Fantasque Time Line (France Fights On) - English Translation
- Thread starter Wings
- Start date
- Status
069
June 13th, 1940
France - From now on, there is only one instruction at all levels of the French command: to gain time. It is a desperate but clear order.
On orders from General Doumenc, General Colson accelerates the mobilization of the Army of the Interior to prepare new lines of defense. His efforts focused on Brittany, the Saône, the Charente, the Dordogne, the Rhône and even the Isère, but his main task was to put the Loire River in a state of defense. Colson ordered Generals Pierre
Michelin (commander of the 5th Military Region), Henry-Louis Vary (for the 9th Military Region) and Charles Griveaud (for the 11th Military Region) to make sure that all the bridges are mined and guarded, the gaps are watched, and defensive positions are prepared for the retreating army. For this task, the reservists are mobilized, as well as the
companies of foreign workers (about sixty of them work in these regions) or the evacuees from Dunkirk, who are being reorganized in the depots.
Brittany - General Béthouart arrives in the evening in Rennes at the headquarters of General Guitry, commander of the 10th military region, where his instructions are awaiting him. He is appointed tactical deputy, which gives him direct authority over the fighting units that the Region has started to set up. His primary mission is not, of course, to stop the Germans, but to protect the Breton ports from being seized.
To do this, the general has to hold a north-south line, quickly nicknamed the Béthouart line. It is based on the course of the Couesnon river up to Mézières, then on the edge of the Haute-Sève forest, then on the Islet, the Ille and the canal, before crossing Rennes and continuing along the Vilaine to the sea.
But if his front is relatively short, Béthouart does not have many people to man it. He only has the 1st Canadian Brigade, in the process of landing, and educated elements of the 3rd Polish ID, which forms a three-battalion marching regiment including two anti-tank companies, the 42nd Regional Infantry Regiment, two battalions of customs officers, a coast guard battalion and some companies from the Rennes and Guingamp infantry depots. At no point is it foreseen that these meager forces, rather pompously
baptized "Groupement de défense de la Bretagne", would sustain the main blow of the German offensive. They have to prepare the gathering of the Xth Army. In reality, only a few detachments of the 3rd DLC and the 1st DLINA will reinforce its positions when this army eventually breaks up on June 18th.
Normandy - The evacuation of Le Havre is completed with the boarding of Admiral Gaudin de Villaine and his staff; Admiral Charles Platon, assistant to Admiral Abrial (Admiral-Nord), joins him in Cherbourg on board a submarine hunter. Since June 11, 26,600 French and 11,059 British soldiers have been able to leave the city by sea. When they enter the city shortly after daybreak, the Germans find the refineries in flames and the harbor cluttered with wrecks. During the night, the submarine La Créole, in the process of completion, isevacuated; it was able to sail to Swansea, Wales. In the shipyards of the Le Havre and Rouen area, several ships and submarines under construction are scuttled or abandoned.
In the morning, the 154th Brigade of the 51st Highland Division, evacuated the day before from Le Havre, lands at Cherbourg to take part in the defense of the Cotentin peninsula.
The Groupement Duffour, which controls the meanders of the lower Seine, redeploys on the heights Elbeuf to better resist the attacks of the II. AK. South of the Seine, the XXXVIII. AK continues to replenish. The 27. ID takes control of the left bank of the Eure.
The 3rd Corps, which regroups on the Neubourg plateau and on the upper course of the Iton river, tries to interrupt the German advance. The 1st DLM, which had taken a ssevere beating, regroups between Brézolles and Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais and then deploys in the evening on the Avre river, where it controls the passes from Verneuil to Nonancourt.
The auxiliary supply ship Granville, ignoring the fall of Saint-Valéry-en-Caux the day before, is destroyed by German cannon fire, while it was still looking for allied soldiers to evacuate. During the night of the 13th to the 14th, several ships of the French Navy extend the minefield whose laying had started on June 6th off the Pas de Calais.
Paris - In a gloomy and calm capital, General Lanoix proceeded with the last destructions: radio transmitters, radio transmitters, non-transportable weapons... The bridges inside the perimeter of the square are kept intact, but the engineers destroy the bridges over the Marne and the Seine in the suburbs. All around the City of Lights, large black clouds darken the sky: the twenty-one large fuel depots in the Paris region are ablaze.
The Germans reach Pantin, Aubervilliers and Bondy under a mournful veil. Around 19:00, the radio station of the Préfecture de Police of Paris receives a message inviting the
governor of Paris to send plenipotentiaries. General Lanoix refrained from replaying. Indeed, he did not have to negotiate with the enemy: Paris has been declared an open city, so there is no need to deal with a surrender. As a military leader left by a state at war in an open city, he only has to maintain order until the arrival of the enemy.
Ile-de-France - The four divisions of the XL. AK occupy the Ourcq canal.
Seeing the right flank of his VIIth Army threatened with being overrun, General Frère decides, in agreement with the GQG, to withdraw in a single go towards the Seine. The 19th ID is directed towards Corbeil and the 7th DINA towards Melun to form bridgeheads.
The units of the Army of Paris have for the most part withdrawn, taking care not to enter the capital. The front moves south of the capital. General Chauvineau, commander of the engineers of the Paris Army, undertakes the organization of a new line based around the forest of Rambouillet and the Chevreuse valley. Ten thousand foreign or colonial workers, along with pioneers, reservists or civilian volunteers, undertook during the previous days to barricade the villages and the entrances, and to create deep traps in the forest.
A few units voluntarily stay behind in order to protect the general retreat. The Groupement Bazelaire sets up firm support points on both sides of the Seine to protect the important railway station of Juvisy. The 8th DLIC holds on to Courgent for a good part of the day, preventing the 1. KD from exiting Mantes, then clears the area and moves to new positions in the Rambouillet forest in the evening.
The Groupement Delestraint is deployed to secure the communication routes behind the front. The 7th RDP and the 1st squadron of the 3rd Cuirassiers form an anti-tank barrage controlling the Nationale 10 towards Paris and the road to Orléans. The 8th armored half-brigade blocks the departmentale 54 leading to Artenay, and the divisional artillery forms an anti-tank barrage on the Nationale 20. What is left of the 2nd DCR takes cover in the Chamarande forest, while the 2nd DLM covers the left wing of the Army of Paris.
Thanks to the equipment evacuated from the Paris Military Region, a rear base for maintenance and repairs of tanks is improvised south of Orléans.
However, the withdrawal of the VIIth Army is not easy, not because of the Germans, but because the official announcement that "Paris is an open city" launched a new wave of refugees on the roads from Paris and the major cities of the Ile-de-France region. Special assignments from the public services or the forces of order remained at their posts, as did those of the SNCF, so as not to disrupt traffic in the capital, but road transport between Paris and Orléans was paralyzed. The tangle of military and civilian convoys was such that in some sectors, it was not possible to to advance more than 8 kilometers during the day.
In the evening, General Pichot-Duclos takes charge of the provost marshal's office in Paris: this dynamic general, who had been General Héring's tactical assistant until then, brilliantly combined this position with that of director of the stages. As his gendarmerie force was insufficient, he obtains the reinforcement of a mobile detachment of the Republican Guard formed in short order and placed under the orders of Commandant Vérines, as well as the return of a dozen or so platoons of GRMs integrated into the divisions, and then some gendarmerie units from Eure-et-Loir made available to him by prefect Jean Moulin.
Champagne - While the German 6th Army turns southwest towards Melun and Fontainebleau, with Orléans as its objective, the 9th Army consolidates its bridgeheads on the Marne. Kleist (XVI. AK (mot)) advances towards Montmirail and Sézanne, pushing back the 7th ID and the 238th DLI. General Réquin therefore orders to abandon the Marne for the Aube. The French infantry divisions on the left of the front lost from one third to three quarters of their strength and were forced to retreat towards the Seine. The flanks of the IVth Army are largely overwhelmed by the enemy. The HQs of the 27th and 28th DIAlp are already on the Seine and continue towards the Loire.
The German 2nd Army fights against the French rearguards between Epernay and Reims. The 7th DLM is north of the Aube, it continues to cover the left flank of the 23rd CA and the 82nd DIA, with very limited means (since June 10th, it has lost more than half of its combat vehicles). At the end of the day, it moves towards Sézanne, to stop enemy infiltration between the Saint-Gond marshes and the Traconne forest, where many French have taken refuge, bombed and threatened with encirclement. The
movements of the 7th DLM are difficult in a region where there are many traffic jams due to the convoys of refugees and where German troops are already on the move. Its artillery and that of the 82nd DIA (to which the 77th RATTT left its 2nd group of 105 mm guns) carry out numerous bombardments all morning on the bridges of the Marne river towards Epernay, as well as on the southern edges of the Montagne de Reims, which made it possible to delay the enemy.
