User:Hungrydog55/sandbox/military/europeanfront/1940-05 OOB fortheBattleofFrance
The Battle of France (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (Westfeldzug), the French Campaign (German: Frankreichfeldzug, campagne de France) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands during the Second World War. On 3 September 1939, France declared war on Germany following the German invasion of Poland. In early September 1939, France began the limited Saar Offensive and by mid-October had withdrawn to their start lines. German armies invaded Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940 and attempted an invasion of France. France and the Low Countries were conquered, ending land operations on the Western Front until the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944.
In Fall Gelb ("Case Yellow"), German armoured units made a surprise push through the Ardennes and then along the Somme valley, cutting off and surrounding the Allied units that had advanced into Belgium to meet the German armies there. British, Belgian and French forces were pushed back to the sea by the Germans; the British and French navies evacuated the encircled elements of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the French and Belgian armies from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo.
German forces began Fall Rot ("Case Red") on 5 June 1940. The sixty remaining French divisions and the two British divisions in France made a determined stand on the Somme and Aisne but were defeated by the German combination of air superiority and armoured mobility. German armies outflanked the intact Maginot Line and pushed deep into France, occupying Paris unopposed on 14 June. After the flight of the French government and the collapse of the French Army, German commanders met with French officials on 18 June to negotiate an end to hostilities.
On 22 June 1940, the Second Armistice at Compiègne was signed by France and Germany. The neutral Vichy government led by Marshal Philippe Pétain replaced the Third Republic and German military occupation began along the French North Sea and Atlantic coasts and their hinterlands. The Italian invasion of France over the Alps took a small amount of ground and after the armistice, Italy occupied a small area in the south-east. The Vichy regime retained the zone libre (free zone) in the south. Following the Allied invasion of French Africa in November 1942, the Germans and Italians took control of the zone until it was liberated by the Allies in 1944.
Because the Germans held the strategic initiative, their forces are listed first.
Comparative ranks
[edit]| French | British | German |
|---|---|---|
| Général d'armée | General | Generaloberst |
| Général de corps d'armée | Lieutenant-General | General der Infanterie/Kavallerie/Artillerie/Pioniere (branch specific) |
| Général de division | Major-General | Generalleutnant |
| Général de brigade | Brigadier | Generalmajor (lowest German general rank) |
| Colonel | Colonel | Oberst |
Axis
[edit]The commander-in-chief of the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) was Generaloberst Walter von Brauchitsch. Initially the Axis forces consisted of the forces of the German army. They were joined in the conflict by the Italian army on 10 June.
North to south, the German army groups were deployed in this order: B - A - C.
Army Group B
[edit]Generaloberst Fedor von Bock[a]
Chief of Staff: Generalleutnant Hans von Salmuth
Sixth Army- Generaloberst Walter von Reichenau[b]
- Chief of Staff: Generalmajor Friedrich Paulus[c]
- XVI Corps (General der Kavallerie Erich Hoepner)[d]
4th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Erick-Oskar Hansen)- 33rd Infantry Division (Generalmajor Rudolf Sintzenich)
3rd Panzer Division (Generalmajor Horst Stumpff)- 4th Panzer Division (Generalmajor Ludwig Radlmeier thru 8 Jun, then Generalmajor Johann Joachim Stever)
- IV Corps (General der Infanterie Viktor von Schwedler)
- 15th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Ernst-Eberhard Hell)
- 205th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Ernst Richter)
- XI Corps (Generalleutnant Joachim von Kortzfleisch)[e]
- 7th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Eccard Freiherr von Gablenz)
- 211th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Kurt Renner)
- 31st Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Rudolf Kaempfe)
- IX Corps (General der Infanterie Hermann Geyer)
- XXVII Corps (General der Infanterie Alfred Wäger)
- 253th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Fritz Kuhne)
- 269th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Ernst-Eberhard Hell)
