual parachute scare and were giving last-minute orders ... Suddenly, as if swept away
Regiment moves into the
warned that the Germans might adopt any type of by a magic wand, they all disappeared... A dust cloud
fields. (B96/16/4A)
disguise including that of priests so when we saw 80 soon appeared on the skyline, disclosing the enemy move.
priests advancing down the road we felt confident we had I got down into the tank, closed the hatch and peered
BELOW Wrecked Belgian caught a large contingent of them. We surrounded them through the episcopes.'
equipment, including a and covered them from every possible angle and with T h e battle continued through the afternoon and
4.7mm FRC gun, near every possible weapon; we then followed them into a into the evening. By nightfall the French had lost 24
Louvain, May 1940. (TM 5787/AI) wood. I myself, revolver in hand, advanced into the wood Hotchkiss H-39s and four Somua S-35s, and the
debating how many of them I would shoot before they shot German losses caused them to remark on the bitter
me. I crept softly in and there came upon them on their resistance offered by the French, necessitating repeated
knees giving thanks to God for having let them escape attacks by VIII Air Corps. T h e town of H a n n u t had
from the inferno behind them. I turned and came softly fallen to the Germans. T h e next day, late in the
out feeling rather like a murderer must when viewing his morning, the Stukas were present in yet greater force.
unsuspecting victim.' T h e French prevented the Germans from taking
Merderop and, when the attackers tried to circumvent
it, themselves launched an attack on the enemy's
supporting infantry. In the close action that followed
4th Panzer no doubt enjoyed the advantages of their
better radio communications. By the end of the day
they were in Ramilles, 6 miles (10km) west of Hannut,
and had inflicted the loss of 11 S-35s and four H-39s
upon the 2nd Cuirassiers. To their north 3rd Panzer
had pushed 1st Cuirassier back beyond Jauche and
destroyed 25 of their tanks. Prioux was forced to order
a withdrawal to a line east of the Wavre-Namur
position.
T h e French infantry were now well established, so
that when elements of 3rd Panzer slipped through
the line in pursuit of 3rd D L M , they were
comprehensively shot up by the 1st Moroccan
Division. T h e battle resumed on 15 May between
Gembloux and Perbaix, on both sides of Ernage and
in confused fighting neither side had the upper hand,
 47
THE STORMING OF T H E LOW COUNTRIES

tanks and infantry attacking and counter-attacking. completely stunned at the news that we were not
But now it was becoming clear to the Allies that the advancing or even holding our ground... these wretched
major stroke was falling elsewhere. T h e crossings of the people had to leave, carrying everything in one suitcase
Meuse to the south of the 1st Army, at Sedan on 13 and leaving their life's work and possessions behind them.
May and Dinant on 14 May, threatened to outflank All that day, all the next day and all last night the traffic
the Allies' Belgian positions. General Billotte ordered a never ceased pouring through.'
retreat, first to a line on Waterloo and Charleroi, and From the Dyle to the Senne, from the Senne to the
then, on Thursday 16 May, to the river Escault from Dendre and from the Dendre to the Escault the
which they had started only six days earlier. British fell back. The bridges were blown as they went.
To the troops of the BEF, who had seen some T h e artillery was in a constant state of redeployment
shelling but little else, the orders came as a shock and to as they, too, withdrew and took up positions to cover
the Belgians it was a thunderbolt. Sysonby, who was in their comrades' withdrawal before moving to the rear
reserve on the Escault near Audenarde, said in a letter: again themselves. By Tuesday, May 21 the British had
'The day before yesterday [Friday, 17 May] I was told taken position on the Escault between Audenarde in
at quarter to six p. m. to start a traffic control post at a the north, through Tournai to Maulde, halfway
cross-roads five miles [8km] away ...By the time I got between Tournai and Valenciennes, there to stand
there portions of the Army had started pouring through. I against the Germans with the French First Army to BELOW 14 May 1940. As the
can never describe to you the amazing scenes which took their right and the Belgians to the north. Events British withdraw from
place. The inhabitants of the small village we were in elsewhere had already undermined this plan, as Lord Louvain the railway bridge is
were quite unprepared for this withdrawal and were Gort was becoming only too well aware. blOWn. (IWM F4452)
 48
PART THREE

THROUGH THE ARDENNES

T he idea that the Ardenne terrain would not

permit the passage of armoured forces has
been used as an excuse for the lack of foresight
of General Gamelin and his colleagues in the French
High Command. That they were taken by surprise by
damaged. As late as March 1940 a French Deputy
(member of Parliament) reported to Gamelin that the
defences of Sedan were entirely inadequate. An
attempt to increase the fortifications had been started
the previous autumn, but the severe winter prevented
the German attack is certain, but that they believed the pouring of concrete and the delivery of the
the Ardennes to be impenetrable to an army is necessary materials. O n 11 April General Huntzinger
incredible.
T h e description of the territory as 'impenetrable'
has been attributed to Marshal Petain who spoke of
the Ardennes in March 1934, but went on to add
'provided we make some special dispositions.' In 1938
General Pretelat was in command of manoeuvres that
assumed an attack through the Ardennes of seven
German divisions, four motorised infantry and with
two tank brigades. T h e result was a defeat for the
defenders of so comprehensive a nature that the
wisdom of publishing it was questioned lest morale be
 49
THROUGH THE ARDENNES

asked for another four divisions to work on the undertaken by the French Air Force were, they
defences. He was refused. T h e history is thus not one claimed, limited by their losses from enemy action and
of ignorance but of negligence. by the bad weather, the Deuxieme Bureau provided
From the high hills of the Eifel and Moselberg on French commanders with detailed information on the
the Belgian-German-Luxembourg borders, the land build-up of German troops, and the Swiss were
slopes away westwards, rolling country, wooded at first aware of German bridge construction between Bonn
but opening up into broad, high fields. It is drained by and Bingen, as were the French. O n 30 April the
the River Ourthe which runs north to join the Meuse French Military Attache in Berne reported that the
at Liege, by the Lesse, heading north-west to Dinant, Germans were to attack between 8 and 10 May with
and the Semois which goes north-west almost parallel Sedan as the principal axis of the movement. These
to the Meuse to its confluence with the larger river at reports were, it must be remembered, a few amongst
Montherme. T h e Meuse itself has cut deep into the many that suggested the blow would fall elsewhere,
landscape and the tributaries do the same. T h e but the facts of troop concentrations and bridge
impression is, indeed, of country difficult of access, construction were not given proper weight against
surely wonderfully daunting for armoured divisions, reports of mere plans.
but this is a superficial view. T h e eastern approaches to
these valleys are relatively easy and the Meuse itself east ARMY GROUP A ADVANCES
of Charleville-Mezieres runs through broad, T h e cutting edge of the German sickle was formed of
welcoming country. the Panzer Corps of Rundstedt's Army Group A. O n
T h e handicaps the French imposed upon the right, in the Fourth Army heading for Dinant, was
themselves on the ground were twofold. First, the XV Panzer Corps under General Hermann Hoth, to
Meuse itself was insufficiently fortified and, second, w h o m Generalleutnant Max von Hartlieb (5th
the Ardennes were left open in order to permit the Panzer) and Generalmajor Erwin Rommel (7th
French cavalry to advance. T h e impossibility of liaison Panzer) reported. Further south the Panzers of the
with the Belgians contributed, for this was country Twelfth and Sixteenth armies were under the MAP OPPOSITE Detail from the
they planned to abandon, but the lines of defence command of General Ewald von Kleist in a formation February 1940 Generalstab
available above the Semois and along the Meuse were known as Gruppe von Kleist. The XLI Panzer Corps, des Heeres map
ignored with fatal results. c o m m a n d e d by General Georg-Hans Reinhardt, Gewasserabschnitte Nordost-
A further problem arose from the handling consisted of 6th and 8th Panzer, while XIX Panzer Frankreich which shows
of intelligence. While the reconnaissance flights Corps, commanded by General Heinz Guderian, waterways and their crossing
places. Dinant is top left, the
Semois is shown flowing
between high cliffs to join
the Meuse at Montherme in
square 14 and Bouillon,
hard to read, is top centre
of square 24. Bertrix,
Neufchateau and Martelange
are above square 24. The
shading shows that a good
deal of the country is fairly
f l a t . (MME WW2Maps/2/3)

PICTURE OPPOSITE The village

of Frahan on the River
Semois, a scene thought
typical of the Ardennes,
contributing to the idea that
the terrain was impenetrable.
(MME WW2/5/24)

LEFT The terrain north-east of

Bastogne; by no means
impassable as events in
1944/45 would show once
a g a i n . (Photo David Playne)
 50
PART THREE

make two trips to deliver the force and in the event

navigational errors and accidents led to some ending
up yet further south at Leglise and all of them fairly
scattered. A number of minor actions were fought
with the Belgian 1st Chasseurs Ardennais and with
elements of the French 5th Light Cavalry Division
(DLC), some roads were blocked with felled trees and
telephone lines cut. As the allied forces were under
orders to withdraw and with the arrival of 2nd Panzer
next morning, this venture quietly closed.
Guderian, meanwhile, had been troubled by the
efficiency with which the Belgians had blocked the
roads on the border. But they had, for the most part,
withdrawn, leaving obstacles that, with a little time
and effort, could be removed. T h e Germans were on
the move again on the morning of Saturday 11 May,
but matters had been confused by an order from
Kleist's H Q for 10th Panzer to turn south to fend off
a counter-attack by the French. Guderian succeeded in
having this instruction withdrawn, but the 10th were
comprised 1st, 2nd and 10th Panzer divisions and now in the sector of advance planned for 1st Panzer
ABOVE German cavalry
the Grossdeutschland Regiment, motorised infantry. which, in turn, got in the way of the 2nd which then
crosses the shallow Semois interfered with 6th Panzer. Fortunately for the
Early in the afternoon of 9 May they were alerted
at Mouzaive, north-west of Germans, the sky was innocent of allied bombers to
to the coming action and, at 5.30 a.m. the next
BOUillon. (B84/68/23A) attack the traffic jams. Neufchateau was defended by
day, Guderian crossed the Luxembourg frontier at
Wallendorf with 1st Panzer, heading for Martleange Belgian Chasseurs Ardennais and French 3rd Spahis
BELOW The village of on the Belgian border, south of Bastogne. and 5th D L C , but a brisk fight supported by Stukas
Mouzaive, reached by a They had been preceded by groups tasked with drove them off both here and at Bertrix. By night 1st
footbridge over the Semois. securing the southern flank. Oberleutnant Werner Panzer had reached the outskirts of Bouillon on the
(MME WW2/5/22) Hedderich's Luftlandekommando made swift and Semois, only 10 miles (15km) from Sedan. T h e bridge
efficient work of securing key crossroads and easing here had been blown, as had the bridge at the tobacco-
the advance of the 34th Infantry Division into growing village of Frehan to the west. During the
Luxembourg. T h e missions to seize positions at Nives night elements of the reconnaissance battalion crept
and Witry, west of Martelange, went badly astray. over the ford at Mouzaive, further west again,
T h e men involved were volunteers from the and established themselves south of the Semois.
Grossdeutschland Regiment, 400 of them, who were Also during this night GRII/33, the French strategic
to be flown in two-by-two, like Noah's cargo, in 100 reconnaissance squadron, observed routes in the
Fieseler Fi 156 light aircraft. T h e pilots would have to Belgian Ardennes thronged with blazing headlights as
the invaders hastened towards the Meuse. Their report
appears to have been ignored.
To the north Rommel had had less difficulty in
advancing. He wrote:
All roads and forest tracks had been permanently
barricaded and deep craters blown in the main roads. But
most of the road blocks were undefended by the Belgians,
and it was thus in only a few places that my division was
held up for any length of time. Many of the blocks could
be by-passed by moving across country or over side roads...
'At our first clash with French mechanised forces,
prompt opening fire on our part led to a hasty French
retreat. I have found again and again that in encounter
actions, the day goes to the side that is the first to plaster
its opponent with fire... this applies even when the exact
position of the enemy is unknown, in which case the fire
must simply be sprayed over enemy-held territory'
O n the morning of W h i t Sunday, 12 May,
Guderian drove to Bouillon where he was able to
 51
THROUGH THE ARDENNES

congratulate Lieutenant-colonel Hermann Balck on 'In view of the very short time at our disposal, we
the taking of the town by his 1st Rifle Regiment at were forced to take the orders used in the war games at
about 8 a.m. After checking the progress of 10th Koblenz from our files and, after changing dates and
Panzer further east where they had crossed the Semois time, issue these as orders for the attack. They were
between Cugnon and Herbeumont, he returned to the perfectly fitted to the situation... 1st and 10th Panzer
headquarters his Chief of Staff, Colonel Nehring, had copied this procedure ...'
set up on the Hotel Panorama. They were just getting
down to work when: OVER THE MEUSE: SEDAN
'Suddenly there was a series of explosions in rapid O n the morning of Monday, 13 May, General Pierre
succession; another air attack... the fine window in front Grandsard, commander of X Corps, the left wing of
of which I was seated was smashed to smithereens and Huntzinger's 2nd Army, asserted that nothing new
splinters of glass whistled about my ears.' would happen for a few days while the Germans
They decided to move and eventually settled north brought up their heavy artillery and ammunition
of Noirefontaine. This time the Battles of the AASF supplies. At 11 a.m. the Luftwaffe started an immense
had attacked and returned unscathed, although the air raid, pounding French fortifications with Stukas,
bridge-building at Bouillon continued undisturbed; in Dorniers and Heinkels. Some 500 sorties were flown.
the afternoon half of the 12 aircraft attacking the Cowering under this torrent were the reservists of the
German column further north were lost. 55th Infantry Division, one of France's weaker
Guderian's adventures were not over for the day. A formations. The other division that made up X Corps,
Fieseler Storch aircraft was sent to take him to Kleist's the 71st, had been ordered forward during the night
headquarters, where he learned that the crossing of the but was not yet in position. French artillery fire was
Meuse was scheduled for 4 p.m. the next day and that limited as there was a fear of running out of
a mass bombing rather than the close support attacks ammunition. The Germans were able to push tanks
of the Stukas was planned. Guderian argued against forward to the river and fire on the French pillboxes,
this, but was over-ruled. Then, for the second time in many of them unfinished and not even equipped with
a day, he was in danger. O n the return trip the pilot doors. T h e 8 8 m m anti-aircraft gun was also able to do
got lost. To his alarm the General discovered that they substantial harm to French installations. Men crept
were flying along, in an unarmed aircraft, on the forward with rubber boats, ready to attempt the
southern side of the Meuse. An immediate order to crossing. T h e aerial bombardment culminated in
turn north was issued! Once more in his headquarters, precisely the concentrated dive-bomber attack
Guderian considered the task of drawing up orders for Guderian wanted - General Lorzer had contrived to
the next day. leave the original plan for 4 p.m. in place.

LEFT Men of Rommel's 7th

Panzer deal with trees felled
across the roads by the
Belgians. (IWM RML52)
THROUGH THE ARDENNES

O n the afternoon of that day the leading elements

ABOVE A Stuka dive-bomber.
of Rommel's 7th Panzer had reached the Meuse at
This is a JU87B-2. (John Weal,
Dinant in time to see the bridge blown at 4.20 p.m.
Junkers Ju 87 Stukageschwader 1937-
T h e neighbouring bridges at Bouvignes and
41, Osprey Combat Aircraft 1)
Anseremme went at much the same time. To the north
the railway bridge at Houx had gone earlier in the
afternoon, but the bridge at Yvoir was kept open to the
last minute as the Belgians were still falling back. As
Kampfgruppe Werner, a 5th Panzer unit temporarily
under 7th Panzer command, approached the bridge
the electrical demolition circuit was closed. Nothing
 54
PART THREE

between the east bank and an island appeared to be

whole. The associated navigational lock was on the
other side, overlooked by the French 2nd Battalion,
39th Infantry at Senenne and on the bank between the
river and the railway. To their south the lst/66th were
scarcely in place forward of Rostenne. During the
night the Germans crept forward and then, with
covering fire from their machine-guns, made all speed
across the old stone weir. The island was unoccupied.
At 5.30 a.m. on Monday, 13 May, they pushed on over
the lock and, in a hail of fire, established a small
bridgehead. In rubber boats, with covering fire from
tanks on the east bank, more men came over. As the
dawn drew on to morning they took Grange and by
noon held an area three miles (5km) square.
Early that Monday Rommel arrived in Dinant to
find the 6th Rifle Regiment attempting to cross the
river in boats but suffering severely from artillery and
rifle fire from the Belgians and French. The crossing
happened. Lieutenant Rene De Wispelaere of the was stuck. He then checked Houx and told the 7th
Belgian 31st Engineers Battalion ran forward and Motor-cycle to clean up and secure their bridgehead.
shortened the time-fuse of the non-electrical back-up South once more, he found the 7th Rifle Regiment
system to virtually nothing and ignited it. As he with a company over the river at Bouvignes, but under
turned to run back he was shot. T h e bridge went up fire too heavy to permit reinforcement. He wrote:
with the first German vehicles on it. As there was clearly no hope of getting any more men
T h e remaining bridges up and down stream were across at this point without powerful artillery and tank
destroyed later in the day, leaving rubber boats and support to deal with enemy nests, I drove back to Division
pontoons as the obvious means of crossing. It gave a Headquarters, where I met the Army Commander, Colonel-
little more time for the French to gather their strength. General von Kluge and the Corps commander, General
T h e German 7th Motor-cycle Battalion approached Hoth... I drove back along the Meuse to Leffe [immediately
the river at Houx by way of Awagne, sending out a north of Dinant] to get the crossing moving there. I had
reconnaissance patrol from that village at 5 p.m. They already given orders for several Panzer Ills and TVs and a
found the railway bridge gone, but saw that a weir troop of artillery to be at my disposal at the crossing point.'
T h e scene that greeted them was depressing;
rubber boats lying damaged and the men under cover.
ABOVE First Panzer Regiment The Leffe weir bridge had been barred with a spiked
approach Bouillon, 13 May. steel plate. Then the tanks Rommel had ordered up
(B88/112/19) arrived as well as two howitzers. T h e Belgians and
French were subjected to steady, well-aimed fire,
RIGHT Guderian surveys the
German tanks driving along the east bank with turrets
traversed to bring their 7 5 m m guns to bear. T h e
scene in Bouillon. (B80/4/32)
crossing started once more and Rommel went over to
encourage his men forward. After a probing advance
OPPOSITE TOP An 88mm gun
by French armoured vehicles, probably armoured cars,
in field artillery mode.
had been frightened off by small-arms fire under his
(B400/182/14)
orders, the General returned to the east bank and went
up to Houx to push things forward there. He found
OPPOSITE BOTTOM Detail from the engineers building 8-ton pontoons, too light for
German 1:25,000 mapping of tanks, and ordered them to get on with the 16-ton
France showing Sedan centre type to get the tanks across the river. Work went
right and, to the north-west, slowly, but there were 15 of them across by the next
Glaire on the south bank and morning. It was as well, for a mixed force of French,
the factory across the Meuse infantry, Dragoons and a reconnaissance unit, ran into
to the east. The challenge of the Germans at Haut-le-Wastia, west of Anhee, and
the hills south of the river can retreated only when tanks came up.
be appreciated. (BL C21 (15) sheet As Rommel exploited his bridgehead on the
XXX-9/7-8, MME WW2Maps/3/36) Tuesday morning by attacking Onhaye, up on the
 55
THROUGH THE ARDENNES

plateau west of Dinant, where Colonel von Bismark's

7th Rifle Regiment had arrived, General Corap was
making arrangements to oppose him. He ordered
General Julien Martin of XI Corps to take command
of 1st Armoured Division and 4th North African
Infantry Division and make a counter-attack. T h e
former was regrouping some nine miles (15km) west
of Dinant and the latter had just completed long
marches under Luftwaffe harassment.
T h e seizure of Onhaye on Tuesday, 14 May, did
not go smoothly for Rommel. He rushed forward with
what armour he had on the west bank under the
impression that Bismark was surrounded, but found
the message had been misunderstood. He then left
Bismark commencing an encircling movement on the
village. Rommel himself made for a wood to the north
of the village to assemble his tanks there. Suddenly
they came under fire.
'Shells landed all round us and my tank received two
hits, one after the other, the first on the upper edge of the
turret and the second in the periscope. The driver
promptly opened the throttle wide and drove straight into
the nearest bushes. He had only gone a few yards,
however, when the tank slid down a steep slope ... and
stopped, canted over on its side, in such a position that the
enemy ... could not fail to see it.'
 56
PART THREE

RIGHT Rommel's crossing

area on the Meuse. A road
bridge was kept open
between Yvoir and Anhee, at
the north of the hour-glass
shape made by roads and
railway. The rail bridge south
of this had been blown. The
road east from Houx was the
approach of 7th Panzer
and the lock is at the
south-western end of the
island with the weir on the
e a s t . (ICM, Brussels, 1940, sheet 53.

MME WW2Maps/3/30)
 57
THROUGH THE ARDENNES

LEFT Dinant, from the Chateau

Crevecourt above Bouvignes-
sur-Meuse. The Fortress
stands on the hill above the
Collegiale, the church, with
the road bridge below.
Downstream is Leffe weir and
lock. The bridge at Bouvignes
was not rebuilt. (MME WW2/7/16)

BELOW The lock and weir at

Houx, seen from the medieval
village and Chateau de
Poilvache on the hilltop to the
north. (MME WW2/7/23)
 58
PART THREE

H e decided to abandon the tank. T h e smoke

candles on another Panzer had been ignited by the
shellfire and, under the cover of the smoke-screen thus
created, they managed to get to safety. Stukas were
called up to deal with the artillery and a further attack
in the evening gave Rommel the Onhaye position with
the broad, open country before him.

MONTHERME
General Reinhardt's XLI Panzer Corps had the most
difficult approach to the Meuse given the combination
of distance travelled and the narrow roads. T h e 6th
Panzer Division was to cross at Montherme while 8th
Panzer went for Nouzonville to the south. T h e bridge
at M o n t h e r m e was down and barbed wire and
pillboxes could be seen on the far bank. Here, on
Monday 13 May, the machine-gunners of the 42nd
Demi-Brigade of Colonial Infantry, part of the 102nd
Fortress Division, awaited them. Three companies of but it was not until Wednesday, 15 May, that, with the
German infantry in rubber boats attempted the help of pressure from the flanks, 6th Panzer broke
crossing. O n e was thrown back, but two managed to through the stubborn French resistance.
gain a foothold and fought stubbornly all day to secure
a small bridgehead, wiping out the 5th Company of GUDERIAN'S RIGHT WHEEL
the 42nd Demi-Brigade in doing so. The French O n the morning of Tuesday, 14 May, Guderian's 1st
withdrew to their prepared positions at the foot of the Panzer had advanced as far as Chehery, some four
peninsula. T h e Germans then managed to get men miles (7km) south of the Meuse, overlooking the River
over the river on the ruins of the bridge to reinforce Bar and the Canal des Ardennes to the west. This
their position while a pontoon bridge was constructed waterway joins the Meuse a little over four miles west

ABOVE RIGHT The memorial to

Rene De Wispelaere near the
new Anhee/Yvoir road bridge.
(MMEWW2/7/17)

RIGHT The confluence of the

Meuse and the Semois
(Semoy) at Montherme. Detail
from a map published by the
German Geographischen
Dienst der Armee. (BL C21 (15)
sheet XXX-8/5-6-7)

OPPOSITE TOP The Meuse at

Montherme. (MME WW2/5/9)

OPPOSITE MIDDLE Deville,

downstream of Montherme,
seen from a Panzer south of
the village, two months after
the crossing. (B85/37/15A)

OPPOSITE BOTTOM 14 May

1940: the radio section of 9th
Infantry Regiment in
Aiglemont, south of, and high
above, Nouzonville. (B73/139/23)
 59
T H R O U G H THE A R D E N N E S

of Sedan and is the last stream until the Oise 60 miles

(100km) to the west. Guderian's account gives the
place as Chemery, but this is as far south again, and
would have been fatally exposed to counter-attack.
T h e bridge at Glaire was also bringing 2nd Panzer
across, and they were moving west along the south
bank of the Meuse.
T h e French were attempting to stem this tide. T h e
previous afternoon had seen a panic on the south
bank. French troops had reported seeing tanks at
Bulson, south-east of Chehery, and both infantry and
gunners had tumbled to the rear in a rabble. T h e
commander of the 55th Division, General Lafontaine,
withdrew his headquarters to Chemery and attempted
to organise a counter-attack. Some men, such as Major
Benedetti of the 363rd Regiment, managed to advance
and engage the Germans, but the majority, dispirited
and confused, did little or nothing. This permitted
the Germans to reach Chehery unopposed. O n the
morning of 14 May it was intended to use two groups
to push the Germans back, 4th Tank Battalion
(Bataillon de Chars de Combat) and 205th Infantry
on the right and 7th Tank Battalion and 213th
Infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Labarthe, on
the left. Only the latter was ready by 7 a.m., and so
Labarthe alone was ordered to attack.
T h e tanks were F C M 36s, light tanks armed with
obsolete 3 7 m m guns, but well handled they could still
give 1st Panzer problems, and at first they did,
catching them refuelling and knocking out two tanks
immediately T h e Germans fought back furiously,
holding 7th Tanks until their own armour could
strike. At 8.30 a.m. they hit the 7th at Connage,
leaving them with only three of their 13 tanks. An
attack by the Grossdeutschland Regiment threw the
French out of Bulson with the loss of another 19
tanks. T h e Germans hurried on to Chemery where
they were hit by their own Stukas, suffering the loss of
four dead and a number of wounded.
General Lafontaine decided not to risk the second
attack group and the French fell back towards the
ridge to the south. T h e French 3rd Armoured Division
was moving up with two battalions on the road
north from Le Chesne and two coming up through
Stonne. Two infantry regiments were also available. A
concentrated attack was possible. It was not made.
Fearful of his ability to hold the Germans, General
Jean Flavingny, commander of XXI Corps to which
these forces belonged, decided they should be
dispersed to stiffen a long line of defence rather than
knock his opponents out, so scattered were they.
In the early hours of Tuesday, 14 May General
Billotte telephoned Air Marshal Barratt for assistance
and the AASF sent six Battles in to attack the
pontoons at about 5 a.m. and another four at about
7.30 a.m. All returned safely and some hits on the
bridges were reported, but the flow of Panzers to the
 60
PART THREE

south bank seemed undiminished. T h e French 35 of their number and the Blenheims five, while the
ABOVE A Blenheim IV of 139
Air Force put in their first attack at 9 a.m., on returning aircraft were badly shot up. Two of the
Squadron, Plivot, France, April
10th Panzer's sector at Douzy and Bazeilles, with eight pontoon bridges were sunk (though they were quickly
1 9 4 0 . (Chris Davy, Blenheim
Breguet 693s protected by 15 RAF Hurricanes and 15 replaced) and bridges at Mouzon and Sedan were hit.
Squadrons of World War 2, Osprey
Bloch 152s. Later in the morning five LeO 451s and a As evening approached 28 Blenheims of 2 Group
Combat Aircraft 5)
dozen obsolescent Amiot 143 night bombers were sent attacked and a quarter of them were lost. Guderian
against the bridges and troops at Sedan. Of those that remarked:
survived the mission none were airworthy. T h a t 'There was now a most violent air attack by the
exhausted the French resources and the attacks were enemy. The extremely brave French and English pilots did
taken up by the AASF Air Vice-Marshal Playfair had not succeed in knocking out the bridges, despite the heavy
62 Battles and eight Blenheims left and committed casualties that they suffered. Our anti-aircraft gunners
them all. It spelt the end of his force. T h e Battles lost themselves on this day, and shot superbly. By
 61
THROUGH THE ARDENNES

