Recent from talks
Battle of Sedan (1940)
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Battle of Sedan (1940)
The Battle of Sedan or Second Battle of Sedan (12–15 May 1940) took place in World War II during the Battle of France in 1940. It was part of the German Wehrmacht's operational plan codenamed Fall Gelb (Case Yellow) for an offensive through the hilly and forested Ardennes, to encircle the Allied armies in Belgium and north-eastern France. German Army Group A crossed the Meuse with the intention of capturing Sedan and pushing westwards towards the Channel coast, to trap the Allied forces that were advancing east into Belgium, as part of the Allied Dyle Plan.
Sedan is situated on the east bank of the Meuse. Its capture would give the Germans a base from which to take the Meuse bridges and cross the river. The German divisions could then advance across the open and undefended French countryside to the English Channel. On 12 May, Sedan was captured without resistance and the Germans defeated the French defences around Sedan on the west bank of the Meuse. German Luftwaffe bombing and low morale prevented the French defenders from destroying the bridgeheads. On 14 May, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the French Armée de l'Air jointly tried to destroy the bridgeheads, but the Luftwaffe prevented them from doing so. In large air battles, the Allies suffered high losses which depleted Allied bomber strength in the campaign.
The French counter-attacked the German bridgeheads from 15 to 17 May, but the offensives fell victim to delay and confusion. On 20 May, five days after consolidating their bridgeheads, the German Army reached the Channel. Crossing the Meuse had enabled the Germans to achieve the operational goal of Fall Gelb and encircle the strongest Allied armies, including the British Expeditionary Force. The resulting June battles destroyed the remaining French army as an effective fighting force and expelled the British from the continent, leading to the defeat of France.
On 10 May 1940, the Wehrmacht invaded Luxembourg, Netherlands and Belgium. In the Netherlands the Germans made steady progress. By 12 May, units of the German Army Group B were closing on Rotterdam and Amsterdam, while in central Belgium the Germans were close to reaching the Dyle river east of Brussels. In response to the invasions, the Allied First Army Group, under the command of Gaston Billotte, containing the French Seventh Army, French Ninth Army, French First Army and the British Expeditionary Force, advanced to the Dyle river to form a solid front line as part of the Dyle Plan, a defensive strategy to halt the German advances in Belgium. However, the offensive by Army Group B was a diversion. The main thrust of Fall Gelb was to be conducted by Army Group A through the Ardennes in Luxembourg and southern Belgium. Once these lightly defended areas were negotiated, Army Group A's XIX Panzerkorps (19th Tank Corps), under the command of Heinz Guderian, was to strike into France at Sedan, located on the Meuse river. Its capture would enable a German advance into the undefended depths of France and to the English Channel, into the rear of the Allied mobile forces advancing into Belgium. The result would be a strategic-level encirclement.
For the offensive, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German High Command) gave Army Group A the most powerful concentration of German armour and motorised forces. Although Army Group B was allocated 808 tanks, over 1⁄4 of the total German tanks, they were largely light tanks such as the Panzer I and Panzer II, as opposed to the Panzer III and Panzer IV. The heavier tanks were handed over to Army Group A as it required the best machines to conduct the critical operation at Sedan. Army Group A contained 1,753 tanks of the heavier types.
Following the First World War, the French General Staff had ruled out the idea of a future German thrust through the Ardennes–Sedan sector. The French were certain such terrain could not be crossed by tanks. Marshal Philippe Pétain described them as "impenetrable". Maurice Gamelin described the geographical feature as "Europe's best tank obstacle". The "barrier" of the Meuse and Ardennes appeared to be a sound strategic defence feature that a future enemy could not get through or go around. The French concluded that, at best, a German assault through the Ardennes towards Sedan would not reach the Meuse for two weeks after the start of any German offensive, and would take between five and nine days to penetrate the Ardennes alone.
The French assessments were less credible in the light of military exercises carried out in 1938. That year, General André-Gaston Prételat took command of manoeuvres which created a scenario whereby the German Army launched an assault with seven divisions, including four motorised infantry divisions and two tank brigades (the type of the remaining three are not given). The "French" side's defences collapsed. "The result was a defeat of so comprehensive a nature that the wisdom of publishing it was questioned lest morale be damaged." As late as March 1940, a French report to Gamelin named the defences at Sedan, the last "fortified" position on the Meuse, and the last before the open country of France, as "entirely inadequate." Prételat had correctly identified the landscape as relatively easy terrain for armour to cross. At most, he concluded, the Germans would take 60 hours to reach the Meuse and take one day to cross it. This estimate was to prove inaccurate by just three hours; the Germans achieved the Meuse crossing after just 57 hours.
The French Army authorised fresh attempts to increase the strength of the fortifications in the autumn of 1939, but severe winter weather prevented the pouring of concrete and the delivery of the necessary materials. On 11 April 1940, General Charles Huntziger asked for another four divisions to work on the defences but was refused.
