038 - Blitzkrieg in the West - The Invasion of France - WW2 - May 18 1940

No, at the same place. Yeah, the same place as, you know, way back when. Okay. May 18, 1940 Every episode of this series begins with a hook, right? Something new in the war, something different, or something exciting. This week, it's one word- Breakthrough. I'm Indy Neidell. This is a double-length special episode of World War Two. Yep, although any week of the war can in some way be seen as pivotal, this is a major one and I can't cram it all into a regular episode. Last week the Germans were advancing in Norway, but a debate over Narvik in British Parliament sparked events that led to Winston Churchill replacing Neville Chamberlain as PM, Britain invaded and occupied Iceland, and Germany invaded France and the Benelux countries. I'm going to talk about that second invasion this week. In fact, that is all I'm going to talk about this week. There are also notable events occurring in China and Norway, but I will get back to them next week. Don't worry. Julian Jackson begins Chapter One of his The Fall of France with an anecdote from May 16, 1940, a full week after the German invasion has begun. Winston Churchill was woken by a phone call from Paul Reynaud, French PM. He spoke in English and evidently under stress. As I did not immediately respond, he said again, The night before, Reynaud wires Churchill that the situation is grave. Churchill points out that there had been times in WW1 when things had seemed grim, but Reynaud says this is worse. Later on the 16th, French Defense Minister Edouard Daladier tells Army Commander Maurice Gamelan that they absolutely must counterattack, and Gamelan asks, with what? He has no reserves left to deploy. Daladier says that this means the destruction of the French armies. Nothing stands between the Germans and Paris. When you read accounts of the German invasion this week, they mostly concentrate on that German breakthrough at Sedan on the Meuse River. But in both Belgium and the Netherlands, where the Allies expected the invasion to happen, things also do not go as planned. In the Netherlands, German airborne units take the Moerdijk Causeway and cut the country in two, and the Dutch army withdraws north towards Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The French 7th Army, which has advanced to Breda to try to link with the Dutch forces, now finds that task impossible. Its commander Henri Giraud is ordered to fall back from Breda and redeploy further south near Antwerp. The Dutch only hold out for a few more days until after the bombing of Rotterdam. See, the evening of the 13th, advance units of the German 39th Army Corps reach the city. They are under General Rudolf Schmidt, who has orders to avoid unnecessary Dutch civilian casualties. But every hour the city holds out can sabotage the German timetable, and his men are needed for the push through Belgium into France. So the plan to crush Rotterdam's resistance is a tank attack at 1530 the next afternoon, preceded by an air raid on the surroundings at 1530. At noon, local Dutch commander Colonel Giraud gets an ultimatum to surrender or the Luftwaffe will hit the city center. Giraud says he has to consult the Hague. The Hague sends a deputation to Rotterdam to talk terms with the Germans, arriving at 1530. At 1330, Schmidt sends a signal to call off the air raid, but he is five minutes too late. By the time the 100 Henkel 3s in the air are sent the abort order, they are in Dutch airspace, which means the radio operators have closed their positions to take combat stations. German ground forces send up red abort flares, but in the haze and smoke shrouding the city, they are not seen until 57 of the bombers have dropped 100 tons of bombs on Rotterdam, destroying the city center and killing or wounding thousands of Dutch civilians. Dutch garrison surrenders at 0500. The Dutch have beaten the Germans at the Battle of Afsleutdijk this same day, but though Zeeland holds out until the 18th, the war is over for the Dutch army, and a Dutch government in exile is established this week in London. In retaliation for the bombing of Rotterdam comes the first large-scale strategic bombing of the war, as the Allies target Geissenkirchen, Hamburg, Wemmen, Cologne, Essen, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, and Hanover over the next few days. It is not leaflets they are dropping this time. As for Giraud's French units retreating from Breda, many are badly mauled and some even surrounded. The remaining French forces concentrate on Valcherin, where the French navy launches a large-scale evacuation, and by midnight on the 17th, French resistance on Valcherin is finished and the battle for the Netherlands is over. In Belgium, the brilliant German capture of Fortress Eben-Emael last week compromised the Belgian defenses, so they decided to pull back from the Albert Canal to the Diel River. This, though, compromises the French plans, which require the Belgians to hold off the Germans long enough for the French 1st army to take position. General Prieu, whose cavalry is the advance of that army, arrives in position the 11th to find that the Belgians have done little fortification. He asks permission to fall back to the Scheldt River, but is refused. The main bulk of the 1st army will arrive the 14th, so Prieu is to delay the Germans until then. This he does. His two light mechanized divisions hold off two panzer divisions in the Battle of Hannut. This is the largest tank on tank battle in history at this point, with each side fielding over 600 tanks. The French lose 105 tanks and the Germans 165, so much for the idea that the French are incapable of fighting panzer divisions head on. The 1st army then holds the line on the Diel the 15th, but because of the breakthrough further south on the Meuse, tactical victory here could turn into an overall strategic disaster, and the 1st army is ordered to withdraw to the French border the 16th. Elsewhere in Belgium this week, the Germans take Liège the 13th and enter Brussels and Antwerp the 17th. The British and French