Battle of Arras (1940)
| date | May 21, 1940 |
|---|---|
| place | France |
| output | German victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| about 15,000 soldiers, 74 tanks |
about 10,000 soldiers about 225 tanks |
| losses | |
|
100 dead or wounded, |
approx. 380, including 89 dead, |
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Battle of the Netherlands
Maastricht - Mill - The Hague - Rotterdam - Zeeland - Grebbeberg - Afsluitdijk - bombing of Rotterdam
Invasion of Luxembourg
cobblestone line
Battle of Belgium
Fort Eben-Emael - KW line - Dyle plan - Hannut - Gembloux - Lys
Battle of France
Royal Marine - Ardennes - Sedan - Maginot Line - Weygand Plan - Arras - Boulogne - Calais - Dunkirk ( Dynamo - Wormhout ) - Abbeville - Lille - Paula - Fall Rot - Aisne - Alps - Cycle - Saumur - Lagarde - Aerial - Fall Braun
The Battle of Arras on May 21, 1940 was a major battle of the Western Campaign during World War II . During the fighting, a counterattack by the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), which was supported by French units by troops of the German Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS, was stopped, the city of Arras was occupied a few days later.
initial situation
In May 1940, the German Wehrmacht carried out their advance through the Ardennes to the Channel coast, in the process the Allies were in danger of being cut off from their rear lines of communication. The new French commander-in-chief Maxime Weygand ordered a counterattack on the front German armored wedge on May 20, 1940 in order to avert the impending encirclement. At the same time the British troops wanted to prevent another German advance near Amiens . Although the commander of the BEF, General Lord Gort , was not convinced of Weygand's plan, he reinforced the French positions at Amiens.
At the same time, the 7th Panzer Division under Major General Erwin Rommel had taken Cambrai and advanced into the area south of Arras. The German plan was to bypass the city to the west on May 21 and encircle it from the west. During this maneuver, the flanks of the advancing troops were dangerously open for a counterattack by the French. The German Panzer Regiment 25 cleared up to the village of Acq about 10 kilometers west of Arras. Since two motorized rifle regiments did not reach Rommel by 4 p.m., Rommel turned around for the time being. The situation of the Allies, meanwhile, was confused, as there was no overall plan for the armed forces involved.
The so-called Frankforce, under the command of Major General Harold Franklyn, was to cut the lines of communication between the German 7th Panzer Division with a counter-attack. This British Army Association, consisting of two brigades each from the 5th and 50th Division (Major General Giffard Martel ) and the 1st Tank Brigade with 74 tanks, moved to Arras. In total, Franklyn had two British and two French divisions. He sent a large part of them to Arras to reinforce the positions there. He had only two British brigades and 74 tanks left for the counterattack. These troops were split into two columns and fought their way slowly through congested streets more than eight miles west of Arras in order to take their starting positions for the counterattack. Due to the slow deployment to the starting positions, the BEF troops did not carry out any terrain or enemy reconnaissance.
Course of the battle
On the afternoon of May 21, 1940, the western column advanced south to Duisans . The village could be conquered after a short time as it was only defended by weak infantry forces. Parts of the column advanced to Warlus . There they allegedly encountered enemy tanks and immediately attacked them. However, it turned out that they were allied French tanks of the Somua S-35 type of the 3rd Mechanized Division (Brigadier General Bertin-Bossu ). This unit was supposed to cover the right wing of the column, but has not been able to establish radio contact with the British troops so far. Thereafter, the advance was continued as far as Berneville . The first contact with the enemy occurred on the road between Arras and Doullens . Parts of the SS Totenkopf Division (SS-Gruppenführer Theodor Eicke ) and the 7th Rifle Regiment had taken position here and were able to prevent the British troops from advancing further with machine-gun fire. While the British troops were stopped by the machine gun fire, the German air force flew relief attacks for 20 minutes. The 7th Royal Tank Regiment carried out an attack against the flank of the skull and crossbones, but it was stopped and thrown back. Thereupon the German troops went over to the counterattack, which was stopped by the British defensive fire.