LEFT Fallen British aircrew lie

at Noyers-Pont Maugis
alongside French infantrymen
who died defending the
Meuse line in May 1940.
(MME WW2/6/4)

BELOW LEFT To the west from

the Butte de Stonne, with the
village to the left, the
observer has a commanding
view of the country Guderian
had to cross, (MME WW2/6/36)

MAP OPPOSITE The area of the

Meuse crossings in France,
with the Canal des Ardennes
running south. Stonne
commands the exit from the
wedge of land bordered east
and west by the canal and

evening they calculated [over optimistically] that they had the whole division should be turned west or if a south- the river. Detail from
accounted for 150 enemy aeroplanes.' facing flank guard should remain on the east side of Gewasserabschnitte Nordost-
T h e German ability swiftly to get the anti-aircraft the canal. A staff officer, Major Wenck, immediately Frankreich, Berlin, February
guns established to defend their river crossings was remarked: 'Klotzen, nicht Kleckern - Bash, don't tap. 1940. Bridges are clearly
demonstrated here as it was in Belgium. It was an expression Guderian himself used, meaning S h o w n . (MME WW2Maps/2/30)

one should employ a concentrated force in a single

KLOTZEN, NICHT KLECKERN blow, not spread the force over multiple strikes. It was
In the afternoon of 14 May Guderian was back with apt. T h e whole division would turn.
1st Panzer, now in control of the road south at T h e concern was that the Sedan bridgehead was
Chemery-sur-Bar. H e asked General Kirchner if he felt overlooked by the hills running west to east through
 62
PART THREE

ABOVE On the southern side

of the hilltop at Noyers-Pont
Maugis German fallen of two
World Wars are buried.
(MMEWW2/6/10)

RIGHT A Panzer IV destroyed

in Stonne by 41st Tank
Battalion on 16 May. (B87/54/8)
 63
THROUGH THE ARDENNES

Stonne, and would be insecure unless those heights an inferno. The 10th Panzer attacked at dawn and
were also in German hands. It was decided that 10th lost a tank to 6th Recce at the Sugar Loaf (Pain
Panzer and the Grossdeutschland Regiment would take de Sucre) hair-pin bend east of the village. T h e
care of that. T h e infantry regiment was in Maisoncelle Grossdeutschland Regiment pressed and took Stonne,
that afternoon and moved on to Artaise, but were but the French 49th Tank Battalion advanced at about
unable to make further progress against unexpected 7.30 a.m. with ten Renault B1bis under the command
fire from the French 6th Reconnaissance Group and of Lieutenant Caraveo in the Toulal. They withdrew
51st, 67th and 91st Infantry. From Wednesday, 15 after the Germans had made themselves scarce, after
May and for the next three days the ridge would be which, at about 10 a.m., the Germans reoccupied

ABOVE LEFT French Hotchkiss

H-39s prepare to attack from
COVer. (TM 2937/E2)

LEFT The struggle to stay

mobile - French Renault R35s
in a field repair shop.
(TM KY7108)
 64
PART THREE

RIGHT An anti-tank gun,

modele 1937, stands in
Stonne as a memorial.
(MME WW2/7/2)

BELOW The French memorial

to the fallen of 1940 in
Stonne. (MME WW2/7/5)

OPPOSITE TOP On the left is an

armoured car driver with a
Walther P38 pistol. Centre is a
Hauptmann of the
Grossdeutschland Regiment,
which fought at Stonne. On
the right is a Major of 25th
Panzer which fought with
Rommel's 7th Panzer
Division. He carries a tank
commander's headset with
rubber earcups. (Stephen Andrew,

The German Army 1939-45 (1),

(Men-at-Arms 311)

Stonne. Caraveo returned to the attack and ran into they were united with the 45th Tank Battalion and the
OPPOSITE BOTTOM The wide- heavy anti-tank fire, losing three of his company's 67th Infantry to launch another counter-attack. To
open country west of the vehicles, the Hautvillers which caught fire, the Gaillac their left 51st Infantry attacked from the woods,
Canal des Ardennes. The view which exploded and the Chinon which burnt out. supported by Hotchkiss H 3 9 s . T h e village was
north-east of Rumigny. These last two involved the loss of their crews as well. retaken, but could not be held that night when the
(MME WW2/7/27) Three other tanks were damaged and the company supporting tanks had to withdraw. T h e Germans
withdrew to the southern edge of the village. Here regained it. T h e village of Stonne was being reduced to
ruins.
T h e morning of 16 May saw French artillery
smash the rubble of Stonne into yet smaller fragments.
Two companies of Renault B1bis of 41st Tank
Battalion went in at 5 a.m. Captain Pierre Billotte in
the tank Eure saw, as he reached the centre of the
village, a column of panzers approaching. H e
immobilised the first of them, then,
'The panzers following it were spaced at regular
intervals on a 200-metre climb, each of them being
shielded by those in front. On the other hand, I was uphill
and I could fire at them from above... In ten minutes, the
panzers at the head of the column were all silenced, one
after the other, and I could see the ones in the rear hastily
withdrawing.'
Billotte then destroyed an anti-tank gun with the
75mm. T h e 41st had retaken the wreckage of Stonne.
O n Friday 17 May the Germans relieved 10th Panzer
and the Grossdeutschland Regiment and threw their
2nd Infantry against the French. They suffered at the
hands of the 49th Tank Battalion, but prevailed.
T h e French tanks were back the next day and, with
the 51st Infantry, managed to get back into Stonne
once more, only to be shelled out by the end of the
day. The German infantry was catching up with
Kleist's Panzer Group and the attackers now had three
 65
T H R O U G H THE A R D E N N E S

divisions to dedicate to acquiring the ridge. It was not

until Friday 24 May that they could force the French
to withdraw.
By then Guderian was far away. His 1st and 2nd
Panzer Divisions had crossed the canal on Wednesday
15 M a y Then, at La Horgne, ten miles (15km) west
of Chemery, they were met by the 3rd Brigade of
Spahis, the unit which had been pulled off the Semois
prematurely a couple of days earlier. There was no
such withdrawal now. For ten hours the 1st Cavalry
Brigade and the Spahis, not merely a cavalry regiment
in name but mounted on horses, held the Germans.
T h e Spahis suffered 3 0 % casualties before they finally
fell back. T h e way to the west was clear.
It was nearly not so. T h e order had been given for
a 24-hour halt to consolidate. Guderian wrote:
7 neither would nor could agree to these orders, which
involved the sacrifice of the element of surprise we had
gained and of the whole initial success we had achieved. I
therefore got in touch, personally, first with the Chief of
Staff of the Panzer Group, Colonel Zeitzler, and since this
was not enough with General von Kleist himself, and
requested that the order to stop be cancelled. The
conversation became very heated and we repeated our
various arguments several times. Finally, General von
Kleist approved of the advance being continued for
another twenty-four hours so that sufficient space be
acquired for the infantry corps that were following... I
was pleased to have retained my freedom of movement...'
 66
PART FOUR

SICHELSCHNITT

L
ieutenant Patrick Turnbull was serving with
G H Q at Arras. On Monday 13 May, he was
sent to inspect the damage resulting from an
attack by the Luftwaffe on the railway station.
'I found there had been a number ofdirect hits on the
station which was burning fiercely. One bomb had
evidently fallen in the place [square] just outside the
entrance near a group of children either returning from
school or about to be put on a train to carry them further
west to imagined safety Six or seven mangled little bodies
lay messily on the cobbles, blood spattering the gutters.
Two nights later the Hotel Univers in turn suffered a
direct hit. I arrived on the scene just in time to see the
remains of an officer with whom I had been dining the
previous evening being dragged from the rubble...
Evidence that all was far from well was accumulating,
but even by the 16th there was no impact of crisis.
Perhaps it was that after so long a spell of wearisome
phoney war, the increasing chaos seemed equally phoney.'
The lack of urgency infected the French High
Command. General Georges had told Gamelin of a FLAVION TO LE CATEAU
serious pin-prick at Sedan, but then reported that the General Marie-Germain Bruneau, in command of 1st
Germans had been held. It was entirely false, though Armoured Division, had some 160 to 180 tanks at his
Georges evidently believed it. While Panzer Group disposal; records are vague. Of these about 70 were
Kleist launched itself westwards, the French 3rd Renault B1bis, with 28th and 37th Tank Battalions,
Armoured Division was being destroyed piecemeal on and some 90 were Hotchkiss H39s with 25th and
the heights around Stonne. In the north the 1st 26th Tanks. The division had originally been intended
Armoured had suffered a similar fate. for the support of Plan D and on 11 May was sent to

ABOVE Two of the eight Chars

B of 3rd Company destroyed
on 15 May by the Germans as
the French moved north,
leaving Denee to their right,
seeking the main east-west
road. (TM 2438/L7)

LEFT A Char B of 2 Company,

37th Tanks broken down in
Ermeton-sur-Biert. The highly
vulnerable radiator grille can
clearly be seen. (TM 2438/C5)
 67
SICHELSCHNITT

LEFT Montherme, where the

machine-gunners of the
colonial infantry were
overcome. The bridge bears a
small plaque in their memory.
(MME WW2/5/4 & 6)

BELOW A dug-out entrance

and, in the distance, a pillbox,
west of Clairfayts, where
Rommel claimed to have
broken the Maginot Line.
(MME WW2/4/32)

Charleroi in southern Belgium, ordered to travel by were seen in Anthee, on the main road south-east of
night to avoid air attack and allowed four nights to do Flavion, at about 8.30 a.m. and fired on by the 28th.
it. Orders then changed, they had to go faster, use Rommel wrote of this day:
fewer nights, and they got there late on Sunday 12 'My intention for the 15th May was to thrust straight
May. O n Monday they did nothing, in spite of the through in one stride to our objective, with the 25th
furore on the Meuse. General Corap then decided that Panzer Regiment in the lead and with artillery and, if
he had to abandon the Meuse line and create a new possible, dive-bomber support. The infantry was to follow
defence further west, on a line through Philippeville. up the tank attack, partly on foot and partly lorry-borne.
T h e confusion following on this decision was to make The essential thing, to my mind, was that the artillery
progress much easier for the Germans. should curtain off both flanks of our attack ../
O n Tuesday 14 May, as Rommel was attacking
Onhaye, 1st Armoured was ordered to Florennes, 12
miles (20km) west of Dinant, and arrived there late that
night, in some disorder and with the fuel trucks following
at the very end of the column. Rommel had, by this
time, taken Onhaye against the resistance of units of
the 4th North African Division, Zouaves and Algerians.
The Algerians fought alone, without co-ordination
with their armoured troops, against 7th Panzer while the
similarly isolated 39th and 66th Infantry, facing the
Germans of 5th Panzer west of Houx, were mopped up
as well, in spite of gallant resistance.
O n the morning of Wednesday 15 May, the
Renaults of 28th Tanks were at Flavion, just north of
the main Dinant-Philippeville road and about nine
miles (14km) from Dinant, with the Hotchkiss H39s
of the 25th to their rear in Corenne. T h e rest of the
Hotchkiss, with 26th, were to the north-east and
beyond them, close to Ermeton-sur-Biert, were the
other Chars B of the 37th. Leading tanks of 7th Panzer
 68
PART FOUR

ABOVE The routes to the English Channel suitable for AFVs and mechanised infantry support become evident on the German February 1939 Gewasserabschnitte
map of North-west France. Rommel's path from Dinant (above square 15) was by Cambrai (square 13) and left around Arras (7) and up to Lille (5). Guderian went
by Moncornet (23), St Quentin (22, top), Peronne (13) and Amiens (12) to the coast. The map gave considerable detail of the nature of the waterways and the
bridges and fords over them, as well as showing doubtful ground. The hatched areas are below sea-level. (MME ww2Maps MF2/3)
 69
SICHELSCHN1TT

LEFT The country west of the

Meuse at Dinant. The Dinant-
Philippeville road passes
through Onhaye, Anthee and
Rosee. The distance from
Gerin to Rosee is
approximately six miles
(10km). The tank action on 15
May was fought to the north
Of t h i s r o a d . (From ICM, Brussels,

1940, sheet 53. MME WW2Maps

MF2/15)

BELOW At the junction of the

Rue Haute (D104) and the
unclassified Rue de Willies,
west of Clairfayts, a house
carries the memorial to the
84th Regiment of Infantry.
(MME WW2/4/34)

A better definition of a sickle-stroke is hard to

imagine. W h e n the French fired on Rommel's leading
tanks, they took to the woods and kept going west,
avoiding towns and villages which might slow the
advance. Meanwhile his artillery and infantry engaged
the French and kept them so busy that, by late
afternoon, they were running out of fuel. When, at
about 5.30 p.m., they were ordered to fall back only
seven Chars B of the 28th could move and the 26th
Tanks could muster only 20 of their Hotchkiss.
T h e 37th Tank Battalion had been in the thick of
the battle. Fearing that 5th Panzer would outflank
their comrades to the south, seven tanks of 2nd
Company attacked with good effect but, by 2 p.m.,
the three remaining were in such bad state that their
crews were obliged to destroy them themselves. At
4 p.m. the 1st and 3rd Companies, which had been
lightly engaged, were ordered to fall back north-west
towards Mettet. Fearing problems with crossing the
River Molignee at Ermeton, 3rd Company made for
Denee to the north-east, there to encounter the
German VIII Corps, and be destroyed by their
artillery. By the end of the day the 1st Armoured had
only 20 fully operational tanks left. O f the 500 or so
German tanks they had faced, about 10 per cent had
been knocked out. Rommel said of the day:
 70
PART FOUR

some seven miles (11km) south-west of Philippeville,

on the hills west of Cerfontaine.
'Looking back east from the summit of the hill, as
night fell, endless pillars of dust could be seen rising as far
as the eye could reach — comforting signs that the 7th
Panzer Divisions move into the conquered territory had

General Corap's new line of defence had been

breached within 24 hours of its conception. Rommel
was on the Frenchman's doorstep.
Further south the order to withdraw to a line
through Rocroi had left the stubborn defenders of the
Meuse at Montherme in the lurch. T h e French 102nd
Division was a fortress unit. T h e colonial machine-
gunners, men from Indo-China and Madagascar, had
no transport. In the early morning of 15 May, their
flanks unsupported, they had been surrounded and
overcome. T h e rest of the Ninth Army was collapsing
behind them, whole units surrendering without firing
'After a brief engagement with enemy tanks near a shot.
Flavion, the Panzer Regiment advanced in column General Billotte telephoned General Georges to
through the woods to Philippeville, passing on the way report the state of the 9th Army and to propose that
numerous guns and vehicles belonging to a French unit, General Henri Giraud, commander of the 7th Army,
whose men had tumbled headlong into the woods at the should take over. T h e change was effected at 4 a.m. on
approach of our tanks 16 May and Corap departed, in his own words,
They exchanged fire with the French some three heartbroken.
miles north-west of Philippeville and Rommel then Rommel was on the move once more on the
turned south to prevent the French getting away morning of Thursday 16 May, pushing on over the
in that direction. Rushing around in a great anti- French border at Clairfayts, ten miles (17km) south-
clockwise sweep, the Germans gathered up hundreds east of Maubeuge. Here the extension of the Maginot
of prisoners with little resistance. T h e shock of their line took the form of pillboxes with an anti-tank ditch,
presence was enough. By the evening Rommel was barbed wire and metal anti-tank obstacles called

ABOVE A hastily taken

photograph from the Rommel
Collection bearing at least a
resemblance to the location
of the defences west of
Clairfayts where Rommel
fought his way through the
extension of the Maginot
Line. (IWM RML 56)

RIGHT An anti-tank ditch,

barbed wire and hedgehogs
supplemented the pillboxes
along the Franco-Belgian
border. (IWM RML 100)
 71
SICHELSCHNITT

hedgehogs. T h e border was thus defended, but troublesome artillery battery west of Clairfayts and, in
ABOVE The advance west
scarcely to the standard of the Maginot Line itself. Rommel's words,
from the Canal des Ardennes.
Having been warned that the road through Clairfayts 'The way to the west was now open. The moon was
XIX Panzer Corps approach
was mined, Rommel's column took to the fields and as up and for the time being we could expect no real
they approached the village, he recounts, Omont, 15 May, 6 p.m.
darkness. I had already given orders ... for the leading
(B91/51/27A)
'Suddenly we saw the angular outlines of a French tanks to scatter the road and verges with machine and
fortification about 100 yards [90m] ahead. Close beside anti-tank gunfire at intervals during the drive to Avesnes
it were a number of fully-armed French troops who, at the ... The mass of the division had instructions to follow up
first sight of the tanks, at once made as if to surrender. We the Panzer Regiment lorry-borne.'
were just beginning to think that we would be able to take They rushed forward through the moonlight, now
it without fighting, when one of our tanks opened fire on on the main road to Avesnes, clattering and roaring
the enemy elsewhere, with the result that the enemy along. A burst of fire from a secondary defence line
garrison promptly vanished into their concrete pill-box. In was answered with a fresh burst of fire and speed.
a few moments the leading tanks came under heavy anti- Startled civilians and exhausted troops could only jerk
tank gunfire from the left and French machine-gun fire from sleep to wonder at their passage.
opened over the whole area.' 'We drove through the villages of Sars Poteries and
T h e Germans responded with artillery fire and Beugnies with guns blazing. Enemy confusion was
smoke, while the French artillery also plastered the complete. Military vehicles, tanks, artillery and refugee
area. German engineers crawled up and thrust a charge carts packed high with belongings blocked part of the road
through the firing slit in the pillbox while sappers of and had to be pushed unceremoniously to the side. All
37th Reconnaissance Regiment blew up hedgehogs. around were French troops lying flat on the ground, and
W i t h the coming of darkness Rommel, far from farms everywhere were jammed tight with guns, tanks
withdrawing to wait for the new day, pushed forward and other military vehicles. Progress towards Avesnes
with renewed vigour, ordering a thrust as far as became slow.'
possible towards Avesnes. T h e Panzers silenced a Still in the dark they pushed on to curl west of
 72
PART FOUR

Avesnes on the Landrecies road where they paused at

RIGHT The monument
last. They had become separated from their support,
commemorates Jean Bescond
but Rommel was not particularly concerned. It was
and his comrades of the 46th
clear there were plenty of French about, including part
who died here on 17 May
of the French 1st Armoured, 25th Battalion, with
1 9 4 0 . (MME WW2/7/30)
Hotchkiss H39s in the town itself. T h e 2/25th Panzer
attacked but was unsuccessful, losing several tanks. At
BELOW South-west of 4 a.m. on 17 May the Panzer IVs finally managed to
Montcornet, on the overcome the French, effectively ending the existence
unclassified road between of the French 1st Armoured Division.
Clermont-les-Fermes and la Still Rommel gave his men no rest. T h e danger in
Ville-aux-Bois-les-Dizy, a Avesnes having been neutralised, they drove on for
monument recalls the French Landrecies where, shouting for the French traffic to
4th Armoured Division's make way, they made for the bridge over the River
attack on Guderian's flank. Sambre which they found intact. At 5.15 a.m. on
(MME WW2/7/29) Friday they stopped just east of Le Cateau. They had
advanced more than 30 miles (50km) in 24 hours.

MONTCORNET AND CRECY

Early on Thursday 16 May, General Guderian drove
through Vendresse and O m o n t to Bouvellemont,
where he found Lieutenant-colonel Balck, red-eyed
and dirty, had pushed his exhausted men on to take
the village. They had followed Balck forward when,
refusing to argue with officers who wanted to stop, he
declared he would go on alone. Guderian now
explained that, as a captured French order revealed,
the French were in a state of near-panic and it was vital
to maintain the pressure.
Guderian drove on, to Novion-Porcien and then
on to Montcornet, about 30 miles (50km) from
Bouvellemont. Here he found Generalmajor Werner
Kempff of 6th Panzer in Reinhardt's Corps. There
were now three Panzer divisions in the area and they
agreed operational boundaries amongst themselves.
 73
SICHELSCHNITT

LEFT The bridges at Moy de

I'Aisne, over the river and the
canal. This position, like
others along the valley, was
defended by a single tank.
(MME WW2/8/24)

BELOW The memorial to the

defenders of the Moy bridges.
(MME WW2/8/3)

Guderian gave the order to press on until fuel was

exhausted, and by the end of the day German units
had reached Marie and Dercy, another 25 miles
(40km) to the west. That night Guderian settled in to
rest at Soize, east of Montcornet, and made plans to
continue the advance the next morning. Friday 17
May, brought a nasty surprise. An order arrived from
Panzer Group to stay where he was and await a visit
from General von Kleist. They met at the airstrip at 7
a.m. and Kleist delivered a tirade of condemnation for
Guderian's excessive zeal.
T h e German High C o m m a n d had always been
worried about thrusting too far forward and exposing
a vulnerable flank, but so far nothing had happened to
reinforce their apprehension and Haider seemed to
have joined the Manstein camp wholeheartedly.
Hitler, however, was increasingly concerned about the
southern flank and went to see Rundstedt, whose
Army Group A War Diary reveals the view that
'The extended flank between La Fere and Rethel is
too sensitive, especially in the Laon area ... an open
invitation for an enemy attack ...'
Kleist also had been nervous throughout, and in
this atmosphere his apprehensions had gained the
upper hand. Guderian responded by offering his
resignation. Kleist hesitated, startled, then nodded
and told Guderian to hand over to the most senior of
his subordinates, General Veiel. Guderian then
signalled to Rundstedt his intention of going to Army
Group headquarters, but was told to stay where he was
and await Colonel-general List commander of the
12th Army.
List conveyed the order to Guderian that he was
not to resign and produced a masterly compromise.
Guderian's Corps headquarters was to stay put
 74
PART FOUR

while the Panzers were authorised to carry out a

reconnaissance in force. Guderian wrote:
'Then / set the "reconnaissance in force" in motion.
Corps headquarters remained at its old location in Soize;
a wire was laid from there to my advanced headquarters,
so that I need not communicate with my staff by wireless
and my orders could therefore not be monitored by the
wireless intercept units of the OKH and the OKW'
Without the knowledge of Kleist or Rundstedt the
advance would proceed.
T h e anticipated flank attack did take place. O n 15
May Colonel Charles de Gaulle had been summoned
to see General Georges. T h e new commander of the
4th Armoured Division was to receive his orders to
delay the German advance while a new defence line
was set up. Georges himself remarked:
'There, de Gaulle! For you who have so long held the
ideas which the enemy is putting into practice, here is the
chance to act.'
That such a remark could be made at this time is
indicative of how little grasp Georges had of the true
situation. Not only had the Panzers advanced too far
to permit the establishment of the intended line, but
the 4th Armoured Division was virtually non-existent.
 75
SICHELSCHNITT

OPPOSITE TOP The scene of De

Gaulle's second attack on
Guderian's flank at Crecy-sur-
S e r r e . (BL C21 (15), sheets XXVII-9/

5-6 and 10/1-2)

OPPOSITE BOTTOM The village

of Dercy from the south-east.
The broad valley continues to
Crecy, to the left, with the
hills beyond, (MME ww/2/7/34)

LEFT Signs of the French

retreat at Peronne,
photographed on 19 May.
(B91/46/5)

