Osprey Battles and Histories : The Fall of France : Act with Daring

On 10 May 1940 the 'Phoney War' ended as the German Army's attack on France, Belgium and the Netherlands began. In less than 50 days all three nations were overwhelmed and the British Expeditionary Force driven from continental Europe. The Germans inflicted losses of 350,000 killed and wounded and 2 million missing or taken prisoner at a cost of 155,000 to themselves. In 1937 in the conclusion of his book 'Achtung Panzer!', Heinz Guderian, one of the architects of Germany's lightning victory, wrote, 'In the days to come the Goddess of Victory will bestow her laurels only on those who are prepared to act with daring.'. The German Army had embraced this philosophy - their opponents clearly had not. Text by Martin Marix Evans.

Contents

• The Phoney War
• Invasion of the Low Countries
• The Strike through the Ardennes
• Sichelschnitt
• Return to Flanders Fields
• Operation Dynamo
• The Fall of France