Chapter 10

(MAY 1940 GERMANY INVADES FRANCE, BELGIUM, LUXEMBOURG AND NETHERLANDS.

COMMENTS FROM – “CHARLES RIVER EDITORS, THE FALL OF FRANCE: THE HISTORY OF NAZI GERMANY’S INVASION AND CONQUEST OF FRANCE DURING WORLD WAR II”

“German successes on May 10th prompted the Belgians to fall back rapidly towards the Dyle River, site of the lightly fortified Dyle Line. The Belgian forces retreated so hastily, in fact, that British and French units moving to support them feared the Germans would sweep the Belgians past the Dyle before the Allies could advance that far.”

“As it was, the Belgians did not give permission for the British and French to come to their aid until 6:45 a.m. on May 10, nearly three hours after the initial German invasion.”

“A moment of comedy occurred amid the grim preparations for war as the leading British elements attempted to “clear customs” and enter Belgian territory: “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 unhappy with their lack of documentation for entering his country, but overcame this by driving through his barrier.” (Evans, 2000, 45).”

“Motorized German infantry shredded the Belgian 7eme Division when it sought to oppose the crossings, causing the Belgian 4eme Division to desert en masse in terror.”

“The “secret weapon” in the German tank arsenal, which ultimately overcame superior French guns and armor, consisted of the radio fitted into each Panzer. Only one in five – 20% – of French tanks carried a radio, so once combat began, 80% of the French tanks relied on visual signals, including merely observing the movements of other tanks and attempting to guess the intended maneuvers.”

“To cut sleep to a minimum, Guderian issued pervitin amphetamines to his men, drugs given the nickname “panzer chocolate” by the men of the Heer. This early version of “crystal meth” allowed long periods of being awake and imparted a euphoric mood, but at the risk of heart attacks, suicide, psychotic violence, or a collapse into addiction.”

“The Belgian government clearly viewed Germany as far less of a threat than did the French, and Belgium showed a distinct lack of commitment to common action in its willingness to use the situation to extort railroad contract concessions from France. Later, as Nazi Germany began its rearmament program, Belgium declared itself neutral in 1936, dealing a serious blow to the strategy devised for the Maginot Line.”... (AUTHOR’S NOTE: I believe this lack of support was a key reason for the ultimate failure of the Maginot Line.)

“Making matters all the worse, the French decided to create no fortifications along the Belgian frontier proper to avoid pushing the Belgians towards a neutral position. Though the unsuitable, wet terrain also played a major role in the French decision, preventing Belgian neutrality played a part in the choice. Yet no sooner had the French completed the Maginot Line – leaving the northern gap to reassure the Belgians they could count on French support – than Belgium adopted the very neutrality the French feared.”

While the comments above refer to the Fall of France, the eyewitness quotes on the opening days of the invasion seem to apply to all the countries involved. Of course, the premier prize was France. France was the main opponent of Germany in World War I and the rancor of the devastation and death was further aggravated by the unfair reparations that drove Germany into a spiral of economic ruin in the 1920s. The Maginot Line was a poor strategy but it was one that did its best to hold down casualties in the opening stage of the hostilities. That worked to some extent but the end result was to leave the British Expeditionary Force hanging from a limb with nowhere to go to after all of the European countries surrendered before the British really had a chance to get into the thick of things.

Now their main concern was to figure a way to get the troops off the Continent before they would be either captured or killed by the German Wehrmacht.

I had been lucky to catch a ride on a Spanish Cruise Ship that was carrying a number of passengers eager to get out of the country of Norway before the Gestapo got down to the dirty business of interrogating all foreigners. I was surprised that there were a number of Americans onboard and that they seemed enthusiastic about the sense of heightened danger like it was a perk of some sort and not a matter of great concern. I tended to have the same outlook but I was also not as enthusiastic about the maritime mines placed in the deep waters by the British engineers. Our ship was easily seen by aircraft or submarines to be a noncombatant civilian ship, but a dumb explosive in the water was unable to make a judgement call.

We made a port of call at a place called Dunkirk.

In all honesty, I had no idea the ship would dock there and I suspected the Captain had no idea as well. I think he might have gotten some advance intelligence from some quarter that assured him it would be the safest place in the event of a German invasion. With my knowledge of events from the future, I was able to see that was true in one sense but untrue with later events.

There were convoys of British soldiers speeding in both directions along the coastal highways that were still clear of German Wehrmacht in the days before the invasion. I also knew that once it started the “Blitzkrieg” would roll over the opposing forces like a steamroller with no consideration for death or destruction. In retrospect, the French never really had a chance because their supposed Allies were less than enthusiastic about being the “Spartans” blocking overwhelming odds and were generally inclined to lay down their arms at the first invitation. In fact the Maginot Line probably did save a lot of French military lives because they were able to walk home defeated but did not suffer the finality of a bullet between the eyes.