At the end of the day, the vanguard of Kleist's armored divisions try to cross the Seine at Nogent (3. PzD) and Romilly (4. PzD). The 240th DLI is joined in the late afternoon by the marchingbcompany of the 4th BCC: disembarked at Sézanne station early in the morning, coming from the from the sector of the IInd Army, its FCM 36 tanks have an engagement during the day with enemy tanks to the north of the town, then withdraw to Nogent. At Pont-sur-Seine, the 20th GRDI (27th DIAlp) resists stubbornly, then continues its withdrawal towards the Loire, relieved by elements of the 240th DLI. The 59th DLI also blocks the enemy at Romilly, with its GRDI, its two 75 mm groups and the Laffly W15TCC self-propelled guns of the 55th BACA. When the German vanguard arrives, the bridges over the Seine are destroyed, safe for one of them, which remains intact in the Nogent sector and another one which was only partially destroyed in the Romilly sector. The fighting is fierce in the vicinity of these bridges, which are the only immediate points of passage for the German armor. This front resisted all night and most of the next day. Lightly armoured, but fast, the Laffly tank hunters (who had already distinguished themselves a few days earlier against the panzers within the 57th BACA/3rd DCR) proved to be well adapted to ambush tactics in the middle of the buildings - the lesson will not be forgotten...
The enemy vanguard tries to find other crossing points, without success, because further west, the 10th Polish Armored Brigade, which has retreated all day under the bombardment of the German air force, reaches the Seine, firmly determined to hold several bridges west of Nogent. Kleist's only option was to press on, because he has to advance as far as possible behind the French Fourth Army. An eastwards movement would lead the panzers into the middle of the French divisions that are retreating towards the Aube and whose only way out was between Romilly and Arcis-sur-Aube. The XIV. AK (mot) follows the XVI. a day later.
In preparation of a German breakthrough on the Seine, General Réquin orders the creation of anti-tank roadblocks at the main crossroads between the Yonne and Aube rivers, notably at Troyes, Tonnerre and Auxerre. To do this, the most capable elements of the retreating divisions will have to form ad hoc groups articulated around some armored vehicles and guns. The marching company of the 3rd BCC also receives the order to withdraw in the direction of Tonnerre. The aim is not only to slow down the enemy armor (by making them consume fuel and ammunition), but also to delay the German supply convoys, which are not all suitable for every type of terrain. Moreover, the German air superiority is not large enough to risk Ju-52s to transport fuel. On the other hand, the most mobile elements have to rapidly continue towards the Loire and the Canal du Centre to hold the bridges there. Further east, the Grévy Detachment, the 14th ID and the 3rd DIM, reduced to about 1,500 men, finishes crossing the Marne river and regroups, still covered by the Courtois Group and the 53rd DLI which holds the Marne, reinforced by two groups of 75. The Groupement Klopfenstein, which hqs also crossed the river, is defending a line between Normée and Sommesous. At the 3rd DCR (west of Vitry-le-François), a marching battalion is formed with the available elements of the 10th, 42nd and 45th BCC (the 41st being further west).
Alsace-Lorraine - Having learned during the night that the HQ of the Second Army had withdrawn from the front the previous day, which he considered to be a desertion, De Gaulle is furious and dismisses Freydenberg and replaces him with Flavigny. The 6th DIC tries to retreat towards the Argonne, still covered by the 67th BCC, so the numbers
quickly melt away. It takes with courage the brunt of the push from the 6. and 8. PzD of the XLI. AK (mot). A little further south, the 3rd DINA receives the order to hold. Entrenched behind the canal from the Marne to the Rhine between Vitry-le-François and Pargny-sur-Saulx, then north to Charmont, the North African division is reinforced by a group of 155 GPF and two general reserve artillery regiments, the 311th and 313th RA, and positions half of its artillery in the DCB; General Mast ensures his laisons with the 53rd DLI south of the Marne and the 6th DIC north of it in the Argonne.
The 1. PzD, at the head of Guderian's XXXIX. AK (mot), comes up against the North Africans. Its vanguard is stopped. The division then tries to break through on a front from Ponthion to Contrisson, but it is again pushed back. The 2. PzD does not do any better at Vitry-le-François. The bridges over the Marne having been destroyed, it is impossible to to bypass the obstacle from the west. Guderian notices that he would need means of crossing the river and significant air support to advance.
West of Verdun, the 1st DIC is loaded onto trucks amidst an indescribable mess to be redeployed alongside the 3rd DINA. The first elements arrive in the evening.
The crews still manning the casemates of the bridgehead of Montmédy contain the Germans, who are unable to pursue the troops of SF Montmédy formed into a marching division.
Since the previous night, the bulk of the GA 2 forces has started to withdraw southwards despite German air bombardments which began to seriously disrupt railroad movements in the region. General Condé moves the IIIrd Army HQ back from Metz to the south of Nancy. Worried about the German push towards Saint-Dizier and fearing that he would be outflanked, he regroupes his Reconnaissance Groups (GRDI and GRCA) and his other mobile units, and deploys them on his western flank (Haute Meuse), from where they could intervene quickly. All units of the IIIrd and Vth Armies are now on the road, heading south. The fortress regiments are formed into marching divisions and retreat on foot alongside the line divisions (from west to east: 58th ID, 51st ID, Div. Marche Poisot, Div. Marche Besse, 26th DI, Div. Marche De Girval, 52nd DI, Div. Marche Dagnan, Div. Marche Chastanet, Div. Marche Senselme, Div. Marche Regard, 70th DI). The staff plans a first part of the journey with three or four night stages of 25 to 35 km each, bringing the units on the canal from the Marne to the Rhine; the next step will depend on the conditions of the enemy pursuit and the state of fatigue of the troops...
The 56th ID embarks on trains in the Metz/Thionville area in the direction of Bar-sur-Aube. Its GRDI (63rd) receives its marching order for the Joinville area : the motorized elements will take the road, the horse-drawn elements will embark in Metz (the latter were diverted during the journey and arrived in Dijon on the 16th). At the Swiss border, the evacuation of the Chablais region is decided; indeed, after the attack in Alsace, the risk of a German offensive through Switzerland had disappeared and this area no longer needed cover. The staff is thus able to recover some troops (1st Spahis Brigade, 20th GRCA, elements of the 141st RR...) who are to reinforce the defense of Lyon. The 1st DIP is in place on the Saône, around Gray.
Alps - In the Alps, there were only bombardments without much result. The Italian troops posted on the French border, commanded by Prince Umberto of Piedmont, head of the Italian Alpine Corps, are nevertheless numerous: 22 divisions, including four Alpine ones, with 312,000 men and 3,000 pieces of artillery. On the other side, the French have about 175,000 men. From north to south, there is the Fortified Sector of Savoy and the 66th ID (Maurienne-Tarentaise), the 14th CA (Fortified Sector of Dauphiné in Queyras-Briançonnais and the 64th DIAlp in Ubaye) and the 15th CA (65th DIAlp in the Mercantour and Fortified Sector of the Maritime Alps from the Authion to the sea). However, the Italian plans, like French plans, were initially purely defensive. Hence the inevitable delay before it is possible to apply Mussolini's orders.
Provence & Cote d'Azur - The Italians finally launch their air offensive, whose objective was Toulon. These are the units of the 1st Air Wing (Prima Squadra Aera), whose HQ is in Milan, which were engaged. In the early morning, eight BR-20 (without escort) of the 13th Stormo (Piacenza) are sent against Toulon. Two Italian planes are damaged by flak.
After reconnaissance flights over Toulon and the neighboring airfields, another raid is launched on Toulon. Before that, a force of fighters had to attack the French airfields to neutralize the French fighters. 23 Fiat CR.42 of the 23rd Gruppo (Cervere) attack Fayence airfield, while an attack of the same magnitude is launched against the Hyères airfield by the 151st Gruppo (Casabianca). The French fighters take off too late to intercept the CR.42s, which had already left (but only one Chance-Vought 156F of the AB3 AB3 is destroyed). It is here that the Italian plan proves to be too complex, because when 19 BR.20 of the 13th Stormo arrive over the two airfields, they are intercepted by three D-520 of the GC III/6 (the group is in full conversion on this aircraft) and Bloch 151 of the AC3. Adjudant Le Gloan (GC III/6) shoots down a BR.20 near Hyères, while three others are damaged. One of them is destroyed after an emergency landing in front of Imperia.
However, 28 BR-20 of the 7th and 43rd Stormo attack the naval base again. But no damage is inflicted on the ships anchored in the harbor. Two BR-20 are shot down, while others are damaged by French fighters or by Toulon's DCA.
France - From now on, there is only one instruction at all levels of the French command: to gain time. It is a desperate but clear order.
On orders from General Doumenc, General Colson accelerates the mobilization of the Army of the Interior to prepare new lines of defense. His efforts focused on Brittany, the Saône, the Charente, the Dordogne, the Rhône and even the Isère, but his main task was to put the Loire River in a state of defense. Colson ordered Generals Pierre
Michelin (commander of the 5th Military Region), Henry-Louis Vary (for the 9th Military Region) and Charles Griveaud (for the 11th Military Region) to make sure that all the bridges are mined and guarded, the gaps are watched, and defensive positions are prepared for the retreating army. For this task, the reservists are mobilized, as well as the
companies of foreign workers (about sixty of them work in these regions) or the evacuees from Dunkirk, who are being reorganized in the depots.
Brittany - General Béthouart arrives in the evening in Rennes at the headquarters of General Guitry, commander of the 10th military region, where his instructions are awaiting him. He is appointed tactical deputy, which gives him direct authority over the fighting units that the Region has started to set up. His primary mission is not, of course, to stop the Germans, but to protect the Breton ports from being seized.
To do this, the general has to hold a north-south line, quickly nicknamed the Béthouart line. It is based on the course of the Couesnon river up to Mézières, then on the edge of the Haute-Sève forest, then on the Islet, the Ille and the canal, before crossing Rennes and continuing along the Vilaine to the sea.
