Looks like there are more port facilities available to the cut-off forces. Might that mean more equipment rescued?
Into the Fire - the "Minor" nations of WW2 strike back
- Thread starter Wings
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And recall that most of the forces saved at Dunkirk went back into the fight. France may lose this war, but it shouldn't be quick.
Seeing how badly the Germans are doing compared to OTL, it probably won't make a difference in the overall outcome of the war, but is going to be a pretty cool thing to see.
Actually might we see the axis minors commit more to the war against the USSR? Germany will need it, with how much of his strength he's expending on the western front.
This will have interesting butterfly on the 'destroyers for base' deal and on the 'Tizard' Mission as a less desperate UK mean a less loopsided agreement
It's already July and in OTL France already surrendered. Here the Germans have only just pocketed the BEF, Belgian and French forces on a much larger territory than OTL., and they're much stronger. This mean this will probably take until the end of July to clear, if not longer. After that the Germans will need to regroup for the battle of France. Which probably won't end until september at the soonest. Meaning there's most likely no Battle of Britain and much less of an invasionscare.
Chapter 15: Delestraint’s gamble (July 1940 – Flanders)
July 8th - 13th, 1940
Western Front
Western Front
With the Flanders pocket being closed, the Germans now found themselves at a crossroads: they could either launch all their troops forward in a vast effort to close the pocket and force the “Lys line”, or they could be cautious and use their troops sparingly, in view of the next offensive towards the French heartland.
In the end, OKH decided on the second option: a prudent advance towards the Channel ports, while saving their troops for the next great offensive southwards.
However, the French had designs of their own.
In fact, after the failure at Arras, new plans were drawn up for a push along the coast, notably reducing the bridgeheads at Abbeville. This force would then barrel along the coast and reach out to the French troops holding out at Boulogne.
This counter-offensive force would be led by the 4e DCR, which amalgamated most of the armored vehicles of the 2e DCR, and would be helped by the 6th Australian Division, recently disembarked at Marseille [1]. In support would also be the British 1st Armoured and the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division [2]. Charles Delestraint would be put in charge of this force, with Sir Victor Fortune assisting him.
As for air support…the French general staff had asked special permission to use the Dixmude group, currently at Devonport, in order to reduce the potential German artillery positions on the heights, which was to be used in conjunction with French bomber squadrons operating from Normandy.
On July 9th, the French and British forces advanced on the bridgeheads, which had undergone a severe artillery barrage. As expected, though, the Germans put up strong resistance, holding on doggedly and knocking out a substantial part of the Allies’ armor. In the meantime, Fortune's Mk VI started to flank the defenders by crossing the Somme at Noyelles-sur-Mer, putting more pressure on the German left.
The Dixmude group arrived right on time. Helped out by the RAF, who was also busy covering the evacuations, and other French Naval aircraft based around Cherbourg, the French bombers hammered the German anti-tank positions at Caumont and along the Abbeville heights (such as the Mont de Caubert). The battleships Courbet and Paris also hammered the coast with their shells, completely obliterating any German resistance along the Noyelles-Rue axis. This thus allowed to relieve a considerable amount of pressure on the 4e DCR and 1st Armoured, which managed to reach the Somme river by nightfall, though at the cost of almost 80 armoured vehicles.
The defenders, of the 57. Infanterie-Division, soon found themselves mismatched. Against this deluge of armor, flanked to the west, and benefiting from the support of no one, the Panzer Divisions having either moved north or being rested, the Germans found themselves loosing their footing. And at OKH, one doubted at the ability of the Allies to be able to cross the Somme, even with the reports of British light tanks at Noyelles.
Yet, on the morning of June 10th, French SOMUA S35s and Renault R35s managed to take the westernmost bridge at Abbeville, sending the German infantry running. Delestraint’s tanks broke through the city center, sending the 57. ID into a great panic. The 1st Armoured and its Mk VIs soon followed, engulfing the breach and forcing the 57. ID to completely abandon the bridgeheads it still had.
This prompted a quick reaction from OKH: immediately, Luftwaffe efforts were switched from hammering the port of Boulogne (where a general evacuation was underway) to the town of Abbeville, in the hope of crushing this counter-push.
