The Fall of France - 1940The Fall of France - 1940

LTC Oakland McCullochLTC Oakland McCulloch

OutlineOutline

• The lead up to the battle

• The Plans

• Key points in the battle

• Evacuation at Dunkirk & French surrender

• Reasons why the Germans won so decisively

• Consequences of that victory

The Lead Up to the Battle

• Europe after WWI - Appeasement

• Unanswered German Aggression• Re-Occupation of the Rhineland, Austria, Czechoslovakia

• Invasion of Poland and Declaration of War

• The Phoney War

The Fall of France - 1940The Fall of France - 1940

The Plan

• Recreation of the Schlieffen Plan (Halder’s Plan)

• Manstein’s Plan• Heavy input by Guderian• Concentrate 7 Armored Divisions at one point

• Guderian’s Input • Bold independent tank action• Concentrate 7 Armored Divisions at one point (Sedan)• Encircle all of enemy forces north of the Somme River

• The Dyle Plan for the Allies• Played right into the hands of the Germans• Moved best Allied forces north into the Low Countries

The Fall of France - 1940The Fall of France - 1940

Key Points in the Battle

• Allied forces move north into the Low Countries

• Rommel crosses the Meuse River

• Guderian crosses the Meuse River

• BEF counterattack at Arras

• Decision to halt the attacks short of Dunkirk

The Fall of France - 1940The Fall of France - 1940

Evacuation at Dunkirk

• 27 May through 4 June

• Luftwaffe flew 1,882 bombing missions and 1,997 fighter sweeps against forces in Dunkirk

• 198,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French soldiers evacuated to fight another day

• British losses totaled 6% of their total losses in France including 60 fighter pilots and 29 of their 40 destroyers

The Fall of France - 1940The Fall of France - 1940

The Fall of France - 1940The Fall of France - 1940

French Surrender

• Best trained and most modern French Armies lost in encirclement

• General Weygand had to defend a 600 km (400 mi) front with 64 Divisions

• Italy declares war on France

• Paris surrendered without a fight on 14 June

156,492 German Casualties:

27,074 killed111,034 wounded18,384 missing

2,190,000 FrenchCasualties:

90,000 killed200,000 wounded

1,900,000 missing &prisoners

68,111 British 23,350 Belgian 9,779 Dutch

Reasons for German Decisive Victory

• Bold decisions by Commanders at the decisive place on the battlefield

• Organization of Combined Arms Divisions

• Better strategy, doctrine and training for the type of war to be fought

• Combat experience from Poland

The Fall of France - 1940The Fall of France - 1940

Consequences of the Battle

• Allies had a sense of German military infallibility• Lasted until El Alamein & Stalingrad - 1942

• Germans believed their could always win “Easy Victories”

• Inevitable entry of United States into the war

The Fall of France - 1940The Fall of France - 1940

Questions ?Questions ?

The Fall of France - 1940The Fall of France - 1940