- XVI Corps (General der Kavallerie Erich Hoepner)[d]
- Eighteenth Army
- General der Artillerie Georg von Küchler[f]
- Reporting Directly [1]
1st Cavalry Division (Major General Kurt Feldt)
- X Corps (General Christian Hansen)
SS Reinforced Regiment Adolf Hitler (Oberst Sepp Dietrich)[g]- 227th Infantry Division
- 207th Infantry Division[2]
- SS Reinforced Regiment Der Führer[h][3]
- XXVI Corps (General Albert Wodrig)
- 256th Infantry Division
- 254th Infantry Division
SS Division Verfügungstruppe[i] (SS-Gruppenführer Paul Hausser)- 9th Panzer Division (Major General Alfred Ritter Von Hubicki)
- XXXIX Corps (Activated 13 May 1940) (Lieutenant General Rudolf Schmidt)
- Reserves
- 208th Infantry Division
- 225th Infantry Division
- 526th Infantry Division
- Air Landing Corps (Under Luftwaffe control)
- Reporting Directly [1]
Army Group A
[edit]Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt[j]
Chief of Staff: Generalleutnant Georg von Sodenstern
- Fourth Army
- Generaloberst Günther von Kluge[k]
- Chief of Staff: Generalmajor Kurt Brennecke
- II Corps (General der Infanterie Adolf Strauß thru 30 May, then General der Infanterie Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel[l])
- V Corps (General der Infanterie Richard Ruoff)
- 211th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Kurt Renner)
- 251st Infantry Division (Generalmajor Hans Kratzert)
- 263rd Infantry Division (Generalmajor Franz Karl)
- VIII Corps (General der Infanterie Walter Heitz)[m]
- 8th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Rudolf Koch-Erpach)
- 28th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Hans von Obstfelder thru 20 May, then Generalmajor Johann Sinnhuber)
- 87th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Bogislav von Studnitz)
- 267th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Ernst Fessmann)
- XV Corps (General der Infanterie Hermann Hoth)
- Disposition north to south, Yvoir-Houx-Dinant
- 5th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Max von Hartlieb thru 22 May, Generalleutnant Joachim Lemelsen 22 May to 6 Jun, then Generalmajor Ludwig Cruwell)
- 7th Panzer Division (Generalmajor Erwin Rommel) [1]
- 62nd Infantry Division (Generalmajor Walter Keiner)
- Twelfth Army
- Generaloberst Wilhelm List[n]
- Chief of Staff: Generalleutnant Eberhard von Mackensen
- III Corps (General der Artillerie Curt Haase)
- 3rd Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Walter Lichel)
- 23rd Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Walter von Brockdorff-Ahlefeldt)
- 52nd Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Hans-Jurgen von Arnim)
- VI Corps (General of Engineers Otto-Wilhelm Förster)
- 16th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Heinrich Krampf)
- 24th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Justin von Obernitz thru 1 Jun, then Generalmajor Hans-Valentin Hube)
- XVIII Corps (General der Infanterie Eugen Beyer thru 1 Jun, then Generalleutnant Hermann Ritter von Speck KIA 15 Jun)
- 5th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Wilhelm Fahrmbacher)
- 21st Infantry Division (Generalmajor Otto Sponheimer)
- 25th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Erich Clößner)
1st Mountain Division (Generalleutnant Ludwig Kübler
- III Corps (General der Artillerie Curt Haase)
- Sixteenth Army
- General der Infanterie Ernst Busch[o]
- Chief of Staff: Generalmajor Walter Model[p]
- VII Corps (General der Infanterie Eugen von Schobert)[q]
- 36th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Georg Lindemann)
- 68th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Georg Braun)
- XIII Corps (Generalleutnant Heinrich von Vietinghoff)
- 15th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Friedrich-Wilhelm von Chappuis)
- 17th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Herbert Loch)
- 10th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Konrad von Cochenhausen)
- XXIII Corps (Generalleutnant Albrecht Schubert)
- 34th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Hans Behlendorff)
- 58th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Iwan Heunert)
- 76th Infantry Divifsion (Generalmajor Maximilian de Angelis)
- 26th Infantry Division (Generalmajor Sigismund von Förster)
- VII Corps (General der Infanterie Eugen von Schobert)[q]
- Panzer Group Kleist
- General der Kavallerie Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist[r]
- Chief of Staff: Generalmajor Kurt Zeitzler
- XIV Corps (General der Infanterie Gustav Anton von Wietersheim)
2nd Infantry Division (mot.) (Generalleutnant Paul Bader)- 13th Infantry Division (mot.) (Generalmajor Friedrich-Wilhelm von Rothkirch und Panthen)