But if his front is relatively short, Béthouart does not have many people to man it. He only has the 1st Canadian Brigade, in the process of landing, and educated elements of the 3rd Polish ID, which forms a three-battalion marching regiment including two anti-tank companies, the 42nd Regional Infantry Regiment, two battalions of customs officers, a coast guard battalion and some companies from the Rennes and Guingamp infantry depots. At no point is it foreseen that these meager forces, rather pompously
baptized "Groupement de défense de la Bretagne", would sustain the main blow of the German offensive. They have to prepare the gathering of the Xth Army. In reality, only a few detachments of the 3rd DLC and the 1st DLINA will reinforce its positions when this army eventually breaks up on June 18th.
Normandy - The evacuation of Le Havre is completed with the boarding of Admiral Gaudin de Villaine and his staff; Admiral Charles Platon, assistant to Admiral Abrial (Admiral-Nord), joins him in Cherbourg on board a submarine hunter. Since June 11, 26,600 French and 11,059 British soldiers have been able to leave the city by sea. When they enter the city shortly after daybreak, the Germans find the refineries in flames and the harbor cluttered with wrecks. During the night, the submarine La Créole, in the process of completion, isevacuated; it was able to sail to Swansea, Wales. In the shipyards of the Le Havre and Rouen area, several ships and submarines under construction are scuttled or abandoned.
In the morning, the 154th Brigade of the 51st Highland Division, evacuated the day before from Le Havre, lands at Cherbourg to take part in the defense of the Cotentin peninsula.
The Groupement Duffour, which controls the meanders of the lower Seine, redeploys on the heights Elbeuf to better resist the attacks of the II. AK. South of the Seine, the XXXVIII. AK continues to replenish. The 27. ID takes control of the left bank of the Eure.
The 3rd Corps, which regroups on the Neubourg plateau and on the upper course of the Iton river, tries to interrupt the German advance. The 1st DLM, which had taken a ssevere beating, regroups between Brézolles and Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais and then deploys in the evening on the Avre river, where it controls the passes from Verneuil to Nonancourt.
The auxiliary supply ship Granville, ignoring the fall of Saint-Valéry-en-Caux the day before, is destroyed by German cannon fire, while it was still looking for allied soldiers to evacuate. During the night of the 13th to the 14th, several ships of the French Navy extend the minefield whose laying had started on June 6th off the Pas de Calais.
Paris - In a gloomy and calm capital, General Lanoix proceeded with the last destructions: radio transmitters, radio transmitters, non-transportable weapons... The bridges inside the perimeter of the square are kept intact, but the engineers destroy the bridges over the Marne and the Seine in the suburbs. All around the City of Lights, large black clouds darken the sky: the twenty-one large fuel depots in the Paris region are ablaze.
The Germans reach Pantin, Aubervilliers and Bondy under a mournful veil. Around 19:00, the radio station of the Préfecture de Police of Paris receives a message inviting the
governor of Paris to send plenipotentiaries. General Lanoix refrained from replaying. Indeed, he did not have to negotiate with the enemy: Paris has been declared an open city, so there is no need to deal with a surrender. As a military leader left by a state at war in an open city, he only has to maintain order until the arrival of the enemy.
Ile-de-France - The four divisions of the XL. AK occupy the Ourcq canal.
Seeing the right flank of his VIIth Army threatened with being overrun, General Frère decides, in agreement with the GQG, to withdraw in a single go towards the Seine. The 19th ID is directed towards Corbeil and the 7th DINA towards Melun to form bridgeheads.
The units of the Army of Paris have for the most part withdrawn, taking care not to enter the capital. The front moves south of the capital. General Chauvineau, commander of the engineers of the Paris Army, undertakes the organization of a new line based around the forest of Rambouillet and the Chevreuse valley. Ten thousand foreign or colonial workers, along with pioneers, reservists or civilian volunteers, undertook during the previous days to barricade the villages and the entrances, and to create deep traps in the forest.
A few units voluntarily stay behind in order to protect the general retreat. The Groupement Bazelaire sets up firm support points on both sides of the Seine to protect the important railway station of Juvisy. The 8th DLIC holds on to Courgent for a good part of the day, preventing the 1. KD from exiting Mantes, then clears the area and moves to new positions in the Rambouillet forest in the evening.
The Groupement Delestraint is deployed to secure the communication routes behind the front. The 7th RDP and the 1st squadron of the 3rd Cuirassiers form an anti-tank barrage controlling the Nationale 10 towards Paris and the road to Orléans. The 8th armored half-brigade blocks the departmentale 54 leading to Artenay, and the divisional artillery forms an anti-tank barrage on the Nationale 20. What is left of the 2nd DCR takes cover in the Chamarande forest, while the 2nd DLM covers the left wing of the Army of Paris.
Thanks to the equipment evacuated from the Paris Military Region, a rear base for maintenance and repairs of tanks is improvised south of Orléans.
However, the withdrawal of the VIIth Army is not easy, not because of the Germans, but because the official announcement that "Paris is an open city" launched a new wave of refugees on the roads from Paris and the major cities of the Ile-de-France region. Special assignments from the public services or the forces of order remained at their posts, as did those of the SNCF, so as not to disrupt traffic in the capital, but road transport between Paris and Orléans was paralyzed. The tangle of military and civilian convoys was such that in some sectors, it was not possible to to advance more than 8 kilometers during the day.
In the evening, General Pichot-Duclos takes charge of the provost marshal's office in Paris: this dynamic general, who had been General Héring's tactical assistant until then, brilliantly combined this position with that of director of the stages. As his gendarmerie force was insufficient, he obtains the reinforcement of a mobile detachment of the Republican Guard formed in short order and placed under the orders of Commandant Vérines, as well as the return of a dozen or so platoons of GRMs integrated into the divisions, and then some gendarmerie units from Eure-et-Loir made available to him by prefect Jean Moulin.
Champagne - While the German 6th Army turns southwest towards Melun and Fontainebleau, with Orléans as its objective, the 9th Army consolidates its bridgeheads on the Marne. Kleist (XVI. AK (mot)) advances towards Montmirail and Sézanne, pushing back the 7th ID and the 238th DLI. General Réquin therefore orders to abandon the Marne for the Aube. The French infantry divisions on the left of the front lost from one third to three quarters of their strength and were forced to retreat towards the Seine. The flanks of the IVth Army are largely overwhelmed by the enemy. The HQs of the 27th and 28th DIAlp are already on the Seine and continue towards the Loire.
The German 2nd Army fights against the French rearguards between Epernay and Reims. The 7th DLM is north of the Aube, it continues to cover the left flank of the 23rd CA and the 82nd DIA, with very limited means (since June 10th, it has lost more than half of its combat vehicles). At the end of the day, it moves towards Sézanne, to stop enemy infiltration between the Saint-Gond marshes and the Traconne forest, where many French have taken refuge, bombed and threatened with encirclement. The
movements of the 7th DLM are difficult in a region where there are many traffic jams due to the convoys of refugees and where German troops are already on the move. Its artillery and that of the 82nd DIA (to which the 77th RATTT left its 2nd group of 105 mm guns) carry out numerous bombardments all morning on the bridges of the Marne river towards Epernay, as well as on the southern edges of the Montagne de Reims, which made it possible to delay the enemy.
At the end of the day, the vanguard of Kleist's armored divisions try to cross the Seine at Nogent (3. PzD) and Romilly (4. PzD). The 240th DLI is joined in the late afternoon by the marchingbcompany of the 4th BCC: disembarked at Sézanne station early in the morning, coming from the from the sector of the IInd Army, its FCM 36 tanks have an engagement during the day with enemy tanks to the north of the town, then withdraw to Nogent. At Pont-sur-Seine, the 20th GRDI (27th DIAlp) resists stubbornly, then continues its withdrawal towards the Loire, relieved by elements of the 240th DLI. The 59th DLI also blocks the enemy at Romilly, with its GRDI, its two 75 mm groups and the Laffly W15TCC self-propelled guns of the 55th BACA. When the German vanguard arrives, the bridges over the Seine are destroyed, safe for one of them, which remains intact in the Nogent sector and another one which was only partially destroyed in the Romilly sector. The fighting is fierce in the vicinity of these bridges, which are the only immediate points of passage for the German armor. This front resisted all night and most of the next day. Lightly armoured, but fast, the Laffly tank hunters (who had already distinguished themselves a few days earlier against the panzers within the 57th BACA/3rd DCR) proved to be well adapted to ambush tactics in the middle of the buildings - the lesson will not be forgotten...
The enemy vanguard tries to find other crossing points, without success, because further west, the 10th Polish Armored Brigade, which has retreated all day under the bombardment of the German air force, reaches the Seine, firmly determined to hold several bridges west of Nogent. Kleist's only option was to press on, because he has to advance as far as possible behind the French Fourth Army. An eastwards movement would lead the panzers into the middle of the French divisions that are retreating towards the Aube and whose only way out was between Romilly and Arcis-sur-Aube. The XIV. AK (mot) follows the XVI. a day later.