T h e 345th Tank Company (Renault D2s) reached was firing on us. Our own was far from being in position.
Soissons on the way to the rendezvous near Laon on All the afternoon the Stukas, swooping out of the sky and
the morning of 16 May and 24th (Renault 35s) and returning ceaselessly, attacked our tanks and lorries. We had
46th (Chars B) Tank Battalions arrived in the evening nothing with which to reply. Finally, German mechanised
together with one company from the 2nd Battalion. detachments, more and more numerous and active, began
T h e rest of his division, two tank battalions, four tank skirmishing in our rear. We were lost children thirty
companies, the artillery and the regiments of infantry kilometres in advance of the Aisne, we had got to put an
and cavalry, did not turn up. De Gaulle had to use end to a situation that was, to say the least, risky.'
what was to hand. T h e French withdrew with losses of 12 Chars B,
7 threw them forward as soon as daylight appeared. 20 Renault 35s and some of the D2s, but it had
Sweeping away on their path the enemy units which were inflicted loss on the Germans. Guderian, presumably
already invading that piece of country, they reached distracted by his skirmish with his superiors, makes
Montcornet. Till evening they fought on the outskirts of little mention of the fight, and apparently did not
the place and within it...' report it, perhaps lest it add fuel to the uneasiness of
The Renault 35s of l/24th Tank Battalion entered the German High Command.
Montcornet at noon, but immediately lost four tanks. That evening the Panzers had reached the river
T h e Renault B1bis of the 46th, having destroyed a and canal barriers of the Oise and the Sambre to Oise
German motorised column near Chivres-en-Laonnois, Canal in their broad valley overlooked by gentle hills.
advanced between Clermont-les-Fermes, south-west, The defence consisted of scattered armoured units,
and Dizy-le-Gros, south of Montcornet. They were many positioned one tank per bridge in place of
pushing on to the north, when their commander, Jean artillery and, what is more, without support of any
Bescond, was forced to abandon his broken-down kind. N o matter how heroic their men, these isolated
vehicle and take over Sampiero-Corso to continue his machines could not stand and they were plucked one
attack. All its occupants died when, shortly thereafter, by one. At 9 a.m. on Saturday 18 May 2nd Panzer had
it was hit and exploded. T h e 4th Chasseurs joined de reached St Quentin.
Gaulle that afternoon and were immediately sent into De Gaulle's 4th Armoured had, by Saturday
action against a German force that popped up at evening, been refreshed by the addition of various
Chivres, behind the French advance. But the 4th companies of armoured units to the tune of having
Armoured lacked air, artillery or infantry support. De 155 tanks. At 4 a.m. on Sunday 19 May they attacked
Gaulle wrote: once more, this time heading north of Laon towards
'... From the north of the Serre the German artillery Crecy-sur-Serre. T h e Renualt 35s of 2 n d Tank
 76
PART FOUR

Battalion actually entered Crecy, but could go no

LEFT A touching memorial in
further; the Germans defended the river and had the
the communal cemetery in
advantage of the heights beyond. By the end of the
Peronne. The tombs of his
day, when the 4th Armoured withdrew once more, it
had lost 10 Chars B, 20 Somua S-35s and close on 50 countrymen who fell in the

Renault 35s as well as a dozen armoured cars; half its Franco-Prussian War are

strength. T h e Germans regarded the intervention as close by, as are those of

pretty trivial. British soldiers of 1914-18.
(MMEWW2/8/13)

ON TO THE SEA
In early 1939 the 21-year-old Doug Swift, a gardener, BELOW A Panzer unit, 1
got a job with Eastbourne Corporation. Within a year and infantry, advancing
his employment was to be interrupted and Eastbourne across a Somme cornfield.
was almost empty, the inhabitants evacuated as it was (B73/2/12)

a town in the front line. He was called up in January

1940 and found himself in the 7th Battalion, the
Royal Sussex Regiment. By April he was in France, in
Argeuil, near Forges-les-Eaux, whence they were
ordered to Lens to join the BEF in the defence of the
Escault. T h e train went by way of Amiens, he recalls.
'We came steaming slowly into St Roche station,
Amiens, this was the morning of 18th May ... a
Saturday. I was dozing on the floor of the truck with the
 77
SICHELSCHNITT

other chaps, it was a warm, dry day. The next thing we

LEFT The memorial to the 7th
knew, this screaming noise was coming down at us. Then
Sussex on the north-western
the bombs were falling, exploding amongst the trucks
side of the N29 between
sending showers of debris flying high into the air, falling to
Amiens and Salouel.
the ground a few seconds later... We scrambled out of the
(MME WW2/9/36)
trucks, diving underneath them just before the Stukas came
screaming down for a second attack, followed by a third.'
T h e railway lines were torn up and dead and BELOW The foundations of the

wounded lay everywhere. Swift's C O was wounded, so chateau are marked in a

Lieutenant Jackson took over. clearing in the woods west of
7 remember Lieutenant Jackson saying, about all the the Sussex memorial.
carnage and destruction, "It's a bad business, but that's (MMEWW2/10/1)

war. "And as this was our first taste of it, I thought "Well,
Tm not looking forward to this very much.'"
T h e Sussex moved away from the station to a
nearby wood.
O n Sunday 19 May 1st Panzer reached Peronne
and forced a bridgehead over the canal, the last water
obstacle before the Channel. T h e protection of the left
flank was secured by bringing up 10th Panzer and 1st
Panzer pushed on over the familiar ground of the First
World War battlefield of the Somme, heading for
Amiens. T h e 7th Royal West Kents were at Albert
where 2nd Panzer were going. O n the morning of
Monday 20 May, Guderian set out in good time to see
what would happen at Amiens, driving round Albert
because it was still held by the British.
 78
PART FOUR

O n Sunday the 7th Royal Sussex had moved out of their heads. French artillery practising, they were told.
ABOVE Doug Swift's sketch of
town and up the hill to the south-west where a wood Then some figures appeared in the valley to their east.
the battle of Monday 20 May.
surrounded a chateau on the Amiens to Poix road. It Jerries, someone said. An old man was pushing his
He says that C and D
was a busy road. Swift reports: handcart across the field. A lone French soldier came
Companies may have been
'Refugees were going by endlessly All those that had along with his rifle and lay down beside them. Sharing
the other way round. The road
cars had put mattresses on their tops as a bit of protection no language they nodded and smiled. A French light
in the foreground is the N29 tank was persuaded to stay with them. They waited.
against machine gunning from the air. There were cars,
from Amiens to Poix and the lorries and horses and carts loaded with belongings, hand Swift takes up the tale:
road in the distance is the N1 carts, bicycles, wheel barrows, anything that would carry 7 never did fill in the will form in the back of my
to Dury. a few possessions. People walking carrying suitcases, Pay Book. Seemed too final, somehow ... The weather
bundles in hands and on heads, streamed down the road was quiet, warm, sunny and dry... Without any
OPPOSITE TOP Refuelling at past us away from the advancing German army. warning, a hail of machine gun bullets came sweeping
the expense of the French; 'Amiens was a garrison town and out of it came down amongst us from German tanks on the top road.
Amiens, 11.45 a.m., 20 May. pouring lorry-loads of French troops — the garrison was We commenced firing back, the light French tank opened
(B71/86/68) shoving off. I thought "This is a bit odd, the French up and immediately became a target for heavy mortars.
garrison pushing off while we from another country wait They came whistling over ... finally knocking it out.
OPPOSITE BOTTOM The for whatever was out there somewhere!"' They were also hitting the chateau with heavy mortars,
morning after. Dead of the 7th There the Sussex stayed all day, deployed in the causing considerable damage and the farm buildings on
Sussex photographed at 9 field and in the wood, watching the German bombers our right front were on fire... I noticed that the speeds
a.m., 21 May. (B89/122/12A) pound Amiens into ruins. T h e next morning they and the sounds of the bullets varied, some went by with
were still there, the French Commandant of the town a terrific zip, others whined by. Some were high pitched
having no orders for them. Doug Swift and his and urgent ... while others droned by and one or two
comrades asked why the big shells were whizzing over seemed spent.'
 \

79
SICHELSCHNITT

T h e Sussex were utterly out-gunned. A lorry

attempting to bring up ammunition was hit and
exploded. T h e battle continued through the after-
noon. At about 5 p.m. the Battalion Headquarters in
the chateau was overrun but the men out in the field
fought on until the tanks poured down from the road.
Those who could stand rose slowly to surrender.
'The old man who had been trundling his little
handcart was lying in a heap, dead, his cart on its side.
The little lone French soldier lay stretched out dead beside
his rifle. He was the hero of France, giving his life for his
country while his compatriots had scurried off.'
Swift found that the front-line troops treated them
with respect. T h e wounded survivors were gathered up
and taken to hospital. T h e unwounded, some 70 men
from the 700 or so that had arrived on the train only
a couple of days before, marched into captivity. As
they went the Germans they encountered became less
charming, food and water meagre. They reached
Bastogne before, half starving, they were put onto a
train for Poland and prison camp.
Guderian was well pleased with the morning's
events. H e regarded the action at Amiens, intended to
secure a bridgehead rather than a break-through, as
complete by noon and turned back for Albert. There
the West Kents had fought as hard as the Sussex. Swift
saw the results as he marched through. Lorries burnt
out and dead, burned men strewn around. Guderian
found 2nd Panzer, claiming insufficient fuel, halted.
They were quickly on the move again, for Abbeville,
which they reached by 5 p.m. During the night the
 80
PART FOUR

ABOVE Rommel's column

passes an abandoned French
Somua S-35. (IWM RML 70)

RIGHT A pillbox near the

Roman road running north-
east of Bavay, between
Valenciennes and Maubeuge.
This is much fought-over
country; a few miles beyond
is Malplaquet, scene of
Marlborough's bloody and
hollow victory of 1709.
(MME WW2/4/20)
 81
SICHELSCHNITT

RETURN TO CAMBRAI
ABOVE The forts around
General Rommel was in a precarious position on the
Maubeuge resisted but were
morning of Friday 17 May, but, luckily for him, the
ill-equipped and eventually
French did not know it. Their 2nd Armoured Division
fell. Fort de Leveau is being
had been cut in two by Guderian's galloping progress,
restored and preserved.
with part of it south of the Aisne and involved in
(MME WW2/4/22)
General de Lattre de Tassigny's stubborn defence of
Rethel, while the rest had been scattered across the
front in an attempt to bar the Oise crossings. Rommel LEFT Memorial to the 87th
himself was annoyed that the rest of his division had Regiment and to an
failed to match his cracking pace and turned back to individual, Ernest Delalain, at
gather them up. W i t h a Panzer III accompanying his Fort de Leveau. (MME ww/2/4/23)
signals vehicle, off he went, back the way he had come,
through Landrecies, where they got lost, past a burnt-
out German tank on the Avesnes road and onwards.
The escorting tank fell out with mechanical trouble, so
on went Rommel in his lone, unarmoured vehicle.
Spitta Battalion of 2nd Panzer reached the sea near East of Marolles they came upon a Panzer IV.
Noyelles. T h e Allies were cut in two. T h e next day Rommel was relieved! O n e or two other German
there were no orders about which way they should go units were turning up and, comforted that he was not
next, so Guderian entirely alone, Rommel pushed on. French troops
'... spent the day visiting Abbeville and our crossings were encountered and ordered to have their vehicles
and bridgeheads over the Somme. On the way I asked the fall in behind the signals vehicle. By the time he got to
men how they had enjoyed the operations up to date. "Not Avesnes, Rommel was being followed by about 40
bad," said an Austrian of the 2nd Panzer Division, "but French trucks which were then marshalled in a field so
we wasted two whole days." Unfortunately, he was right.' that their occupants could be disarmed. By 4 p.m.
 82
PART FOUR

Rommel's staff had caught up with him and the area possible. Led by its few tanks and two troops of self-
overrun was in the process of being consolidated. propelled AA guns, the battalion advanced over a broad
O n Saturday 18 May the objective was Cambrai, front and in great depth straight across the fields to the
scene of the great tank battle of the First World War. north-west, throwing up a great cloud of dust as they
However, the 25th Panzer Regiment in front of Le went.'
Cateau was low on fuel and ammunition and had to So impressive was the demonstration that no one
be resupplied. Moreover, elements of the French 2nd guessed these were mostly thin-skinned vehicles. They
Armoured Division with Renault B1s had inserted scattered fire into the northern outskirts of Cambrai as
themselves between Rommel and the forward unit. He they went. N o resistance was offered.
wrote: Most of the next day, Sunday, was devoted to rest
7 later caught up with the Panzer Battalion in the and resupply. But for the evening a further advance
wood half a mile east of Pommereuille, and found them was planned. General Hoth, the Corps commander,
in violent action against French tanks which were barring thought this was asking too much of the men,
the road. Violent fighting developed on the road and there but Rommel persuaded him otherwise. Early in the
was no chance of outflanking the enemy position on either morning of Monday, 20 May, they were off again, but
side. Our guns seemed to be completely ineffective against without the same luck. T h e over-extended line of
the heavy armour of the French tanks.' advance was penetrated by the French and it took
Rommel decided to leave them to it and get on to some time to bring up an infantry regiment to secure
the 25th, by way of Ors to the south where there was the line of communication. To the north the German
a bridge. The supply column failed to follow, so all he armour formerly engaged in the Gembloux gap
could do was try to cheer up the commander of the had pushed southward to take the forts around
stymied Panzer regiment and call up enough force to Maubeuge. Here, on Rommel's front, it was decided to
free the road through Pommereuille. By 3 p.m. this consolidate south of Arras, for the news had come that
was done and the advance towards Cambrai became the Allies were pulling out of Belgium and the
possible. opposition before them was hardening. It would have
BELOW French troops 7 now gave orders for the reinforced Battalion Paris to, for the Allies in the north were now in the embrace
surrender in the Bois de [the name of the commander] to secure the roads leading of a German presence from the mouth of the Somme
I'Eveque. (IWMRML63) from Cambrai to the north-east and north as quickly as to the Belgian coast.
 83

PART FIVE

RETURN TO FLANDERS
FIELDS

L
ord Gort was not a flamboyant soldier. His remarkable took place to prevent it, the French High
courage was undoubted. He had won the V.C. C o m m a n d was cracking up. Gort had, on 17 May, in
in September 1918 leading the Grenadier order to secure the BEF against the collapse of their
Guards to take Premy Ridge near Graincourt, an southern flank, created a special task force, Macforce,
action in which he was twice wounded. He was loyal under Major-general Mason-Macfarlane, his Director
and dutiful, and saw his task as to obey the orders of Military Intelligence. Quite why this was the
received from his superior officer, General Billotte. H e time to dispense with the services of the Director of
had one overriding order, to the effect that if he Military Intelligence is unclear. Now, on 19 May,
thought the security of the BEF was compromised, he in spite of the fact that General Georges had just
had a right of appeal to London. Gort's staff got on removed Arras from the BEF's zone, Gort established
well with the French staff. In these circumstances it Petreforce under General R. L. Petrie to defend the
was disturbing to him that Billotte communicated town. Further, the Englishman's thoughts were
with him so little. It was even more disturbing when, turning to what might be done if the French effort to
a week after the German attack, he did. close the great gap through which the Germans were
O n the night of 18-19 May Billotte went to Gort's pouring should fail. That he was examining the
headquarters at Wahagnies. T h e orders, counter-orders possibility of a withdrawal on Dunkirk became known
and changes of plan of the previous few days were now to London at 4.30 p.m. that Sunday and, because the
summed up in Billotte's remark: 'Je suis creve de Cabinet favoured falling back on the lines of
fatigue, et contre ces Panzers je ne peux rien faire.' (I'm communication south of the Somme, Field Marshal
worn out and against these panzers I can do nothing.) Lord Ironside was sent out to put Gort right.
Churchill's flying visit to Paris on 16 May had In Paris the return of General Weygand was
discovered no coherent fighting policy either, but he awaited. He had been summoned from Syria by Prime
still did everything possible to keep their spirits up, Minister Reynaud. Meanwhile General Gamelin was
including persuading the British Cabinet to agree to taking a personal interest in events. O n Sunday he went
more fighter squadrons being sent to France. It was to General Georges's headquarters where he drafted
becoming increasingly clear that, unless something 'Personal and Secret Instruction No. 12', which began:

LEFT A German bicycle

squadron. A barge forms part
of a bridge for crossing the
Maas-Scheldt Canal in
northern Belgium. (B78/126/4A)
 84
PART FIVE

'Without wishing to interfere in the conduct of the all-out effort in the air. Certainly the pinching out of
battle now being waged, which is in the hands of the the salient created by the Panzers was a sound, not to
Commander-in-Chief of the North-East Front...' say a classic, plan, but it was all too languid and all too
and went on to suggest, rather vaguely, that the late. At 3.30 p.m. Weygand called on Gamelin and
advanced Panzer divisions should be stopped on the asked to be brought up to date on events, then for
Somme and also attacked in their rear where there permission to call on Georges. Just five hours later
appeared to be, he said, a vacuum at that time. In Gamelin received a letter from Weygand informing
addition there should be an attack on Mezieres and an him that the writer was replacing him.
 85
RETURN TO FLANDERS FIELDS

OPPOSITE LEFT Belgian

military map of the Escaut
line south of Audenarde
(Oudenarde), the area in
which Major Lord Sysonby
and the 1/5th Queens fought
close to the railway line
running west. The American
91st Division liberated
Audenarde in 1918 and
Marlborough fought north of
the town in 1708. (MME
WW2Maps MF2/17)

LEFT The market square at

Ypres with the Cloth Hall on
the left and the cathedral
spire on the right.
The 73-year-old Weygand had had a terrible reaching it were truly appalled at the spectacle. Most of (MME Ypres 5/4)
journey and, after two days on the move to Paris and the houses were on fire, large explosions were going on all
around France, was exhausted. Monday 20 May was over the town caused by the extremely heavy barrage of
BELOW A Panzer IV passing a
therefore devoted to resting, though not before German shells fired from heavy guns. The air was so filled
British Bren Carrier, possibly
Gamelin's order No. 12 of the previous day had been with smoke from the burning houses and the cordite
in Ficheux, south-west of
cancelled. This was the day that Guderian's men fumes that is was hard to see... We advanced down the
Arras, on 21 May. (IWM RMLI39)
reached the Channel. main street which was nothing more than a shambles of
dead men and animals intermingled with great piles of
ON THE ESCAUT rubble. I noticed a very gallant action of machine-
Major Lord Sysonby was probably feeling a little gunners giving overhead fire in an easterly direction all
fatigued as well, but the cause was different. Sunday, unperturbed by the inferno raging around them.'
19 May, had been spent in attempting to control the Turning left at the cross-roads, Sysonby saw a
tide of civilians and soldiers pouring west over the column of Germans marching three abreast. Many
Escaut. Early in the day he had been able to write died under the Queen's fire. O n e 'singly brave'
home, telling the sad story of the barge people being German fired his anti-tank rifle at Sysonby, narrowly
turned off their boats on the Escaut so the engineers missing, and then went to throw a grenade.
could sink them. He did not get the time to write 7 shot him in the face with my revolver which was
again until Thursday. T h e l / 5 t h Queens Royal a very fluky shot as we were travelling at about 20mph
Regiment were next to the railway south-west of
Audenarde near Petegem, and forward of them were
l / 6 t h Queens, overlooking the river and the lowland
around Melden on the south-eastern bank. At noon
on Monday enemy cyclists were seen coming down the
hill into Melden and in the afternoon the Germans
attempted to reach the river, but were shot down. A
more cautious approach led to numerous German
penetrations on a small scale and the day passed in a
succession of counter-attacks. Meanwhile, to the south
near Valenciennes, the French closed the sluices in an
attempt to flood their front. As a result, here the water
level was going down, draining the ditches in the
marshy water-meadows and providing cover for
attackers. During the night Petegem village fell to the
Germans. Sysonby was summoned and told:
'The situation is critical as they will get round behind
us... Take the Carrier platoon and go in there and restore
the situation... We advanced towards this village
[Petegem] some seven miles away at high speed and on
 86
PART FIVE

[30kph]. We then proceeded on our course for about a Sysonby reformed the men into ' Z ' Company, a
ABOVE Arras: (pages 88-91) a makeshift unit of which its members appeared
mile and a half [2.5km] into the enemy's lines shooting all
composite of German curiously proud. In the afternoon the shelling began
and sundry we saw.'
1:25,000 maps made after the again in good earnest and all they could do was huddle
They turned and started back to the village, now
occupation. Road taking the Germans in the rear. A carrier had been hit down in their trenches. Sysonby reported to the
improvements and new and immobilised, its driver, Corporal Peters, stuck in Colonel commanding the Sussex and as they talked a
buildings have obscured it with a smashed thigh and trapped foot, and two shell entered the dug-out.
some of the ground, of its crew made prisoner. Sysonby's return journey 'The man standing next to me had his head cut clean
particularly south-east and scared off their captors and gave Sergeant Wynn the off but neither the Colonel or I were touched although
east of Arras and the N25 to chance to rescue Peters, a deed for which he received considerably shaken. My orders were to take the carrier
the south-west has been the D C M . platoon up on the ridge and to try and save the situation
upgraded. The ridge north- That afternoon the Germans shelled Petegem into by frightening the Germans as they are reputed to be
west of Wailly (village bottom dust and the Queens were forced to fall back. Sysonby afraid of armoured fighting vehicles. I had a look round
left) is little altered except for was ordered to remain with the 5th Royal Sussex at the position which was hard to see owing to the incessant
Huttegem, east of Vichte, six miles (10km) west of flashes and clouds of cordite smoke but quickly realised
the abandonment of the light
Petegem. He wrote: were I to obey this order the carrier platoon would be
railway, the bed of which
'We got about two hours sleep and then took up our wiped out to a man.'
remains. Given the excellence
positions on a ridge facing the enemy. We had only one Instead they made a brief demonstration and fell
of the sight-lines, it is
spade between us, the others having been smashed in the back before the Germans could respond. Passing
remarkable that Rommel
action the day before, so we had to dig little holes for through the burning village they were asked to stay
exaggerated the British
ourselves ...' and stiffen the Sussex's line, which they did.
strength so greatly.
As they dug the shelling started but did little more 'We fixed bayonets and got ready. The Germans came
(BL C21 (15) sheets XXIV-6/5-6 and 7-8)
than scare them stiff. Stragglers were coming in and on steadily and we gave them as good as they gave us. The
 87
RETURN TO FLANDERS FIELDS

most unattractive part of the programme was their firing

at us with sub machine-guns with tracer bullets.'
Sysonby stayed on with eight men to cover the
retreat and the Germans responded with a heavy box
barrage which set light to the surrounding woods.
'You can imagine how near to hell it was with
burning woods, the reek of cordite and its pungent brown
smoke mixing with the smoke of burning trees. The
incessant flashes and roaring reports from the shells and
the tracer ammunition stabbing the twilight like furious
fireflies. By luck we managed to slip down a sunken bank
and I took a swift compass bearing on a distant church ...
on the line of retreat.'
They set off cross-country, avoiding the shell-
deluged roads, and five hours later Sysonby brought
his men out on a safe road and marched them through
the night to rejoin the battalion. He was awarded the
D S O for his actions in these three days.
The French were offering battle as well. T h e THE CRUMBLING ALLIANCE
evidence of their determination was found by the Earl Lord Ironside reached Gort's headquarters early on
of Cardigan after the storm had passed, but not before Monday 20 M a y He still thought that the Panzers to
he had also found defensive positions that seemed the south were present in penny packets and could be
untouched. Cardigan had been captured but had mopped up by the BEF He was soon fully appraised of
escaped and was making his way south from Belgium the situation. From the north Bock's Army Group B
in an attempt, successful eventually, to reach southern was pressing back the Belgians and the British while
France and return home to England. H e went Rommel threatened Arras and Guderian Abbeville.
cautiously up along the banks of the river Escault and Gamelin's last order had already been countermanded,
had reached a point just to the north of Valenciennes. but all Gort could offer, he explained, was a strike
He wrote in 1940: around Arras co-ordinated with an attack by General
'The detour to avoid the Kommandantur at Conde Rene Altmayer's V Corps towards Cambrai. T h e
was not as easy as it might have been, for here were isolation of the Panzers had to depend on an attack
some of the former French defences — great stretches of from the Somme. Ironside accepted this and next
barbed wire still forming an impassable barrier to a man visited Billotte in an attempt to spur the French
on foot. Oddly enough the French do not seem to have commander into positive action.
attempted to hold this carefully prepared ground — for I Weygand was now rested and taking control. He
could detectfew signs of fighting— but maybe the position issued an order to keep civilians off the roads except
was turned and had to be abandoned to avoid between 6 p.m. and midnight, thus giving some
encirclement.' freedom of movement to his troops. H e also
Having circumnavigated Conde, Cardigan re-
gained the river and examined the terrain. T h e
waterway was canalised and here was above the level of
the surrounding country. There was no evidence of
the western side being reinforced, with a parapet for
example, or of the natural cover to the east being
cleared away. T h e presence of graves showed that there
had been fighting and Cardigan could imagine small
groups of Germans working forward through the
bushes before springing a surprise attack.
'To me the scattered French graves, encountered
everywhere in groups of three orfour or half a dozen, seem
particularly tragic: here lie men who, making a stand in ABOVE Two British graves in
their own little sector, sacrificed everything to defend their Wailly communal cemetery.
country, while perhaps only a few miles away great gaps (MME WW2/4/12)

had been torn in the line of defence, allowing the tide of

the German invasion to flow in behind and around them. LEFT French tanks also fought
They at least, whether aware of the threatening disaster or Rommel's force on 21 May.
ignorant of it, held their ground to the last.' (MME WW2/4/11)
 88
PART FIVE

