Coinet, J. P., ‘Marcel Déat et le Parti Unique (été 1940)’, Issue 91, 1973.
Collotti, Enzo, ‘L’occupation allemande, la résistance, les alliès; essaies d’historiographie’, Issue 92, 1973.
Revue Historique de l’Armée
Gen. Guderian, ‘La campagne de France’, vol. 1, 1947.
Lt.-Col. d’Ornane, ‘Le XIX Corps blindé allemand dans les Ardennes en 1940’, vol. 3, 1955.
Col. P. Lyet, ‘Témoignages et documents, 1939–40’, vol. 1, 1960.
Lt.-Col. le Goyet, ‘Le XIе Corps Armée dans la bataille de la Meuse, 10–15 mai, 1940’, vol. 1, 1962.
Col. P. Lyet, ‘A propos de Sedan, 1940’, vol. 4, 1962.
Lt.-Col. le Goyet, ‘Contre-attaques manquées, Sedan, 13–15 mai 1940’, vol. 4, 1962.
Col. P. Lyet, ‘Les Tirailleurs malgaches á Monthermé, mai 1940’, vol. 4, 1963.
Lt.-Col, le Goyet, ‘L’engagement de la 2e Division Cuirasséa Française’, vol. 1, 1964.
Lt.-Col. le Goyet, ‘Rethel 1940’, vol. 4, 1964.
Col. Cailloux, ‘Campagne de France 1940: la contre-attaque qui n’eut jamais lieu, 19–25 mai’, vol. 3, 1966.
Susbielle, Général de, ‘Chasseurs à pied, cavaliers et blindés du combat: Canal des Ardennes. 16–23 Mai 1940’, Issue 2, 1972.
Debyser, Felix, ‘Psychose collective et verité historique: les attaques aériennes sur la Loire et la centre de la France en Juin 1940’, Issue 3, 1972.
Van der Tuim, Dr H., ‘La défense de Bergen op Zoom par l’armée française (Mai 1940)’, Issue 2, 1973.
Alte Kamaraden
‘Über die Maas am 15 Mai 1940’, no. 9, 1959.
Deutsche Soldaten-Zeitung
A. Rothe, ‘So war die erste grosse Panzer schlacht…’, May 1952.
Militär-Wochenblatt
Sergeant-Major Schulze, ‘Erste Einfass vor Sedan’. April 1941.
Maj.-Gen. Aschenbrandt, ‘Der Einsatz der französischen 4 Panzer-Division’, July 1942.
First Lt. Grubnau, ‘Brückenschlag über die Maas westlich Sedan für den Übergang einer Panzer-Division’. Jan. 1941.
Militärwissenschaftliche Rundschau
Lt.-Col. Soldan, ‘Der Durchbruch über die Maas am 13 Mai 1940’, Nov. 1940.
Individual account from the war on the West Front, 1940.
More individual accounts, 1940.
Schweizerische Militär-Zeitschrift
Ulrich Liss, ‘Der französische Gegenangriff gegan den deutschen Maas-Druchbruch im Mai 1940’, 1958.
Contemporary newspapers and magazines
Federal German Archives, Koblenz; War Diaries of German units.
Supplement to the London Gazette. 10 October 1941 (Lord Gort’s dispatches).
Alexander, Martin (1). La Faillite de la méc dans les Armées françhises et britanniques entre 1935 et 1940 – une étude comparative, unpublished dissertation, Oxford University, 1978.
— (2), Maurice Gamelin and the Defence of France, unpublished dissertation, Oxford University, 1982.
Reference Notes
The foregoing Bibliography contains the principal published works, books, periodicals and unpublished official sources, used either to a greater or lesser extent by the author. But it represents only the small visible tip of the iceberg of an immense volume of words which have been written about the Fall of France, in all its aspects. Works relating to the ‘Fifth Column’ alone would easily fill the preceding pages several times over.
As far as source material is concerned, the book falls into two fairly independent sections: 1919–40 (Part One), and the battle itself (Part Two). Of the great mass of histories and memoirs covering the inter-war period from which I have directly or indirectly benefited, I have not attempted to list the more obvious; the titles appended below refer chiefly to works quoted or specifically alluded to, and which I feel may be of use to a reader desirous of reading further.
