Operation Frankforce

As the Germans advanced rapidly towards the French coast in May 1940, the area around the town of Arras was reinforced with British Expeditionary Force (BEF) troops. By 20 May 1940, Arras itself was surrounded but still holding out. Viscount …

1940-06-01

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As the Germans advanced rapidly towards the French coast in May 1940, the area around the town of Arras was reinforced with British Expeditionary Force (BEF) troops. By 20 May 1940, Arras itself was surrounded but still holding out. Viscount Gort, commander-in-chief of the BEF, decided on a counter-attack with a battlegroup led by Major-General Harold Edward Franklyn to delay the German offensive and, perhaps, to cut the spearhead of the German army off. The attack was supposed to be manned by 15,000 men; however, only 2,000 men could be gathered, reinforced by 74 tanks. Initial progress was encouraging, but the attacking force soon ran into German SS and Rommel's 7th Panzer Division, backed by air support, and took heavy losses. Then, intervention from the 25th Panzer Regiment on the Allied right flank threatened to cut off the Allied spearhead, and co-ordination problems on the same flank led to French tanks and British anti-tank gunners inadvertently fighting each other. French cover enabled British troops to withdraw to their former positions that night. Frankforce's attack was over, and the next day the Germans regrouped and continued their advance. Frankforce took around 400 German prisoners and inflicted a similar number of casualties, as well as destroying a number of tanks. The attack was so fierce that 7th Panzer Division believed it had been attacked by five infantry divisions.

Arras, France

The Battle of Arras took place on 21 May 1940, during the Battle of France in the Second World War. Following the German invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May, French and British forces advanced into Belgium. The German campaign plan Fall Gelb had evolved into a decoy operation in the Netherlands and Belgium, with the main effort through the Ardennes. German units crossed the Meuse without waiting for reinforcements at the Battle of Sedan. Instead of consolidating bridgeheads on the west bank of the Meuse, the Germans began an advance down the Somme river valley towards the English Channel.

Wikipedia: Battle of Arras (1940)

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Board Type: Countryside

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