In preparation of a German breakthrough on the Seine, General Réquin orders the creation of anti-tank roadblocks at the main crossroads between the Yonne and Aube rivers, notably at Troyes, Tonnerre and Auxerre. To do this, the most capable elements of the retreating divisions will have to form ad hoc groups articulated around some armored vehicles and guns. The marching company of the 3rd BCC also receives the order to withdraw in the direction of Tonnerre. The aim is not only to slow down the enemy armor (by making them consume fuel and ammunition), but also to delay the German supply convoys, which are not all suitable for every type of terrain. Moreover, the German air superiority is not large enough to risk Ju-52s to transport fuel. On the other hand, the most mobile elements have to rapidly continue towards the Loire and the Canal du Centre to hold the bridges there. Further east, the Grévy Detachment, the 14th ID and the 3rd DIM, reduced to about 1,500 men, finishes crossing the Marne river and regroups, still covered by the Courtois Group and the 53rd DLI which holds the Marne, reinforced by two groups of 75. The Groupement Klopfenstein, which hqs also crossed the river, is defending a line between Normée and Sommesous. At the 3rd DCR (west of Vitry-le-François), a marching battalion is formed with the available elements of the 10th, 42nd and 45th BCC (the 41st being further west).
Alsace-Lorraine - Having learned during the night that the HQ of the Second Army had withdrawn from the front the previous day, which he considered to be a desertion, De Gaulle is furious and dismisses Freydenberg and replaces him with Flavigny. The 6th DIC tries to retreat towards the Argonne, still covered by the 67th BCC, so the numbers
quickly melt away. It takes with courage the brunt of the push from the 6. and 8. PzD of the XLI. AK (mot). A little further south, the 3rd DINA receives the order to hold. Entrenched behind the canal from the Marne to the Rhine between Vitry-le-François and Pargny-sur-Saulx, then north to Charmont, the North African division is reinforced by a group of 155 GPF and two general reserve artillery regiments, the 311th and 313th RA, and positions half of its artillery in the DCB; General Mast ensures his laisons with the 53rd DLI south of the Marne and the 6th DIC north of it in the Argonne.
The 1. PzD, at the head of Guderian's XXXIX. AK (mot), comes up against the North Africans. Its vanguard is stopped. The division then tries to break through on a front from Ponthion to Contrisson, but it is again pushed back. The 2. PzD does not do any better at Vitry-le-François. The bridges over the Marne having been destroyed, it is impossible to to bypass the obstacle from the west. Guderian notices that he would need means of crossing the river and significant air support to advance.
West of Verdun, the 1st DIC is loaded onto trucks amidst an indescribable mess to be redeployed alongside the 3rd DINA. The first elements arrive in the evening.
The crews still manning the casemates of the bridgehead of Montmédy contain the Germans, who are unable to pursue the troops of SF Montmédy formed into a marching division.
Since the previous night, the bulk of the GA 2 forces has started to withdraw southwards despite German air bombardments which began to seriously disrupt railroad movements in the region. General Condé moves the IIIrd Army HQ back from Metz to the south of Nancy. Worried about the German push towards Saint-Dizier and fearing that he would be outflanked, he regroupes his Reconnaissance Groups (GRDI and GRCA) and his other mobile units, and deploys them on his western flank (Haute Meuse), from where they could intervene quickly. All units of the IIIrd and Vth Armies are now on the road, heading south. The fortress regiments are formed into marching divisions and retreat on foot alongside the line divisions (from west to east: 58th ID, 51st ID, Div. Marche Poisot, Div. Marche Besse, 26th DI, Div. Marche De Girval, 52nd DI, Div. Marche Dagnan, Div. Marche Chastanet, Div. Marche Senselme, Div. Marche Regard, 70th DI). The staff plans a first part of the journey with three or four night stages of 25 to 35 km each, bringing the units on the canal from the Marne to the Rhine; the next step will depend on the conditions of the enemy pursuit and the state of fatigue of the troops...
The 56th ID embarks on trains in the Metz/Thionville area in the direction of Bar-sur-Aube. Its GRDI (63rd) receives its marching order for the Joinville area : the motorized elements will take the road, the horse-drawn elements will embark in Metz (the latter were diverted during the journey and arrived in Dijon on the 16th). At the Swiss border, the evacuation of the Chablais region is decided; indeed, after the attack in Alsace, the risk of a German offensive through Switzerland had disappeared and this area no longer needed cover. The staff is thus able to recover some troops (1st Spahis Brigade, 20th GRCA, elements of the 141st RR...) who are to reinforce the defense of Lyon. The 1st DIP is in place on the Saône, around Gray.
Alps - In the Alps, there were only bombardments without much result. The Italian troops posted on the French border, commanded by Prince Umberto of Piedmont, head of the Italian Alpine Corps, are nevertheless numerous: 22 divisions, including four Alpine ones, with 312,000 men and 3,000 pieces of artillery. On the other side, the French have about 175,000 men. From north to south, there is the Fortified Sector of Savoy and the 66th ID (Maurienne-Tarentaise), the 14th CA (Fortified Sector of Dauphiné in Queyras-Briançonnais and the 64th DIAlp in Ubaye) and the 15th CA (65th DIAlp in the Mercantour and Fortified Sector of the Maritime Alps from the Authion to the sea). However, the Italian plans, like French plans, were initially purely defensive. Hence the inevitable delay before it is possible to apply Mussolini's orders.
Provence & Cote d'Azur - The Italians finally launch their air offensive, whose objective was Toulon. These are the units of the 1st Air Wing (Prima Squadra Aera), whose HQ is in Milan, which were engaged. In the early morning, eight BR-20 (without escort) of the 13th Stormo (Piacenza) are sent against Toulon. Two Italian planes are damaged by flak.
After reconnaissance flights over Toulon and the neighboring airfields, another raid is launched on Toulon. Before that, a force of fighters had to attack the French airfields to neutralize the French fighters. 23 Fiat CR.42 of the 23rd Gruppo (Cervere) attack Fayence airfield, while an attack of the same magnitude is launched against the Hyères airfield by the 151st Gruppo (Casabianca). The French fighters take off too late to intercept the CR.42s, which had already left (but only one Chance-Vought 156F of the AB3 AB3 is destroyed). It is here that the Italian plan proves to be too complex, because when 19 BR.20 of the 13th Stormo arrive over the two airfields, they are intercepted by three D-520 of the GC III/6 (the group is in full conversion on this aircraft) and Bloch 151 of the AC3. Adjudant Le Gloan (GC III/6) shoots down a BR.20 near Hyères, while three others are damaged. One of them is destroyed after an emergency landing in front of Imperia.
However, 28 BR-20 of the 7th and 43rd Stormo attack the naval base again. But no damage is inflicted on the ships anchored in the harbor. Two BR-20 are shot down, while others are damaged by French fighters or by Toulon's DCA.
070
June 13th, 1940
Northwestern France - The British did not remain inactive: the RAF receiveS the order to continue to support the French armies as long as they are fighting (while nevertheless preparing to withdraw its units based in France towards Nantes or Bordeaux). Raids from Battle and Blenheim are launched against the German columns, not without losses. The attacks continue at night and more than 150 heavy bombers of the Bomber Command hit the surroundings of Paris. However, the British-based fighters are under orders only to protect the British coast.
Northwestern France - The British did not remain inactive: the RAF receiveS the order to continue to support the French armies as long as they are fighting (while nevertheless preparing to withdraw its units based in France towards Nantes or Bordeaux). Raids from Battle and Blenheim are launched against the German columns, not without losses. The attacks continue at night and more than 150 heavy bombers of the Bomber Command hit the surroundings of Paris. However, the British-based fighters are under orders only to protect the British coast.
071
June 13th, 1940
Ateliers Caudron, Guyancourt - The panic of the last few days has been replaced by an unusual calm, yet inactivity is not on today's program: we fold, we tidy up, we pack... And we destroy what cannot be taken away!
In a hangar, engineer Otfinovsky's team is busy. There also, one folds... the wings of prototype 01 of the small C.880 L2, whose mechanism of the folding of the wings was a requirement of the L2 program for the Army. General Vuillemin had launched this program after seeing the prototype of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch in Munich in 1938. The L2 required a two-seat observation aircraft with a speed range of 50 to 200 km/h to land on rough terrain, with folding wings to be transported on a truck and a high obstacle clearance capacity to cross obstacles after takeoff. Only the Caudron project was retained, with an order for two prototypes, but problems that occurred during the flights of the first plane, in the hands of Delmotte and Franco, had led to strongly modify the second. The aircraft remains nevertheless a two-seater in tandem with high wing, with frames (spruce) covered with plywood, canvas control surfaces and a magnesium or aluminium cowling on a Renault 6Q engine of 220 hp.
The 01 is mounted on a small trailer, which can be attached to a railway car - if there is one available! Initially, the light aircraft was to be evacuated by air, but all the
pilots have left to help their military colleagues. A second, larger trailer carries prototype 02, which is almost finished and looks a little different. The wings are dismantled, the STAé having maintained neither the obligation of the folding wing nor that of the speed of 50 km/h with the landing (brought to 60 km/h), the two criteria creating almost insoluble problems.
It is only in the evening that two Renault trucks can take the trailers along with technical staff, plans and tools towards the station, towards a more exotic destination: the Caudron workshops in Algiers, mainly intended for maintenance and servicing or for the assembly of new aircraft brought by boat. There, we will be able to reassemble the two planes and, as soon as there will be available pilots, to make them carry out the tests in flight, especially for the n° 2, before presenting it to the CEMA. If it still exists.