RIGHT From the Wailly/Bac-

du-Nord road, looking north-
east towards Arras. The
British advanced up the
gentle slope to the left and
the Germans occupied the
ground to the right.
(MME WW2/4/15)

discovered that the only way to speak to Billotte was to Paris. Nothing was settled. It is astounding that
through an unreliable telephone link via London. He Weygand embarked on such a journey without
decided to go visiting. London was informed and sent adequate planning and equally astonishing that Gort
Gort a message to say Weygand was coming the next should leave his headquarters without making sure he
day. Unfortunately the message, dictated on Monday could be contacted. T h e day was wasted while the
20 May, was not dispatched until early the next Germans progressed. The generals dispersed in the
morning. It therefore bore the date of 21 May and still growing darkness. O n the way to Douai Billotte's car
said 'tomorrow'. crashed. T h e French general was fatally injured and
At 9 a.m. on Tuesday 21 May, Weygand took off died two days later. T h e co-ordination of the Allies was
from Le Bourget and flew north, over the battlefield of yet further compromised.
the Somme where the Panzers' progress was clear to
see, and landed at Norrent-Fontes, midway between St THE COUNTER-ATTACK AT ARRAS
Omer and Bethune. Apparently there was no one At the last minute Altmayer's contribution to the
there. A man with an old truck was found who gave attack to the south was cancelled. It is said that a
them a lift into the village to make a telephone call at messenger found him sitting on his bed, weeping. T h e
the post office. Contact once made with 1st Army British went ahead. Major-general Harold Franklyn
Group Headquarters, they flew on to St-Inglevert, headed another of the ad-hoc formations, Frankforce.
south-west of Calais, and Weygand met General Pierre T h e force was small. Instead of two divisions he had
Champon, head of the French Military Mission at the three infantry battalions, 6th, 7th and 8th Durham
Belgian headquarters. Together they drove off for Light Infantry and two tank battalions, 4th and
Ypres. T h e inter-Allied conference consisted of King 7th Royal Tank Regiment. Only one of the Tank
Leopold and General van Overstraeten for the battalions, the 7th, had any of the more modern Mark
Belgians, the two recently arrived Frenchmen and IIs, the Matildas, of which there were 16, so out of
Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, the British representative to those seven were attached to the 4th. There were 58
King Leopold, to be joined later that afternoon by Mark Is altogether. These tanks were badly in need of
Generals Billotte and Falgade. But no Gort. Weygand's servicing and renewals of parts, especially tracks. T h e
plan for an attack from both north and south trains that had been intended to bring them back from
demanded a retreat by the Belgians to protect the the Dyle line had failed through lack of drivers, so the
British flank. T h e Belgians argued against it. Keyes was AFVs had been driven to France with consequent wear
sent to look for Gort, but by the time he had located and tear on their tracks. Two field artillery batteries,
him and brought him back to Ypres, Weygand had left two anti-tank batteries and a motor-cycle battalion for
to take ship from Dunkirk for Cherbourg and return reconnaissance completed the force. O n their right the
 89
RETURN TO FLANDERS FIELDS

undaunted General Prioux of the French Cavalry Totenkopf on its left along the route intended for
Corps put his 3rd Light Mechanised Division, with Martel's right column, while 5th Panzer was heading
about 70 tanks, into the field, worn though it was towards the east of the town on a collision course with
from the fighting in the Gembloux Gap. the left column. Rommel had been chasing up laggard
The command of the operation was given to Rifle Regiments when he came under fire from a point
Major-general G. le Q. Martel, commander of 50th to the north of Ficheux and Wailly. At the northern
Division. The tanks were to advance in two columns exit from Wailly he found one of his howitzer batteries
west of Arras, the stated objective being to secure the firing on tanks approaching from the north. T h e
town which Petreforce was preparing to defend. The British had already overcome Germans in Duisans and
intelligence was that some Panzers were present to the Warlus, but missed the 25th Panzer Regiment which
south of Arras, but their numbers were not believed to was pushing north, and to the west the French had
be great. Frankforce assembled, having made its way cleared Agnes and Simoncourt and were approaching
over roads crowded with refugees and straying soldiers, the Arras-Doulens road. Rommel was confident his
at Vimy. Maps were in short supply, most of the radios howitzers could hold their own and turned his
were out of action and there was no equipment attention to the situation in Wailly.
for communication between the tanks and the infantry. 'The enemy [British and French] tank fire had
Nor was liaison with their artillery any more organised. created chaos and confusion among our troops in the
Of air support there was none. In this sorry state village and they were jamming up the roads and yards
Frankforce went into battle, leaving Vimy at 11 a.m. on with their vehicles, instead of going into action with every
Tuesday 21 May and crossing their start line at 2 p.m. available weapon to fight off the oncoming enemy... We
With the 12th Lancers perched up on Mont St drove off to a hill 1,000 yards west of the village ... About
Eloi on the west, the right column (7th Royal Tank 1,200 yards west of our position, the leading enemy tanks
Regiment and 8th Durham Light Infantry) was to pass [of 7th RTR], among them one heavy, had already crossed
below the hill through Maroeuil, Warlus and Wailly, the Arras-Beaumetz railway and shot up one of our
while the left column (4th R T R and 6th DLI) Panzer Ills. At the same time several enemy tanks were
wrapped itself closer to Arras through Achicourt and advancing down the road from Bac du Nord [on the
Beaurins. True to form, Rommel had decided to Arras-Doullens road] and across the railway line to
respond to the resistance offered by the British in Arras Wailly. It was an extremely tight spot...'
by going round them, so 7th Panzer was coming W h a t Rommel did not know was the 7th RTR
round the south of Arras with the SS Division had lost cohesion through radio failure and casualties

FAR LEFT The 4th Dragons

Portees are commemorated
at St Eloi. (MME Yp/Ar 7/30)

LEFT Also at St Eloi, British

graves. These are men of 208
Battery, 52nd Anti-Tank
Regiment, Royal Artillery, who
died on 22 May in the
aftermath of the Arras attack.
(MME Yp/Ar 7/29)
 90
PART FIVE

and were no longer acting in concert. W h a t he did see whole number of German anti-tank guns in the area of
ABOVE A Matilda Mark II
was the potato clamp and crews were running about.'
knocked out at Arras. A
'The crew of a howitzer battery, some distance away, Vaux also realised that field-gun fire was coming
jubilant soldier points out the
now left their guns, swept along by the retreating infantry. down from the wooded areas and from the crest line
shell hole, (BI27/399/16A)
With [Oberleutnant Joachim] Most's help, I brought beyond. He drove on through the still tanks of his
every available gun into action at top speed against the comrades,
tanks ... I personally gave each gun its target... We ran '...I thought it very odd that they weren't moving
from gun to gun... We now directed our fire against the and they weren't shooting, and I noticed that there was
other group of tanks attacking from the direction of Bac something even odder about them — because their guns
du Nord, and succeeded in keeping the tanks off, setting were pointing at all angles; a lot of them had their turret
fire to some, halting others and forcing the rest to hatches open and some of their crews were half in and half
retreat... The worst seemed to be over and the attack out of the tanks, lying wounded and dead — and I realised
beaten off, when suddenly Most sank to the ground ...' then, suddenly, with a shock, that all these twenty tanks
Martel's left column had made better progress, but had been knocked out, and that they had been knocked
eventually ran into heavy shellfire between Tilloy and out by these big guns and they were, in fact, dead — all
Beaurins. Peter Vaux was with 4th Tanks that day and these tanks... At any rate, I went forward as I had been
tells of the impact with the Germans on and around told to do, and joined the Adjutant among those German
Telegraph Hill, between Beaurins and Tilloy. anti-tank guns.'
7 could see ... upwards of twenty tanks, down in the They began firing at the Germans and Vaux says
valley, just short of the potato clamp. The Colonels tank he owed his life to the marksmanship of the Adjutant.
was down there, a little in front of them — I could see it T h e angle of Vaux's tank on the potato clamp, an
quite clearly, it was stationary and I could see the flag earthen storage heap, prevented the gunner bringing
flying from it. The Adjutant's tank was quite close to the his weapon to bear. Vaux was standing half out of the
Colonels, but from where I was I wasn't quite sure what turret shouting instructions to gunner and driver while
to do, so I called up the Colonel ...I called and I called behind him a German was taking careful aim with his
and I called, but got no answer, and the Adjutant came rifle on the back of the young man's head. T h e
on the air and he just said, "Come over and join me." So Adjutant shot the German with his revolver - another
I motored down the valley ...I saw that there were a fluky shot! They silenced the anti-tank guns and
 91
RETURN TO FLANDERS FIELDS

sprayed the woods with machine-gun fire before Royal Armoured Corps, in the field reporting to
retiring, field-gun shells falling all around them. General Staff and in control of all armoured forces.
As we drove back though the Matildas my heart sank 'We must model ourselves on German lines in this
because I realised what had happened: there were all those connection. You will be staggered to learn that 1st Army
tanks I knew so well ... there were the faces of those Tank Brigade marched and counter-marched the better
men with whom I had played games, swum, lived with part of 300 miles [480km] to fight one action. PRATT
for years — lying there dead ...In that valley, the best will tell you details. Similarly 3rd RTR has been thrown
of crews, our tanks, our soldiers, our officers were left away'
behind.' He went on to say that better armour and a bigger
As darkness approached the Allies were scattered gun were needed.
in little parcels about the field, as were the Germans. 'The 2-pdr. is good enough now, but only just. We
W i t h night falling both sides withdrew towards their must mount something better and put it behind 40 to
original positions. T h e British positions in Arras 80mm of armour.'
itself had been consolidated, but German attacks T h e other points made were that 7 5 % of casualties
continued the next day, Wednesday 22 May, when had been due to mechanical failure, road speeds were
5th Panzer swept around the south-west and headed too slow, movement by rail was not to be relied on and
north while the German 12th Infantry Division was that the Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade was a
hurried up to attack on the river Scarpe north-east wash-out, unable to fight a delaying action but
of Arras. They were stoutly opposed by 4th Green acceptable for reconnaissance alone. He concluded:
Howards and 2nd Wiltshire, but managed to cross 7 do hope the Powers that be realise that the Boche
the river. O n 23 May at 7 p.m. the order was given has succeeded solely because of his mass of tanks supported
to abandon Arras and defend the line of the Canal by air attack. Man for man we can beat him any day and
d'Aire through Bethune, some 15 miles (25km) to twice a day, but dive-bombing followed by tank attack is
the north. too much on our very extended fronts. If only 1st
The use of the tanks was the subject of a note that Armoured Division had been out here in time, it might
Brigadier Vyvyan Pope, Gort's adviser on AFVs, wrote have made all the difference.'
on 26 May and, lest he be killed or captured, gave to T h e misuse of 1st Armoured by Weygand was yet
Brigadier D . H . Pratt, commander of 1st Army Tank to come.
Brigade to take back to the War Office. In it he said Ironside had reported to Churchill on Sunday 19
that there were essential facts learned as a result of May, and it was at last understood that only two
bitter experience. First, there had to be a Commander, courses were open to Gort, either to batter his way

LEFT German losses at Arras.

In the foreground a burnt out
SdKfz 263 six-wheeled radio
armoured car and, beyond, an
SdKfz 231 eight-wheeled
armoured car. (IWM RML 125)
 92
PART FIVE

southwards, very unlikely to be successful, or prepare form of a sortie, on Friday. He repeated to Churchill
ABOVE Rommel's version of
to fall back to Dunkirk and attempt a sea evacuation. that the key lay in the attack from the south as he did
the battle at Arras. He shows
Churchill was travelling again, and on that Wednesday not have the ammunition to mount a grand offensive.
five divisions acting against
was in Paris. H e was encouraged, doubtless eager to be Perhaps, in Paris, they believed the false report of
him; a considerable
encouraged, by Weygand's obvious vigour and heartily British retreat, but in any case the bickering between
exaggeration. (Holmes, Army
approved of his plan to cut off the head of the German the Allies was increasing.
Battlefield Guide, HMSO, 1995)
advance with combined attacks by General Frere's new T h e great attack from the north was a plan that
French 7th Army in the south and the eight divisions died on Saturday 25 May. T h e Belgian line broke at
assumed to be available from the Allies in the north. It Courtrai, 15 miles (25km) north-east of Lille, the
was a plan almost identical to Gamelin's which Germans were over the River Lys and the British
Weygand had so precipitately cancelled when there acquired a major piece of intelligence that revealed
might yet have been time to make it work. It was a Bock's plan to hurl two corps of Army Group B
plan now so far removed from reality that it is evident towards Ypres. T h e troops intended for the
that neither Weygand or his staff knew what was going southwards stroke, the 5th and 50th Divisions, were
on. Nor did Churchill. He signalled to Gort the same immediately switched north to deal with the crisis.
day, saying the Belgians were to fall back on the Yser Gort gave the order at 6.30 p.m. and General
(which they had already declined to do), and that the Blanchard, Billotte's successor, had no option but
notional eight divisions would join hands with the formally to cancel the Weygand scheme.
equally notional new army on the Somme in the
south. W h e n Gort pulled his men back to the Canal THE GERMAN UNCERTAINTY
d'Aire on Thursday, the French declared that they had All was not sweetness and light amongst the Germans
been abandoned in what was becoming a salient east either. Rommel had excused his force's performance
of Lille by a British retreat 25-mile (40km) towards against the British tanks by claiming that five divisions
the sea! T h e Weygand plan was thus impossible to had attacked. This confirmed German fears about
perform, though Gort was still preparing for it, in the their vulnerable flanks. Guderian remarks:
 93

RETURN TO FLANDERS FIELDS

'On 21st of May a noteworthy event occurred to the their efforts Guderian's 2 n d Panzer entered the
ABOVE The German army
north of us: English tanks attempted to break through in outskirts of Boulogne that evening. Guderian now
geological map, published in
the direction of Paris... The English did not succeed in regained command of 10th Panzer and made fresh
Berlin 29 February 1940. The
breaking through, but they did make a considerable dispositions.
description of terrain around
impression on the staff of Panzer Group von Kleist, which 7 decided to move 1st Panzer Division, which was
Dunkirk given in the text
suddenly became remarkably nervous.' already close to Calais, on to Dunkirk at once, while the
(page 95) applies to the
O n Wednesday 22 May Guderian was on the 10th Panzer Division, advancing from Doullens through
move again, to the north. Samer, replaced it in front of Calais. There was no purple area. The blue areas

'In the afternoon ... there was fierce fighting at particular urgency about capturing this port.' inland of that are similar to

Desvres, Samer and to the south of Boulogne. Our T h e danger of Guderian getting up along the the terrain north-east of
opponents were mostly Frenchmen, but included a Channel coast behind Gort was now severe. Ypres in front of the ridge
number of English and Belgian units and even an crowned by Passchendaele. A
occasional Dutchman. Their resistance was broken. But THE CANAL D'AIRE firm ridge runs from Guines,
the enemy airforce was very active, bombing us and firing O n Monday 20 May the 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers, the just south of Calais, through
their guns at us too, while we saw little of our Luftwaffe. Faughs as they called themselves, were ordered to hold Ardres, branching south-east
The bases from which our planes were operating were now a length of the Canal d'Aire at Bethune and eastwards towards St Omer and north-
a long way away ...' through Gorre and Guinchy to La Bassee, which east through Watten towards
T h e British were also, from the other side of the was held by 7th Queens Royal Regiment. It was Bergues. (MME ww2Maps MF2/5)
Channel, flying within the outer area of their radar an immense length to allocate to a single battalion.
cover and out of secure airfields in England. In spite of They had been in tough action at Ninove, east of
 94
PART FIVE

Audenarde, the previous Saturday, but were now

comforted by being back in a country for which they
had decent 1-inch maps. Captain John Horsfall's D
Company was at Gorre, where three bridges cross the
canal; one lofted the road to Lens over the water
by approach embankments, the second was a puny
foot-bridge connecting the railway station on the
south bank with the rest of the village, and there was a
third bridge further east. O n Tuesday he inspected the
Lens-road bridge.
'There I found four sappers resident, sitting on
ammunition boxes and busy frying their breakfast. Until
our arrival these four were, I think, the only troops
in occupation of our sector of the canal. They were
unbelievably dirty, which was not surprising in view of
what they had been doing. The corporal was smoking a clay
pipe. I indicated the lethal apparatus beside him. "Will it
go off?" I enquired, "when we pull the plug?" "It might,"
said the corporal, '"I've blown eight so far and all of them
went off, but as the leads and charges have been under six
inches of water since this morning I suppose it mightn't. "'
The other two bridges were being prepared for
demolition and Horsfall was worried they would not
be ready in time. Refugees added confusion to the
evaluation of defensive positions, but the throng
moving north over the canal included some chance
reinforcements.
'During the day quite a number of French soldiers
came through us in small parties, often in twos and threes.
These for the most part were not only good ones but very
good indeed... One small formed body came in, a dozen
of them under an adjutant chef They were armed to the
teeth with bandoliers slung about them, and they had a
number of German weapons, including automatics. Most
of them had bottles protruding from battle jacket pockets,
and the overall impression was that of a party of pirates
out on a shore raid.'
The chef asked Horsfall what his orders were. T h e
reply was that they were to defend this place and, as
regular soldiers, that is what they would do. It
appealed to the Frenchman. He and his men would
stay. It emerged that they had been made prisoner but
had relieved their captors of their weapons and their
lives and departed to rejoin the fight.
The canal itself was filled with sunken barges, so
many that it seemed possible the Germans could walk
across. Horsfall placed his men, had trenches dug,
walls loopholed and reconnoitred the far bank. They
were as ready as they ever would be. The next day
German bombers, Stukas and Heinkels, attacked, but
fortunately the other, southern, bank of the canal. T h e
Faughs destroyed as many of the barges as they could
both this day and the next, Thursday 23 May. Two
French tanks, scarred by enemy fire, turned up and
gladly took responsibility for the western flank. Their
ammunition was low and the vacant shell racks were
stocked with champagne. That evening the bridges
 95
RETURN TO FLANDERS FIELDS

were blown, the last of the battle-stained, French

soldiers and the forward listening posts of the Faughs
scampering back as the first of the Germans arrived. In
Bethune the bridge went up with Germans on it, and
three of the Fusiliers as well.
The 7th Panzer arrived next morning, apparently
expecting no resistance. T h e contact with a regular
regiment was a surprise for them and within a few
hours there were dead and wounded Germans the
length of the village street south of the water. T h e
damage done by the Faughs in the isolated buildings at
the waterside brought its penalty and by the end of the
day the platoon had eight dead and only one bren gun
still firing. T h e French tanks were also gone. They had
driven up the ramp of the blown road bridge and
subjected the Germans to a vicious fire until they
themselves were hit. They were, Horsfall says, the last
of their regiment and he grieved that he never knew
which unit that was. O n Saturday 25 May an
ammunition train on the railway south of the canal
blew up, wiping out the Germans who had been firing
from between the wheels of the trucks, and giving
some small respite to the Faughs. That same evening, power breaking the remainder of the Allies against the
ABOVE Panzer troops recover
to their puzzlement, they were relieved by the lst/8th anvil of Army Group A holding a line from Gravelines
themselves after the
Lancashire Fusiliers of the 4th Brigade. T h e 50th through St Omer (i.e. along the river Aa) and on by
Division was needed in the Ypres sector. unexpected mauling they
way of Aire and Bethune to Lens (the Canal d'Aire or
took at Arras. (B99/44/16)
La Bassee line).
THE HALT ORDER The nature of the terrain between Calais and
OPPOSITE TOP Stuka damage
While the 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers might have been Nieuport was well known to the Germans, and their
surprised to learn it, the two Panzer Corps had been maps and landscape assessments were uniform in their to rail yards near Arras.
(B383/318/10A)
ordered to halt on Friday 24 May. T h e impact of descriptions. The opinions of the generals at the front
Frankforce's attack at Arras went all the way to the top, have been used to suggest that the terrain presented
..Hitler himself. Rundstedt and Kleist had both been no problems for the panzers, but these generals OPPOSITE BELOW The Canal
worried about the exposure of their flanks, and Hitler themselves were to the rear. However, the evaluations d'Aire (La Bassee canal) at
shared their nervousness. The success they had enjoyed were being made and the decisions were being taken by Gorre, east of Bethune. The
so far was almost too good to be true, and the blow men far away, and they cannot but have been influenced rebuilt road bridge still
delivered by a perceived five divisions on the previous by their official reference manuals and information crosses between high earth
Tuesday confirmed their fears. A French attack sources. O n 29 February 1940 a collection of maps and ramps north (left) and south
towards Cambrai on Wednesday, although turned manuals was published in Berlin for the use of the of the water, and a new
back, reinforced their apprehensions. Moreover, the services only. Volume I of Militargeographische footbridge connects the
Luftwaffe's VIII Air Corps was now admitting to Beschreibung von Frankreich states that: village on the left with the
heavy Stuka losses inflicted by England-based RAF 'In wet weather wide areas become boggy and railway station on the right.
fighters. impassable on foot. Vehicles can in general only move on (MME WW2/4/7)
T h e conclusion of the business in Flanders had not the roads available which are very numerous and mostly
been planned in detail beforehand. Indeed, that they fortified. These and the little railways run throughout on
were here so soon was as much of a surprise to the dykes; these form with the numerous, in general not very
Germans as it was to the Allies, and now the situation wide, water ways, canals and ditches a dense mesh of
was that Army Group B was pressing from the north sections suitable for rearguard defence.'
and east while Army Group A was applying pressure T h e map that accompanies the manual,
from the south and west on the remaining pocket of Wehrgeolische Ubersichtskarte, (see p.93) comments on
Allied troops. To whom should the control of the final the terrain around Dunkirk:
phase be given? And which of the groups was best 'Predominant soil type: peat, groundwater near
equipped for the task? T h e panzer-heavy Army Group surface. Passability by traffic and on foot: At all times
A or the infantry-rich Army Group B? In the event the passable with difficulty. Accessible to infantry in dry
infantry of the 4th Army was taken from Runstedt and season. Obstacles: Soft ground, criss-crossed with many
placed under Bock's command in Army Group B. T h e ditches, shallow ground water, can be dug out to form
concept then became one of infantry, artillery and air water obstacles. Artillery firing positions: wet, ground not
 96
PART FIVE
 97

RETURN TO FLANDERS FIELDS

 98
PART FIVE

THE SACRIFICE OF CALAIS'S Gravelines. O n the Thursday evening the supply

DEFENDERS convoy was readied to move off and an advance guard
O n the same Thursday afternoon Assault Group of a tank squadron sent ahead. It ran into 1st Panzer
Kruger of 1st Panzer was approaching the small town and only three tanks survived, fighting their way
of Guines, on the ridge six miles (10km) south of through to Gravelines. Having heard nothing, a
Calais. T h e port itself was filled with newly-arrived second squadron was sent out the next morning,
troops, the 1st Queen Victorias Rifles and the 3rd accompanied by a company of 1st Rifle Brigade. They,
Royal Tank Regiment. T h e tanks were given orders by too, ran into the opposition and Nicholson ordered
Lieutenant-general Sir Douglas Brownrigg, Gort's them to come back. Calais was isolated.
Adjutant-General, who was on his way to Dover, to Nicholson now readied his forces and the 800
make for Boulogne, but they were rescinded by Major French to defend the town. T h e walls and bastions of
Ken Bailey from Gort's headquarters. T h e instructions Vauban's 17th-century defences were still in place and
were now to head for St Omer. That proved to be still formidable. Within a double ring of defensive
impractical because Assault Group Kruger was making positions he could fall back on the harbour for
for Les Attaques, on the road to St Omer where the eventual evacuation, a scheme approved in principle
Canal de Calais runs beside the road, and 3rd Royal by London. The wounded and the 'useless mouths', a
Tanks thus had a brief encounter with the panzers near rather unkind description of anyone not vital for
Guines and had to withdraw. At Les Attaques an ad combat, were leaving. The City of Canterbury took
hoc force made up of Royal Artillery Searchlight with it, through confusion or oversight, half the Rifle
personnel held up the panzers for three hours before Brigade transport. T h e last vessel to leave, the
being forced to surrender. Pushing up towards Calais Kohistan, was watched by a young troop commander
Kruger ran into further opposition at Orphange Farm, of the Searchlights, Airey Neave.
just south of the present-day junction 17 on the Calais had become a city of doom and I was not in
autoroute. Here the fight continued until nightfall and the least anxious to remain. I did not feel heroic. Leaving
at that point Guderian issued his order for 1st Panzer the men, sleepless and anxious, L walked to the Gare
to push on towards Dunkirk and let 10th Panzer take Maritime in time to see the Kohistan leave harbour. The
over the conquest of Calais. quay was deserted save for the twenty dead on the
T h e forces in Calais were supplemented with 30th platform. The scene remains vivid. Lt was a clear day and
Brigade, 2nd King's Royal Rifle Corps (the Royal L could see the cliffs of Dover. The sad corpses, covered }in
Green Jackets) and 1st, T h e Rifle Brigade, under the grey blankets, had begun to stink. Shells burst among the
command of Brigadier Claude Nicholson, who arrived cranes or landed in the sea. A mile out, the destroyer
in the afternoon with renewed orders from Brownrigg Wessex, struck by Luftwaffe bombs, was sinking. Black
to go for Boulogne. T h e Brigadier was bombarded smoke from the blazing oil refinery billowed across the
BELOW The moat of the with conflicting orders, all issued in ignorance of the harbour and, to the west and south of town, there came
Citadel in Calais now has actual state of affairs. Now directions from the War the growing noise of rifle and anti-tank fire. The real
peaceful uses. (MME WW2/2/5) Office in London came to get rations through to battle was about to begin.'
That evening the Brigadier received a signal from
London informing him that he was under the
command of General Falgade, who forbade their
evacuation. Churchill added his more positive
encouragement and Anthony Eden edited and sent the
message the next day:
'Defence of Calais to the utmost is of highest
importance to our country as symbolising our continued
co-operation with France. The eyes of the Empire are
upon the defence of Calais, and H. M. Government are
confident you and your gallant regiments will perform an
exploit worthy of the British name.'
The outer perimeter was the scene of action on
Friday 24 M a y Neave was on the Boulevard Leon
Gambetta which passes just north of Bastion 9 of
Vauban's fortification, running west. His unit had two
bren guns as their most powerful weapons and held
out there all day. As afternoon turned to evening, it
became clear that the outer defences could not endure.
Nicholson and the French Commandant Le Tellier
had established their headquarters in the Citadel
 99
RETURN TO FLANDERS FIELDS

