The Need for Organisational Resilience - Chapter 1

The centre of attack consisted of Army Group A under Von Rundstedt. However, of

importance was the creation of a dedicated unit that included elite regiments such as the

Grossdeutschland regiment and large parts of the motorized Panzer corps – Panzergruppe

(Panzer Group) Kleist. This unit was destined to ‘spearhead’ a breakthrough in the ‘centre’ of

the attack. On the French side, Corap’s 9th and Huntzinger’s 2nd Armies posed a formidable

barrier.

The majority of the French fortresses were located in the southern Sector, to be

defended by the French No. 2 and 3 Army Group. They were opposed by Army Group C

(Leeb), with only infantry divisions at their disposal and no Panzer corps. On 10 th May 1940, six German armies attacked the Low Countries (Holland, Belgium,

Luxembourg). A mere three days later, they crossed the river Meuse at the picturesque

French town of Sedan, with similar crossings not much later at Dinant and Monthermé. The

crossing of the Meuse river may sound trivial, but after the Germans overcame the

fortifications – part of the extended Maginot line – on the western bank of this river,

Panzergruppe Kleist succeeded in breaking through the French lines, overcoming the

biggest obstacle in their pursuit of entering the largely undefended countryside and thus

falling on the back of the French forces. Nevertheless, the following days were certainly very

challenging for the Germans. Battles at Stonne, Bulson and Arras were only some of the

bloody encounters between the Germans and the French and their allies, including the

British Expeditionary Force (BEF), and not all went the German way.

The French campaign climaxed with the evacuation of most the French and Allied forces at Calais, Boulogne and Dunkerque from 27 th May to 4 th June 1940. Even then, the fighting

did not stop. Further attempts by the French to stop the German advance took place. These

were indeed heroic, yet ultimately futile. On 14 th June, the Germans entered Paris, and the scenes of desperation and

helplessness drove home a sense of utter defeat and humiliation for the Parisian population.

Six days thereafter, the French delegation was summoned to a historic site in the

Compiègne Forest, the same railway carriage where, in 1918, the armistice with Germany

had sealed the end of World War I. The French delegation – among them General

Huntzinger, who had failed to prevent the Germans from crossing the Meuse – were given the terms of armistice. At 08:50 on Saturday 22 nd June, an armistice was signed, only 1 month and 12 days after the Germans initiated their invasion. The outcome was a crushing defeat for the Allies. A few months later, on 21 st October

1940, Sir Winston Churchill broadcast a message to the defeated French nation:

Frenchmen! For more than 30 years in peace and war I have marched with you. I am

marching still along the same road. Tonight, I speak to you at your firesides, wherever

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