Stonne

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stonne
Stonne coat of arms
Stonne (France)
Stonne
region Grand Est
Department Ardennes
Arrondissement Sedan
Canton Vouziers
Community association Portes du Luxembourg
Coordinates 49 ° 33 '  N , 4 ° 56'  E Coordinates: 49 ° 33 '  N , 4 ° 56'  E
height 189-340 m
surface 7.18 km 2
Residents 41 (January 1, 2017)
Population density 6 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code 08390
INSEE code 08430

Notre-Dame church

Stonne is a French commune with 41 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017) in the Ardennes department in the Grand Est region and is located about twelve kilometers south of Sedan on the Pain du Sucre ridge (335 m). The place became known during the Second World War as "Verdun of 1940".

history

On August 30, 1870, a battle between the V Army Corps and French units took place near Stonne ; the next day the battle of Sedan . This decided the Franco-German War .

The battle for Stonne

After Guderians XIX. Army Corps had crossed the Meuse at Sedan on May 14, 1940 ( Battle of Sedan ), he dispatched the motorized infantry regiment "Greater Germany" and parts of the 10th Panzer Division south towards the heights of Stonne to protect its southern flank. This is exactly where General Richard O. Hunziger, commander of the French 2nd Army and his reserves (including the French 3rd Panzer Division - 3e DCr) wanted to counterattack in order to push in the German bridgehead at Sedan and to push Guderian's tanks back over the Meuse.

In the following four days there was the "Battle of Stonne" (May 15-18, 1940), which became one of the bloodiest battles during the western campaign of 1940 and changed hands 17 times during the Stonne. In the meantime the regiment has been replaced by the IR 64. The IR "Greater Germany" alone suffered around 50% of its losses in Stonne within just two days during the entire western campaign (103 dead, 442 wounded and 25 missing). The 10th Panzer Division lost 25 tanks, the French 33, including some of the heavy Char B1 combat vehicles, which had inflicted particularly heavy losses on the German units. The battle ended in a German victory after the French failed to push in the German bridgehead and the front froze until they broke through the Weygand line of the German armored divisions during Operation Fall Rot .

On May 23, 1940, Wehrmacht troops launched an offensive from Stonne towards Tannay .

Number of inhabitants
year 1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2006 2016
Residents 76 57 41 39 40 33 42 42
From 1962 official figures excluding residents with a second residence

Culture and sights

  • A memorial commemorates the Allied soldiers who fought in the region.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl-Heinz Frieser : Blitzkrieg legend. The western campaign in 1940 (= operations of the Second World War. Vol. 2). 3. Edition. Oldenbourg, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-486-57824-3 .

Web links

Commons : Stonne  - collection of images, videos and audio files