- 29th Infantry Division (mot.) (Generalmajor Willibald Freiherr von Langermann und Erlencamp)
- XL Panzer Corps (Generalleutnant Georg-Hans Reinhardt)[s]
- Disposition north to south, Montherme
- 6th Panzer Division (Generalmajor Werner Kempf)
- 8th Panzer Division (Oberst Erich Brandenberger)
- XIX Corps (General der Kavallerie Heinz Guderian)[2]
- Dispositions east to west, Donchery to Sedan
- 2nd Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Rudolf Veiel)
- 1st Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Friedrich Kirchner)
- 10th Panzer Division (Generalleutnant Ferdinand Schaal)
- Infantry Regiment Großdeutschland
- XIV Corps (General der Infanterie Gustav Anton von Wietersheim)
- Reserves
- XXXX Corps (Generalleutnant Georg Stumme)[t]
- 6th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Arnold Freiherr von Biegeleben)
- 9th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Georg von Apell)
- 4th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Erick-Oskar Hansen)
- 27th Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Friedrich Bergmann)
- 71st Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Karl Weisenberger)
- 73rd Infantry Division (Generalleutnant Bruno Bieler)
- XXXX Corps (Generalleutnant Georg Stumme)[t]
Army Group C
[edit]Generaloberst Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb[u][4]
- First Army
- Generaloberst Erwin von Witzleben[v]
- Directly reporting
- Höh. Kom. z.b.V. XXXVII (Generalleutnant Alfred Böhm-Tettelbach)
- XXIV Corps (General der Panzertruppe Leo Geyr von Schweppenburg)
- XII Corps (Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici)
- XXX Corps (General der Artillerie Otto Hartmann)
- Höh. Kom. z.b.V. XXXXV (General der Infanterie Kurt von Greiff)
- Seventh Army
- Generaloberst Friedrich Dollmann[w][4]
- Höh. Kom. z.b.V. XXXIII (General der Kavallerie Georg Brandt)
- 213th Infantry Division
- 554th Infantry Division
- 556th Infantry Division
- 239th Infantry Division
- XXV Corps (General der Infanterie Karl Ritter von Prager)
- 557th Infantry Division
- 555th Infantry Division
- 6th Mountain Division
- Directly reporting
- Höh. Kom. z.b.V. XXXIII (General der Kavallerie Georg Brandt)
OKH Reserve
[edit]
- Second Army
- General der Kavallerie Maximilian von Weichs[4]
- Directly reporting
- IX Corps (General der Infanterie Hermann Geyer)
- XXVI Corps (General der Artillerie Albert Wodrig)
- VI Corps (General der Pioniere Otto-Wilhelm Förster)
- Ninth Army
- Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz[x][4]
- Directly reporting
- XXXXII Corps (General der Pioniere Walter Kuntze)
- XXXXIII Corps (Generalleutnant Hermann Ritter von Speck thru 31 May, then Generalleutnant Franz Böhme)
- XVIII Corps (General der Infanterie Eugen Beyer)[y]
Italian Army Group "West"
[edit]
Prince General Umberto di Savoia
First Army- General Pietro Pintor
- II Army Corps (General Francesco Bertini)
- III Army Corps (General Mario Arisio)
- XV Army Corps (General Gastone Gambara)
- Fourth Army
- General Alfredo Guzzoni
- I Army Corps (General Carlo Vecchiarelli)
- IV Army Corps (General Camillo Mercalli)
- Alpine Army Corps (General Luigi Negri Cesi)
Overall, the Italian forces numbered about 312,000 troops. However they had inadequate artillery and transport and most were not equipped for the cold Alpine environment.
Allies
[edit]The bulk of the forces of the Allies were French, although the United Kingdom (British Expeditionary Force), Netherlands, and Belgium had significant forces in the battle opposing Germany. Supreme Command was held by the French Commander-in-Chief Général d'armée Maurice Gamelin, his deputy Général d'armée Alphonse Joseph Georges was appointed Commander of the North Western Front.
French 1st Army Group
[edit]The French 1st Army Group guarded the north-east frontier of France, ready to move into Belgium and the Netherlands to oppose any German invasion of those nations. The 1st controlled the First, Second, Seventh and Ninth French Armies as well as the Belgian Army and the British Expeditionary Force. Général d'armée Gaston Billotte was Commander-in-Chief until his death in a car crash on 23 May 1940, Général d'armée Georges Maurice Jean Blanchard was appointed to succeed him.
French forces
[edit]
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Belgian Army
[edit]The Belgian Army field approximately 600,000 personnel in 22 divisions, backed by 1,338 artillery pieces, 10 tanks and 240 other combat vehicles. King Leopold III of Belgium had assumed personal command of the army upon mobilization. His principal military advisor was Lieutenant-general Raoul van Overstraeten, while General-major Oscar Michiels was Chief of the General Staff.