have fallen back to the River Dendre and the Belgian government has moved to Ostend. The main thrust of the German attack, though, is not through the Benelux countries, nor is it against the Franco-German border. It is through the Ardennes and spearheaded by panzer divisions under overall command of Ewald von Kleist. Three divisions under Heinz Guderian that made for Sedan, two under Georg Hans Reinhardt that went to Mont Thermé, and another two further north under Hermann Hoth that went to Dinan- 134,000 soldiers and 1,600 vehicles in all, of them over 1,200 tanks. The first German units reach the Meuse at 2 o'clock in the afternoon of May 12th, and most of them have not seen a single enemy soldier to that point. And though the French are aware that there are German forces in the Ardennes, they are not aware that this is the main attack, and they certainly do not think the Germans will try an immediate crossing of the mighty Meuse. Had they thought that, the endless lines of German tanks moving along the winding roads of the Ardennes would be easy targets for Allied bombers, as would the roads themselves. And tanks cannot go through the actual forest. The British bombers have been busy working in Belgium, though, and taking heavy casualties. By the 12th, only 72 of the 135 bombers they had had two days earlier are still in service. That day, General Alphonse Georges, commander of the French field armies, who's been getting recon from the Ardennes, orders bomber priority switched from the 1st army in Belgium to the 2nd at the Meuse. General Gaston Billotte, commanding the 1st army, is astonished by this and changes the order to just one third to go to the 2nd army. Now, its commander, General Charles Hunsiger, has not requested any extra bomber support in his sector, and even now refuses the support. Georges has also decided, though, to send 6 divisions of reserves to back up Hunsiger, but the direction they're sent assumes the Germans will pivot and try to attack the eastern border Maginot Line defenses from behind, so these reserves won't be in a position to respond to the German breakthrough when it happens. One of Maurice Gamelan's aides speculates that the French might be entering a trap because the Germans have barely bombed the columns of men entering Belgium, but he is ignored. Sedan is not that large a place here in 1940, it's around 12,000 people. Hunsiger thinks it the least vulnerable part of his command, so he has his best forces away on his right flank. Covering Sedan itself is just the B reserve troops that I talked about before, and just one anti-aircraft battery. Contrary to popular belief, though, and contrary to what Hunsiger tells Reynaud and Reynaud tells the French nation, they do blow the bridges over the Meuse. All of them. And the French artillery is pretty good at slowing the Germans across the river, who are, as I said, easy targets. Until 0700 the 13th, when the Luftwaffe arrives. Group Kleist has around 1,000 planes, so one AA battery isn't going to do much good there. Thing is, the 8 hour Stuka dive bombing that day doesn't do much actual damage to the French bunkers, but it drives off a large part of the B reserves, who are certainly not trained to fight that and cannot be expected to. There is no Allied aerial response. A word here about the Maginot Line. It is generally believed that it is a fortified line along France's eastern border, and around Sedan and further west are just temporary structures. This is not the case, I know because I was there last month and saw it for myself. In and around Sedan and Donchery are casemates and bunkers, well built and mutually supporting artillery, machine gun, and observation posts in an interconnected defense system. There are ouvrages here and indeed all the way to the channel. Hunsiger, also responsible for implementing construction here, is actually way behind with it, but there is still plenty of defense here. It is also generally believed that the purpose of the Maginot Line is to be an unbreakable defense line. This is also not the case. It is to be supported by infantry, and between those troops and the defensive works, it is to hold back the Germans long enough for full mobilization and deployment. So what do you think happens once the Luftwaffe has driven off the B reserves? If you say breakthrough, then you, my friend, are mistaken. The Germans manage to destroy a few bunkers, and by 11 at night have built a bridge that can support tanks, but the French are holding out pretty well in spite of the Luftwaffe. In fact, they will hold off the 2nd Panzer Division so well that it needs to be basically rescued by the 1st. By the 14th, the Germans have made crossings at three points- Sedan, Hu and Mont Hermé. Hu is actually the first, and it is Erwin Rommel's men who've made the crossing. His attack the 13th is helped in part by his brilliant tactics, and in part because André Corap's 9th army is not even close to being in position, two divisions having marched 85km in three straight night marches to even be there. They are not motorized. Where the positioned French regulars fight, though, at Mont Hermé, the Germans are not yet able to bring tanks across the river. And the bridgeheads themselves are not a catastrophe anyhow. An effective counterattack could push them back, but it does not come. Again, the failure is in the French command. They don't counterattack the evening of the 13th, even though infantry and armor are there for such an attack by 0700. The order does not come until the morning, and command is reluctant to send forces in too quickly. And all this time the Germans are moving tanks across the river. When the counterattack finally comes, it is mauled by panzers. And where are the Allies in the air while the Luftwaffe strikes? On the 13th, British Air Chief Marshal Arthur Barrett rests his men for a full day after their action in Belgium and Holland. When the Allied planes finally attack on the Meuse early the 14th, in small groups of 10 or 20 for god knows what reason, both British and French alike suffer heavy losses and are unable to