Unfortunately, if the Parisian railwaymen do everything possible to get through the air raids it cannot be without damage. The open wagon carrying the 01 with a tarpaulin on its trailer made an interesting target for two marauding Bf 109s, which do not hesitate in strafing it, considering the absence of flak! A double patrol of MS-406 of the DTA comes to interrupt this circus, but the prototype is severely damaged. It will be able to be used only as a spare parts reservoir - at least the engine is intact!
Ateliers Caudron, Guyancourt - The panic of the last few days has been replaced by an unusual calm, yet inactivity is not on today's program: we fold, we tidy up, we pack... And we destroy what cannot be taken away!
In a hangar, engineer Otfinovsky's team is busy. There also, one folds... the wings of prototype 01 of the small C.880 L2, whose mechanism of the folding of the wings was a requirement of the L2 program for the Army. General Vuillemin had launched this program after seeing the prototype of the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch in Munich in 1938. The L2 required a two-seat observation aircraft with a speed range of 50 to 200 km/h to land on rough terrain, with folding wings to be transported on a truck and a high obstacle clearance capacity to cross obstacles after takeoff. Only the Caudron project was retained, with an order for two prototypes, but problems that occurred during the flights of the first plane, in the hands of Delmotte and Franco, had led to strongly modify the second. The aircraft remains nevertheless a two-seater in tandem with high wing, with frames (spruce) covered with plywood, canvas control surfaces and a magnesium or aluminium cowling on a Renault 6Q engine of 220 hp.
The 01 is mounted on a small trailer, which can be attached to a railway car - if there is one available! Initially, the light aircraft was to be evacuated by air, but all the
pilots have left to help their military colleagues. A second, larger trailer carries prototype 02, which is almost finished and looks a little different. The wings are dismantled, the STAé having maintained neither the obligation of the folding wing nor that of the speed of 50 km/h with the landing (brought to 60 km/h), the two criteria creating almost insoluble problems.
It is only in the evening that two Renault trucks can take the trailers along with technical staff, plans and tools towards the station, towards a more exotic destination: the Caudron workshops in Algiers, mainly intended for maintenance and servicing or for the assembly of new aircraft brought by boat. There, we will be able to reassemble the two planes and, as soon as there will be available pilots, to make them carry out the tests in flight, especially for the n° 2, before presenting it to the CEMA. If it still exists.
Unfortunately, if the Parisian railwaymen do everything possible to get through the air raids it cannot be without damage. The open wagon carrying the 01 with a tarpaulin on its trailer made an interesting target for two marauding Bf 109s, which do not hesitate in strafing it, considering the absence of flak! A double patrol of MS-406 of the DTA comes to interrupt this circus, but the prototype is severely damaged. It will be able to be used only as a spare parts reservoir - at least the engine is intact!
Last edited:
072
June 13th, 1940
Norwegian Sea - At dawn, HMS Ark Royal prepares to launch a raid on the port of Trondheim. After covering the last evacuation operations in Norway, the aircraft carrier was sent to search for the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which had destroyed the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and its two escort destroyers. Indeed, the Scharnhorst,
damaged by a torpedo from destroyer HMS Acasta, had to be quickly examined in the Norwegian port port before being sent to Germany for repairs.
Fifteen Blackburn Skua from Sqn 800 and 803 (which had added the light cruiser Königsberg to their kill list, on the 10th of April in Bergen harbour) are to attack the German battleship. Four Beauforts and six Blenheims of the RAF have to create a diversion by hitting the nearby airfield of Vaernes.
The operation turns to disaster: the attackers are hampered by the geography of the fjord and the Scharnhorst is only hit by a single bomb that does not explode, while eight Skua are shot down by the flak!
Later that day, destroyers HMS Electra and HMS Antelope collide in the thick fog surrounding the area and have to be towed back to Scapa Flow.
Norwegian Sea - At dawn, HMS Ark Royal prepares to launch a raid on the port of Trondheim. After covering the last evacuation operations in Norway, the aircraft carrier was sent to search for the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which had destroyed the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and its two escort destroyers. Indeed, the Scharnhorst,
damaged by a torpedo from destroyer HMS Acasta, had to be quickly examined in the Norwegian port port before being sent to Germany for repairs.
Fifteen Blackburn Skua from Sqn 800 and 803 (which had added the light cruiser Königsberg to their kill list, on the 10th of April in Bergen harbour) are to attack the German battleship. Four Beauforts and six Blenheims of the RAF have to create a diversion by hitting the nearby airfield of Vaernes.
The operation turns to disaster: the attackers are hampered by the geography of the fjord and the Scharnhorst is only hit by a single bomb that does not explode, while eight Skua are shot down by the flak!
Later that day, destroyers HMS Electra and HMS Antelope collide in the thick fog surrounding the area and have to be towed back to Scapa Flow.
Last edited:
073
June 14th, 1940
Tours - In the morning, the War Committee, renamed the National Defense Council (CDN) to include the economic elements, holds a new session.
In line with the decrees of June 8th and 13,rdplacing all ports under the authority of Admiral de la Flotte, another decree establishes martial law, and thus the authority of the Army, over the entire metropolitan territory. Simultaneously, the ministers concerned give orders to their respective administrations (prefects, police, PTT, SNCF) to remain at their posts until the end, "even at the risk of falling into the hands of the enemy" and to obey the orders of local military authorities. The CDN then decides to send the following cable to General Noguès: "Please organize, in concert with the British forces, all necessary offensive and defensive measures in order to guarantee the safety of the transfer of forces from the Metropole to North Africa and the subjugation of African territories under enemy control." This is the announcement of the Libyan campaign.
The CDN also decides that "Spanish combatants" would be integrated into the Foreign Legion on request.
.........
After the session, before leaving for Toulouse, Paul Reynaud informs President Lebrun of two "alterations" made to the government. Henry de Kérillis replaces Rollin in the
Colonies. An under-secretary of state for military supplies is created and entrusted to Pierre Cot (he replaced the under-secretariat for Air Force Manufacturing, which was headed by Jules Mény).
Tours - In the morning, the War Committee, renamed the National Defense Council (CDN) to include the economic elements, holds a new session.
In line with the decrees of June 8th and 13,rdplacing all ports under the authority of Admiral de la Flotte, another decree establishes martial law, and thus the authority of the Army, over the entire metropolitan territory. Simultaneously, the ministers concerned give orders to their respective administrations (prefects, police, PTT, SNCF) to remain at their posts until the end, "even at the risk of falling into the hands of the enemy" and to obey the orders of local military authorities. The CDN then decides to send the following cable to General Noguès: "Please organize, in concert with the British forces, all necessary offensive and defensive measures in order to guarantee the safety of the transfer of forces from the Metropole to North Africa and the subjugation of African territories under enemy control." This is the announcement of the Libyan campaign.
The CDN also decides that "Spanish combatants" would be integrated into the Foreign Legion on request.
.........
After the session, before leaving for Toulouse, Paul Reynaud informs President Lebrun of two "alterations" made to the government. Henry de Kérillis replaces Rollin in the
Colonies. An under-secretary of state for military supplies is created and entrusted to Pierre Cot (he replaced the under-secretariat for Air Force Manufacturing, which was headed by Jules Mény).
074
June 14th, 1940
Tours - Newspaper l'Action Française is banned following its June 13th issue (but only known during the night of June 13th-14th) denouncing "A Jewish and Masonic Conspiracy in the Government". This issue bears on its cover a caricature in which Mandel, portrayed as the "classic" Jew of the anti-Semitic caricatures, avoiding eye contact with Clemenceau, with the caption "After the Tiger, the Hyena".
On the other hand, La Dépêche de Toulouse publishes in extenso the decree-law on Internal Security accompanied by an article by Georges Mandel entitled "Se Battre!". In Lyon, Le Progrès publishes an editorial co-signed by Herriot and Jeanneney, calling on "all democrats and and patriots to support with all their strength the magnificent recovery work undertaken by the new Reynaud government."
Tours - Newspaper l'Action Française is banned following its June 13th issue (but only known during the night of June 13th-14th) denouncing "A Jewish and Masonic Conspiracy in the Government". This issue bears on its cover a caricature in which Mandel, portrayed as the "classic" Jew of the anti-Semitic caricatures, avoiding eye contact with Clemenceau, with the caption "After the Tiger, the Hyena".
On the other hand, La Dépêche de Toulouse publishes in extenso the decree-law on Internal Security accompanied by an article by Georges Mandel entitled "Se Battre!". In Lyon, Le Progrès publishes an editorial co-signed by Herriot and Jeanneney, calling on "all democrats and and patriots to support with all their strength the magnificent recovery work undertaken by the new Reynaud government."
075
June 14th, 1940
Bordeaux - Police forces show up at dawn to arrest Messrs. Bergery, Bonnet, Déat, Doriot, Flandin and Laval. Warned by Vladimir Sokolovsky, one of his friends in the 2nd
Bureau, Laval manages to escape arrest, as do Doriot and Flandin. Déat is not found at the address given (which turned out to be false). Only Bonnet and Bergery are arrested.
Bordeaux - Police forces show up at dawn to arrest Messrs. Bergery, Bonnet, Déat, Doriot, Flandin and Laval. Warned by Vladimir Sokolovsky, one of his friends in the 2nd
Bureau, Laval manages to escape arrest, as do Doriot and Flandin. Déat is not found at the address given (which turned out to be false). Only Bonnet and Bergery are arrested.
