Bouvignes Bridgehead

General Rommel's 7th Panzer Division arrived at the river Meuse on May 13. On the island of Houx, soldiers of the 7th Motorcycle Battalion discovered locks that the infantry could use to cross the canal. The first bridgehead was set …

1940-05-13

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General Rommel's 7th Panzer Division arrived at the river Meuse on May 13. On the island of Houx, soldiers of the 7th Motorcycle Battalion discovered locks that the infantry could use to cross the canal. The first bridgehead was set up west of the Meuse. At Dinant, the 6th Riflemen Regiment attempted to cross the river with inflatable rafts but a French battalion opened fire and the Germans were forced to retreat. To cross the river, they had to wait for artillery and armor support, which was supplied as soon as the heavier weapons arrived. At Bouvignes, the 7th Riflemen Regiment managed to cross the Meuse with inflatable rafts and established a second bridgehead. By the evening of May 13, the French Resistance from the 39th and 77th Infantry Regiment had weakened. Rommel issued orders to build pontoon bridges so German tanks could cross the river and assist the infantry advance. On May 14, a French counter-attack with tanks and infantry retook Haut-le-Vastia, but this success was short-lived. Soon after their offensive push, the whole French Army was ordered to fall back behind the Charleroi-Rocroi-Signy-l'Abbaye Line, a defense that existed in name only. The River Meuse was no longer an obstacle for the German tanks. The "Sichelschnitt", or "Sickle-Cut" - named for the operation that would cut the Allied forces in two - had begun.

Bouvignes, France

The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries during the Second World War. On 3 September 1939 France had declared war on Germany, following the German invasion of Poland. In early September 1939, France began the limited Saar Offensive. By mid-October, the French had withdrawn to their start lines. In six weeks from 10 May 1940, German forces defeated Allied forces by mobile operations, conquering France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, ending land operations on the Western Front until the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944. Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940.

Wikipedia: Battle of France

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