LEFT Calais - composite of

two German 1:25,000 maps
made after the occupation.
The lines of the old walls and
bastions can be traced from
Bastion 2, right of the
harbour, then running south
past Bastions 3,4,5 and 6 at
the south-eastern corner and
7 at the southern tip. Bastion
8 has gone, replaced by the
railway, and, going north, 9,
10,11 form the western wall
with the citadel within. Fort
Nieulay dominates the
western approaches. To the
south-west rises the ridge on
which Guines stands and east
of it the country is heavily
patterned with drainage
dykes. (BLC21 (15), sheets

XXII-2/5-6 and 8/3-4)

which was the centre of the western flank. T h e Sunday began badly. T h e shelling was intense and
withdrawal brought the 60th Rifles back from Bastion the dive-bombing even more fierce. At 8 a.m. a white
9 in the west and Bastion 7 in the south (Bastion 8 no flag was seen above French positions near Fort Risban,
longer existed in 1940) towards the Hotel de Ville. west of the harbour. Capitaine de Fregate Carlos de
T h e Q V R were pulled in from their positions on the Lambertye, commander of French naval forces in
Gravelines road. Snipers within the town hampered Calais, went and persuaded them to take it down, but
British movement. By midnight most of the defenders renewed shelling made them raise it once more. Later
were getting what rest they could in position for the that morning, making his way to Fort Risban, de
expected onslaught on Sunday 26 May. Bastion 11 to Lambertye collapsed and died of a heart attack. By
the north-west was held and a line along the mid-morning the Germans had occupied Bastion 2 at
waterways embraced the Citadel, passed north of the the extreme north-east and were firing on the Rifle
Hotel de Ville and swung round towards the Gare Brigade. Neave had been wounded and treated at the
Maritime and Bastion 1 at the harbour mouth. Hopital Militaire near the Citadel. He left to find
 100
PART FIVE

German anger and frustration mounted. Schaal

received repeated messages to leave the job to the
Luftwaffe, but his blood was up. Stukas struck again
and again and the shelling redoubled. As day crept
into afternoon the Gare Maritime was threatened and
the Germans only had the two bastions on the east of
the harbour mouth to overcome. The conflict moved
into the sand dunes. In the Citadel the Royal Marines
and Le Tellier's troops were still defying their attackers.
By 3 p.m. they were surrounded and, half an hour
later, the Germans broke through the southern gate
and Nicholson had no alternative to surrender. It was
to be another two hours before all resistance ceased.
At 2a.m. on Monday 27 May, H M Yacht Gulzar,
Lieutenant-commander Brammall commanding, saw
a signal lamp flashing from beneath a German-
occupied jetty. She went in and as she swung round
under machine-gun fire, Brammall shouted that he
would come in again and they would have to jump. All
47 men made it, the last men out. There were 3,000
British and 800 French troops who were not so
fortunate.
T h e sacrifice at Calais had been costly for the
transport to move the wounded to the harbour where British, reducing still further the number of regular
ABOVE From within the Citadel
he believed they could be shipped out. Accompanied soldiers available. It had resulted in sufficient delay for
the harbour can be seen.
by a corporal, Neave wandered through an empty Hitler's halt order to catch 1st Panzer well short of
(MME WW2/2/4)
town. Gravelines and allow two days for the BEF to begin
'Opposite a whole row of houses burned. Charred the complicated task of maintaining a shrinking front.
RIGHT A memorial plaque to T h e Belgians were close to collapse, the French 7th
paper blew like leaves along the narrow street. We walked
the 110th Regiment inside the slowly northwards... Then, without warning, shells Army south of the Somme seemed to be a myth and
Citadel gate. (MMEWW2/2/I) whistled and burst near us ... The corporal vanished in the task that Gort now faced was to preserve what he
the blinding flash and dust. I fell to the ground unhurt could of the BEF to fight another day. It was a task
and crawled to the side of the street where a hand stretched that would demand all his courage and steadfastness,
out from a cellar window, holding a bottle of cognac. I attributes that few other men could match.
drank from it and staggered on towards the lighthouse.'
At the swing bridge to the Gare Maritime he was
faced with the muzzles of the QVR's rifles and tottered
on into their arms. His suggestion that they send
transport, clearly completely impossible, was regarded
as very odd and he was hustled along to join the other
wounded in the tunnel below Bastion 1.
Major-general Ferdinand Schaal, commander of
10th Panzer Division, had planned the day's activities
with care. Two bouts of shelling and bombing were to
give him the town before noon. It proved to be a little
more difficult. They had entered Calais Nord late in
the morning, but the fragmented groups of British
fought stubbornly on. At Bastion 11 C Company,
60th Rifles and the few Frenchman who had fought
alongside them so bravely were virtually isolated by
mid-day, and withdrew, leaving some 80 men under
Captain Everard Radcliffe there to cover their retreat.
It was another hour before the Germans entered the
bastion to take prisoner the 17 surviving Frenchmen
and the rump of C Company, of whom only 30 were
unwounded. There was no resistance; there was no
ammunition.
 101
PART SIX

DYNAMO

D
uring the two days the halt order was in little ships were already becoming available. His early
force, events were also unfolding away from plans were based on the use of Boulogne, Calais and
the Channel coast. Lord Gort and General Dunkirk, but by the time the meeting of Wednesday
Pownall visited Blanchard on Sunday 26 May to find 22 May took place, only four days into the task, it was
the plan was now to defend the salient based on evident that only Dunkirk, and that with luck, would
the Channel coast 'with no thought of retreat'. O n be spared. Operation Dynamo, as it was called, was
returning to his headquarters Gort found a message turning out to be more complicated than anticipated.
from London saying that should the planned attack Ramsay had originally been given three dozen cross-
from the south fail to materialise, the safety of the BEF channel steamers for the task which was to begin with
would become the predominant consideration and lifting the useless mouths, support troops. Now the
a withdrawal to the coast east of Gravelines for intensity was increasing exponentially, the need for
embarkation should be planned. He was further additional staff had to be met to handle the operation
instructed not to discuss the matter with the Belgians and many, many more ships were going to be needed.
or the French. Churchill, when evacuation became inevitable,
O n 14 May a call had been broadcast, nothing to thought that, perhaps, 30,000 men could be saved.
do with a possible evacuation of the BEF, for small Ramsay was more optimistic, maybe 45,000 could be
boats to supplement the Royal Navy's Small Vessels brought home. T h e difficulties were enormous, not
Pool, little ships useful for harbour work. W h e n Vice- the least in the nature of the coast. East of the
Admiral Bertram Ramsay was appointed on 19 May to Margate-Dover coast the Goodwin Sands run from
make plans for a possible evacuation, some of those north to south, forcing ships to sail in the direction of

LEFT Detail from a German

map of the Canal d'Aire (La
Bassee Canal) between
Cuinchy and La Bassee. The
Gare d'Eau, the harbour in
which 7th Panzer's engineers
worked on pontoons, is east
of Cuinchy. (BL C21 (15), sheet
XXIV-5/3-4. MME WW2Maps/3/35)
 102
PART SIX

Calais or head due east from Ramsgate. Off the French manoeuvre them in a canal cluttered with sunken
BELOW A Panzer II makes its
and Belgian coast the sand-banks run almost parallel barges they had built the little 8-ton pontoons.
way over the makeshift
to the land with a few gaps so that ships have to turn Rommel ordered the building of a bridge, a 16-tonner,
bridging of the Canal d'Aire
back south-west to run in towards the land. The capable of taking his tanks. Meanwhile the British
on 27 May. (IWMRML149)
control of the land over a significant distance is thus were making things very unpleasant with sniper fire,
required lest shelling sink the vessels, and Calais and so the houses and cover on the canalside were
eventually Gravelines would provide the Germans saturated with shell and small-arms fire. An attack,
with artillery emplacements. incorrectly believed to be by heavy tanks, threatened
from La Bassee, and the makeshift bridge was used to
THE PANZERS ON THE MOVE AGAIN get a Panzer III over while a Panzer IV opened fire
Rommel, for one, appreciated the rest the halt order from the southern bank to counter the threat. By noon
gave. He wrote: the bridgehead was being developed and in the
'A day or two without action has done us a lot of afternoon, as it started to rain, 5th Panzer came up and
good. The division has lost up to date 27 officers killed started crossing. La Bassee was enfolded by an advance
and 33 wounded, and 1,500 men dead and wounded. round its northern side and the few remaining of the
That's about 12 per cent casualties. Very little compared defending 1st Camerons and 7th Worcestershires,
with what's been achieved. The worst is now well over.' having given an excellent account of themselves,
His cheerfulness was a little misplaced. O n Sunday escaped when ten tanks of the RTR attacked the
26 May the halt order was lifted and 7th Panzer Germans near Violaines, losing seven of their number.
addressed itself to the task of crossing the Canal d'Aire. T h e Germans were now pouring over the canal. T h e
T h e 7th Rifle Regiment managed to get over at 2nd Dorsetshires found themselves facing west. T h e
Cuinchy, halfway between Bethune and La Bassee, and fight to delay Rommel was fierce and lasted all day,
on M o n d a y Rommel found his engineers had keeping open the corridor west from Lille. North of
constructed pontoons in a small harbour. To be able to Bethune the SS-Totenkopf Division was over the canal
 103
DYNAMO

LEFT The Canal d'Aire from

the bridge at Cuinchy.
(MMEWW2/4/10)

BELOW The CWGC Cemetery

at Le Paradis, to the rear of
the communal cemetery.
(MMEWW2/4/1)

and heading for Merville when it ran into 2nd T h e also taken prisoner at the same time. They were herded
Royal Norfolk Regiment. By the afternoon the into a barn and machine-gunned. Four are known to
remaining Norfolks, about 100 of them, were have survived.
surrounded in a farm near Le Paradis and decided to Early in the morning of Tuesday, Rommel received
surrender. After searching them, the Germans shot the signal from Oberst K. Rothenburg of 25th Panzer
them down. Two men survived. As a result of their Regiment that he had reached Lomme, north-west of
evidence the commander of the 3rd Company, Fritz Lille, effectively completing the encirclement of the
Knochlein, was executed for war crimes on 28 January city. Rommel hastened to join him, and was worried
1949. by driving through an empty landscape; whom would
At the same time Guderian's forces were also on he meet first? Friend or foe?
the move. T h e towns of Bourbourg, south-east of 'At last we found the first of our tanks. Rothenburg
Gravelines, and Wormhoudt, between Cassel and was delighted at the increase in his strength in front of
Bergues, were the objectives. Guderian writes of an Lille, and even more over the arrival of the ammunition
incident that took place on Tuesday 28 May, that and petrol. He reported briefly on the night's fighting. The
caused his staff some amusement. attack had first driven straight up the Fournes-Lille road.
'The commander of the Leibstandarte [SS-Adolf
Hitler], Sepp Dietrich, while driving from the front came
under machine-gun fire from a party of Englishmen who
were still holding out in a solitary house behind our lines.
They set his car on fire and compelled him and his
companions to take shelter in the ditch. Dietrich and his
adjutant crawled into a large drain pipe, where the ditch
ran under a cross road, and in order to protect himself
from the burning petrol of his car covered his face and
hands with damp mud.'
Guderian had to send in part of 2nd Panzer to get
Hitler's protege out of trouble, and everyone had a
merry time making fun of the m u d d y fellow.
Meanwhile, unknown to Guderian and, probably,
Dietrich, something deeply serious was afoot. T h e
Englishmen were soon captured. Those concerned
were men of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and
the Cheshire Regiment, and some Royal Artillery were
 104
PART SIX

Then, after crossing the railway, the regiment had swung

LEFT On 29 May the Germans
north, shortly afterwards coming up against enemy tanks
dropped leaflets to British
and a strong motorised force. The enemy tanks and lorries
troops encouraging them to
had been wiped out in a short but sharp engagement,
surrender.
many oft their crews seeking salvation in flight.'
Rommel organised his men for all-round defence
and to prevent a break-out from Lille. Just as they were BELOW Copy of the GHQ map

doing so they came under heavy shelling from their of the situation as known in

own troops and Major Erdman, commander of the the afternoon of Tuesday, 28
37th Reconnaissance Battalion, was killed. Rommel May. The withdrawal from the
himself survived untouched. Canal d'Aire is shown. (Private
T h e defenders of Lille were now surrounded. collection. MME WW2Maps MF1/8)

Blanchard had still not come to terms with the

situation, and had issued orders suggesting a policy of
standing firm no matter what.
T h e struggle to stem the German advance
continued. The Royal Scots fought the SS-Totenkopf
 105
DYNAMO

Division at Paradis and the last of those British troops

fell back to Lestrem where the Irish Fusiliers were
holding the line of the little river over which three
bridges passed. John Horsfall took a look at the
country before him.
'I went into the estaminet [bar] and up to the first
floor. The countryside to the west looked quiet enough,
and save for the hum of aircraft there was not a lot of
noise just then. However looking through my field glasses,
as far as one could see westward the glinting reflection
from turret tops and other impedimenta told their tale
unmistakably.'
They had two 18-pounders dug in alongside the
bridge. This stuck out like the cherry on a cake from
the semi-circle of river that ran round the town, and
Horsfall had to send out parties to guard his flanks.
Various fragments of Allied soldiery straggled in.
Finally to my great delight my old friend the
adjutant chef and a number of our devoted allies from the dyke ... and swam the river with the enemy hard on
ABOVE Even when surrounded
Gorre arrived. There were not many of them left — their heels.'
the French held on in Lille,
perhaps eight or so... There was much hilarity and T h e 18-pounders may have lacked sights, but the
forcing the Germans to fight
shaking of hands, and all were loaded with bottles. Also, gunners managed to bring down a surprisingly
their way into the town.
as previously, they were armed to the teeth with British, accurate fire on the tanks while the German infantry,
(TM 4506/B/4)
French — and German weapons.' at first, advanced with their rifles at the high port as if
As at Gorre, Horsfall consulted the sappers and on some parade ground. T h e Faugh's precise rifle fire BELOW LEFT The memorial to
checked the arrangements to blow the bridges. T h e soon discouraged them. Horsfall decided it was time the 97 massacred prisoners-
French engineers had a cheerful disregard for formal to blow the bridge. T h e plunger was pushed home. of-war in Le Paradis. (MME
safety procedures. 'The silence that followed was a spiritual purgative, WW2/3/36)
'"It is quite all right, Capitaine," said one of them, and I know of no comparable anti-climax in the whole of
pointing to the plunger, "if that fails we have les autres. my life. I looked stonily at our French friend. He looked BELOW RIGHT At the side of the
That one, ici," he went on, indicating a pair of fuses at me too — by no means abashed... I lit the match and D17from Wormhout to
whose colour I forget, "is instamment, vite tres vite, applied it to the deux minutes one [fuse]. Of course the Esquelbecq stands a memorial
and the other deux minutes," or whatever. He held up his bridge went up instamment ... The French thought it a to the Warwicks, Cheshires
fingers like Winston's V-sign. It was no doubt a great and Gunners slaughtered near
misunderstanding... An hour later a warrant officer As evening approached the Faughs were here on 28 May 1940.
and a dozen or so men of the Royal Scots plunged into withdrawn. They fired off the last of the 18-pounder (MMEWW2/3/13)
 106
PART SIX

RIGHT and BELOW General

Alfred Wager did the French
the honour of allowing them
to march past while he and
his staff saluted their
courage, before they finally
laid down their arms.
(B126/311/4 and B126/311/13)
 107
DYNAMO

ammunition, saving the last two rounds of each gun

for the classic one shell down in the muzzle, the other
in the breech final shot. T h e adjutant chef and his men
declined to come along. They said their wish was to
kill Germans and this appeared to be a good place for
it. Horsfall paid his respects and left.
Behind them, in Lille, the French 1st Army had
continued to fight, surrounded though it was. After
four days they had no more ammunition with which
to continue their resistance and were forced to yield on
1 June. Such was the respect they had earned that they
were accorded full military honours, retaining their
arms in their final march. Some 35,000 men went into
captivity.

BACKS TO THE SEA

While Gort, his plea to Blanchard to order General
Prioux to retreat from Lille falling on deaf ears,
hastened his men back towards the sea, the leaders of
France were conferring in Paris. It was becoming clear
to them at last that they faced disaster. The knowledge
failed to harden their resolve. Increasingly there was
thought of an armistice as long as the honour of persisted and led to innumerable disputes as the
France could be kept intact. British destroyed equipment lest the enemy acquire it
O n Tuesday 28 May Gort's headquarters were and the French preserved as much as they could for
established at La Panne, bringing him, technically, supposed future use.
under the c o m m a n d of Admiral Jean Abrial, T h e evacuation was slowly gathering momentum.
commanding officer in Dunkirk. It was something of Churchill informed Reynaud of British intentions and
a formality. Weygand was still insisting that the urged him to issue corresponding orders. Sadly the
Dunkirk salient should be defended as a bridgehead French Prime Minister appears to have kept the news
from which a counter-attack could be launched. It was to himself, another source of enmity between the
a fantasy. Re-supply of weapons and ammunition, fuel Allies. O n the first day, Sunday 26 May, Operation
and food was clearly impossible, but the fantasy Dynamo was put into action at 6.57 p.m. and a few

ABOVE An AFV makes short

work of a sandbag obstacle.
(TM 4505/E/5)

LEFT Bombing reduced towns

on the retreat route to blazing
ruins, (TM 4505/F/4)
 108
PART SIX

RIGHT The beach at De Panne

(La Panne) on a grey June
day. (MME WW2/2/9)

BELOW The walls and moat of

Bergues, the medieval town
on the front line of the final
Dunkirk enclave. (MME
WW2/3/11)

OPPOSITE TOP The situation as

known at GHQ on the morning
Of 30 May. (Private collection. MME

WW2Maps1/8)

OPPOSITE BELOW On the left

an infantryman, June 1940,
with entrenching tool,
bayonet, gas-mask canister, men were brought home. These had all been embarked was summoned to a meeting and ordered to take
bread-bag and canteen. On from Dunkirk harbour, as were those taken off on command of a Dutch barge, a 'scoot' as the English
the right an engineer of 1st Monday, 7,669 men according to Churchill's history mangled the word schuit, and take supplies to
Panzer Division. of the war, but bombing, shelling as the ships sailed Dunkirk. With a first lieutenant and a crew of nine he
(Stephen Andrew, The German Army
along the coast inside the sandbanks and strafing by went to the port, not named in his account, and sent
the Luftwaffe as they turned out across the Channel the D u t c h crew ashore before loading with
1939-45 (1), Men-at-Arms 311)
had inflicted casualties. A meeting in Cassel on ammunition. At 7.30 p.m. on Sunday they moved to
Monday led to Lieutenant-general Sir Robert Adam Dover and crossed the Channel the next night,
and General Fagalde sorting out the French and arriving at 5 a.m. on Tuesday 28 May at La Panne.
British sectors of the planned perimeter; the French on There was an almost empty beach before him, just a
the west and the British on the east. As no one seemed few French and Belgian soldiers. Wandering into La
to know what was happening to the Belgians, no Panne he found his way to the Hotel Osborne where
provision was made for them and, in any case, they the English-speaking manager directed him to the
capitulated the following day, though not without British hospital. There he learnt that an evacuation
providing for the British to take over their positions. was taking place and was sent on once more to BEF
O n Thursday 23 May Commander T G P Crick, headquarters. T h e ammunition was not needed, but
RN, had been woken at 4 a.m. and told to hold the boat was, to get men off the beach. So back he
himself in readiness for an appointment. At 6.30 he went to the vessel, now high and dry, to unload under
fire from German aircraft and to get men organised to
go aboard when the tide came in at 5.30 p.m.
Commander Crick did get home, but not on that
boat. During the afternoon he was hit when the beach
was strafed, the ammunition luckily going unscathed,
and he was evacuated from Dunkirk, leaving his ship
to bring men home without him.
Ramsay had acquired a fleet of about 50 Dutch
schuitjes, self-propelled shallow-draught cargo barges
that had managed to get away from the Netherlands
and were lying at Southampton. Although some of
these were already involved in the operation on
Tuesday 28 May, the destroyers that Ramsay had
managed to bring in had to use their own boats to get
men off the beaches. T h e day's totals were 5,930 men
taken off the beaches and 11,874 from Dunkirk. T h e
lack of discipline on the beaches and at the port did
not help. T h e word was now going out for small ships
of any description to join the evacuation effort. Sailing
barges, pleasure steamers and fishing boats were
 109
DYNAMO

requisitioned or volunteered. O n Wednesday 29 May

the beaches yielded up 13,752 and Dunkirk 33,558
men, still all British. That afternoon, at last, Weygand
ordered Blanchard to get his men away as well.
Reichsmarchall Herman Goring's undertaking to
reduce the Dunkirk enclave from the air was slow in
execution. There was little air activity on Sunday 26
May, although the RAF flew 22 patrols and claimed,
no doubt exaggerated as all such claims were, 20
victories for a loss of six machines. O n Monday the
Luftwaffe went to work in earnest. Heinkel 111s
raided at dawn, sinking the French steamer Aden by
the east mole in Dunkirk and shortly after Junkers 87s,
the Stukas, hit the harbour and sank the troopship
Cote d'Azur. Dornier 17s set the oil tanks on fire.
Some 300 bombers, escorted by 550 fighters, attacked
Dunkirk that day, turning the town into a lake of fire
and blocking the port. T h e RAF had not been idle,
flying 23 patrols involving 287 aircraft and scoring
some successes, but a significant proportion of British
aircraft were badly damaged in addition to those shot
down. Tuesday 28 May brought a break in the fine
weather. Overcast skies, coupled with the smoke from
the ruins of Dunkirk, produced adverse flying
conditions which persisted the next day until early
afternoon. T h e n the Stukas returned in force, 180 of
them, closing the harbour again, although losing 11
aircraft to anti-aircraft fire. The next wave included
Junkers 88s, the twin-engined dive-bombers, and
three British destroyers were sunk. Five transport
vessels also went down that Wednesday. Of the five
major German attacks only two were met by RAF
fighters and, although exotic claims were made of 65
 110
PART SIX

kills, the true total appears to be closer to a dozen. a pile of straw when I was woken and given a message. It
Flying at something close to the limits of their was then 10 o'clock p.m. and the message said that we
operational range and even assisted, as they were, by were to withdraw at once and leave all transport behind
radar in England, the British aircraft were simply us. This was a very bitter blow as for one thing we were
outnumbered by the covering German fighters when all convinced that we had given the Germans a really
the weather was clear. W h a t was needed was fog. good hiding... We marched through the lines and had an
Inland the Allies were still trying to cling on to uneventful march of about seven miles [11km] ... the
positions of vantage. T h e M o n t des Cats was the road was choked with transport... When we had climbed
destination to which l / 5 t h Queen's were ordered on the hill we were bound for we just fell down where we
the evening of Tuesday 28 May. T h e y were stood and went to sleep in the open and in the rain.'
disappointed, for they felt they had given their T h e 2nd Royal Horse Artillery were ordered to the
enemies a bloody nose in hard fighting near Strazeele, same place and by the early hours of Tuesday 29 May,
between Hazebrouck and Bailleul that day, and Seton-Watson writes,
Sysonby wrote: '... we started our move northwards, interweaving
'I had only just gone to sleep from sheer exhaustion on with every kind of British and French vehicle and many
loose horses. After two miles we found our road blocked by
ditched and abandoned vehicles. With great difficulty we
constructed a detour through cut wire and hedges and
across two fields: this took about an hour. At 0300
[3.a.m.] in the small village of Berth em, close under
Mont des Cats, we came to a final standstill... Orders
were given to destroy wireless sets and sights, remove
breech blocks and puncture all tyres. It was impossible to
destroy the guns themselves without danger to the crowds
passing by on foot.'
W h e n Sysonby awoke at 3.30 a.m. a French officer
told him, as a matter of apparently mild interest, that
everyone else had gone. l / 5 t h Queen's awaited orders,
shelled, dive-bombed and defenceless against such
attack. At 9.45 a.m. they were told to pull out and
make for Dunkirk by way of Poperinge. Sysonby said:
'... the place was in the most appalling shambles.
Whole streets were completely choked with masonry and
 Ill
DYNAMO

bricks, anything up to twenty feet [6m] high. They must

LEFT A plaque on the Bray-
have taken the most appalling bombardment the night
Dunes monument
before ... even whilst we were here this place took another
commemorates a lost ship.
terrible pasting...'
(MMEWW2/2/14)
They struggled on, taking avoiding action and
turning north across country when German troops
were reported ahead. Finally they reached the Canal de BELOW The French fallen are

la Basse Colme east of the walled town of Bergues, the commemorated close to the
final line of defence. Over that and onwards they Fort des Dunes at
plodded to a final halt and blessed sleep at Uxen, five Leffrinckoucke. (MME ww/2/2/32)
miles (8km) east of Dunkirk. It was a journey typical
of thousands.