076
June 14th, 1940
Tours, provisional studios of the National Radio - At noon, it is General de Gaulle's turn to speak on the radio. This speech is broadcast several times. At the same time as those made the day before by Reynaud, Blum and Mandel, sure, but it is these visionary words that will be remembered as the "Call of June 14th".
Radio statement made by the Minister of War, General Charles de Gaulle, on June 14th, 1940:
"Leaders who have been at the head of the French armies for many years have given up the struggle after having been unable to prepare our forces for the present trials. Yet, faithful to the honor of France, to its international commitments, to the deepest interests of the nation and to the courage of the officers and soldiers who, on the whole front, are heroically doing their duty, the government of the Republic has decided to fight to the end. What some have destroyed, others will be able to rebuild.
It is true that we run the risk of being overwhelmed by the mechanical, land and air power of the enemy. Infinitely more than their numbers, it is the tanks, the planes, the tactics of the Germans that have made us and are still making us fall back. It is the tanks, the planes and the tactics of the Germans that surprised those of our leaders who let themselves be abandoned, to the point of bringing them to where they are today.
But has the last word been said? Must hope disappear? Is the defeat final? No !
France has lost a battle, but she has not lost the war.
Believe me, I am speaking to you with full knowledge of the facts and I tell you that nothing is lost for France. The same weapons that threaten to defeat us today will give us victory tomorrow.
This war has only just begun. Already, drawing lessons from past mistakes, our forces have been able to strike significant blows at the enemy. We will continue to do so wherever possible.
and one day these blows will destroy him.
For France is not alone! She is not alone! She is not alone!
Immense forces in the universe have not yet entered the fray. France has a vast Empire behind her, from which she will continue the struggle whatever happens. She is now united with the British Empire. Our fleets, united and combined, hold the sea. Like England, France can make unlimited use of the powerful industry of the United States. This war is not limited to the unfortunate territory of our country. This war is not defined by the Battle of France. This war is a world war. The means exist that will one day allow us to crush the enemy. Crushed today by mechanical force, we will win in the future by a superior mechanical force. The destiny of the world is there.
I, General de Gaulle, Minister of War, in the name of the government of the Republic, I order all the officers and soldiers to form a block and to stand together. For every step that the enemy takes on our territory, he must pay a heavy price in blood. I call upon all engineers and workers working for the national defense and all specialists in armaments to contact the authorities immediately and join the Empire without delay in order to work for our future victories. I call upon all the French people to make an immense effort, thanks to which France will recover to be in the first row, her own, when the day of Victory comes!
Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not and will not be extinguished.
Long live the Republic! Long live France!"
Tours, provisional studios of the National Radio - At noon, it is General de Gaulle's turn to speak on the radio. This speech is broadcast several times. At the same time as those made the day before by Reynaud, Blum and Mandel, sure, but it is these visionary words that will be remembered as the "Call of June 14th".
Radio statement made by the Minister of War, General Charles de Gaulle, on June 14th, 1940:
"Leaders who have been at the head of the French armies for many years have given up the struggle after having been unable to prepare our forces for the present trials. Yet, faithful to the honor of France, to its international commitments, to the deepest interests of the nation and to the courage of the officers and soldiers who, on the whole front, are heroically doing their duty, the government of the Republic has decided to fight to the end. What some have destroyed, others will be able to rebuild.
It is true that we run the risk of being overwhelmed by the mechanical, land and air power of the enemy. Infinitely more than their numbers, it is the tanks, the planes, the tactics of the Germans that have made us and are still making us fall back. It is the tanks, the planes and the tactics of the Germans that surprised those of our leaders who let themselves be abandoned, to the point of bringing them to where they are today.
But has the last word been said? Must hope disappear? Is the defeat final? No !
France has lost a battle, but she has not lost the war.
Believe me, I am speaking to you with full knowledge of the facts and I tell you that nothing is lost for France. The same weapons that threaten to defeat us today will give us victory tomorrow.
This war has only just begun. Already, drawing lessons from past mistakes, our forces have been able to strike significant blows at the enemy. We will continue to do so wherever possible.
and one day these blows will destroy him.
For France is not alone! She is not alone! She is not alone!
Immense forces in the universe have not yet entered the fray. France has a vast Empire behind her, from which she will continue the struggle whatever happens. She is now united with the British Empire. Our fleets, united and combined, hold the sea. Like England, France can make unlimited use of the powerful industry of the United States. This war is not limited to the unfortunate territory of our country. This war is not defined by the Battle of France. This war is a world war. The means exist that will one day allow us to crush the enemy. Crushed today by mechanical force, we will win in the future by a superior mechanical force. The destiny of the world is there.
I, General de Gaulle, Minister of War, in the name of the government of the Republic, I order all the officers and soldiers to form a block and to stand together. For every step that the enemy takes on our territory, he must pay a heavy price in blood. I call upon all engineers and workers working for the national defense and all specialists in armaments to contact the authorities immediately and join the Empire without delay in order to work for our future victories. I call upon all the French people to make an immense effort, thanks to which France will recover to be in the first row, her own, when the day of Victory comes!
Whatever happens, the flame of French resistance must not and will not be extinguished.
Long live the Republic! Long live France!"
077
June 14th, 1940
London - After presenting the results of the Supreme Inter-Allied Council of June 13th to the Council of Ministers, Churchill makes a statement on the BBC that has also remained famous:
"With admirable fortitude, the French Government has reasserted its will to fight till the end and taken the excruciatingly painful decision to leave, if necessary, its homeland for Algiers. Whatever the course of the land war in France, the armies of the French Republic will keep fighting from North Africa and the French Empire. This has been decided with the cold and firm resolution not to let Britain alone, whatever the price. We will never forget!
France’s political and military leaders are now displaying, without exception, the utmost gallantry and skills. France, even if wounded, is more than ever alive and will rise again with
time in wrath to chastise her enemies. Even if Mr Hitler’s hordes are to reach Mediterranean shores, they will pay such a hefty price that they will never enjoy their temporary success. Italy will pay for its treacherous aggression as well, and French and Commonwealth forces are to let Mr Mussolini’s army and navy no safe haven.
Our two countries have resolved that there shall be no peace until the German and Italian dictatorships are brought down for one and ever. We will never surrender!
We shall fight side by side as never two old European nations have fought. We shall fight on land, at sea, and in the air; we shall fight in the fields and in the woods, we shall fight in the
hills and in the mountains, we shall fight in the deserts... For now, I can promise nothing but blood, toil, sweat and tears, but in the end Victory."
London - After presenting the results of the Supreme Inter-Allied Council of June 13th to the Council of Ministers, Churchill makes a statement on the BBC that has also remained famous:
"With admirable fortitude, the French Government has reasserted its will to fight till the end and taken the excruciatingly painful decision to leave, if necessary, its homeland for Algiers. Whatever the course of the land war in France, the armies of the French Republic will keep fighting from North Africa and the French Empire. This has been decided with the cold and firm resolution not to let Britain alone, whatever the price. We will never forget!
France’s political and military leaders are now displaying, without exception, the utmost gallantry and skills. France, even if wounded, is more than ever alive and will rise again with
time in wrath to chastise her enemies. Even if Mr Hitler’s hordes are to reach Mediterranean shores, they will pay such a hefty price that they will never enjoy their temporary success. Italy will pay for its treacherous aggression as well, and French and Commonwealth forces are to let Mr Mussolini’s army and navy no safe haven.
Our two countries have resolved that there shall be no peace until the German and Italian dictatorships are brought down for one and ever. We will never surrender!
We shall fight side by side as never two old European nations have fought. We shall fight on land, at sea, and in the air; we shall fight in the fields and in the woods, we shall fight in the
hills and in the mountains, we shall fight in the deserts... For now, I can promise nothing but blood, toil, sweat and tears, but in the end Victory."
078
June 14th, 1940
Rue de Lübeck (Paris), Early Morning - The news that reach the home of Marshal Louis Franchet d'Espèrey never cease to distress him. There will be no Miracle of the Marne like in 1914... "If only we had entered Germany to crush the Enemy," laments the victor of the Great War on the Macedonian front! By now, the Germans are reported to already be at the gates of the capital! Although diminished by age and illness, the old marshal has a radically different attitude from his colleague Pétain, who is of the same age. Indeed, he has his weapons brought to him and promises to shoot the first German who crosses his door!
When, at dawn, he hears the bell ring, the old man grabs his prescription revolver... But it was a French captain (not quite so young as well) who shows up. He has received the order to evacuate the illustrious leader of the Armée d'Orient as soon as possible. An order that comes from very high up. Surprised, Franchet d'Espèrey nonetheless flatters himself with a smile as everyone around him starts to prepare the bare necessities to leave the capital with all haste.
Rue de Lübeck (Paris), Early Morning - The news that reach the home of Marshal Louis Franchet d'Espèrey never cease to distress him. There will be no Miracle of the Marne like in 1914... "If only we had entered Germany to crush the Enemy," laments the victor of the Great War on the Macedonian front! By now, the Germans are reported to already be at the gates of the capital! Although diminished by age and illness, the old marshal has a radically different attitude from his colleague Pétain, who is of the same age. Indeed, he has his weapons brought to him and promises to shoot the first German who crosses his door!