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British Expeditionary Force
[edit]- More detail: British Expeditionary Force order of battle (1940)
- General Lord Gort
- Directly reporting
5th Infantry Division (Major-General Harold Franklyn)- 12th Infantry Division (Major-General Roderic Loraine Petre)
- 23rd Infantry Division (Major-General William Norman Herbert)
- 46th Infantry Division (Major-General Henry Curtis)
- Directly reporting
- I Corps
- Lieutenant-General Michael Barker (thru 7 Jun)
- Major-General Harold Alexander (from 7 Jun)
- 1st Infantry Division (Major-General Harold Alexander)
- 2nd Infantry Division (Major-General Charles Loyd, succeeded by Brigadier Noel Irwin)
- 48th Infantry Division (Major-General Andrew Thorne)
- II Corps
- Lieutenant-General Alan Brooke (thru 29 May)
- Major-General Bernard Montgomery (from 29 May)
- 3rd Infantry Division (Major-General Bernard Montgomery, succeeded by Brigadier Kenneth Anderson)
- 4th Infantry Division (Major-General Dudley Johnson)
- 50th Infantry Division (Major-General Giffard Le Quesne Martel)
- III Corps
- Lieutenant-General Ronald Adam
- 42nd Infantry Division (Major-General William Holmes)
- 44th Infantry Division (Major-General Edmund Osborne)
French 2nd Army Group
[edit]The French 2nd Army Group was responsible for manning the bulk of the Maginot Line from Montmédy to south of Strasbourg, and controlled three armies. General de Armee Andre-Gaston Pretelat was Commander-in-Chief of the army group throughout its existence.
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French 3rd Army Group
[edit]The French 3rd Army Group was responsible for manning the southern end of the Maginot Line, along the River Rhine and controlled one army. The army group's Commander-in-Chief was Général d'Armée Antoine-Marie-Benoit Besson.
- Eighth Army
- General Marcel Garchery
- VII Corps
13th Infantry Division- 27th Infantry Division
- XIII Corps
- 19th Infantry Division
- 54th Infantry Division
104th Fortress Division- 105th Fortress Division
- XLIV Corps
- 67th Infantry Division
- XLV Corps
- 57th Infantry Division
- 63rd Infantry Division
Polish Second Infantry Fusiliers Division (Brigadier-General Bronisław Prugar-Ketling)
- VII Corps
Royal Netherlands Army
[edit]The Netherlands had four corps, one motorized division and a defense division deployed to begin the battle. Total strength was 240,000 personnel, equipped with 676 artillery pieces and 32 armoured cars. Generaal Henri Winkelman was Supreme Commander of the Royal Netherlands Army and Navy.
- Field Army Command
- Luitenant-generaal Godfried van Voorst tot Voorst
- II Corps
- Generaal-majoor Jacob Harberts
2nd Division- 4th Division
- III Corps
- Generaal-majoor Adrianus van Nijnatten
- 5th Division
- 6th Division
- Light Division (Attached)
- Peel Division (Attached)
- IV Corps
- Generaal-majoor Adrianus van den Bent
- 7th Division
- 8th Division
A, B, G Brigades
- I Corps
- Generaal-majoor Nicolaas Carstens
- 1st Division
- 3rd Division
French army facing Italy
[edit]- Armee des Alps
- Général d'Armée René Olry
- 3 infantry divisions of type B
- XIV Army Corps
- XV Army Corps
- Fortification sectors: Dauphiné, Savoie, Alpes Maritimes
- Defence sectors: Rhône, Nice
Originally the French Sixth Army (the Army of the Alps) was responsible for manning the southeast frontier with Italy. Overall, French forces in the region numbered about 35,000 soldiers.
French reserves
[edit]The French began the battle with three reserve corps positioned behind the army groups. The VII and XXIII Corps were stationed behind the 2nd and 3rd Army Groups.
The following divisions were also kept in reserve:
- 10th Infantry Division
- 14th Infantry Division
- 23rd Infantry Division
- 28th Infantry Division
- 29th Infantry Division
- 36th Infantry Division
- 43rd Infantry Division
- 1st North African Infantry Division
- 7th North African Infantry Division
- 5th Colonial Infantry Division
- 7th Colonial Infantry Division
Notes
[edit]- ^ Commanded Army Group Center during Operation Barbarossa; mortally wounded in strafing attack, May 1945
- ^ Died January 1942 on the Russian Front following crash of medical evacuation aircraft; a committed anti-Semite, he was posthumously implicated by the Nuremberg Trials.