In Part Two, there are certain works which I have kept by my side throughout, and can recommend for their particular value. One of the best military sources on the campaign from the French side remains Colonel Goutard (the English edition, however, is a heavily abridged version of the French); he is fair, generally accurate and critical enough not to have endeared the author to the French military establishment. Less accurate and more biased, but of considerable interest in the chronological relation of political events, is Benoist-Méchin (also reduced in translation, from three volumes to one). On the German side, Werner Haupt’s Sieg ohne Lorbeer is one of the best general accounts of the campaign. Another source used extensively throughout is General Roton, who is particularly useful on French High Command decisions; meanwhile, for details of the actions in which they themselves were involved, Rommel and Guderian (2) are indispensable and generally trustworthy. Considering the little time that Rommel had to bother with keeping up a diary, as an eye-witness account he remains quite outstanding. I have also made constant and extensive use of the War Diaries of various German units, now located in the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz. Among the most interesting of these is a bound copy of Rommel’s own orders and reports, together with situation maps kept up in his own hand,1 which was presented to Frau Rommel by the 7th Panzer and subsequently handed by her to the Bundesarchiv. For a pictorial memory of the campaign, I used the numerous illustrated volumes produced on either side, and derived particular value from the official German film, Sieg im West, the first of the major wartime documentaries, which – despite its propaganda content – contains excellent material.
Much of the mass of battle accounts requires to be treated with suspicion. Many are based, second-hand, on other (second-hand) narrations, and have not necessarily gained accuracy in the retelling. Some written very close to events have the invaluable stamp of the unprocessed, fresh memory – such as Clare Boothe’s impressions and William Shirer’s Berlin Diary. Others inevitably suffer from the distortion of the passions of the moment – such as the bitter post-defeat reminiscences of French writers who tend to see a Fifth Columnist and a traitor in every command post, or the boastful, superman accounts emanating from Nazi Germany and often published for propaganda purposes when the war was going against Hitler. Nevertheless, neither of these categories is without value. For the reasons outlined in the Preface, I have been wary about using unpublished ‘I was there’ material; on the other hand, my researches were helpfully supplemented by the responses to various correspondence and interviews on specific points. I have referred to these below under the general title of ‘personal correspondence’.
On specific and recurrent war topics, there were also certain standard books used consistently. For fighting on the French Ninth Army front (up to May 16th): Doumenc and Menu. The Second Army Front: Ruby, Grandsard and Menu. The war in Northern Belgium and Holland: Prioux, Ellis, Fechner, Christophe. The war in the air: d’Astier, Paquier (1), Bekker, Richards (for R.A.F. especially), Seive, Salesse, Tissier, Accart. In the source notes below, therefore, I have not necessarily made repeated allusion to these works each time the relevant topic comes up; and similarly with the general references (e.g. Goutard) mentioned earlier. The following notes list solely the principal source material utilized in each chapter. Works to be found in the Bibliography bear the author’s name only; where there are more than one by the same author, the appropriate number is given; where a work is not listed in the Bibliography, the title is given in full.
Part One
Chapter 1
The 1919 Victory Parade: Illustrated London News, The Times, Le Matin, Le Figaro. French post-war illusions and stresses: Chastenet (1) & (2), Brogan, Taylor (2), Churchill i.
Chapter 2
The French Army, Verdun and the Maginot Line: Rocolle, de Gaulle (1), Beaufre, Prételat, Horne (The Price of Glory), Rowe, Rodolphe. State of Army in 1935: Chastenet (1) & (2), Brogan, Ruby, Beaufre. Armoured doctrine and foreign policy: Conquet, Guderian (1), Taylor (2), Reynaud (1), Liddell Hart (1), Namier. Hitler reoccupies Rhineland: Shirer (1) & (
2), Churchill i, Armengaud, Taylor (2), Reynaud (1), Grandmougin, Beaufre, Osterkamp, Rocolle.
Chapter 3
Hitler rearms: Shirer (1) & (3), Wheeler-Bennett, O’Neill, Klein, Gauché, Demeter (The German Officer Corps). Guderian and the Panzerkorps: Guderian (1) & (2), Michael Howard (ed.) (The Theory and Practice of War), Rauschning. The revolutionary Wehrmacht: Shirer (1) & (2), Wheeler-Bennett, Taylor (2), O’Neill, Churchill i, Prittie, Guderian (1). Anti-militarism in France: Chastenet (1) & (2), Fauvet, Beauvoir. French political scandals: Chastenet (1) & (2), Grandmougin, Pertinax, Bois. Beginnings of ‘civil war’: Horne (The Price of Glory and The Fall of Paris), Pertinax, Taylor (1), Chastenet (1) & (2), Brogan, Lévy, Fauvet, Montreuil, Grandmougin, Walter, Ehrenburg.