When, at dawn, he hears the bell ring, the old man grabs his prescription revolver... But it was a French captain (not quite so young as well) who shows up. He has received the order to evacuate the illustrious leader of the Armée d'Orient as soon as possible. An order that comes from very high up. Surprised, Franchet d'Espèrey nonetheless flatters himself with a smile as everyone around him starts to prepare the bare necessities to leave the capital with all haste.
079
June 14th, 1940
New Zealand - German auxiliary cruiser Orion (Captain Weyher) lays mines during the night of the 13th to the 14th at the entrance of the Hauraki Gulf, which allows access to the port of Auckland. These mines cause one major casualty, liner RMS Niagara, nicknamed "the Titanic of the Pacific". The Orion narrowly escapes New Zealand light cruiser HMNZS Achilles and British auxiliary cruiser HMS Hector, which arrive in Auckland at the same time.
Dubbed "The Black Raider" by the Australian and New Zealand press, the privateer is chased unsuccessfully by several Commonwealth ships during the following weeks, while making other victims. In addition, New Zealand orders ports blackout during the night, which causes some collisions between ships
New Zealand - German auxiliary cruiser Orion (Captain Weyher) lays mines during the night of the 13th to the 14th at the entrance of the Hauraki Gulf, which allows access to the port of Auckland. These mines cause one major casualty, liner RMS Niagara, nicknamed "the Titanic of the Pacific". The Orion narrowly escapes New Zealand light cruiser HMNZS Achilles and British auxiliary cruiser HMS Hector, which arrive in Auckland at the same time.
Dubbed "The Black Raider" by the Australian and New Zealand press, the privateer is chased unsuccessfully by several Commonwealth ships during the following weeks, while making other victims. In addition, New Zealand orders ports blackout during the night, which causes some collisions between ships
080
June 14th, 1940
North Sea - Disguised as a Soviet ship, the auxiliary cruiser Pinguin (Captain Krüder) leaves Germany for the South Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and Antarctica. Apart from its role as a privateer, it has to supply submarines and carry mines and torpedoes.
Atlantic Ocean - Aviso D'Entrecasteaux captures Italian steamer Fortunata (4,786 GRT) and takes her to Port-Lyautey.
North Sea - Disguised as a Soviet ship, the auxiliary cruiser Pinguin (Captain Krüder) leaves Germany for the South Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and Antarctica. Apart from its role as a privateer, it has to supply submarines and carry mines and torpedoes.
Atlantic Ocean - Aviso D'Entrecasteaux captures Italian steamer Fortunata (4,786 GRT) and takes her to Port-Lyautey.
082
June 14th, 1940
Châteauroux - During late morning, escorted by a squadron of Hurricanes, Dudley Pound's plane lands at Châteauroux-Deols. The First Lord of the Admiralty is taken to the town hall where he meets Admiral François Darlan. After a two-hour meeting in the presence of Sir Alexander Cadogan and Roland de Margerie, a meeting "similar to the negotiation of a marriage contract before a notary" (J. Lacouture, De Gaulle, t.II, op.cit.), the protocol of cooperation between the French Navy and the Royal Navy is signed. It includes the commitment to send the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious to the Mediterranean "as soon as it is operational" and the French commitment to provide the Home Fleet with a squadron formed around the Richelieu, as soon as the battleship is also operational.
The two admirals also agree on the need to adopt a resolutely offensive attitude in the Mediterranean. It is necessary to seek and if necessary provoke battle with the Regia Marina before the latter has put all its modern or modernized battleships at sea. Various operations are mentioned. The convoys whose passage is planned through the Mediterranean could represent bait, they will be solidly escorted [1]. Naval bombardment operations on Italian territory can also offer opportunities for confrontation [2].
And if these attempts are unsuccessful and the Italians refused confrontation? Pound then explains his "secret weapon" to Darlan. As former commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, he studied plans to counter the Regia Marina. Among these plans, the most promising was one developed by the commander of aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, C.V. Arthur L. St.G. Lyster: an attack against the Italian fleet at its anchorage in Taranto, using Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers. Only a month ago, Pound had recommended this plan to his successor, Admiral Andrew Cunningham. What seemed possible with a single aircraft carrier will be much more plausible with two, since HMS Illustrious will join HMS Eagle.
Besides," suggestes Pound, "you have an aircraft carrier, your Bearn - couldn't it participate in such an operation?"
Darlan hesitates. The Béarn was judged unfit for combat operations, as it was too slow to accompany ships of the line, but this handicap would disappear in the case of a pure air strike such as the one studied by the British (whose Eagle is not much faster than the Béarn). There remains the question of aircraft carried on-board. Darlan finally promises that his services would consider rebuilding the Béarn air group.
[1] Operations Hats, Caps and Chapeaux
[2] The most important of which will be BQ
Châteauroux - During late morning, escorted by a squadron of Hurricanes, Dudley Pound's plane lands at Châteauroux-Deols. The First Lord of the Admiralty is taken to the town hall where he meets Admiral François Darlan. After a two-hour meeting in the presence of Sir Alexander Cadogan and Roland de Margerie, a meeting "similar to the negotiation of a marriage contract before a notary" (J. Lacouture, De Gaulle, t.II, op.cit.), the protocol of cooperation between the French Navy and the Royal Navy is signed. It includes the commitment to send the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious to the Mediterranean "as soon as it is operational" and the French commitment to provide the Home Fleet with a squadron formed around the Richelieu, as soon as the battleship is also operational.
The two admirals also agree on the need to adopt a resolutely offensive attitude in the Mediterranean. It is necessary to seek and if necessary provoke battle with the Regia Marina before the latter has put all its modern or modernized battleships at sea. Various operations are mentioned. The convoys whose passage is planned through the Mediterranean could represent bait, they will be solidly escorted [1]. Naval bombardment operations on Italian territory can also offer opportunities for confrontation [2].
And if these attempts are unsuccessful and the Italians refused confrontation? Pound then explains his "secret weapon" to Darlan. As former commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, he studied plans to counter the Regia Marina. Among these plans, the most promising was one developed by the commander of aircraft carrier HMS Glorious, C.V. Arthur L. St.G. Lyster: an attack against the Italian fleet at its anchorage in Taranto, using Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers. Only a month ago, Pound had recommended this plan to his successor, Admiral Andrew Cunningham. What seemed possible with a single aircraft carrier will be much more plausible with two, since HMS Illustrious will join HMS Eagle.
Besides," suggestes Pound, "you have an aircraft carrier, your Bearn - couldn't it participate in such an operation?"
Darlan hesitates. The Béarn was judged unfit for combat operations, as it was too slow to accompany ships of the line, but this handicap would disappear in the case of a pure air strike such as the one studied by the British (whose Eagle is not much faster than the Béarn). There remains the question of aircraft carried on-board. Darlan finally promises that his services would consider rebuilding the Béarn air group.
[1] Operations Hats, Caps and Chapeaux
[2] The most important of which will be BQ
Last edited:
083
June 14th, 1940
Western Mediterranean, 0200 - Italian submarine Giuseppe Finzi passes the Strait of Gibraltar with no issue, to patrol the Casablanca-Canary Islands-Madeira triangle. Applying the plans to send oceanic submarines to operate in the Atlantic, this submarine and the Comandante Cappellini had been pre-positioned in Cagliari, officially as reinforcements for the VII Submarine Group. The Finzi left this port and headed for Gibraltar on June 5th, several days before the declaration of war.
0400 - A squadron of the French Navy (MN) commanded by Admiral Duplat which left Toulon the day before, arrives off the Ligurian coast. It is operation Samoyed. This operation should have taken place on June 12th, but the government cancelled the order during the night. It was finally the bombing of Bizerte by the Italians on the same day that allowed Admiral Duplat to obtain the authorization to bomb the Italian coast. Submarines Iris, Venus and Pallas blockade the coast of La Spezia, while the Archimède covers the Gorgone-Capraia passage. The AB2 and AB4 squadrons have to provide remote protection against Italian ships, the AB3 and HS5 squadrons are in charge of anti-submarine protection, while the AC3 fighter squadron has to provide air cover.
The "Genoa" group (heavy cruisers Dupleix and Colbert, destroyers Vautour, Albatros, Guépard, Valmy and Verdun) bomb the oil installations of Genoa, the factories, the Ansaldo shipyards and the coastal batteries of Genoa and Sestri Ponente, without much result, but the Albatros was damaged by an Italian shell. The "Vado" group (heavy cruisers Algérie and Foch, destroyers Vauban, Lion, Aigle, Tartu, Chevalier-Paul and Cassard) receive orders to attack other targets located in Vado, Savona, Albissola, Zinola and Quiliano. Algérie opens fire at a distance of 14,500 m and hits the fuel tanks of Vado, which catch fire, emitting intense smoke, while the Foch aims at the metallurgical plants of Savona and the Italian coastal batteries. The armed train 120/3/S (4 guns of 120/45 mm), stationed in Albissola (between Savona and Genoa), fires 93 shells at the French ships. Its shells and/or those of at least one coastal battery of Savona surround the Algérie and very slightly damage it by shrapnel.
After fifteen minutes of bombardment, the French squadron leaves for Toulon (where it anchors at 11:30).