The eastern British column advanced to Dainville , where they met the Wehrmacht's 6th Rifle Regiment and pushed it back. The advance was then continued towards Achicourt . Six Matilda tanks managed to overrun a German anti -tank battery and continue the advance to the suburbs of Agny and Beaurains . There the 4th Royal Tank Regiment was ordered to dig in and fended off a German counterattack. Tanks of the column advancing further south came into the fire area of German 3.7 cm anti-tank batteries. These turned out to be ineffective, as their projectiles usually ricocheted off the Matilda tanks ineffectively. In contrast, the 8.8 cm anti-aircraft gun bombardment was effective and the British lost several tanks. However, since the attacking divisions of the British were quite weak, it was not possible to build on the first successes and to overrun the still sparsely occupied German positions.
The 150th Brigade and parts of the 13th Brigade of the BEF managed to secure bridgeheads east of Arras over the Scarpe . This opened the way for the further offensive. This was made possible because the German 6th Rifle Regiment, east of Arras, was ordered to Agny to launch a flank attack on the troops of the BEF. During the advance, the German forces encountered British tanks and lost several vehicles in the subsequent gun battle. At the same time, other British tanks from Arras pushed into the open flank of the Rifle Regiment and took action against the regiment's unprotected supply train. After Panzerjäger Detachment 42 was overrun, the British advance between the towns of Mercatel and Ficheux reached the rear of the 7th Rifle Regiment.
As a result of this advance, the SS Totenkopf division got into disarray. The divisional headquarters could almost be captured by British troops. The British Matilda tanks were only stopped by the German infantry because their own infantry support failed to materialize. Rommel, who personally led the defense measures in this section, is said to have reported panic-looking and far exaggerated enemy strength reports from five divisions to his superiors. From Wailly 40 British tanks tried to advance to a hill (Hill 111), which was held by forces of the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Rifle Regiment. The Pak and 88mm anti-aircraft guns were able to eliminate several British tanks. Most of the British tanks were of the Matilda I type , which were only armed with a machine gun. Only a few more heavily armored Matilda II tanks managed to break through some anti- tank positions. The tank attack was only stopped by the 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns located on Hill 111. The British then bypassed the hill on both sides and met parts of the SS division Totenkopf , which retreated due to the attack.
By this time the British had managed to break into the German lines about 10 km and take 400 prisoners. Of the initial 74 tanks, only 26 were still operational and the commanders of the two tank battalions had fallen. Major General Franklyn decided to withdraw because of the situation. During the night some tanks of the French 3rd Mechanized Division were encircled near Warlus and surrendered. While the western British column was able to withdraw without major difficulties, the eastern column at Agny was caught in a German air raid, followed by a tank advance. The first German troops managed to advance to the city limits of Arras that night.
On May 24, 1940 British troops evacuated Arras and German troops occupied the city shortly afterwards.
Balance sheet and consequences of the battle
Rommel reported 89 dead, 116 wounded and 173 missing, but the British reported that they had taken 400 prisoners. On the British side there were 100 killed and wounded and 60 tanks were lost. The success of the German troops was made possible in part by the air support, which was not available on the Allied side, but the interaction of the other branches of arms such as tanks, artillery and infantry also worked better in the Wehrmacht.
Despite the victory, the Battle of Arras also had a negative impact on the course of the German campaign. After the rapid advance since the beginning of the campaign, the higher staffs of the army groups feared for the security of their own flanks. The fear of a flank attack was perhaps heightened by Rommel's excessive reporting of enemy strength. General von Kleist obtained a hold order for his tank group from the Chief of Staff of the Army High Command, Franz Halder . On the morning of May 22, 1940, General Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt issued an order to clear up the situation in front of Arras before continuing the advance to the English Channel . The situation reports had reached Adolf Hitler , who thereupon issued a general stop order for the Wehrmacht. This halt order had the consequence that the British managed a large part of the BEF from France in Operation Dynamo . Therefore, despite the tactical defeat, the battle can be rated as the maximum operational success for the Allies.
literature
- Brian Bond: Britain, France and Belgium 1939-1940. London 1990, Brassey's. ISBN 978-0-08-037700-1 .
- James Corum: The Luftwaffe: Creating the Operational Air War, 1918-1940 . Lawrence 1997: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-0836-2 .
- Major LF Ellis: "The Counter-Attack at Arras" from JRM Butler: The War in France and Flanders 1939-1940 . History of the Second World War United Kingdom Military Series. 2004 by Naval & Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84574-056-6 .
- R. Forczyk: Case Red - The Collapse of France , Osprey ed., Oxford 2019: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4728-2446-2 .