Chapter 4
French industrial unrest and the Popular Front: Montreuil, Walter, Lévy, Chastenet (1) & (2), Grandmougin, Fauvet, Beauvoir (The Blood of Others), Pertinax. France rearms: Roton, Conquet, Rowe, Serre, Goutard (1), Pertinax, Reynaud (1), Tissier, Namier, Conquet, Tournoux, de Gaulle (1), Mengin, Gamelin i & ii, Beaufre, Grandmougin, Chastenet (2), Gauché. The Luftwaffe: Lee, Galland, Heinkel, Osterkamp, Bongartz, Bekker, Seive, Taylor (1), Douglas, d’Astier, François-Poncet. The French Air Force: d’Astier, Maurois, Brogan, Seive, Churchill i, Tissier, Gamelin i, Armengaud, Paquier, Salesse. Widening political rifts in France, the ‘Fifth Column’: Brogan, Namier, Chastenet (2), Spears i, Pertinax, Lévy, Bloch, Rauschning, Menu, Bayet, Abetz, Bois. Fall of Popuar Front and rise of Communists; Chastenet (2), Grandmougin, Lévy, Walter, Fauvet, Rossi, Beauvoir, Pertinax. The rush towards war: Taylor (2), Chastenet (2) & (3), Pertinax, Churchill i, Klein, Reynaud (1), Fabre-Luce, Shirer (1).
Chapter 5
War begins: Chastenet (3), Fabre-Luce, Shirer (1), Seydewitz, Klein, Harsch, Barlone, Maurois, Pertinax. The ‘Saar Offensive’ and Poland: Allied periodicals, Gamelin iii, Goutard, Rowe, Lerecouvreux, Prételat, Rodolphe, Minart, Spears i, Chastenet (3), Guderian (2), Balbaud, Liss, Lossberg, Blumentritt. The Phoney War: Fabre-Luce, Waterfield, Pertinax, Boothe, Sumner Welles (Time for Decision), Beauvoir, Koestler. Life at the front, French Army morale: French periodicals (see Bibliography, Part II), Fabre-Luce, Pertinax, Barlone, Spears i, Jamet, Sarraz-Bournet, Koestler, Barlone, Lerecouvreux. Impact of Nazi and Communist propaganda: Chastenet (3), Fabre-Luce, Conrad, Greenwall, Spears i, Rossi, Bois, Koestler, Ehrenburg, Pertinax, Bardies, Walter.
Chapter 6
Gamelin: Menu, Spears i, Romains, Maurois, Bardies, Bardoux, Gamelin i & ii, Pertinax, de Gaulle (2), Minart, Baudouin. French command and Georges: Goutard, Minart, Roton, Beaufre, Spears i, Sarraz-Bournet, Gauché, Weygand (1), Pertinax, Bardies. Gamelin’s strategy: Doumenc, Gamelin i & iii, Roton, French periodicals, Jacobsen (1), Ellis, Goutard, Lyet, Reynaud (1), Minart, Draper, Prioux. The ‘Mechclen Incident’: Jacobsen (2), Koeltz. French neglect of Polish lessons: Armengaud, Gauché. Finland and other distractions: Taylor (1), Koestler, Bois, Clark, Gamelin iii, Bardoux, Bois, Ironside, Weygand (1), Pertinax, Beaufre, Fabre-Luce.
Chapter 7
Fall Gelb: Jacobsen (1) & (2), Koeltz, Warlimont, Ellis, Westphal, Manstein, Goerlitz (1), Liss, Telford Taylor, Haupt, Blumentritt, Heusinger, Guderian (2). Halder and the ‘Resistance’: Krausnick (Schicksalfragen der Gegenwart), O’Neill, Prittie, Görlitz (1), Sendtner (Vollmacht des Gewissens), Von Hassell Diaries, Namier. Manstein and his plan: Blumentritt, Westphal, Manstein, O’Neill, Liddell Hart (2), Koeltz, Jacobsen (2). Finalizing Sichelschnitt plan: Jacobsen (2), Koeltz, Liss, Warlimont, Telford Taylor, Guderian (2), Lossberg, Abshagen.