The Italian torpedo boat Calatafimi and the MAS of the 13th flotilla (MAS-434, 435, 438, 439) try courageously, but without success, to attack the French ships. The MAS launch six torpedoes with no result; MAS-435 is slightly damaged by the Aigle. Ten SM.79 of the 46th Stormo tryto locate the French ships, but the latter were hidden by the bad weather.
Likewise, the submarines Sebastiano Veniero, Neghelli (which is still at sea), Scirè and Iride (these two coming from La Spezia) arrive too late. It is difficult for the Italians
to react much more energetically, with the recent redeployment of a large part of the forces of the 2nd Italian Squadron to Naples and Messina.
Operation Samoyed, without any significant results, nonetheless seems to intimidate the Regia Marina. At the end of the day, the 12th torpedo boat division (Aldebaran, Altair, Andromeda, Antares) leaves its Sicilian base in Trapani to join La Spezia. This reassignment will only last a few weeks.
0630 - Four Chance-Vought 156F (SB2U Vindicator in American designation) of the AB3 squadron surprise Italian submarine Gondar. It was sailing on the surface towards
La Spezia, at the end of a surveillance mission of the access routes to the Gulf of Genoa, mission in which the submarines Neghelli, Ettore Fieramosca and Mocenigo were also involved in. Gondar, with an emergency dive, avoids four bombs.
Western Mediterranean, 0200 - Italian submarine Giuseppe Finzi passes the Strait of Gibraltar with no issue, to patrol the Casablanca-Canary Islands-Madeira triangle. Applying the plans to send oceanic submarines to operate in the Atlantic, this submarine and the Comandante Cappellini had been pre-positioned in Cagliari, officially as reinforcements for the VII Submarine Group. The Finzi left this port and headed for Gibraltar on June 5th, several days before the declaration of war.
0400 - A squadron of the French Navy (MN) commanded by Admiral Duplat which left Toulon the day before, arrives off the Ligurian coast. It is operation Samoyed. This operation should have taken place on June 12th, but the government cancelled the order during the night. It was finally the bombing of Bizerte by the Italians on the same day that allowed Admiral Duplat to obtain the authorization to bomb the Italian coast. Submarines Iris, Venus and Pallas blockade the coast of La Spezia, while the Archimède covers the Gorgone-Capraia passage. The AB2 and AB4 squadrons have to provide remote protection against Italian ships, the AB3 and HS5 squadrons are in charge of anti-submarine protection, while the AC3 fighter squadron has to provide air cover.
The "Genoa" group (heavy cruisers Dupleix and Colbert, destroyers Vautour, Albatros, Guépard, Valmy and Verdun) bomb the oil installations of Genoa, the factories, the Ansaldo shipyards and the coastal batteries of Genoa and Sestri Ponente, without much result, but the Albatros was damaged by an Italian shell. The "Vado" group (heavy cruisers Algérie and Foch, destroyers Vauban, Lion, Aigle, Tartu, Chevalier-Paul and Cassard) receive orders to attack other targets located in Vado, Savona, Albissola, Zinola and Quiliano. Algérie opens fire at a distance of 14,500 m and hits the fuel tanks of Vado, which catch fire, emitting intense smoke, while the Foch aims at the metallurgical plants of Savona and the Italian coastal batteries. The armed train 120/3/S (4 guns of 120/45 mm), stationed in Albissola (between Savona and Genoa), fires 93 shells at the French ships. Its shells and/or those of at least one coastal battery of Savona surround the Algérie and very slightly damage it by shrapnel.
After fifteen minutes of bombardment, the French squadron leaves for Toulon (where it anchors at 11:30).
The Italian torpedo boat Calatafimi and the MAS of the 13th flotilla (MAS-434, 435, 438, 439) try courageously, but without success, to attack the French ships. The MAS launch six torpedoes with no result; MAS-435 is slightly damaged by the Aigle. Ten SM.79 of the 46th Stormo tryto locate the French ships, but the latter were hidden by the bad weather.
Likewise, the submarines Sebastiano Veniero, Neghelli (which is still at sea), Scirè and Iride (these two coming from La Spezia) arrive too late. It is difficult for the Italians
to react much more energetically, with the recent redeployment of a large part of the forces of the 2nd Italian Squadron to Naples and Messina.
Operation Samoyed, without any significant results, nonetheless seems to intimidate the Regia Marina. At the end of the day, the 12th torpedo boat division (Aldebaran, Altair, Andromeda, Antares) leaves its Sicilian base in Trapani to join La Spezia. This reassignment will only last a few weeks.
0630 - Four Chance-Vought 156F (SB2U Vindicator in American designation) of the AB3 squadron surprise Italian submarine Gondar. It was sailing on the surface towards
La Spezia, at the end of a surveillance mission of the access routes to the Gulf of Genoa, mission in which the submarines Neghelli, Ettore Fieramosca and Mocenigo were also involved in. Gondar, with an emergency dive, avoids four bombs.
084
June 14th, 1940
Western Italy - Planes of the Aéronavale attack La Spezia, while Swordfish of Sqn 767 bomb Genoa (where the pilots claimed to have hit hangars, an electrical station and the Ansaldo shipyards). Three LeO-451s attack the Fiat factories in Turin, but one plane crashes on the way back due to bad weather.
Northern Italy - The Farman 223-4 Jules-Verne returns to its mission: it sets fire to a gasoline tank in Livorno after circling over the city for an hour (the flak being totally ineffective). During this time, the Arcturus bombs the naval base of La Spezia.
Western Italy - Planes of the Aéronavale attack La Spezia, while Swordfish of Sqn 767 bomb Genoa (where the pilots claimed to have hit hangars, an electrical station and the Ansaldo shipyards). Three LeO-451s attack the Fiat factories in Turin, but one plane crashes on the way back due to bad weather.
Northern Italy - The Farman 223-4 Jules-Verne returns to its mission: it sets fire to a gasoline tank in Livorno after circling over the city for an hour (the flak being totally ineffective). During this time, the Arcturus bombs the naval base of La Spezia.
086
June 14th, 1940
Central Mediterranean - The 8th Destroyer Division (Bordelais, Trombe and L'Alcyon) recovera Greek cargo ship in the Strait of Sicily, which had previously been diverted to Messina by Italian torpedo boats (which did not stay to escort it) and lead it to Bizerte.
Further north, the submarine Vengeur patrols the area around Palermo and Stromboli. During the night of the 13th to the 14th, the British submarine HMS Odin tries to attack the cruisers Fiume and Gorizia in the Gulf of Taranto. The submarine is sunk by gunfire and torpedoes of Italian destroyers Strale and Baleno. The British will at first believe that the submarine was the victim of a mine.
Central Mediterranean - The 8th Destroyer Division (Bordelais, Trombe and L'Alcyon) recovera Greek cargo ship in the Strait of Sicily, which had previously been diverted to Messina by Italian torpedo boats (which did not stay to escort it) and lead it to Bizerte.
Further north, the submarine Vengeur patrols the area around Palermo and Stromboli. During the night of the 13th to the 14th, the British submarine HMS Odin tries to attack the cruisers Fiume and Gorizia in the Gulf of Taranto. The submarine is sunk by gunfire and torpedoes of Italian destroyers Strale and Baleno. The British will at first believe that the submarine was the victim of a mine.
087
June 14th, 1940
Alexandria - The British fleet returns to port, escorted by four Sunderland seaplanes and the four Loire-130 of the Lorraine. The French Levant flotilla arrives at about the same time.
While reviewing this first operation, Admiral Cunningham points out the weakness of the aerial reconnaissance which constituted a serious obstacle to the engagement of the enemy, especially as the latter disposes of fast units and was not willing to fight head-on. The few aircraft aboard the HMS Eagle cannot perform both short and long range reconnaissance at the same time. The best solution, according to Cunningham, would be to have a base in the Greek islands, preferably in Suda Bay (northwest coast of Crete). Otherwise, the Central Mediterranean will not be effectively controlled, as the enemy could act with impunity for three days after the return of the fleet to Alexandria (the bombardment of Sollum by the Italian navy the following day will prove him right on this point).
In conclusion, the British admiral, while regretting that the fleet had not been able to establish contact with the enemy, believes that the operations allowed him to evaluate the strength of the adversary and his willingness to fight, to test the procedures within a fleet composed of very heterogeneous elements and to cause the Italians some problems.
Alexandria - The British fleet returns to port, escorted by four Sunderland seaplanes and the four Loire-130 of the Lorraine. The French Levant flotilla arrives at about the same time.
While reviewing this first operation, Admiral Cunningham points out the weakness of the aerial reconnaissance which constituted a serious obstacle to the engagement of the enemy, especially as the latter disposes of fast units and was not willing to fight head-on. The few aircraft aboard the HMS Eagle cannot perform both short and long range reconnaissance at the same time. The best solution, according to Cunningham, would be to have a base in the Greek islands, preferably in Suda Bay (northwest coast of Crete). Otherwise, the Central Mediterranean will not be effectively controlled, as the enemy could act with impunity for three days after the return of the fleet to Alexandria (the bombardment of Sollum by the Italian navy the following day will prove him right on this point).
In conclusion, the British admiral, while regretting that the fleet had not been able to establish contact with the enemy, believes that the operations allowed him to evaluate the strength of the adversary and his willingness to fight, to test the procedures within a fleet composed of very heterogeneous elements and to cause the Italians some problems.
- Status