This order would come not a minute too soon, as the Luftwaffe attack greatly helped to repulse the Dixmude bomber group, which had once more come to hammer at the defenders. These ones were intercepted, and despite the valiant defence of the RAF Spitfires and French D-520s, were cut down with significant losses.
For the Dixmude itself, things were not completely fine either. The Luftwaffe itself dared to go and do what the Kriegsmarine couldn't: take out a carrier. A disorganized attack group headed for the carrier, with three aircraft scoring hits. While one of the bombs did not explode, two did, causing severe water leaks which forced her to return to Devonport.
But on the ground, the results were there: the French naval bombers had managed to knock out most anti-tank positions, allowing Delestraint to run up to Rue by evening, with the British reaching Forest-Montiers, and the Australians close on their tail.
Immediately, OKH ordered a stop on the attack on Boulogne, and an immediate counter-attack on this spearhead, which inched closer to Berck with every passing hour.
Faster than their French counterparts, the British light tanks took the road, reaching Berck on July 11th, and flying towards Le Touquet. The Australians were right behind them, reaching Montreuil-sur-Mer on the evening of the 11th.
To the north, emboldened by this success, the French 21st Infantry, at Boulogne, decided to counter-attack, hoping to pin the elements of the 1st Panzer advancing towards it. These attacks were greatly successful, as the defenders smashes the weakly-defended lines, and reached Neufchatel by evening.
This successful attack completely baffled General Lanquetot, in command of the 21st Infantry at Boulogne. The man, who expected much stronger resistance, was overjoyed, and urged his men forward.
During the night of July 11th to 12th, the first elements of the 21st Infantry encountered the vanguard of the 1st Armoured Division. In later Vichy propaganda movies, it would be the opposite: brave French soldiers lending a hand to the cowardly English…in fact, most of the troops that managed to reach out to the Lys line were Commonwealth soldiers, since the French were busy to the south.
And busy they were! For the 1st Panzer had not abandoned the area. Instead, they had withdrawn from their positions, and with the support of the reinvigorated 10th Panzer, had struck to the east, at an ominous place for the French: Crécy-en-Ponthieu.
Ramming into the Allied flank, which had dangerously overextended itself, the German Panzers thrust deep into the 51st (Highland) Infantry’s core, destabilizing the division. Fierce fights would take place all throughout the afternoon of July 11th and the night after, with the French of the 4e DCR running to help with whatever vehicles they could get.
But it was not enough.
The 51st broke, and the 4e DCR, whose vehicles were spread out from Berck to Le Crotoy, was in no position to help. The Allies had gambled too much for their cavalcade, and they would pay the price.
Kirchner, at the head of his division, would manage to smash the Allied line at Crecy, heading straight south towards Noyelles, with the support of the 57. Infanterie-Division. The French tanks did put up a valiant fight to try and stop this push, but under Luftwaffe pressure, it was all in vain: the pocket had closed on Delestraint once more.
The Germans then started to move from both sides. Taking advantage that Weygand had poorly managed his flanks, OKH sent Schaal’s 10th Panzer to pressure Abbeville, easily dispatching the remnants of the poor French division that had started to plug the gap.
The Allied advance had been too quick, and they had made the same mistake as the Germans: the infantry did not have time to follow. The 10th Panzer thus struck undefended rear lines, retaking Abbeville, and getting bridgeheads along the Somme at Pont-Remy and the east of Abbeville.
Meanwhile, to the north, the 1st Armoured, 6th Australian Infantry and 4e DCR both tried breaking back out: in vain. The lines of the 1st Panzer were solid, and the armoured division had received the support of motorized divisions which prevented any breakout. Despite a night shelling by the Paris and Courbet, the trapped divisions could not progress south.
All day, during the 13th, French, British and Australian tried in vain to reach Abbeville, but only lost valuable men and AFVs. By evening, it was clear that any attempt to break out would be impossible. Delestraint was ordered to withdraw his troops to Boulogne, and start evacuating from there.
The Allies had managed to reconnect with the Lys line for a mere six hours.
But Delestraint’s gamble was not a total failure.