THE GREAT ESCAPE

O n Tuesday 28 May Guderian made a tour of his
forward positions, according to his unit's war diary,
though he fails to mention it in his memoirs. He
reported to the Chief of Staff, Kleist Group, that only
half of the panzers remained operational and that
repairs and renewals were vital. Further, he said:
'A tank attack is pointless in the marshy country
which has been completely soaked by the rain... 18 Army fell; miserable weather for the huddled men on the
[of Army Group B] is approaching ... from the east. The beaches, and impossible weather for the Luftwaffe. The
infantry forces of this army are more suitable than tanks scene that greeted Wake-Walker differed entirely from
for fighting in this kind of country, and the task of closing the plans he had been shown in Dover, the three neat
the gap on the coast can therefore be left to them.' beaches, Malo-les-Bains, Bray-Dunes and La Panne,
It appears that the caution of the High C o m m a n d each sub-divided into tidy administrative sections. The
was not misplaced in preventing a panzer advance four beaches were thronged with men, long lines curving into
days previously. T h e panzer divisions were withdrawn the water where they stood waiting for small boats to lift
from the front. them out. There were too few small boats. Repeated
Within the beachhead some system was now appeals were made to Dover by Wake-Walker and
introduced. Rear-Admiral W. F. Wake-Walker arrived on others. As they day wore on the calm Channel became
the morning of Thursday 30 May to take command of dotted with flocks of little vessels, pleasure steamers,
the beach operation. The day was foggy and a steady rain yachts, sailing barges, all making their way towards the
112
 114
PART SIX

RIGHT Stranded boats and

abandoned vehicles littered
the beach and shallows at
Malo-les-Bains. The Dunkirk
mole is in the distance.
(B75/18/34)

BELOW The shore between the

West Bastion at Dunkirk and
Zuydcoote, from German
maps. From Malo-les-Bains
the mole reached out to the
west and to the east, beyond
Malo Terminus, is Fort des
Dunes and, on the sea-front,
the Zuydcoote Sanitorium.
The extent of the dunes is
clear to see. (BL C21 (15) sheets
XXIII-2/1-2 and 3-4)
 115
DYNAMO

queue... Its length was so enormous, and the pace of . The din was infernal. The batteries shelled
lifting troops into the boats was so slow, it would be ages ceaselessly and brilliantly. To the whistle of shells overhead
before those at the rear end were embarked.' was added the scream of falling bombs. Even the sky was
They were moved on to Zuydcoote on Wednesday full of noise — anti-aircraft shells, machine-gun fire, the
and there settled down once more to wait for the order snarl of falling planes, the angry hornet noise of dive
to join a queue. A holiday spirit prevailed, water was bombers. One could not speak normally at any time
found, a little food was foraged and songs were sung. against the roar of it and the noise of our own engines.'
'Despite the slow process of lifting men into the boats, T h e British were getting off, but the French were
the queues moved steadily forward, and there was plenty less fortunate. T h e British, from the Commander-in-
of laughing and joking going on... I never actually Chief downwards, assumed that the evacuation of the
noticed the changing weather pattern and that the BEF was their priority and their orders from London
visibility had improved. One moment we were singing appeared to confirm this. Indeed, when the first troops
away ... the next moment all hell was let loose around us.' were leaving Dunkirk the French were expressly
T h e bombers dived and turned with relentless charged by Weygand to hold their ground preliminary
efficiency. Ward and his companions were relatively to a counter-attack and they were unaware that their
safe in the dunes, but still suffered casualties. That allies had already started to leave. W h e n Admiral
evening they were moved again, to Malo-les-Bains, Wake-Walker arrived he was under instructions from
where, two days later, they finally left from the mole. the First Sea Lord to refuse the French places on the
The experience of the mariners coming to the ships if there were British troops ready to depart but
rescue was equally memorable. A. D . Divine wrote: the next day Churchill was, at a meeting in Paris,
'The picture will always remain sharp-etched in my declaring that the Allies should leave arm-in-arm. Lord
memory — the lines of men wearily and sleepily staggering Gort was beset with the problem of whom should be
across the beach from the dunes to the shallows, falling left behind if now French and British were to be
into little boats; great columns of men thrust out into the shipped out in equal numbers, but the problem soon
water among bomb and shell splashes. The foremost ranks ceased to be his. O n Friday 31 May he handed over
were shoulder deep ...As the front ranks were dragged command to Major-general Harold Alexander and
aboard the boats, the rear ranks moved up, from ankle reluctantly obeyed his orders to return to England.
deep to knee deep, from knee deep to waist deep, until Alexander's orders from London specified withdrawal
they, too, came to shoulder depth and their turn ... And '50/50' with the French. Admiral Abrial had no choice
always down the dunes and across the beach came but to concur with his subordinate, the line would be
new hordes of men, new columns, new lines ... There held until midnight on 1 June and the last departures BELOW The memorial at Malo-
was always the red background, the red of Dunkirk would take place on Sunday 2 June. les-Bains. (MME WW2/2/33)
 116
PART SIX

T h e air battle resumed with the improvement in

RIGHT The memorial window
the weather on Friday 31 May. Three raids by
at the CWGC Cemetery,
Heinkels and Dorniers sank one ship and damaged
Dunkirk. (MME WW2/3/1)
others at a cost, by the Luftwaffe's figures, of 17
machines. T h e RAF flew not only fighter sorties but
BELOW Crowded graves in the also missions to strike at German ground forces, losing
CWGC Cemetery, Dunkirk. 28 aircraft in all. The beautiful weather of Saturday 1
(MME WW2/3/2) June combined with the dwindling resources of the
RAF to allow heavy air raids on the beach-head
and the next day German daylight reconnaissance
reported an almost empty sea, for what movement was
left was undertaken by night. During Operation
Dynamo the RAF lost 177 aircraft of which 107 were
fighters. Luftwaffe losses, according to their own
figures, came to 132 at Dunkirk and 108 in other
areas. For the first time in this war Goring had
encountered serious opposition.

THE FINAL PHASE

Friday 31 May saw the peak performance in terms of
numbers of men embarked. There were 22,942 taken
off the beaches and 45,072 from the mole. By
Saturday morning some 39,000 British were within
the perimeter and about 50,000 French were forming
the rearguard with the same number in readiness to
leave. Only 15,000 Frenchman had been taken off
previously. T h e air raids, facing reduced opposition,
did great damage. Three British and one French
 117
DYNAMO

destroyers were sunk, together with four minesweepers

LEFT French dead of 1940 lie
and two transport ships. None the less the previous
at Leffrinckoucke. (MME
day's total was nearly equalled, 17,348 left the
WW2/2/24)
beaches and 47,081 the mole. Further losses were
reduced by operating at night and the final lift was
BELOW French prisoners are
planned for the night of Saturday to Sunday. T h e
kept under observation on the
operations did not go as planned and some ships
quayside at Dunkirk. (B71/86/6)
returned empty while numbers of French troops
sought vainly their embarkation points. O n Sunday
and Monday nights the ships returned and did
somewhat better, the totals for the last three days
coming to 26,256, 26,745 and 26,175 respectively.
Admiral Abrial came out with the final group and,
when Admiral Ramsay enquired about trying one
more time the next night, he had to decline the offer;
the beach-head was now in German hands. T h e
formal surrender of the remaining troops took place
on Tuesday 4 June.
T h e German failure to wipe out, by killing or
capturing, the BEF and the French 1st Army was to
cost them dear. A nucleus of British forces, 198,315
men, had been preserved for the future. Their Allies,
mostly French, had 139,911 taken off, but most of the
French returned to their own country by way of
Cherbourg to continue the immediate battle. It had
been a remarkable achievement, but as Churchill
remarked, wars are not won by evacuations. And the
Battle of France was not over yet.
 118
PART SIX

LEFT Mounted German

support troops arriving at
Dunkirk weeks later see the
evidence of a massive
surrender. (TM 5787/A4)
 119

PART SEVEN

FROM THE SOMME

TO THE SEINE

O
rders were given by Hitler on 28 May for the
formation of a Panzer Group under the
c o m m a n d of Guderian. O n 1 June he
established his headquarters at Signy-le-Petit, south-
west of Charleville where he had been only a short
while before, and set about assembling his new
command. O n Tuesday 4 June Rommel and 7th
Panzer were moving south towards the Somme to take
part in the next phase of the conquest of France, Fall
Rot, Operation Red. T h e orders for the destruction of
the Allies south of the Somme and the Aisne were
issued on Friday 31 May. T h e west, from the Channel
to Reims, would be taken by Army Group B while the
east, from Reims to the Maginot Line, was the sector
of Army Group A, leaving Army Group C in its
former position facing the Maginot Line from the
north. Only one fort of that line, at La Ferte, had been
attacked and taken by the Germans. T h e rest would be
left to surrender when all else had fallen.
General Weygand had 60 divisions with which to
face the 143 the Germans devoted to the operation.
These had, in part, come from a thinning of the

LEFT The fort at the extreme

west of the Maginot Line, Villy
la Ferte, was overcome by the
Germans on 19 May.
(MME WW2/6/22 or 23)

ABOVE A diagram of the

action that led to the fall of
Villy la Ferte commemorates
the French defence.
(MME WW2/6/26)
 120
PART SEVEN

ABOVE From the height of the

Monts de Caubert the country
to the south is easy to
O b s e r v e . ( M M E Mon/Diep98/1/20)

RIGHT British armour on the

move in Quesnoy, south of the
Somme and west of
Abbevillean May 1940.
(IWM F4600)
 121
FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

Maginot Line forces as well as what reserves were

available, now 15 divisions, ten having been deployed
in May, and there were elements of sound fighting
forces rescued from Dunkirk. The tactical approach
was changed. Orders were given for selected strong
points to be defended with vigour and even to persist
when surrounded. The troops would then break out
when the main danger had passed, or the special shock
troops being held in reserve would act to relieve them.
Unfortunately the organisation of forces in the new
formations necessary to realise the scheme demanded
time, and that is what the Germans denied him. In the
west they were already in possession of bridgeheads at
Abbeville, Amiens and Peronne. From the first two
towns the two Panzer Divisions of Gruppe H o t h would
strike towards the Seine while Gruppe von Kleist from
Peronne would go for the Marne. East of Reims
Gruppe Guderian would spearhead the advance. As a under the command of General Robert Altmayer,
preliminary Paris was bombed on 3 June. brother of Rene, who headed a new formation,
Groupement A, which soon became the 10th Army.
REGAINING THE SOMME T h e first task Altmayer undertook was to eliminate the
BRIDGEHEADS Abbeville bridgehead. Evans pointed out that his
While the eyes of the world had been on the retreat to division could not spearhead the operation as his tanks
Dunkirk and the evacuation of the allied armies, were light cruisers, intended for open country, high-
efforts were being made to challenge the German speed actions and insufficiently armoured for the task.
presence in the Somme bridgeheads. Elements of 1st T h e objection was treated as trivial.
Armoured had taken part in ill-directed forays west of O n Sunday the French 7th Army's attacks were
Amiens on 23 and 24 May in support of a supposed halted, one south of Abbeville at Huppy, the other at
attack by the French 7th Army. T h e intelligence about Dury, south of Amiens. O n Monday the British 2nd
the bridges still intact was faulty and most of the Armoured Brigade went for Huppy, together with the
planned rendezvous failed to materialise. This was the French 2nd Light Cavalry. The attack was poorly
basis of the belief that a major attack from the south co-ordinated and the British found themselves going
would cut off the panzers from the rest of the German it alone. The 10th Hussars lost 20 tanks before
forces. O n Saturday 25 May Major-general Roger withdrawing. T h e Queen's Bays to their right fared a
Evans was told his 1st Armoured was now to come little better, losing only 12 tanks. Added to the losses

ABOVE The French memorial

on the Monts de Caubert. The
concrete dome to the left is
the remains of the First World
War memorial in the form of a
French helmet. The hillock on
the skyline is surmounted
with German gun
emplacements.
(MMEMon/Diep98/1/21)

LEFT A lonely monument to

French fallen stands at the
roadside between Cambron
and Lambercourt.
(MME Mon/Diep98/1/23)
 122
PART SEVEN

of the few days before, the Brigade was approaching Battalions and the 7th RDP, motorised Dragoons. In
exhaustion of its AFVs. T h e 3rd Armoured and the all he had 140 tanks in working order, although they
5th Light Cavalry were operating further west. They were the usual mish-mash of marques, with all the
managed to reach the high ground south of the repair and supply problems that implied. In addition
Somme and, at the extreme left, the outskirts of he had, with the arrival of the 22nd Colonial Infantry
St Valery-sur-Somme on the estuary itself, but Regiment and the 2nd Cavalry Division's artillery, six
supporting French infantry was slow in following up infantry battalions and six artillery groups. He arrived
the gains and they were forced to fall back. In all the on Tuesday 28 May to find the 10th Army shaken by
British lost 65 tanks that day and a further 50 were in the previous day's failure to reduce the bridgehead and
need of repair before coming back into service. the Germans moving fresh troops of the XXXVIII
Charles de Gaulle was promoted Brigadier-general Army Corps, 9th and 57th Infantry Divisions, into the
on 24 May and was ordered to hurry his 4th sector. In conference at the Chateau d'Oisemont at
Armoured Division to the Abbeville front during the noon on Tuesday de Gaulle decided to leave the
night of 26-27 May. He had recently been marked for British tanks in reserve and use his heavy armour
the great northward attack across the Somme, but then against the G e r m a n salient. T h e British 51st
that was cancelled. Then he was tapped for a drive (Highland) Division was also to be in reserve as it, too,
against Amiens which in turn was shelved. Now he had just arrived from the Maginot Line and was
was to subdue the bridgehead the Germans had unfamiliar with the terrain.
established based on the Monts de Caubert, high At 6 p.m. the attack went in. T h e more heavily-
BELOW An A13 Mark II of the above Abbeville. T h e journey from the east had lost de armoured Somuas and Chars B of the French were
10th Hussars knocked out at Gaulle some 30 tanks, but on his arrival he found his able to brush aside the German 3.7mm anti-tank fire
Huppy on 25 May. (TM 1326/A2) force augmented by the French 19th and 47th Tank in a way the thin-skinned British tanks could not. T h e
 123

FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

initial objectives were gained by nightfall, H u p p y was added to its strength, it had an on-paper complement
ABOVE Men of the 2nd
once more in French hands and over 300 prisoners of 50 Chars B, 35 Hotchkiss and 80 Renault Rs, but a
Seaforth Highlanders prepare
had been taken. At 4 a.m. the next morning the assault couple of dozen of these were, in fact, unserviceable.
to defend their ground.
resumed, at first putting the shaken German defenders Major-general Victor Fortune of the 51st (Highland)
(IWM F4626)
to flight. T h e battle lasted through the day and gave Division was in command of the armour, his own unit
the French control of all the ground except the Monts and the French 31st Infantry Division. T h e artillery
de Caubert themselves and the lower hills alongside opened up at 3.30 a.m. O n the left the French infantry
the Somme. T h e cost had been high and the Germans did poorly, confused and disorientated by friendly fire.
were reinforcing their positions during the hours of T h e tanks ran into an undetected minefield and the
darkness. De Gaulle wrote: advance petered out. Another minefield held up the
'Only Mont Caubert still held out. There were a great tanks in the centre although some got through to face
many dead from both sides on the field. Our tanks had fire from the artillery and 8 8 m m flak guns now
been sorely tried. Barely a hundred were still in working defending the Monts de Caubert. T h e 152nd Brigade's
order. But all the same, an atmosphere of victory hovered 2nd Seaforth Highlanders were with the first wave and
over the battlefield. Everyone held his head high. The the 4th Seaforths with the second, neither making
wounded were smiling. The guns fired gaily. Before us, in much progress and both suffering heavily. T h e Chars
a pitched battle, the Germans had retired.' B were refuelled where they were, under fire from the
T h e joy was short-lived. Although the French held Germans, but even this gallant act was not sufficient to
against a German counter-attack the following day, keep them moving forward. To the right of the main
their subsequent attempt to take the mount failed. In road from Blangy to Abbeville the 4th Queen's O w n
three days the 4th Armoured had lost over 100 tanks Cameron Highlanders met concentrated machine-gun
and 750 men killed in action. They could do no more. fire and could go no further. Further west, around
O n Tuesday 4 June the 10th Army tried again. T h e Cambron, 2nd Lieutenant Barker of the 1st Gordon
French 2nd Armoured Division, patched up after Highlanders, was preparing for action.
(
its mauling by Gruppe von Kleist, still had 17 On the 4th June at 3.30am we attacked the German
Renault B1bis and was reinforced with a further three bridgehead our objective being The Bois de Cambron.
companies with these machines. W i t h other units This was our first full-scale attack with plenty of artillery
 124
PART SEVEN

support; indeed it was probably the first set piece attack by

the British Army in the 1939-45 war. There was a
mixture of excitement in the air with apprehension lest we
were found wanting as we prepared for the assault and
had our evening meal'
T h e 4th T h e Black Watch and 1st Gordon
Highlanders went well, taking the ridge overlooking
the river and getting down to the river itself at Gouy.
But the commanding heights of the Monts de Caubert
remained in German hands, making it impossible to
hold the ground. Of the 73 tanks with which the
French 2nd Armoured had started the day, 27 had
been knocked out and six failed mechanically Only six
Chars B were still operational and another 28 AFVs
were scarcely mobile. T h e attack was over.

ROMMEL ON THE SOMME

Army Group B opened Operation Red on Wednesday
5 June. Bridges over the Somme had been blown, but
the plan to launch an attack against the southern flank
of the panzers to meet a similar attack from the north
had required certain bridges to be preserved, including
those between Conde-Folie and Hangest-sur-Somme
six miles (10km) north-west of Amiens railway
crossings. T h e valley of the Somme is a marshy
lowland in which the river splits up into numerous
channels and is diverted to form lakes by the people
who live there. O n the southern flank the waterway
presses up against abrupt hills while the slope to the
north is less steep. O n either side rolling country offers
easy travelling to AFVs. To oppose the Germans
between Amiens and the Channel coast was the
French 10th Army, with the 51st (Highland) Division
on the coast and the remains of the British 1st
Armoured Division on the River Bresle which runs
north-west to the sea at le Treport. To their rear,
holding a line on the Bethune river running south-east
from Dieppe towards Forges-les-Eaux and then south
to the Seine on the line of the Andelle river, was
Beaumanforce. This was an ad hoc formation under
Brigadier A. B. Beauman reporting to Lieutenant-
general Sir Henry Karslake, the commander of the
British lines of communication troops, who reported
direct to General Georges. From General Georges

ABOVE The bridges over the Canal de la Somme and the river itself were north-west of le OPPOSITE MIDDLE The two bridges now stand on the banks of
Breilloir, north of Hangest. Only the more northerly of the two survives. There is a German a lake. On the left, by the red car, the surviving railway line
cemetery at Bourdon. (BL C21 (15) sheet xxn-8/3-4. ww2Maps/3/34) and, beyond the footbridge, the framework of an iron bridge
marks the stump of the southern embankment. (MME WW2/9/3)

OPPOSITE TOP The bridge over the Somme Canal between Gouy and Petit Port, known OPPOSITE BOTTOM From the D3 north-west of Hangest the
to medieval historians as Blanchetaque. When this was a marsh, Edward III crossed barrier of the Somme can be appreciated. The track still runs
here before Crecy and here Henry V attempted to cross and failed on his long route to along the slope and beyond the trees that now obscure the
AginCOUrt. (MME Mon/Diep98/2/9) view to the right the railway can be seen. (MME WW2/8/35)
 125

FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

communication flowed down to General Altmayer's

10th Army and through 10th Army channels to the
51st Division. A ready prescription for confusion.
Between Abbeville and Amiens the French defenders
were predominantly colonial troops, men of the same
temper as those who had fought so well in the north.
O n Wednesday 5 June Rommel went to see the
artillery barrage designed to prevent the French getting
near and blowing the bridges that took the railway
over the water and the road near Conde-Folie.
'The preparatory barrage, which started punctual to
the minute, made an extraordinarily impressive sight
from our excellent vantage point. The flash of our shell-
bursts seemed to be everywhere and there was little to be
heard of enemy counter-fire... News reached us at about
05.00 hours that the railway and road bridges had fallen
intact into our hands. Part of the Engineer Battalion was
already hard at work on the railway bridge, unbolting
rails and clearing away sleepers, in order to prepare the
way for the division to cross with its vehicles.'
The opposition was light, only a handful of men
of the 5th Colonial Infantry who had slogged up on
foot over 18 miles (30km) the previous day.
Nonetheless Rommel found himself having to take
cover more than once under their fire. T h e crossing
was delayed for a while when a tank shed a track on
the narrow causeway, but by 9 a.m. the flow was
restored. They were still under fire from Hangest to
the south-east as noon approached and, as 5th Panzer
had been held up after crossing at Pont-Remy, south-
east of Abbeville, Rommel decided that had to be
stopped and 7th Panzer should move on. It was a
tougher assignment than he realised; Weygand's
'hedgehogs', strong-points, were showing their value.
Rommel reports:
'To eliminate the enemy force in Hangest ...a whole
panzer battalion was launched against the western outskirts
of the village... We watched the battalion approach closer
and closer to the village and very soon heard their fire. Then
the tanks turned off up the hill to the west, but only a few
surmounted the topmost ridge. Most of them stuck on the
hill... The crews, who dismounted from their tanks, were
suddenly fired on by enemy machine-guns and suffered
casualties in the coverless terrain.'
Self-propelled guns were brought up to bombard
the village and the Motor-cycle Battalion ordered to
attack and clear it on foot, which they did, though not
before Rommel again found himself under machine-
gun fire. The 5th Company of the 44th Colonial
Infantry had given an outstanding account of
themselves. It was not until 3 p.m. that Rommel was
able to move out of the bridge-head and the building of
a heavy-duty bridge at Hangest could not start that day.
At Quesnoy-sur-Airaines they ran into colonial
infantry installed behind the walls of the chateau to
the east of the village and endured heavy fire from
them. T h e barrage from the panzers in response
 126
PART SEVEN

ABOVE An accident held up

No. 2 Platoon, 3rd Company
when PzKpfw IV No.321 lost a
track. It had to be pushed
down the bank, where it can
be seen to the left of the
bridge, to allow the column to
pass. It was repaired and
rejoined the Division in a
matter of hours. The aircraft
is a Henschel 126. (IWM RML 193)

RIGHT Once across the

bridges, 7th Panzer had to
climb the hills and deal with
heavy fire from Hangest.
(IWM RML 252)
 127

FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

overcame the resistance and the tanks flowed round patrols encountered probing patrols of Germans from
the village. At Airaines itself the resistance lasted three time to time. Stanley Rayner, a despatch rider mounted on
full days as the 53rd Colonial Infantry refused to give a Norton motor-cycle, was on one such patrol early on.
in. Reprisals followed, few prisoners were taken. 'A patrol consisted of one light 15-cwt truck with a
By evening 7th Panzer was just short of Montagne- driver and an officer in the cab, whilst on the back
le-Fayel, seven miles (11km) from the Somme. (which was open) was mounted a Bren gun — a light
Rommel reports that strong attacks were made on his machine-gun - with also a Boys Anti-Tank Rifle,
right flank by tanks and coloured troops that evening, supposedly capable of stopping any known tank.
but they were fought off. O n Thursday 6 June they Hopefully this time we had the correct ammunition. Six
halted south of the Amiens-Rouen road, south-west of motorcycle Despatch Riders completed these patrols, four
Poix-de-Picardie and on Friday in front and two behind.'
'The advance went straight across country, over Rayner carried a short Lee Enfield with five rounds
roadless and trackless fields, uphill, downhill, through of a m m u n i t i o n . T h e y drove across a peaceful
hedges, fences and high cornfields. The route taken by the countryside for some distance before coming on an
tanks was so chosen that the less cross-country-worthy improvised road-block made of farm machines which
vehicles of the 37th Reconnaissance Battalion and the 6th left a narrow space through which they could pass, at
Rifle Regiment could follow in their track-prints. We met least the motorcycles could, for moments later the four
no enemy troops, apart from a few stragglers ...' leading riders found themselves alone. T h e trucks were
That day they reached Menerval, close to the Forges- still behind the road-block.
les-Eaux to Gournay-en-Bray road. The 51st Division, 'The leading despatch riders stopped ...We stayed put
on the Bresle, had been comprehensively outflanked. with our engines running. Now Mac could speak fluent
French and coming towards him was a lady on foot who
THE CLOSING TRAP must have been French. The next minute 'all hell' broke
General Evans went to see his superior, General loose. Bullets showered down the road at us like hailstones
Altmayer, on that Friday 7 June. He proposed the use of passing us as well as ricocheting off the roadstones... As
the remaining tanks, 37 Mark VIs and 41 cruisers, for an for Mac and the lady, they had completely disappeared. I BELOW The First World War
attack against the panzers' flank decisively to halt their never saw the going of them at all.' memorial in Hangest bears a
envelopment on the western half of the 10th Army. Rayner crawled back along the ditch to his patrol tribute to the civilian
That evening General Weygand arrived at 10th Army and the other despatch riders also made it back, one casualties of Rommel's
headquarters and ordered Evans to scatter his tanks along wounded. Of the lady there is no further report. assault. (MME WW2/8/36)
the line of the River Andelle in support of the infantry.
Evans protested that his force was entirely unsuitable for
such a static task, but Weygand was adamant and the 1st
Armoured was condemned to futile destruction.
The 2nd/6th Battalion East Surrey Regiment came
under Beauforce on 18 May (Commander,
Lieutenant-colonel Heseltine, D S C , MC) under 30
minutes notice to move, according to the abridged war
diary prepared by Captain H . H . Walker. They had
spent the previous fortnight working in the docks at
Le Havre and had just received orders to depart for the
Saar front when these new instructions were issued.
They were an infantry pioneer battalion and had only
four 2-inch mortars, but only one with sights, no 3-
inch mortars and no mortar ammunition. There were
only 11 anti-tank (Boys) rifles and 16 Bren guns, but
no tracer ammunition, no grenades, no revolvers, no
compasses and no field glasses. Their transport was
short by three 15-cwt trucks, a water cart, and an 8-
cwt truck. Evidently there was an emergency. At 8
p.m. they were put on 15 minutes notice to move. At
10 p.m. the notice to move was cancelled and they
were told to be ready at first light.
For the next two days the 2/6th East Surreys were on
the River Bresle near Gamache, ten miles (16km) from
the coast at Le Treport, but were then withdrawn to
Arques-la-Bataille on the river south of Dieppe. Their
 128
PART SEVEN

RIGHT German dead lie in the

cemetery east of Bourdon,
north-east of the river.
(MME WW2/8/32)

BELOW The French colonial

dead lie at Conde-Folie, north
of Hangest. (MME WW2/9/7)
 129

FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

LEFT Panzer 38(t)s and Panzer

IIs attack the French colonial
troops' positions behind the
chateau's circuit wall at
Quesnoy-sur-Airaines.
(IWM RML 276)

