Fall Gelb 1940 (1)

Panzer breakthrough in the West

Fall Gelb 1940 (1) cover

Description

The German blitzkrieg conquest of France and the Low Countries (via the Ardennes, Arras, and Dunkirk) in May and June of 1940 has never been surpassed in the history of warfare in that no clash between such great and apparently equal forces has been decided so swiftly and conclusively. Not deigning to spend itself against the extensive fortifications of France's Maginot Lines, Hitler's Wehrmacht planned to advance its 136 (of 157) divisions through Belgium and northern France in order to destroy the Allied forces there and gain territory from which to prosecute continued combat operations against France and England. Beginning on 10 May 1940, this title follows the fortunes of Heeresgruppe A as its three Panzer Korps moved stealthily through the dark, hilly, and thickly forested Ardennes in southern Belgium before forcing a passage across the river Meuse and racing through France to the Channel in one of the most daring campaigns in history.

Table of Contents

Origins of the campaign
Chronology

Opposing commanders
Opposing armies
Orders of battle
Opposing plans
The campaign

Aftermath
The battlefields today
Further reading
Index

Product details

Published Apr 22 2014
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 96
ISBN 9781782006442
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations 60 b/w; 17 col
Dimensions 248 x 184 mm
Series Campaign
Short code CAM 264
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Douglas C. Dildy

Douglas C. Dildy is a retired US Air Force colonel…

Illustrator

Peter Dennis

Peter Dennis was inspired by contemporary magazine…

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