Assault on the Wattenberg

On May 20, the 1st French Army and the BEF were surrounded in the Dunkirk Pocket. As a natural obstacle, the canal of the river Aa represented the south defensive line of the mixed Allied rearguard. The Leibstandarte SS Adolf …

1940-05-25

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On May 20, the 1st French Army and the BEF were surrounded in the Dunkirk Pocket. As a natural obstacle, the canal of the river Aa represented the south defensive line of the mixed Allied rearguard. The Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH), under Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich, was positioned opposite Watten. They were tasked with capturing the "Wattenberg", the 72 meter tall mount of Watten, that dominated the whole region. To accomplish their mission, soldiers of the LSSAH had to cross the river Aa under enemy fire, fight through the streets of Watten, and reach the old abbey on top of the mount. The battle was intense with the defenders holding their positions and even managing to counter-attack with two Somua S-35 tanks. The Germans finally reached their objective on May 28, forcing the French soldiers to retreat and establish a new line of defense closer to Dunkirk. The new line was just behind the canal of Basse-Colme and was held until Dunkirk fell on June 4, 1940.

Watten, France

The Battle of Dunkirk was fought in Dunkirk (Dunkerque), France, during the Second World War, between the Allies and Nazi Germany. As the Allies were losing the Battle of France on the Western Front, the Battle of Dunkirk was the defence and evacuation to Britain of British and other Allied forces in Europe from 26 May to 4 June 1940. After the Phoney War, the Battle of France began in earnest on 10 May 1940. To the east, the German Army Group B invaded the Netherlands and advanced westward. In response, the Supreme Allied Commander, French General Maurice Gamelin, initiated "Plan D" and British and French troops entered Belgium to engage the Germans in the Netherlands. French planning for war relied on the Maginot Line fortifications along the German–French border protecting the region of Lorraine but the line did not cover the Belgian border. German forces had already crossed most of the Netherlands before the French forces had arrived. Gamelin instead committed the forces under his command, three mechanized forces, the French First and Seventh Armies and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), to the River Dyle. On 14 May, German Army Group A burst through the Ardennes and advanced rapidly westward toward Sedan, turning northward to the English Channel, using Generalfeldmarschall Erich von Manstein's plan Sichelschnitt (under the German strategy Fall Gelb), effectively flanking the Allied forces.

Wikipedia: Battle of Dunkirk

German

French

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Board Type: Countryside

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