In his offensive, he had made OKH waste many resources which would have been much more useful in reducing the Calais, Boulogne and Dunkerque pockets, most of which were undergoing massive evacuations. In fact, on July 13th, Zeebrugge had only just fallen and Oostende had just been isolated.
One could say today that Delestraint and Fortune’s counter-offensive did not fail: it merely did not achieve its original objective. Certainly, the Lys line had not been reached, but the offensive made it so that Dynamo would succeed. And while the Allied armour suffered from Boulogne to Abbeville, the BEF and Belgian Armies were being saved, almost without a single drop of blood.
However, the loss of the 1st Armoured and the 4e DCR would be sorely felt during Fall Rot…
[1] OTL, it was re-routed following the fall of France and Italy’s entry into the war. A month more delay means that the British are more confident in sending it to France.
[2] The French had considered to use the 3e DIM, but this one had been sent to reinforce the line at Amiens.
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Making the "same mistake as the Germans" may be embarrassing, but that the Entente was willing to concentrate their armor for such a mechanized thrust in the first place is a good development of their tank doctrine. Here's hoping that they don't take the wrong lesson and decide armor divisions are not useful for offensives.
An evacuation in good order from Dunkirk! That's a unique butterfly, and I wonder how different Vichy's position will be in TTL with a larger force remaining.
An evacuation in good order from Dunkirk! That's a unique butterfly, and I wonder how different Vichy's position will be in TTL with a larger force remaining.
There may not be a larger force remaining—the French are fighting awfully hard. And there had damned well better be corresponding losses seen on the German side.
Well at least the treasury will be happy, no need to spend money to resupply the army, some font point that the material lost was enough to equip 8 division
Even in good order, reembarking under the pressure of the enemy will forbade Allies to evacuate the heavy material. All Groupe d'armées N°1 including BEF and Belgian army will have to be fully reequipped. British will be happy if they save a dozen of tanks. Heavy and medium AA guns will probably be given higher priority.
After Montcornet, no one can deny armored offensives have the potential to do massive damage.
The 57. ID only held for 24 hours instead of OTL where they held a week.
Most of the heavy equipment is lost regardless.
Pretty much. Tanks are untransportable, and the British will have to commit even more ships to evacuate the Belgian Army Corps as well as the French divisions stuck on this side of the Lys line (including Delestraint's men, plus the Australians).
Not sure there will be the need of more ships as Calais - Dover (20 nautical miles) or Boulogne - Dover (23 nautical miles) is almost half the distance of Dunkirk - Dover (40 nautical miles), even more after the route along the coast (route Z) was abandoned due to the shelling of the German batteries. The Little Ships could have made the journey directly from Wissant or Ambleuteuse to Folkstone (20 nautical miles).
The absence of sand banks and mines fields in front of Calais and Boulogne will help all the ships to maneuver to escape Luftwaffe attacks. And the air superiority will be more disputed as the RAF is closer than IOTL and the AdA will have the means to cover the southern part of the front. The losses will not be heavier, likely lower.
Plus one can imagine the pocket will take longer to reduce for the Wehrmacht which is not in such a good shape after two months of hard fighting.
Dang. Even if more men are saved, without heavy equipment a modern division is combat ineffective. So ultimately the bigger cauldron is still a bigger German victory despite the evacuation. How much equipment so the brits have 'in reserve' to reequip on short notice?
Anyways, the successful evacuation of the Belgian army is nice, I am quite curios what the "free Belgian divisions" will be able to do on campaign!
The French have probably more equipment in reserve than British and could reequip some divisions. A average 150 tanks (B1 bis, S 35-40, R 35-40, H 39, D 2) per month have been built beginning of 1940, rising to 250 in May, meaning one ad hoc armored division per month.
Mayby not, you seem to forget that their are Train Ferries between Calais and Dover. This means that tanks and other heavy equipment can be driven onboard under their owm power.
Eh, Dunkirk had train ferry facilities as well... Not used in OTL.
Looks like the number of rail ferries available was only about 5 or 6 and most got nabbed by the RN for use as minelayers before the fall of France IOTL, so probably aren't available to act as jerry rigged ro-ro ships...
even 1 is more than OTL (and frankly the British equipment situation was THAT bad post Dunkirk)