The Fall Of France

May 12-14, 1940
German forces reach the Meuse River, the crossing of which is critical for the advance into France. Dive-bombers pound French positions and inflatable rats are used to establish bridgeheads at Sedan and Dinant on the 13th. Despite Allied air attacks, German armor advances westward rapidly, opening a 50 mile (75km) gap in the Allied line.

May 15, Air War, Germany
Britain launches its first strategic air attack on Germany with 99 aircraft hitting oil plants and railroad yards in the Ruhr region.

May 16-20, Western Front, France
The French General Reserve and units south of the German forces are ordered to form the Sixth Army to bolster the vulnerable Allied lines, but this fails to halt the German Bltizkrieg.
Brigadier Gerneral Charles de Gaulle's 4th Armored Division sttempts to counterattack around Laon-Montcornet on May 17-19 but fails.
German tanks reach Cambrai on May 18, and finally the seat at Abbeville two days later. It now becomes critical for the Allies to cut the 'corridor' made by the panzers or risk the isolation of their armies to the north from the forces in the south. The dismissal of General Maurice Gamelin, the Allied commander-in-chief, and the appointment of Maxime Weygand as his successor on the 19th further delays military decision-making, which reduces the potential for any action.

The appointment of Marshal Petain as Vice Premier on the 19th prepares France for its coming capitulation to Germany.

May 20
The German Army reaches the English Channel, cutting the Allied forces in two. The commander-in-chief, von Brauchitsch, wants to round up trapped Anglo-French and Belgian troops, but Rundstedt decides to halt and regroup his forces. Eager to preserve his panzers for conquest of Paris, Hitler confirms these orders giving Goring's Luftwaffe the chance to distinguish itself by destroying the Allied armies in the Dunkirk Pocket. However, the sands reduce the effect of aircraft's bombs. British aircraft resist the attacks enabling the Allies to prepare for evacuation.

May 21-28, Dunkirk
British tanks battle with the 7th Panzer Division at Arras until May 23. General Heinz Guderian moves toward Boulogne and Calais unaffected by the Allied "Weygand Plan", which attempts to split the tank spearhead from troops and supplies in the German 'corridor".
On the 27th, British start evacuations of troops, "Operation Dynamo", including French and Belgian, from the beaches at Dunkirk to England.
Surviving constant harassment by German shelling, the evacuation doesn't end until June 3rd. Over 300,000 soldiers are taken to England, two-thirds of them British, but without their equipment and weapons. Another 200,000 are evacuated from other ports. This tremendous feat was possible by establishing a defensive perimeter between several canal lines, and by using any available ship, pleasure craft, commercial or personal fishing boats, and naval vessels brave enough to make the crossing and recrossings under fire. Despite many losses, few boats within range turn down the call.

May 28, King Leopold of Belgium surrenders, suffering 7550 men killed. The surrender leaves the left flank of the Allied line increasingly vulnerable, and there is no hop of holding out in Belgium.

May 31, United States
President Franklin D. Roosevelt launches a billion-dollar defense program to bolster the armed forces.

June 1-9, Norway
After Britain and France reveal to the Norwegians that they are to begin an evacuation, troops begin to withdraw. King Haakon and his government leave for Britain on the 7th, and 24,500 troops are evacuated. The king finally orders the Norwegians to stop fighting on June 9th, after losing 1335 men. Entire Allied losses include 5600 men, one carrier, two cruisers, nine destroyers plus other smaller craft, and 100 aircraft. German losses total 3692 men, 19 warships, and 242 aircraft.

June 4th, the Germans occupy Dunkirk and capture 40,000 French troops.

June 5-12
The German Army resumes its offensive, moving south and west into France using 119 divisions under "Operation Red". Guderian takes the French defensive Maginot Line in the rear and encirles a large part of the remaining French Army, which is now totally demoralized.
General Fedor von Bock's Army Group B attacking along the Somme River, reaches the Seine River west of Paris by June 9th. General von Rundstedt's Army Group A, moving toward the Moselle River in front of the Maginot Line, launches an offensive east of Paris.
Rundstedt's tanks, reinforced by Army Group B panzers, overcome resistance to break through at Chalons-sur-Marne on the 12th.
France's response, the Weygand Line, stretching along the Somme and Aisne Rivers, aims to protect Paris and the interior. Some of France's 65 divisions fight determined actions, but many units lack manpower and equipment. Air attacks and ligistical problems also undermine General Maxime Wegand's vulnerable forces.

June 8th, North Sea War
The German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sink three empty vessels and the British carrier Glorious while hunting for convoys from Norway. These losses are blamed on the British failure to provide sufficient naval escorts.

June 10th
Italy's Benito Mussolini eager to capitalize on France's collapse, declares war on Britain and France moves troops into southern France.
The French government leaves Paris, first to Tours, then to Bordeaux.
Some 11,000 British and other French troops begin to evacuate from St. Valery and Le Havre to Britain.

June 12-14, Mediterranean Sea War
Britain launces a naval bombardment against the Italian base of Tobruk, Libya. The French Navy bombards the ports of Genoa and Vado on the 14th. British air raids are also made on Turin and Genoa. Libyan and East African airfields are raided.

June 13
President Roosevelt signs a $1.3 billion navy bill to improve the service. Shipments of arms also leave the country in response to Winston Churchill's request for surplus weapons.
Paris is declared an "open city" in order to save it from destruction and all French forces withdraw south of the capital.

German troops enter Paris on June 14 as thousands flee the capital.
Germany's Army Group C, deployed from the Maginot Line to the Swiss border, breaks through French defenses, advancing in all directions, crossing the Rhine and Loire Rivers. All the coastal ports between Cherbourg and St. Nazaire are soon captured.

By the 15th, the evacuation of the remaining Allied troops in northwest France begins. "Operation Ariel" extends this to the Biscay ports by the 16th. Some 214,000 troops are saved, although 3000 perish when the liner Lancastria is sunk on the 17th.

Prime Minister Paul Reynaud of France releases France from its agreement with Britain not to make any separate peace, rejecting a union between the two countries. After losing support, he is replaced by Marshal Henri-Phillipe Petain.
Petain requests Germany's armistice terms and the signing takes place at Compiegne, site of the World War I armistice agreement on the 22nd. Using the same railway carriage where the Germans surrendered in November, 1918.
Under the terms Germany occupies two-thirds of France, including the Channel and Atlantic coastlines. The south, which becomes known as Vichy France, will have a nominal French administration and keep its colonies.
Hitler imminently expects the surrender of Great Britain, which will enable him to turn his attention to the East. Meanwhile, the Soviets move into Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and make them Soviet Republics.
After Italy's armistice with France on the 24th, a cease-fire occurs on all fronts. French casualties since May 10 total more than 85,000 men, British 3475, and German losses reach 27,074.

On June 27th, Britain announces a total blockade of the Continent.