- ^ Surrendered Sixth Army during Battle of Stalingrad; survived Soviet captivity, returned to East Germany
- ^ Executed for involvement in the 20 July Plot
- ^ Killed in combat by US troops near Rhine Bridgehead, April 1945
- ^ Served a little over four years for war crimes.
- ^ Hitler's former chauffer and bodyguard; served ten years for war crimes
- ^ Detached from SS Division Verfugungstruppe
- ^ Less one regiment "Der Fuhrer"
- ^ Commandd Army Group South during Operation Barbarossa; charged with war crimes but not tried due to age and ill health
- ^ Committed suicide upon learning he would be implicated in the 20 July Plot
- ^ Executed for involvement in the 20 July Plot
- ^ Surrendered with Sixth Army at Stalingrad; died in captivity, February 1944
- ^ Imprisoned for war crimes and crimes against humanity; released because of ill health and died 1971
- ^ Died July 1945 in a POW camp in England.
- ^ Commanded Army Group B during Ardennes Counteroffensive; committed suicide April 1945
- ^ Commanded Eleventh Army during Operation Barbarossa, killed in plane crash September 1941
- ^ Died November 1945 in prison in the USSR.
- ^ Served approx. seven years for war crimes
- ^ Died North Africa October 1942 of possible heart attack
- ^ Commanded Army Group North during Operation Barbarossa
- ^ Executed for involvement in the 20 July Plot
- ^ Died in uncertain circumstances in France June 1944 after being relieved of command by Hitler
- ^ Committed suicide while on trial for war crimes February 1948
- ^ Generalleutnant Hermann Ritter von Speck from 5 June
- ^ vs. Hoeppner's XVI Pz Corps @ Hannut
- ^ (vs. Hoeppner Corps
- ^ vs. 7th Panzer Division at Chabrehez and Houx
- ^ to Neufchateau-Bastogne, vs. Guderian 1st and 2nd Panzer, evacuated Sedan
- ^ to Habay La Neuve, Arlon Gap, vs. 10th Panzer Division
- ^ Donchery and La Marfee on the Meuse, vs Guderian, 1st, 2nd Pz Divs.
- ^ Wadelincourt on the Meuse and Raucourt, vs Guderian's 10th Panzer Division
- ^ south of 71st Div
- ^ at Onhaye, vs 7th Pz Div
- ^ vs. 2nd Panzer
- ^ Deployed into the Ardennes, across the Meuse to the Ourthe, then Marche, vs 7th Pz Div
- ^ Haut-le-Wastia, vs 7th Pz
- ^ on the Meuse at Houx, vs 7th Pz Div
- ^ Givet on the Meuse, vs 7th Pz Div
- ^ N of Monthermé vs 8 Pz Div
- ^ Monthermé, vs 6th Pz Div
- ^ La Horgne v 1st Pz
- ^ near Rheims to SW of breakthrough area
- ^ deployed to Charleroi then to Flavion, arrived low on fuel or out of fuel, vs 7 Pz Div and then 5th Pz Div
- ^ to Signy, deployed piecemeal, destroyed by Reinhardt's XLI Pz Corps
- ^ to west of Stonne, versus Grossdeutschland Regt, 10th Pz Div, dispersed, small detachment attacked Stonne but driven off
- ^ to west of Stonne, dispersed, attacked Stonne but driven off
References
[edit]- ^ "Welcome [War over Holland - May 1940: the Dutch struggle]". www.waroverholland.nl. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
- ^ "Welcome [War over Holland - May 1940: the Dutch struggle]". www.waroverholland.nl. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
- ^ Waffen Ss Divisions 1939-45. Chris Bishop. Gardners Books. 2007. ISBN 978-1-86227-432-7. OCLC 212835583.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b c d "Home". diedeutschewehrmacht.de.
Sources
[edit]- Horne, Alistair (1969). To Lose a Battle: France 1940. Boston: Little, Brown. OCLC 5258.
- Bishop, Chris (2007). Waffen-SS Divisions 1939-45. ISBN 978-1-86227-432-7.
Web
[edit]- "Generals from France". Generals of WWII. Steen Ammentorp. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- Dowden, P. "Situation at Sedan 1940". The War Tourist. Homestead. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- Lehman, David. "Battle of Flavion". Axis History Forum. phpBB. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
- War over Holland May 1940: The Dutch struggle
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2007) |