Battle of France 1940 - First Phases Quiz

Answer: Vianden

Most of Guderian's panzers crossed in and left Luxembourg without any engagements. Their first encounter with serious road obstacles was at Martelange, a Belgian town right on the Luxembourg border.

Answer: Inability of French intelligence to detect troop concentrations near Luxembourg

The French military intelligence agency, the Deuxième Bureau, was able to detect a mass build-up of German forces near Trier before the operation began. What's more, by April of 1940 French intelligence was also able to detect the rough locations of all of the German panzer divisions, a substantial amount of which was deployed just opposite of the Ardennes.

As a side note, French aerial reconnaissance before the invasion was very limited due to fear of losses.

Answer: 3rd Spahi Brigade

The 3rd Spahi formed the rightmost wing of Corap's Ninth Army forward reconnaissance, and when it mistakenly withdrew behind the Meuse near Charleville-Mezieres, Corap realized that his entire right flank was exposed. His reconnaissance units by then could no longer halt Rommel and Reinhardt's panzers, and so he withdrew his entire cavalry reconnaissance force (1st and 4th divisions) behind the river Meuse.

Answer: Preventing the French 1st army and B.E.F. from being directed south

The rapid collapse of the mighty Eben-Emael, the summit of the entire Belgian Albert Canal defensive system, allowed the German 6th army to quickly storm and capture Belgium's northern defenses. In doing so, the Germans thus prevented the French 1st army and British expeditionary force from aiding these positions and, as a consequence, the Germans were able to engage and keep these Allied forces in the north (at least for the moment).

The frontal engagements of the French 1st army and B.E.F. in open terrain by Hoepner's panzers and other elements occurred simultaneously as the bridgeheads in the South were being established. As a consequence, given the knowledge it had, the French High Command would feel little appetite of using these top-rate units to attack the southern river crossings and made an immediate withdraw of these Allied armies southwards unlikely.

It is also worth noting that the annihilation and isolation of the Dutch army was the primary objective of Bock's 'B' army group further to the north, and the latter objective was successfully achieved with the capture of the bridges over the Meuse south of Nijmegen.

Eben-Emael is situated near the point where the Belgian, Dutch and German borders meet.

Answer: The 2nd Panzer Division was advancing behind schedule

With a third of his panzer force missing and much of his troops exhausted from the long march, Guderian was initially releuctant to attempt a crossing of the Meuse on May 13. Kleist felt otherwise, quite interestingly because of his distance from the front and he was perhaps too overjoyed at the initial successes.

Answer: Grandsard

Charles Grandsard was responsible in a large part for the coordination of the defenses at Sedan and its surrounding areas. Both the infamous 55th and 71st infantry divisions which were so thrashed by the German attack were directly under his command. Despite the panic which followed the initial German strike, he attempted to coordinate counterattacks with tanks, but his poorly trained reservist forces turned out to be no match for the best of the Wehrmacht.

Answer: Montherme and Nouzonville

Both Reinhardt's XXXXI Corps and Hoth's XV Corps were allocated with secondary roles of supporting the main attack at Sedan. Reinhardt's forces initially experienced the most resistance from the defending French of all three of Rundstedt's panzer corps. Factors that lead to this include lack of air support, better quality of French resistance (the division defending Reinhardt's crossing points on the Meuse, the 102nd Fortress, was a regular division instead of the reservists at Sedan).

Answer: Their own tanks

The rout of the French artillery at Sedan caused by devastated morale and lack of discipline led to large numbers of French positions being deserted. At the origin of their mass exodus lay a myth that tanks has been spotted near Bulson, where a series of heavy artillery positions was located.

There was even a myth that the Germans were supposedly using captured French-built Renault tanks gained from their invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Answer: Aiding Guderian's panzers in capturing Neufchateau

Neufchateau's heights made it an excellent defending position from which the French or Belgians could deploy its forces. The task was given to 400 men from the elite Grossdeutschland regiment, and their objective was to seize the two small hamlets of Nimes and Witry, not far east of Neufchateau. By clearing the roads for Guderian and his panzers, the Niwi task force allowed Guderian to quickly reach Neufchateau and prevent any enemy resistance from being established.

Answer: Onhaye

The capture of Onhaye was vital in Rommel's crossing of the Meuse at Dinant.

Though the French colonial forces defending Onhaye fought courageously and managed to momentarily halt the Germans, they ultimately succumbed due to numerical and material inferiority. The capture of this height was crucial for the Germans, for without it the French would be able to rain down fire on the tanks and infantry attempting to cross the Meuse. Additionally, capturing the hill allowed the Rommel to advance with speed into the plains of northern France.