BELOW The breaches made in

the wall by Rommel's tanks
have now been bricked up.
(MMEWW2/9/15)

The 2/6th East Surreys handed over to the 4th and started trying to work round their flanks. The Bren
Sherwood Foresters and were withdrawn to Bihorel, near guns stopped them and there was a stand-off until 7.30
Rouen, on 31 May to become part of 1st Support p.m., neither side having the advantage. Then refugees
Group, 1st Armoured Division. With 101st Light Anti- appeared, making their way along the road from Aumale
Aircraft and Anti-Tank Regiment's 44 2-pounder anti- and up the hill to the south. Redfern wrote:
tank guns, they were to defend the line between Aumale 'They were stopped by the Germans in the orchard [to
in the north and Forges-les-Eaux in the south. It was a his front] and as they moved up the road so did the
distance of 20 miles (32km) on the ground, a density of Germans move up behind them. They put the refugees on
about one gun every 800 yards (750m). The 4th Border the sky-line with some of the troops they had already
Regiment would be on their left, north of Aumale, captured and moved all their forces round to my right
further down the stream that was the start of the River flank. About ten minutes later some hand grenades were
Bresle. The East Surreys took up positions along the thrown at our defences one of which burst underneath the
road south of Aumale towards Abancourt, the guns anti-tank gun, wounding very seriously the crew and
overlooking the open country to the east. Tuesday 4 June disabling the gun. Firing then began on my right, left and
was spent improving their defences. O n Wednesday the rear. The enemy had apparently encircled our position.
bombing began. Aumale railway station was hit, but the After five minutes exchange of fire and hand grenades I
Surreys' positions escaped notice. Lieutenant John was called upon to surrender, this I refused to do. The
Redfern was sent to establish contact with the Borders,
but they were not there. They had been sent to hold the
route back to Le Havre, but no one told the Surreys and
no one took their place; the flank was open.
The bombing on Thursday 6 June was supported by
machine-gun fire, and now the Germans seemed to
know exactly where they were. It boded ill for the
morrow. John Redfern was in a position on the hillside
due south of Aumale and overlooking the hamlet of
Fleuzy through which the railway ran. O n Friday the
French 12th Light Cavalry Regiment arrived and
established themselves in Redfern's positions. It was
then, at 3 p.m., that the Englishman learned that the
Germans had already penetrated the Surreys' front to
the south and taken Abancourt in the direction of which
the French were attacking southwards along the railway.
At about 5 p.m. two German lorries full of infantry
came north, from Redfern's right, and were destroyed on
the road by the 2-pounder anti-tank gun. Infantry on
foot followed, took cover when the Surreys opened fire
 130
PART SEVEN

demand was twice repeated and again I refused so with a

"Heil Hitler!" and shouting Hurrah they charged. Just
before they charged I ordered the men to fix bayonets. The
Germans charged to about five yards [4.5m], saw our
bayonets and stopped.'
Although the Surreys fired on them as they came,
the Germans had sub-machine guns which forced
Redfern's men to take cover and firing and counter-
firing continued for a while, when the Germans pulled
back to loot the British truck. Further exchanges of
fire took place as darkness came and at 10 p.m.
Redfern was able to get out of his weapon-pit and
assess the situation. Four other men were alive. They
made off to the rear but ran into a German patrol.
Redfern was wounded and let the others go on
without him. They were captured, Redfern was found
next morning by the 12th Light Cavalry and sent to
hospital in the rear.
Those Surreys further south of Redfern received
the unexpected reinforcement of a squadron of the
18th Dragon Portes. They were on the line of a track
that still runs west from the Aumale-Abancourt road
at the summit, half-sunken, as Captain Alex Thomson
 131

FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

OPPOSITE TOP The memorial

to Captain N'Tchorere near the
church in Airaines.
(MMEWW2/9/13)

OPPOSITE BOTTOM Prisoners

taken at Quesnoy-sur-
Airaines are marched over
the planked-over railway
bridge across the Somme.
(IWM RML 280)

ABOVE Aumale seen from a

position a little to the north of
Redfern's weapon pits.
(MME WW2/9/24)

LEFT The valley of the Andelle

and the road bridges at
Normanville. (MME ww2/g/32)
 132
PART SEVEN

RIGHT A somewhat distorted

map, as comparison with a
modern road map shows, of
the fighting south and west of
Aumale. (QRSRM MME WW2/0/8)

BELOW Detail from Sheet 4 of

the German Strassenkarte
von Nordostfrankreich, Berlin,
1940. Downstream, that is
west, of Rouen there are no
bridges, only ferries. Rommel
attempted to take the bridges
at Elbeuf, south of Rouen. The
Andelle flows through Fleury,
south-east of Rouen, to join
the Seine at the Cote des
Deux Amants. Les Andeleys is
bottom right.
(BL C21e1. MME WW2MF2/18)
 133

FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

remarked, like a Sussex lane. Together they held

against the Panzer Division, probably the 5th and not
Rommel's 7th as folklore has it, well on into Saturday,
when, before they could be surrounded, they
withdrew. T h e only officer remaining unwounded in
this group, 2nd Lieutenant John Naylor, brought 21
men back to Battalion headquarters.
Rommel was hurrying forwards further south,
over the wide plains that separate the valley of the
Somme from that of the Seine. H e was approaching
the defensive positions along the River Andelle. To call
it a river is to accord it greater respect than the reality
deserves; it is a large stream rather than even a small
river. As a moat against an enemy it is trivial here. T h e
bridge at Sigy, five miles (8km) south-west of Forges-
les-Eaux, was blown by C Brigade of what was now
Beauman Division on the morning of Saturday 8 June,
just as 7th Panzer attacked. Rommel saw what was
happening and while the defenders were engaged by
the howitzer battery,
'... / reconnoitred the chances of getting tanks across
the river and found a point 400 yards [365m] south of
Sigy where it could be forded... Although there was over
three feet [1m] of water near the eastern bank, the first
tanks crossed without any trouble ... However, when
the first Panzer II attempted it, its engine cut out in
midstream, leaving the crossing barred to all other
vehicles. Meanwhile several British soldiers had waded
across to us with hands up, and, with their help, our
motor-cyclists started to improve the crossing.'

They cut down willows and plundered the ruins of

a railway bridge to improve the crossing and a Panzer
III came back to pull the obstructive tank out of the
water. Just then Rommel learned that one of his
reconnaissance troops had found the bridges intact at
Normanville and had prevented their being blown.
T h e effort was diverted to the immediate south and
Sigy was finally taken from the west at 2 p.m. with the
capture of some 100 British.
T h e n began a gallop for the Seine. At 8 p.m. a
company of the Panzer Regiment was sent to block
any counter-attack from Rouen while Rommel himself
intended to seize the bridges over the Seine at Elbeuf
later that day. His forces kept running into small
ABOVE The Andelle valley runs
groups of British or French attempting to withdraw
south from Forges-les-Eaux.
southwards. As darkness fell word came that the
western flank was secure and off Rommel went along Sigy is due west of, and

the ridge around which the Seine swings in a huge Normanville south-west of,

meander south of Rouen. Argueil. From Strassenkarte

'We had great difficulty in the darkness and with our von Nordostfrankreich, Blatt

inadequate maps in following the route. The noise of our 4, Berlin 1940. (BL C2iei. MME
passage as we drove through the villages wakened people WW2Maps/3/27)

from their sleep, and brought them rushing out into the
street to welcome us - as British... We turned south at Les LEFT The Andelle and the new
Athieux and reached the village of Sotteville at midnight bridge at Sigy-en-Bray.
— the first German troops to reach the Seine.' (MME WW2/9/26)
 134
PART SEVEN

ABOVE From the Cote des

They turned west along the riverside and into the ANOTHER BEACH
outskirts of Elbeuf. T h e motor-cycle Battalion was T h e German advance of Wednesday 5 June at the
Deux Amants looking due
sent ahead to take the bridges and keep them open. At seaward end of the Somme line had overwhelmed the
west towards Elbeuf, the
1.30 a.m. on Sunday 9 June Rommel himself went m e n of the 51st Division in the front line,
ridge around which this great
forward to see what was happening. His men were determinedly though they fought. T h e 7th and 8th
meander of the Seine is
snarled up in traffic jams in the town. Civilians were Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders had much too
formed can be seen to the hurrying through the streets and over the bridges. wide a front to hold and suffered accordingly. The 1st
right. (MMEWW2/10/24) Rommel's troops were close to the bridges but still Gordons got out of Gouy, near the river, and where
hesitated to go for them. They were ordered to attack Edward III had crossed on the way to Crecy, the
at once and at 3 a.m. did so. They were too late. T h e Germans now crossed in the opposite direction. By the
bridges went up as soon as they advanced. The end of the day the 51st were on the line of the Bresle
opportunity, to Rommel's fury, was lost. in the west and a little forward of it in the east.
North of Rouen, at Isneauville, Saturday was a bad Fortune requested permission to pull back to the river
day for the advancing 5th Panzer. Lieutenant-colonel but Altmayer, bound by Weygand's orders, refused.
A. G. Syme of the Royal Scots was in command of Indeed, Weygand was swift to accuse the British of
another scratch unit, four companies of infantry, a preparing to run for home. They were, in any case,
platoon of machine-guns and four anti-tank guns. forced to retire across the Bresle at Blangny as darkness
Beauman ordered him to hold the road north of fell on Thursday 6 June, the Lothian & Border
Rouen, and this he did for a full day. A German tank Yeomanry having endured relentless attacks at
obligingly stranded itself in the middle of the road Oisemont all day in the company of a troop of bloody-
when it tried to rush their wire and found it mined. It minded and aggressive Frenchmen in armoured cars.
was not until 7 p.m. that Syme's position was Lieutenant-general James Marshall-Cornwall had
threatened with a flanking movement, and he then been sent to France as Head of No. 17 Military
withdrew to his second line of defence and continued Mission a week before with instructions to attach
to hold his enemies at bay. At dusk the Germans pulled himself to the headquarters of the 10th Army. He now
back and Syme's force slipped away south of the Seine, cabled London to give the news that Altmayer was
leaving 12 knocked-out tanks to show there was a sting unable, because of technical breakdown, to
in the tail of the BEF. The 5th Panzer Division entered communicate with either superiors or subordinates
Rouen, the lowest point at which the river was bridged and what was more, to give his opinion that the
at that time, the next day. The bridges had been General had himself broken down and was incapable
destroyed. The remains of the French 10th Army, the of command. Marshall-Cornwall entreated Altmayer
51st Division with them, could now only leave by sea. to give orders for IX Corps, including the 51st, to fall
 135

FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

back on the River Bethune, but he would not.

BELOW British troops take
Meanwhile 5th and 7th Panzer were forging south. O n
cover from a German aircraft
Saturday 8 June General Ihler, commanding IX Corps,
near Blagny-sur-Bresle.
received Weygand's order to fall back in the direction
(IWM F4772)
of Rouen-Les Andelys, the area Rommel was driving
through later that day. It would take four days as the
French had to slog it on foot and their artillery was LEFT German armoured cars
horse-drawn. T h e 51st, thoroughly motorised, could at Le Treport. (TM 894/B2)
have done the trip in a day, but elected, in the words
of General Fortune, to fight their way back with them
step by step. By Saturday evening they were outside
Dieppe and the next day news came that they were cut
off from Rouen. Le Havre had to be the objective.
Ihler agreed.
Fortune immediately set up Arkforce at Arques-la-
Bataille under Brigadier A. C. L. Stanley-Clarke to
hurry west to establish an enclave at the end of the Le
Havre peninsula. He had 1st Black Watch and the
surviving men of 7th and 8th Argyll & Sutherland
Highlanders as well as artillery and machine-gun
units. O n Monday 10 June Admiral Sir William
James, C-in-C Portsmouth, arrived in Le Havre and
decided to move the small craft to St Valery-en-Caux
to improve the chances of getting the men off. That
day Rommel was moving once more, this time towards
the sea to cut off retreat. They were in sight of Yvetot
by 10.30 a.m.
'As we approached the main Cany-Fecamp road
[south-east of St Valery] a despatch rider from the
 136
PART SEVEN

Reconnaissance Battalion reported that Captain von en-Caux. The Allies were surrounded.
Luck had found enemy lorry columns on the main road The 2nd/6th East Surreys were fighting and falling
and was rounding them up... Lt had every appearance of back to fight again against 5th Panzer. Stanley Rayner,
being a considerable formation... A quick interrogation like most others, was thoroughly confused. His second
revealed that it was the beginning of 31st French Norton cycle had been lost and, on Sunday 10 June,
Division, which was to have embarked at Fecamp that he was riding in a truck.
afternoon... With my signals section L drove on in 7 knew not anymore where we were heading, for
advance of the regiment through Les Petites Dalles and between the many French soldiers blocking our way and
down to the water.' the German forces, we went hither and thither... Each
Rommel was nine miles (15km) west of St Valery- stop we had to make, especially at night, we assumed

ABOVE Graves of the 51st

(Highland) Division at
Franleu, west of Abbeville.
(MME Mon/Diep98/1/34)

RIGHT In the Canadian CWGC

Cemetery in Dieppe, devoted
mainly to the fallen of the
Dieppe Raid of 19 August
1942, some of the men and
women killed in 1940 are
b u r i e d . (MME Mon/Diep98/3/25)
 137

FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

LEFT Panzer IV No. B01 of 2nd

Battalion, 25th Panzer
Regiment, manoeuvres onto
the beach at Petites Dalles,
10 June. (IWMRML318)

BELOW A sketch map of the

2nd/6th East Surreys'
position at Beaunay (spelled
Beaumais in error). North is
at the foot of the sketch.
(QRSRM MME WW2/0/6)

defence positions. Patrols went out, staff cars and motor

cycles to ascertain availability of roads. Many never
returned... Chaotic is a possible word for the situation.
However, we eventually arrived at a place called Beauney.
[Beaunay, just over 4 miles (7km) north of Totes.] We
turned into the grounds of Beauney, a Chateau in a
wooded area with a huge green field in front of it and a
road, tree lined, around it.'
T h e transport pulled in like a wild west wagon
circle and they took up defensive positions. N o sooner
had they settled in than, at about 6 p.m., they came
under fire. Rumour had it that Fifth Columnists were
the problem, but it soon became apparent that they
were under German attack.
'Two of my cousins in the East Surrey TA who were
drivers in the Transport went down, under fire, and drove
some of our trucks out to the Chateau end. We were
ordered into the trucks ready to move on when our
Despatch Rider, Ted Riley, got shot... Words failed me for
he was so quietly confident. He would be missed...'
T h e attack was driven off by 7.30 and they were
soon back on the road. Not long after they were fired
on again. T h e transport was abandoned and, in small
parties, they continued on foot.
O n Tuesday 11 June the forces constituting IX
Corps, the French 2nd and 5th Light Cavalry, 31st
and 40th Infantry and the 51st (Highland) Division,
had formed a defensive perimeter around St Valery-en-
Caux from le Tot on the coast to the west and inland
through Ingouville, Neville, le Mesnil-Durdent,
Houdetot, St-Pierre-le-Vigier and Veules-les-Roses.
with the Highlanders on the flanks and the French
 138
PART SEVEN

facing inland. Rommel had spent the previous evening Meanwhile, the 25th Panzer Regiment had thrust
ABOVE French and British
probing the British front near Fecamp with doubtful forward to the high ground immediately north-west of St
troops surrender on the high
usefulness, but now he turned his attention to the Valery and was using every gun to prevent embarkation
ground west of St Valery-en-
western flank of the St Valery enclave. of enemy troops.'
C a U X . (IWM RML 400)
'On the hills a mile east of Veulettes the enemy [2nd T h e coast both east and west of St Valery is one of
Seaforth Highlanders] met us with a heavy artillery and high, steep cliffs. T h e access to the sea is limited to a
BELOW The watermills still
anti-tank gunfire, and we bore off to the south-east. But slender opening at Veules-les-Roses and to the harbour
border the path down to the the enemy fire grew in violence and heavy batteries joined and slightly broader gap in the cliffs at St Valery itself.
sea at Veules-les-Roses. in, so that all movement was frequently pinned down... Only the latter could handle troops in significant
(MME Mon/Diep98/3/7) Near le Tot the British had built a fortified line and numbers, and the presence of the Germans on the
resistance was heavy. So tenacious was the enemy defence cliffs meant that any attempt to take the troops off
that hand-to-hand combat developed at many points. would have to be by night. T h e Germans were now
pressing on all sides. T h e German 8 8 m m guns on the
cliffs engaged the British destroyer offshore and two of
the anti-aircraft guns were lost to direct hits. To the
south the East Surreys fell back, fighting, to Neville
where about 150 men took up a defensive position,
and Veules-les-Roses where they had about 100 other
ranks and three officers. Captain Tannock reached
battalion headquarters from Veulles-les-Roses and was
ordered to bring the rest of them back to Neville, but
by the time he tried they were cut off. At 11.30 p.m.
orders came to move into St Valery itself for
embarkation. Rayner wrote:
'On we went through the night coming to woods on
the outskirts of St Valery where, on the far corner of the
road, was a farm building enclosed by a wall where we
were given a tin of McConnakies baked beans in tomato
sauce ... Tired and weary, turning to the right from our
original road, from the high ground we had travelled, we
were descending on a winding roadfor ...a small fishing
village in a cleft between high cliffs, not unlike the white
cliffs of Dover. On what must have been the main road
with large houses lining each side was a Bren Gun
 139

FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

Carrier that had been hit by a bomb or a shell and was

LEFT Near the road east of
alight with bullets exploding up and around ... We
Veules-les-Roses stands the
ducked down, going on taking up outlook positions in the
memorial to the 3rd Dragons
tower of a large house, looking back up the road we came
PorteS. (MME Mon/Diep98/3/7)
along... We had made it. Home was just around the
corner, so to speak.'
T h e town was crowded with troops. T h e sea was BELOW The shell-damaged
full of ships, more than 200 of them, but most lacking town of St Valery-en-Caux in
radio and all blinded by the fog. H M S Codrington, the 1940. (IWM RML 368)

destroyer covering the operation, directed some vessels

further east, to Veules-les-Roses. T h e soldiers came
down from the high ground and along the mill-lined
course of what is said to be the shortest river in France,
past the holiday homes of the 19th-century literati to
the narrow beach. A mixed bag of French, Belgian and
British boats took them off. By morning 1,300 British
and 900 French troops had embarked. But from St
Valery, very few. The tug Fairplay with nine drifters
and a number of Dutch barges in tow reached the
beach to the west of the harbour soon after midnight
and started loading. T h e Germans on the cliffs above
soon saw what was happening for the night was bright break-out. T h e Panzer Regiment was creeping closer to
with the flames of burning houses. T h e boats were the town.
badly shot up and only a few escaped to be towed back 'The tanks, concealed by the undergrowth, rolled
to Newhaven. As Wednesday 12 June dawned slowly down the narrow winding roads, nearer and
Rommel was confident he had the situation under nearer to the first houses, until finally they secured the
control. T h e troops surrounding IX Corps were western quarter of the town... Fires were blazing all over
established in depth, ready to frustrate any attempted the farther side of the town and there was war material
 140
PART SEVEN

RIGHT The memorial to the

French 2nd Cavalry Division
stands to the west of
St Valery-en-Caux, facing the
obelisk of the 51st (Highland)
Division's monument on the
opposite headland.
(MME Mon/Diep98/3/2)

BELOW The Highland

Division's memorial stands
alongside a later German
bunker. A swastika was
drawn in the wet cement and
dated Sept. 1943. (MME
Mon/Diep98/3/5)
 141

FROM THE SOMME TO THE SEINE

lying about everywhere ... While the tanks were moving

round the southern side of the harbour towards the
eastern quarter of the town, I followed the infantry across
the narrow bridge to the market square. The town hall
and many buildings round it were either already burnt
out or still burning... A few minutes later the French
General Ihler came up to me wearing an ordinary plain
military overcoat... The General declared himself ready
to accept my demand for the immediate capitulation of
his force.'
General Fortune, unaware of this meeting and still
hopeful of evacuation that evening, sent a message to
Ihler saying the 51st would fight on no matter what
the French elected to do. T h e reply came back that a
cease-fire would begin at 8 a.m. There was no choice
but to comply.
Stanley Rayner woke to the new day.
'What we could see ... the next morning ... having
slept on top of a real bed for the heck of a long time, was
a lot of badly battered buildings bombed and strafed.
They looked to have had a pretty rough time of it. The
date was June 12th, one that was to live in my memory
for a long time.
'It seemed to have gone unusually quiet. Our Sgt
having gone down to see what was happening, we were having to surrender was mild. This was not possible. My
just milling about... The Sgt came back. It must have feeling was indescribable. It was demoralising I was
been about 10.30 a.m. He said we had to "surrender", shattered, despondent and deflated in turn... What
and must destroy our weapons and equipment. We had would my Dad, the old soldier, be thinking?'
very little. However, I still had my five rounds of In Le Havre the men of Arkforce were shipping
ammunition. It was difficult to use a rifle riding a motor out, leaving wrecked transport and equipment behind
cycle as a Despatch Rider. To say that I was shaken by them. T h e Germans now turned to cross the Seine.

ABOVE French and British

fallen lie side by side at St
Valery-en-Caux.
(MME Mon/Diep98/2/3)

LEFT General Ihler, in the kepi,

with Rommel left and, on the
extreme right, General
Fortune, by the harbour at St
Valery-en-Caux. (IWM RML 345)
 142
PART EIGHT

THE FALL OF FRANCE

W
hile Rommel was crossing the Somme,
Army G r o u p A and Panzer Gruppe
Guderian were gathering themselves for
their attack further east scheduled for Sunday 9 June.
O n the right, the west, of this front Army Group B's
Gruppe von Kleist with two corps were to thrust
forward from Amiens and Peronne on Wednesday 5
June, the same day as Rommel attacked the lower
Somme front.
The French had adopted the strong-point strategy
ordered by Weygand. As a method of disrupting and
slowing the German advance it worked well, but the
armoured, mobile strength to hit back once the
disruption had been achieved was lacking. Kleist's men
broke through relatively easily, but then had to subdue
village after village. Their advance on this day was
limited to some six to ten miles (10-15km) but the
problem was solved by the success of 7th and 5th
Panzers to the west who drove a great flanking cut into
the Allied defences and by the advance to Soissons of
the German 6th Army. The collapse of the front before
Paris was swift. By Monday 10 June the Germans were
ABOVE A private memorial to
across the Seine at Les Andelys and on the Marne at
Leutnant Jurgen Hoesch and
Chateau Thierry. That evening the French radio
Obergefreiter Robert Preis
broadcast the news that the Government was leaving
stands by the D167 Boives-
Paris. It moved to Tours and thence to Bordeaux.
Sains road, south of Amiens,
where their Panzer IV was
THE TOUGH NUT
destroyed on 5 June.
Rethel stands on the River Aisne some 25 miles
(MME WW2/10/4)
(40km) north-east of Reims. T h e Canal des Ardennes
runs alongside the river and the valley of the Aisne
RIGHT An isolated memorial to
presented as much of an obstacle as it had in the
French resistance at Fleury, previous war. For the 40 miles (65km) that separates
east of Poix-de-Picardie. (MME Rethel from Chalons-sur-Marne the country is open,
WW2/8/20) almost heathland, offering immense scope to mobile
armour, if once the moat of the Aisne were overcome.
T h e front to be attacked was between Chateau-Porcien
in the west and Attigny in the east with Rethel in the
centre. Eight crossing points were to be taken and
Guderian thus released to seize the Plateau de Langres.
Guderian was not keen on letting others take the
crossings but Colonel-general Wilhelm List,
commanding 12th Army, was not willing to put the
panzers at unnecessary risk.
O n Sunday 9 June the operation began. In the
centre the German XXIII Corps was up against the
14th Infantry Division of General Jean de Lattre de
Tassigny. General Albrecht Schubert had to allow that
they fought in a manner reminiscent of the best
 143
THE FALL OF FRANCE

French troops at Verdun. To the east the 26th Infantry inconvenienced by the French artillery firing to the rear
similarly held firm. Only in two places, on either side from positions they still held on the Rethel font, broke
of Chateau-Porcien, had crossings been seized and a straight through to the [river] Retourne and crossed that
small bridge-head been made. Guderian proposed that swampy stream, which had been dammed, at Neuflize.
the entire Panzer Group be moved there by night to [Some seven miles (12km) south of Rethel.]'
cross the next day. T h e attack went ahead at 6.30 a.m. They then turned east with 1st Panzer south of the
on M o n d a y 10 June and made swift progress. river and Balck's Rifle Regiment north of it.
Guderian wrote: T h e power required to carry out the Weygand
'Once in the open the tanks met hardly any resistance, tactics was present on this front, in the shape of the
since the new French tactics concentrated on the defence of 2nd Armoured Group or Groupement Buisson. It was
woods and villages, while the open ground was made up mainly of the French 3rd Armoured
abandoned out of respect for our tanks. Consequently our Division, which had fought so determinedly at
infantry had to fight hard for the barricaded streets and Stonne, and was still a force to be reckoned with. T h e
houses of the villages, while then tanks, only slightly three operational battalions had between them some

ABOVE German troops clean

up after the capture of St
Sauflieu, seven miles (11km)
south of Amiens, 7 June.
(B95/60/9)

LEFT Tank country; 1st Panzer

Regiment, Gruppe Guderian,
advances, 9 June 1940.
(B80/32/30A)
 144
PART EIGHT

RIGHT Detail from the

Gewasserabschnitte Nordost-
Frankreich map of February
1940. The main roads
converge on Rethel at the
foot of square 23 and south
of the river and canal lies
open country.
(MME WW2Maps/2/12)

BELOW The Renault B1 bis of

Lieutenant Robert Godinat,
Chambertin, passing through
Cauroy on its way to attack
Guderian's force at Juniville.
(TM 4995/E/6)

