Defense of Spycker

The village of Spycker is situated in a land corridor between the canal of Mordyck and the canal of Haute-Colme. This corridor was a direct entry in the defensive perimeter of Dunkirk. In late May 1940, Spycker was held by …

1940-05-30

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The village of Spycker is situated in a land corridor between the canal of Mordyck and the canal of Haute-Colme. This corridor was a direct entry in the defensive perimeter of Dunkirk. In late May 1940, Spycker was held by the 1st Battalion of 225th Infantry Regiment (68th French Infantry Division). Under the command of Major Noailles, the battalion was entrenched on the outskirts of the village and in the farm Lelieur at the crossroads of Broukerque and Grande Synthe. Arriving from Broukerque and Afgand castle, the Germans attacked on May 30 and were pushed back with heavy losses. During three days, the French infantrymen of the 225th resisted to continuous bombings of the Luftwaffe, artillery shelling and several attacks from infantry and tanks. On June 2, after a heavy artillery shelling, the Germans finally captured Spycker. In the night of 3-4, the remaining French infantrymen withdrew to Dunkirk in order to embark. But it was too late: all the boats had left. They were the sacrificed troops of Dunkirk.

Spycker, 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 mechanised 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

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Countryside

Website Access: Available