destroy the German bridgeheads. Now, conventional wisdom says that the Germans will next take the ridge south of Sedan, control of which will open the way to central France. Heinz Guderian does not do this. He pivots west with the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions along the main road that follows the Meuse, leaving the 10th to consolidate. When people talk about the German advance, it's in terms of 60km per day. On the 14th, they make around 6. The French defense structures, even without infantry support, are doing their job just fine, delaying the Germans, and if they only make 6km per day, the Allies can soon be there in force, but Hunsiger orders his men to evacuate that night. All that cannot be carried in silence is to be left behind, so they leave their heavy guns and ammunition. As for Korap's army, with Rommel at one end and Guderian at the other, it has begun to disintegrate, and he has been granted his request to pull back from the line of the Meuse to a line from Charleroi to Rattel, a line with no natural defenses. Korap loses his job for his efforts and will be replaced by Giraud, but what will Giraud command? It is May 15th that the Germans begin moving with speed after assaulting the now vacant fortifications along the Meuse. Nothing at all lay in Reinhardt's path and he has covered some 60km by late afternoon the 15th. But what about the French armored reserves under General Flavigny, including the 3rd armored under General Brocard? They are mobile. They have been sent toward the left flank of the 2nd army, but have been hastily assembled and need to refuel. If they attack the 14th, they certainly have a more than decent chance of stopping Guderian before he breaks out of the bridgehead. They don't. As for the 15th, the French tanks performed well. Unfortunately, this battle had become irrelevant since Guderian was already pushing northwest into France. The caution and hesitation of Flavigny and Brocard, and the impetuosity and boldness of Guderian perfectly encapsulated the difference between the French and the Germans in 1940. I cannot emphasize this enough. The breakthrough at Sedan in May 1940 is mainly a command failure, and not a failure of men, material, and defense works. On the 16th, Hoth's 15th Panzer Corps, spearheaded by Rommel's 7th division, are east of Cambrai. Guderian is moving on Saint-Quentin. A halt order is issued to them, though, because more conservative higher ups like Kleist cannot believe panzers can advance so far without exposing their flanks, but it is actually the speed itself that has protected them and thrown the French into disarray. Guderian will exploit a loophole in his orders. He is allowed to do reconnaissance in force. This is what he now says he's doing. On the 17th, he reaches the Oise south of Guise. On his left, Charles de Gaulle and the French 4th Armored Division attack northward from near Léon, but the Luftwaffe shuts them down and prevents any serious gains. Lord Gort and the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium are by now very worried about the growing threat on their right flank, and put together a force to defend there under General Mason Macfarlane, who has been Gort's Chief of Intelligence. I like this one-line quote about removing his intelligence chief from David Somerville's WW2 day by day. Gort can be criticized for weakening this important department at such a vital stage. I love that sentence. I just thought I'd say that. Anyhow, on the 18th, at the end of the week, both Saint-Quentin and Cambrai fall to the panzers, but with the rapidity of the advance, the German flanks now lay dangerously exposed. Kleist knows this, as does Winston Churchill, who says the tortoise has protruded his head dangerously far from the shell. In Paris, there is a bit of a breather, seeing that the Germans are not heading straight there, but still, French government employees are beginning to burn their secret files. Reynaud shakes up the high command and appoints a new cabinet, making himself also Minister of Defense. WW1 hero Philippe Pétain is now Deputy PM, Maxime Weygand is recalled from the Middle East to take over army command from Gamelin. He will assume command tomorrow evening. And this is where we stand as the week ends. The Dutch are defeated, the Belgians on the ropes, and the Germans are speeding westward across northern France, shocking the Allies and indeed the entire world. This is also the week of Winston Churchill's blood, sweat, toil, and tears speech. And since it's one of the most famous speeches of the 20th century, there is a link to it below. I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. Breakthrough. There is literally nothing standing in the way of the German army cutting off the Belgian, French, and British forces to its north. Who are the heroes of this masterstroke? Well, I guess there is von Manstein, whose idea it was to attack through the Ardennes. Also Guderian for his daring, Rommel for his brilliance, and the villains or scapegoats on the losing side. Some blame has to fall to Gamelin and Georges, but it seems to me that the real villain of the piece is Charles Hunziger. Hunziger, who was way behind with the buildup of his defenses. Hunziger, who refused aerial assistance. Hunziger, who lied about the bridges to excuse himself and also tried shifting blame to Korrap. And Hunziger, who pulled his men back from their mused defenses to their great consternation and frustration when they were doing their job of slowing the Germans just fine. And why all of this? Incompetence? Indifference? Or something more sinister? Well, that is all just speculation, but I'll tell you this- we will see Charles Hunziger again. If you'd like to see a special about the construction of the Maginot Line that we shot on location, you can click right here for that. Our TimeGhost Army member of the week is Nitin Sathe. Do like Nitin and join the forces on timeghost.tv or patreon.com. The TimeGhost Army is the only thing that keeps this channel going. And do not forget to subscribe, press the bell, see you next time.