França 1940: A Càtastrofe

After the fall of Poland, Hitler turned to the Western Front. It was essential that he eliminate France and neutralize England. To this end, his generals devised Plan Yellow (Fall Gelb): Army Group B (General Fedor von Bock), consisting of the 6th and 18th Armies, would invade the Netherlands and Belgium to draw Allied forces into those countries. A few days later, Army Group A (General Gerd von Rundstedt), composed of the 4th, 12th, and 16th Armies, would advance through the Ardennes and reach the English Channel, isolating Allied forces in Belgium. Meanwhile, Army Group C (General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb), consisting of the 1st and 7th Armies, faced the Maginot Line. On the Allied side, the "Dyle Plan" ("D") was outlined, in which the 1st Army Group (General Gaston-Henri Billotte) would launch four armies (the French 1st, 7th, and 9th, plus the British Expeditionary Force) into Belgium and the Netherlands. These forces would form a line on the Dyle River and the Breda-Turnholt-Antwerp line. North of Breda, the line would be the responsibility of the Dutch Army, and between Antwerp and Louvain, it would be the Belgian Army. Also within this Army Group was the 2nd Army, which would guard the flank of the Ardennes Forest. The 2nd Army Group (General André-Gaston Prételat) had three additional armies (the 3rd, 4th, and 5th) to guard the Maginot Line. Considered insurmountable, the Ardennes Forest was neglected by the Allied military. The consequence of this was that, after German forces entered the Netherlands and Belgium, Franco-British forces entered Belgium and set a trap: on May 13, 1940, Panzer divisions broke through the Allied lines on the Meuse between Dinant and Sedan, routed the French 2nd and 9th Armies, and headed for the English Channel, where they reached on May 20, 1940. The Netherlands surrendered, and Belgium followed suit days later. Surrounded and harassed, the Allies began Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of Dunkirk. On June 4, 1940, it was all over: all the Germans had to do was sweep away the remnants of the French Army in the south. On June 22, 1940, France surrendered and had to endure four years of Nazi occupation. The British were left with the bitterness of fighting alone and suffering attacks from the Luftwaffe.