30 Chars B, 50 Hotchkiss H-39s and 40 Renault R- 'Juniville was reached in the early afternoon, where
35s. Also available here was the 7th Light Mechanised the enemy counter-attacked with strong armoured forces.
Division a hastily-formed unit comprising troops who A tank battle developed to the south of Juniville, which
had survived the actions in Belgium and evacuation lasted for some two hours before being eventually decided
from Dunkirk. They could contribute 20 Hotchkiss in ourfavour. In the course of the afternoon Juniville itself
H-35s in worn state and the same n u m b e r of was taken. There Balck managed personally to capture the
new Hotchkiss H-39s, as well as a couple of dozen colours of a French regiment. The enemy withdrew to La
armoured cars. In the afternoon the 7th Light Neuville [south of Juniville]. While the tank battle was in
Mechanised punched into 1st Panzer and got as far as progress I attempted, in vain, to destroy a Char B with a
Menil-Lepinois while north of the river 3rd Armoured captured 47mm anti-tank gun; all the shells I fired at it
went for Perthes to help 127th Infantry withdraw. simply bounced harmlessly off its thick armour. Our
Guderian wrote of the day's events: 37mm and 20mm guns were equally ineffective against
this adversary... In the late afternoon another heavy
engagement with enemy tanks took place, this time to the
north of Juniville... but we managed to beat them off.'
That evening General Buisson was ordered to pull
his armoured group back and it was disbanded. T h e
two halves were sent off to different armies, each
depleted by the day's not unsuccessful efforts and now
condemned to soldier on alone. T h e larger scene was
depressing for the French. T h e Germans were now
outflanking this theatre on the west and General
Huntzinger ordered a withdrawal to a line from Reims
to the end of the Maginot line at Montmedy. As for
Guderian, he was exhausted. O n returning to his
group headquarters he cast himself down on a bale of
straw and fell asleep. His adjutant, Lieutenant-colonel
Riebel, had a tent erected over him and a guard posted
to ensure his undisturbed sleep.
O n Tuesday 11 June the drive south continued with
1st Panzer taking La Neuville and pushing on for
Betheniville, a village that was, Guderian remarks,
 145
THE FALL OF FRANCE

RIGHT Detail from the

Gewasserabschnitte Nordost-
Frankreich map of February
1940. Langres is on the
Marne/Saone Canal in square
98 and Gray in 113. Belfort
lies some 37 miles (60km)
east of Vesoul, top right in
Square 113. (MME WW2Maps/2/31)
 146
PART EIGHT

RIGHT The staff car evidently

plans to take the tourist route
while the half-tracks stick to
the poids lourds road in
Langres, 2 p.m., 15 June.
(B84/69/11A)

familiar to him from the previous war. There, on the that night and took the surrender of the garrison
little River Suippes, the French attacked again, the 7th of the fortress on Saturday morning, with 3,000
Light Mechanised's Hotchkisses acting by themselves prisoners. The pace did not slacken. By the evening 1st
and failing to slow German progress. O n Wednesday Panzer was at Gray-sur-Saone, another 30 miles
the Germans reached Chalons-sur-Marne and so keen (50km) south-east. By Monday 17 June, Guderian's
were they to advance that infantry and tankmen were birthday, 29th (Motorised) Infantry Division was on
almost falling over each other to press forward. The the Swiss border. It had taken them just over a week.
French were riven in two. Order and counter-order The Maginot Line was now surrounded.
from above sent the Gruppe Guderian swinging left and Orders were now given for Gruppe Guderian to
right, but he kept one of his corps firmly on the route swing east and north, which he was, in fact, already
south. O n the afternoon of Thursday 13 June 1st Panzer doing. In the morning of Tuesday 18 June he was in
reached the Rhine-Marne canal at Etrepy, between Belfort, the town which had stood against the Prussian
Vitry-le-Francois and Bar-le-Duc where General Rudolf invasion of 1870. Here the forts were still holding out.
Schmidt of XXXIX Corps ordered Balck to stop to let Guderian records:
the rest close up. When Guderian arrived he found 'The division organised an assault group for the
Balck curiously coy about his positions and reluctant to attack on the forts and on the citadel. The battle began
admit to having crossed the canal and established a about noon. The first fort to be captured was Basse-
bridgehead. O n discovering that Balck had disobeyed Perches, followed by Hautes-Perches, near where I was
orders in creeping forward Guderian countermanded standing, and the citadel itself The tactics employed were
the order and reiterated his firm policy of pressing on as extremely simple: first, a short bombardment by the
fast as possible. They reached St Dizier during the night. artillery of 1st Panzer Division; then Eckingers rifle
Friday 14 June saw the Germans enter the open battalion, in armoured troop-carrying vehicles, and an
city of Paris, armed with cameras and behaving like 88mm anti-aircraft gun drove right up to the fort, the
tourists. Guderian was still on his travels. latter taking up position immediately in front of the
'At midday ...I entered St Dizier. The first person I gorge; the riflemen thus reached the glacis [slope under the
saw was my friend, Balck, seated on a chair in the wall] without suffering any casualties, climbed up it,
market-place. He was looking forward to a few quiet clambered over the entrenchments and scaled the wall
hours after all the effort of the last few days and nights. I while the 88mm fired into the gorge at point-blank
had to disappoint him in this... Balck was ordered to set range. The fort was then summoned to surrender, which
off at once and to head straight for Langres.' under the impact of the rapid attack it did ...Our
H e got there, over 50 miles (85km) further south, casualties were very light.'
 147
THE FALL OF FRANCE

BEYOND THE SEINE

The departure of the BEF from Dunkirk and the
capture of the 51st (Highland) Division at St Valery
were not the end of British presence in France, nor did
it spell the disappearance of organised units. There had
been, of course, a number of small parties making
their way south over the Seine. John Naylor of the
2/6th East Surreys had taken the survivors of the men
who, with the French, had opposed the German
advance at Aumale in search of battalion headquarters.
He recalled:
'... having no map or compass, finding it [H. Q.J was
difficult. We proceeded in a westerly direction for some
distance. We were very tired and hungry and at a
farmhouse found enough eggs to give us one each. We ate
them raw and I have never liked raw eggs since!
'... Shortly afterwards, as we were halfway across an
open field, we heard and saw 15 or 20 German tanks
crossing our front. We hit the ground smartly and,
fortunately, they did not see us ... As it grew darker we
halted for the night. At dawn I decided it was unlikely we through Alencon: sometimes by truck, sometimes on
could find Battalion HQ and that it would be best to foot... Of the 3 officers and 96 men of A Company ...
make for the river Seine, the next defensive line to the only I and 20 men returned.'
south ... During the day we met other British troops More organised was the arrival of 2/6th T h e Duke
withdrawing to the river Seine and arrived at a wood of Wellington's Regiment and 2/4th King's O w n
near the river to the east of Rouen that evening ... The Yorkshire Light Infantry. They had been withdrawn
following morning [Saturday 8 June] we crossed the river from the Abbeville sector and sent to Rennes where
by a bridge. There was a great deal of confusion, many they had been loading and unloading trains. O n
rumours, and no sign of a defensive position being Friday 7 June they were back at Louviers, 15 miles
prepared along the river. I learnt that British troops were (24km) south of Rouen on the southern bank of
being collected at Le Mans and we made our way there the Seine, as part of a group under the command of

ABOVE At Le Quitteur, where

the Saone is bridged just
north of Gray, a mobile 15 cm.
gun on a Panzer i chassis
passes through the village.
(B84/68/15A)

LEFT Crossing the Saone,

4.30 p.m., 15 June. (B99/44/15)
 148
PART E I G H T

General Duffour. T h e KOYLI were sent to hold the

crossing at Pont de l'Arche and got embroiled with the
flank guard of Rommel's failed attempt to get the
bridge at Elbeuf. Fortunately the withdrawing French
had omitted to take two anti-tank guns and their
crews and these prevented the German armour
crossing the bridge. Five companies of Yorkshiremen
were cut off north of the river when the bridges were
blown, but gave good account of themselves before
managing to get back, swimming, in borrowed boats
and some making use of a footbridge over a weir. Their
losses amounted to only ten dead and 23 missing by
the time all the stragglers had come back.
T h e 2/6th Dukes were upstream, guarding
crossings at St Pierre-de-Vauvray, immediately east of
Louviers, and at Les Andelys, overlooked by Richard
Lion-Heart's Chateau Gaillard and the high cliffs that
dominate the northern bank of the Seine as it swings
through the repeated meanders as it passes Rouen.
O n Sunday 9 June they were joined by a couple of
machine-gun units from 2nd Armoured Brigade and a
single light tank. As French infantry started to arrive at 52nd (Lowland) Division which was due to embark
about 11 a.m. the Germans appeared north of the on 7 June and 1st Canadian Division which was then
river and the bridge at Les Andelys was blown. in Northamptonshire as a reserve to resist German
Mortar- and shell-fire poured down, followed by a forces invading East Anglia. There were no other
dive-bomber attack. They were forced back first to troops to send. Brooke was not pleased. He regarded
Bernieres and then to the neck of the meander at the whole exercise as futile now, except for some
Venables. At the same time the British positions at St possible political usefulness. Reluctantly he went,
Pierre were assaulted and eventually out-flanked. T h e arriving in Cherbourg on Wednesday 12 June, the day
long line created by the winding river was beyond the a large part of his command, the 51st, went into
powers of a single battalion to defend and German captivity.
troops spilled over the Seine. With nightfall the Brooke met Weygand on Friday 14 June. Weygand
pressure ceased, only to begin again on Monday 10 confirmed that, as part of 3rd Army Group, the British
June. T h e Duke's commanding officer, Lieutenant-
colonel Llewellyn, managed to find a senior officer to
w h o m he could explain his men's predicament.
Brigadier R. L. McCreery was in command of 2nd
Armoured Brigade and was looking for his machine-
gunners. He immediately promised to do what he
could and was as good as his word. A small group of
tanks arrived soon after and the German advance was
checked. Their flanks, however, were now in the air
and they were ordered back to the river Eure that
evening.
It was at this stage, on 10 June, that Benito
Mussolini decided that the Germans were going to
win and that Italy had better join in to secure a place
at the negotiating table. His troops attacked the
French Alpine formations and were robustly and
thoroughly thrown back.
General Sir John Dill, who became Chief of the ABOVE Advance of the group
Imperial General Staff in succession to Ironside in Koppenburg. Near Belfort, 19
May, had sent for Lieutenant-general Alan Brooke June. (B146/80/134/1)
immediately after his return from Dunkirk. H e
ordered Brooke to return to France and, under the title LEFT A 105mm howitzer is
of II Corps, rebuild the BEF. In addition to the forces brought into action at Belfort,
already over the Channel, Brooke would have the 4 p.m., 19 June. (B80/134/0)
 149
THE FALL OF FRANCE

were to fall back on Rennes with a view to creating a South of the Seine a gap had opened between the
redoubt in Brittany, an idea which Weygand himself French 10th Army, to which the British were attached,
pronounced impractical. Brooke accepted the order but and the Army of Paris. T h e French 3rd Light Cavalry
immediately contacted London to say that he considered Division did what it could, but was unable to bridge
the position hopeless and that no more troops should be the widening breach. Through it the infantry divisions
sent. Sensing reluctance to accept his view, Brooke of Army Group B poured towards the Loire.
telephoned Churchill himself and found his advocacy Now the long quiescent Army Group C was
successful. He was released from French command and released from its enforced lethargy in front of the
ordered to bring out everything he could. Maginot Line. O n Friday 14 June, with the French

ABOVE The Chateau Gaillard,

dominating the Seine at Les
Andelys. (MME WW2/IO/31)

LEFT The bitterness of defeat.

French prisoners at Belfort,
23 June. (B79/89/31)
 150
PART EIGHT

LEFT The cathedral rises

miraculously above the ruins
of Rouen. (B126/335/30)

TOP RIGHT Range-finding from

the keep of the Chateau
Gaillard. (BI 26/340/31A)

CENTRE RIGHT Refugees seek

safety beyond the Loire -
Gien, 19 June. (B73/83/1)

BOTTOM RIGHT The Germans

push on through Normandy.
Panzer 38(t)s on the road.
(IWM RML 436)
 151
THE FALL OF FRANCE

already starting to pull back their interval troops as

part of their attempt to establish a line in touch with
their forces to the west, the attack began. W i t h their
backs to the wall many of the French fought bitterly,
but in four days' time the last of the fortifications had
surrendered.

THE LAST DAYS

De Gaulle, now Under-Secretary for Defence in the
French government, was in London early on Sunday
16 June to make arrangements for the evacuation of
his government colleagues to North Africa, for Prime
Minister Reynaud had expressed his determination
not to give in. As he was washing in his room at the
Hyde Park Hotel the French Ambassador, Pierre
Corbin, and Jean Monnet, a member of the French
Economic Mission, called on him. They informed de
Gaulle that the request of France to be released from
the undertaking not to enter into a separate peace was
under consideration and also that they had worked out
a plan with Sir Robert Vansittart, Under-Secretary at
the Foreign Office, for, as de Gaulle, reports it,
'"... a plan which does seem striking It would consist
of a proposal for the union of France and England ...In
the face of such a proposal, made in such circumstances, it
is possible that Ministers may wish to think again and, at
least, postpone surrender..."It was clear to me at once
that the grandeur of the thing in any case made its rapid
realisation impossible... But ... I consented ... to do
what I could with Mr Churchill to get him to adopt it.'
As the day went on in a whirl of practical
arrangements, de Gaulle was aware of the constant,
unspoken question - what was to become of the
French fleet? If France continued at war, as de Gaulle
intended, the question would not arise. After a
Cabinet meeting that evening Churchill told de
Gaulle that the offer of union was approved. At 9.30
p.m. de Gaulle was back in Bordeaux. He discovered
that Reynaud had resigned and that Marshal Petain
had been invited to form a government. Capitulation
was now inevitable. O n the morning of Monday 17
June, under the pretext of bidding farewell to General
Sir Edward Spears who had been attached to the
French government, Charles de Gaulle was back at the
airport where the aircraft which had brought him
home was, by arrangement, still waiting. He hopped
in, accepting exile and the leadership of the Free
French rather than surrender.
At 8 a.m. on Thursday 13 June, once the French
had permitted him to come ashore, Sir Alan Brooke,
as he now was, had set off for Le Mans where the Lines
of Communication troops had their headquarters and
which was the only remaining British establishment.
He found that Generals Karslake and de Fonblanque
had done little or nothing to reduce the number of
n o n - c o m b a t a n t troops, the 'useless mouths', or
repatriate the vast stores of ammunition and other
 152
PART E I G H T
 153
THE FALL OF FRANCE

supplies that had been shipped to France in the last

LEFT The Cotentin Peninsula,
nine m o n t h s . Indeed, the War Office was still
from the German
behaving as if the object of the exercise was to increase
Strassenkarte of 1938, sheet
British presence in France, sending people out to set
1 1 . (BL C21e1, MME WW2MF2/18)
up new depots. Now that he was released from French
command, Brooke sent the Canadians back to Brest to
RIGHT Cherbourg, the
re-embark, the 52nd Division to Cherbourg leaving a
dockside, (IWM F4862)
rearguard at the foot of the Cotentin peninsula to
cover their retreat and the non-combatant parts of the
BELOW Smoke from burning Armoured Division to Nantes. That left some 7,000
oil tanks rises over Cherbourg Lines of Communication troops at Le Mans, 65,000
harbour. (IWM RML 516) at Nantes and 20,000 at Rennes to be sent to
appropriate embarkation points.
Then followed the difficult task of disentangling
the British from the French without breaching the
instruction to co-operate with them. Fortunately
General Altmayer accepted gracefully that a parting of
the ways had come. By the middle of Monday 17 June
the British were moving up the Cotentin peninsula,
157th Brigade at Avranches and 3rd Armoured
Brigade at St L6. Lieutenant-general Marshall-
Cornwell, whom Brooke had put in command of the
troops formerly part of Altmayer's 10th Army, moved
into Cherbourg to liaise with the French commander.
It was Admiral Abrial, former commander at Dunkirk,
once more presiding over a British departure. A
defence line was set up through La Haye-du-Puits and
 154
PART EIGHT

Germans would see again when Rommel was

responsible for its defence in 1944, and on which
much American blood would be spilled.
Rommel's 7th Panzer was ordered forward once
more that same Monday with orders to go for
Cherbourg. They turned west near Sees and came
across a French column on the march. After a while
Rommel himself went forward to investigate.
'The French captain declared that Marshal Petain
had made an armistice proposal to Germany and had
instructed the French troops to lay down their arms... I
then requested the French captain to fee the roadfor our
advance and have his column moved off to the fields
alongside it and ordered to lay down their arms and fall
out. The French captain seemed to hesitate as to whether
or not he should do this. Anyway, it took too long to get
the French troops into their parking place and so I gave
my column orders to move on. We now drove on past the
French column, which stood on the road, with its guns
and anti-tank guns still limbered up.'
The 7th Panzer Division drove on into the night
and saw, far in front, the pyre of burning supplies at
Lessay brightening the sky with its flames. At midnight
they entered La-Haye-du-Puits where they saw
'... a surprising number of men in working clothes
standing in the square and behind them a number of
lorries laden with material. They were mainly civilian
workmen, there were few troops, although several French
Carentin, taking advantage of the marshy ground officers could be seen hurrying busily around. One of
between them, the Marais de Gorges. T h e five them ran through the column directly in front of my
battalions of French Marines were reinforced by the car and vanished into a doorway. We drove on... I was just
5th King's O w n Scottish Borderers, some anti-tank turning over in my mind the detailed deployment
guns and scout cars and a company of Royal of the division in font of Cherbourg, when the head
Engineers. This was country the British and the of the column suddenly ran up against a

ABOVE British troops crowd

the desks of the Guineau as it
pulls away from Cherbourg.
(IWM F4824)

RIGHT The British are gone;

Cherbourg, June 1940.
(IWM RML518)
 155
THE FALL OF FRANCE

roadblock and came under very heavy artillery and

machine-gun fire.'
Three vehicles went up in flames and, unwilling to
put his men at risk, Rommel called a halt. They had,
after all, advanced more than 140 miles (225km) that
day. Next morning time was spent parleying with the
defenders of the roadblock who refused to believe that
Petain had given an order to lay down arms. W h e n
Rommel moved in at 8 a.m. to bring the delay to an
end the position had been abandoned. O n they went,
coming under fire a little further on as they made for
Barneville. By 12.15 p.m. they were at Les Pieux, some
13 miles (22km) from Cherbourg.
T h e KOSB had, in the process, been thoroughly
outflanked and at 10.15 a.m. Marshall-Cornwall had
ordered them to fall back. T h e Germans were getting
too close too fast, and the instructions went out to
destroy vehicles. T h e last of the troops and their
commander were on board the SS Manxman and
putting to sea by 4 p.m. Rommel was, at that moment, Sotteville which, by chance, was the residence of
congratulating himself on how well things had gone. the commander of Cherbourg and in which they
As soon as the last ship had sailed the French let loose discovered detailed maps of all the fortifications. It
with everything they had got. Rommel reports: became clear to them that the plans now in force were
'... a tremendous barrage with guns of all sizes, less than perfect; they were changed at once. O n
including super-heavies, into the area which we were Wednesday 19 June Cherbourg fell.
holding ... British warships also joined in with heavy At St Nazaire and at Brest the departure of the
naval guns,..The positions occupied by the artillery British was close to panic-stricken. Assuming that the
battalion and AA battery came in for particularly heavy Germans were hard on their heels, orders were given
attention and casualties soon began to mount.' for personnel only to be embarked and for all vehicles
He pulled his men back and waited for the rest of to be destroyed. In Brest the 1st Royal Canadian Horse
his troops to come up. H e withdrew to the chateau at Artillery protested mightily against the destruction of

ABOVE Gunner Albert Smith's

paybook shows the date of
his embarkation from France.
(Courtesy Albert Smith)

LEFT Hitler and his generals

exultant at Compiegne on
2 1 J u n e . (B122/51624/1)
 156
PART EIGHT

their guns and, as a result of a series of confusing Salon-de-Provence, about 25 miles (40km) north-west
messages, were already well on the way to completing of Marseille. They were taken, by train, in cattle-trucks
the loading of their weapons when the order not to do down the Rhone valley in the warm May sunshine,
so was confirmed. They lost their vehicles, but not the through the vineyard-clad hills. O n arrival they found,
guns. The last ship sailed on Monday 17 June and the to their delight, the cherries were ripe and ready for
last from St Nazaire the next day. W. Marett of the 1st borrowing. T h e squadron of Wellington bombers was
Ambulance Car Company found himself caught up in not there for long, but there the anti-aircraft gunners
the confusion at St Nazaire. stayed, apparently forgotten. As the rest of the BEF
'There were thousands of Frogs there, but our unit departed, they were told to get out in any way they
bypassed all of them (how or why we never found out) could. In Marseille they found the French, unwilling
and we boarded a collier. With a full-to-overflowing to antagonise the Germans, unhelpful. T h e dock
number of troops aboard we pulled away from the cranes were switched off and there was no hope of
dockside. The German fighters were overhead all the time: taking their vehicles or guns, so breech blocks were
it was a very anxious period. removed and trucks destroyed. Welsh colliers traded
As we got into more open water, we were suddenly with electricity-generating stations in the south of
aware that the sea around us was full of British soldiers France, and it was on one of these that, on 20 June
crying for help. This was a tragic sight but we could do 1940, Albert Smith and his comrades left for Gibraltar
nothing, and the ship kept sailing on. On reaching and thence for home. Possibly the last organised
England we landed at Falmouth, and found out what embarkation of a full unit from France. O n e battery of
had happened at St Nazaire. Just ahead of us the liner the 53rd City of London Regiment had been on board
Lancastria, a vessel of 20,000 tons with 5,000 men on the Lancastria.
BELOW The restored Clairiere board, had been bombed and sunk. Upwards of 3,000 T h e Battle of France was over. O n Friday June 21
de I'Armistice, dedicated to men perished.' Adolf Hitler had the satisfaction of seeing the defeated
the victory of 1918 rather Gunner Albert Smith was still in France. In May, French present themselves at the railway carriage at
than the defeat of 1940. in anticipation of air raids on Italy, the 159 (Lloyds) Compiegne to acknowledge their defeat. It appeared
(MME Hist/Somme 7/9) Battery, 53rd City of London, had been posted to that the triumph was his.
 157
BIBLIOGRAPHY

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selection is personal and does not pretend to being a 1939-1940, London, H M S O , 1953; London, William Heinemann, 1940.
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H M S O , 1941. Vickers Tanks: From Landships to Challenger, Pallud, Jean Paul, Blitzkrieg in the West, Then and
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Frankreich, Teil I, Nordost-Frankreich, Berlin, Gander, Terry, 'The explosive attack on Fort International, 1991.
Generalstab des Heeres Abteilung fur Eban-Emael', Fort Vol. 16, 1988. Perrett, Bryan, and Mike Badrocke,
Kriegskarten und Vermessungswesen, 1940. Glover, Michael, The Fight for the Channel Ports, Panzerkampfwagen III Medium Tank 1936-1944,
Baudier, Michel and Jose Bouchez, Les Combats de London, Leo Cooper, 1985. Oxford, Osprey Publishing, 1999.
Stonne — Tannay — Oches — Sommauthe du 14 mai Goralski, Robert, World War II Almanac, London, Perrett, Bryan, and Jim Laurier,
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Ardennes 1940, 1997. Guderian, Heinz, trans. Christopher Duffy, Achtung Osprey Publishing, 1999.
Benoist-Mechin, J., trans. Peter Wiles, Sixty Days — Panzer!, London, Arms and Armour, 1992. Perrett, Bryan, Peter Sarson and Terry Hadler,
that Shook the West, London, Jonathan Cape, Guderian, Heinz, trans. Constantine Fitzgibbon, German Light Panzers 1932—1942, Oxford,
1963. Panzer Leader, London, Michael Joseph, 1952. Osprey Publishing, 1998.
Blatt, Joel, (Ed.), The French Defeat of 1940: Harman, Nicholas, Dunkirk: The Necessary Myth, Reitz, Deneys, No Outspan, 1943; Prescott, Wolfe
Reassessments, Providence and Oxford, Berghahn, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 1980. Publishing, 1994.
1998. Hay, Ian, The Battle of Flanders 1940, London, Rommel, Erwin, ed. B.H. Liddell Hart, trans. Paul
Bond, Brian, Britain, France and Belgium H M S O , 1941. Findlay, The Rommel Papers, London, Collins,
1939-1940, 2nd Ed., London, Brasseys, 1990. Holmes, Richard, Army Battlefield Guide: Belgium 1953.
Cardigan, the Earl of, I Walked Alone, London, and Northern France, London, H M S O , 1995. Seton-Watson, Christopher, Dunkirk — Alamein —
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Churchill, Winston S., The Second World War London, Macmillan, 1969 and 1990. Schulte, Addie, (Ed.), Oorlogs-reportages uit
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Marshal The Viscount Gort, London, Collins, London, Ian Allan, 1974. Snyder, Louis L., Encyclopedia of the Third Reich,
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Divine, A. D., The Nine Days of Dunkirk, London, The War On Land 1939-45, London, Ward, 1990.
Faber&Faber, 1959. Hutchinson, 1969; Pimlico, 1994. Weinberg, Gerhard L., A World at Arms, Cambridge,
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Operations in the Netherlands from 10th—17th H M S O , 1942.

Autumn, 1940. The German

grip on France tightens: 'from
November 1940 the
management of this house is
catholic and French, as are
the Staff. (B146/70/41/56)
 158
INDEX

INDEX
 159
INDEX
A wreath laid in memory of the Royal Scots at the CWGC
graveyard, Le Paradis. (MME WW2/4/2)
 HISTORY

ISBN 1-85532-969-7