Hub AI
Battle of Sedan (1940) AI simulator
(@Battle of Sedan (1940)_simulator)
Battle of Sedan (1940)
The Battle of Sedan or Second Battle of Sedan (12–15 May 1940) took place in World War II during the Battle of France in 1940. It was part of the German Wehrmacht's operational plan codenamed Fall Gelb (Case Yellow) for an offensive through the hilly and forested Ardennes, to encircle the Allied armies in Belgium and north-eastern France. German Army Group A crossed the Meuse with the intention of capturing Sedan and pushing westwards towards the Channel coast, to trap the Allied forces that were advancing east into Belgium, as part of the Allied Dyle Plan.
Sedan is situated on the east bank of the Meuse. Its capture would give the Germans a base from which to take the Meuse bridges and cross the river. The German divisions could then advance across the open and undefended French countryside to the English Channel. On 12 May, Sedan was captured without resistance and the Germans defeated the French defences around Sedan on the west bank of the Meuse. German Luftwaffe bombing and low morale prevented the French defenders from destroying the bridgeheads. On 14 May, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) and the French Armée de l'Air jointly tried to destroy the bridgeheads, but the Luftwaffe prevented them from doing so. In large air battles, the Allies suffered high losses which depleted Allied bomber strength in the campaign.
The French counter-attacked the German bridgeheads from 15 to 17 May, but the offensives fell victim to delay and confusion. On 20 May, five days after consolidating their bridgeheads, the German Army reached the Channel. Crossing the Meuse had enabled the Germans to achieve the operational goal of Fall Gelb and encircle the strongest Allied armies, including the British Expeditionary Force. The resulting June battles destroyed the remaining French army as an effective fighting force and expelled the British from the continent, leading to the defeat of France.
On 10 May 1940, the Wehrmacht invaded Luxembourg, Netherlands and Belgium. In the Netherlands the Germans made steady progress. By 12 May, units of the German Army Group B were closing on Rotterdam and Amsterdam, while in central Belgium the Germans were close to reaching the Dyle river east of Brussels. In response to the invasions, the Allied First Army Group, under the command of Gaston Billotte, containing the French Seventh Army, French Ninth Army, French First Army and the British Expeditionary Force, advanced to the Dyle river to form a solid front line as part of the Dyle Plan, a defensive strategy to halt the German advances in Belgium. However, the offensive by Army Group B was a diversion. The main thrust of Fall Gelb was to be conducted by Army Group A through the Ardennes in Luxembourg and southern Belgium. Once these lightly defended areas were negotiated, Army Group A's XIX Panzerkorps (19th Tank Corps), under the command of Heinz Guderian, was to strike into France at Sedan, located on the Meuse river. Its capture would enable a German advance into the undefended depths of France and to the English Channel, into the rear of the Allied mobile forces advancing into Belgium. The result would be a strategic-level encirclement.
For the offensive, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (German High Command) gave Army Group A the most powerful concentration of German armour and motorised forces. Although Army Group B was allocated 808 tanks, over 1⁄4 of the total German tanks, they were largely light tanks such as the Panzer I and Panzer II, as opposed to the Panzer III and Panzer IV. The heavier tanks were handed over to Army Group A as it required the best machines to conduct the critical operation at Sedan. Army Group A contained 1,753 tanks of the heavier types.
Following the First World War, the French General Staff had ruled out the idea of a future German thrust through the Ardennes–Sedan sector. The French were certain such terrain could not be crossed by tanks. Marshal Philippe Pétain described them as "impenetrable". Maurice Gamelin described the geographical feature as "Europe's best tank obstacle". The "barrier" of the Meuse and Ardennes appeared to be a sound strategic defence feature that a future enemy could not get through or go around. The French concluded that, at best, a German assault through the Ardennes towards Sedan would not reach the Meuse for two weeks after the start of any German offensive, and would take between five and nine days to penetrate the Ardennes alone.
The French assessments were less credible in the light of military exercises carried out in 1938. That year, General André-Gaston Prételat took command of manoeuvres which created a scenario whereby the German Army launched an assault with seven divisions, including four motorised infantry divisions and two tank brigades (the type of the remaining three are not given). The "French" side's defences collapsed. "The result was a defeat of so comprehensive a nature that the wisdom of publishing it was questioned lest morale be damaged." As late as March 1940, a French report to Gamelin named the defences at Sedan, the last "fortified" position on the Meuse, and the last before the open country of France, as "entirely inadequate." Prételat had correctly identified the landscape as relatively easy terrain for armour to cross. At most, he concluded, the Germans would take 60 hours to reach the Meuse and take one day to cross it. This estimate was to prove inaccurate by just three hours; the Germans achieved the Meuse crossing after just 57 hours.
The French Army authorised fresh attempts to increase the strength of the fortifications in the autumn of 1939, but severe winter weather prevented the pouring of concrete and the delivery of the necessary materials. On 11 April 1940, General Charles Huntziger asked for another four divisions to work on the defences but was refused.
Recent media