Bucha, Ukraine - 27 Feb 2022 - 15mm
Live Stream: Anniversary of "Case Yellow" (10 May 1940)
Greetings all: Today is 10 May, the anniversary of Germany’s great blitzkrieg in the West, where they invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. Within six weeks it would result in the fall of Western Europe, but before that it would spark the first large tank v. tank engagement of military history, the Battle of Hannut (sometimes called the Battle of Merdop) on 12-13 May, 1940.
In this battle, elements of two French “cavalry” divisions, 2nd and 3rd Division Légère Mécanique (Light Mechanized Divisions – formed into the French Cavalry Corps under Henri Prioux), would collide more or less head-on with the leading spearhead of 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions (XVI Motorized Corps, Erich Höpner) at these Belgian towns of Hannut and Merdorp.
The French actually did rather well in the first day’s engagement, but would rather be cracked open by German reinforcements and airpower.
Join us for a quick look at part of the battle through a few demo turns of Panzer Leader, our way of commemorating and abserving the seismic historical events through gaming.
Swing by and check us out if you’re not in bed, and be part of the show!
Sitrep Podcast YouTube
Tuesday, May 10 (7PM East US, Midnight UK)
I think in hindsight everyone did pretty well considering what they in terms of gear and training.
It must have felt odd to see those Germans actually daring to cross the border and shoot …
For the soldiers in the field, I would agree. For the general staffs of the UK, France, and Belgium … lets be real, they didn’t do very well at all. The Germans actually had poorer equipment in many areas, were actually outnumbered, were on the OFFENSIVE rather than defensive, and were moving through deliberately difficult terrain. The Germans did enjoy air superiority, but despite good Allied aircraft is large numbers. So the Germans did not “deserve” to win that campaign at all, at least not as badly as they did (at least in the first “Case Yellow” phase). The worst… Read more »
The Dutch had been neutral during WW1, which is probably why our training and equipment was out of date We literally thought we could remain neutral again, because it had worked for us … This is sort of mentioned in the movie ‘Soldier of Orange’ as well as the planes that appeared to head towards the UK turn back and drop bombs. I’d argue that for us civillians it is very hard to understand the needs of the military, despite the fact that it is civilians who have to point them towards the ‘enemy’. Preparing for danger is rather abstract… Read more »
I would agree with most of that. I feel the biggest blame falls on the Allied general staffs who literally stood there for eight months and watched the Germans prepare for an invasion after war was already officially declared (especially the British and French, who had actually declared war on 3 September). In his defense, Lord Gort (BEF commander) lamented on many shortcomings on his forces and on those of his French allies, and petitioned for redress throughout the “Phony War.” But overall, none of the Allied forces had any right to be surprised when the Germans invaded. Perhaps for… Read more »