Chapter 8
Norway: Moulton, Reynaud (1), Churchill i, Koeltz, Telford Taylor, Taylor (1), Lossberg. Allied Government crises: Gamelin iii, Boothe, Bois, Fabre-Luce, Baudouin, Chastenet (3), Pertinax, Churchill i. Daladier, Reynaud and Hélène de Portes: Bois, Pertinax, Fabre-Luce, Maurois, Spears i & ii, Harold Nicolson (Diaries ii), Baudouin, Chastenet (3), Sheean, Boothe. Strength of opposing forces by May 1940: Goutard, Jacobsen (2), Menu, Conquet, Lyet, Tissier, Bauer, Guderian (2), Roton, Bardies, d’Astier, Gamelin i, Lee. French line-up on the Meuse: Ruby, Menu, Goutard, Allard, Prételat, Gamelin i. French military unpreparedness: Lerecouvreux, Goutard, Maurois, Menu, Grandsard, Ruby, Conquet, French periodicals, Doumenc, Draper, Bauer, Allard, Gauché, Bernard, Beaufre, Prételat. Allied reconnaissance and German deception: Accart, Salesse, Bauer, Liss, Gauché, Lossberg, Jacobsen (2), Abshagen, Bartz (Die Tragödie der Deutschen Abwehr), Leverkuehn. Last days in France and Germany: Boothe, Fabre-Luce, Bardoux, Gontaut-Biron, de Beauvoir, Von Hassell Diaries, Seydewitz, Shirer (1), Warlimont, Halder, German periodicals, Sendtner.
Part Two
Chapter 9
Beginning of German offensive 10 May: Stackelberg, Kielmansegg, Flack, Reile, Sponeck, Spaeter, Osterkamp, Bekker, Draper, Liddell Hart (2). German advance into Ardennes: Stoves, Spaeter, Starcke, Halder, Manteuffel, Lerecouvreux. German ‘special operations’, ‘Brandenburgers’, and Eben Emacl: Leverkuehn, Abshagen, Bucheit, Jong, Haupt, Strohmeyer, Hartog, Lossberg, Bekker, Telford Taylor, Purnell’s History of the Second World War. Allies move into Belgium: Ironside, Minart, Reynaud (1), Boothe, Baudouin, Chastenet (3), Prioux, Bryant, Menu, Kosak, Gontaut-Biron, Ruby, Lerecouvreux.
Chapter 10
Fighting in Ardennes, 11 May: Manteuffel, Kosak, French periodicals, Stoves, Halder, Goutaut-Biron, Guderian (3), Mende. Allied progress in northern Belgium: Lyet, Bardies, Middleton, Roton. French High Command reactions: Draper, Roton, Minart, Goutard, Gamelin i, Weygand (1).
Chapter 11
War in Holland and northern Belgium, 12 May: Picht, Ironside, Draper, Benoist-Méchin. Guderian crosses Semois: Weiss, Stoves, Christophe, Lerecouvreux, Conrad. Corap withdrawn from Ardennes: Kosak, Manteuffel, French periodicals. Rommel crosses at Houx: French periodicals, Manteuffel, Tschimpke, Lyet. Huntziger prepares for Guderian’s attack at Sedan: Conrad. Lyet, Minart, d’Astier, Gamelin i.
Chapter 12
Rommel, background: Young, Rommel, Lossberg, Mellenthin. Corap: Chastenet (3), Allard, Draper, Maurois. Rommel’s bridgehead at Dinant: in addition to Rommel himself, Manteuffel, Draper, Borchert, Young, Tschimpke, Minart. Guderian’s preparations at Sedan: Spaeter, Stoves, Christophe, Liddell Hart (2), and here as well as later Grandsard, Ruby, Menu, Goutard. Luftwaffe bombing at Sedan: Lee, Telford Taylor, Bekker, Richards & Saunders, Goutard, Salesse, d’Astier, Stoves, Guderian (2), German periodicals. The crossings at Sedan: Sieg im West (film), Draper, German periodicals, Guderian (2) & (3), Wittek, Haupt, Spaeter, Mellenthin, Stoves, Weiss, Christophe. The French view: in addition to Roton, Goutard, Menu, Ruby, Grandsard, also Lerecouvreux, Gamelin i & iii, Conrad, French periodicals, Bardies, Draper, Doumenc. French High Command reactions: Minart, Baudouin, Gamelin i & iii, Beaufre, Ironside.
Chapter 13
Rommel consolidates his bridgehead: Manteuffel, Tschimpke, Young, Bardies, Allard, Draper, Minart, German periodicals, Wittek. First French counter-attacks at Sedan: Spaeter, Mellenthin, Stoves, Guderian (3), German and French periodicals. Guderian decides to swing westwards: Guderian (2), Halder, Stoves. Allied air attack on Sedan bridges: Richards & Saunders, Haupt, d’Astier, Paquier (1) Kielmansegg, Bekker, Ellis, Tessier, Guderian (3). French 3rd Armoured Division at Stonne: Spaeter, Serre, Lerecouvreux, Roton, French periodicals, Waterfield. Guderian and Kleist at odds: Guderian (2), Halder, German War Diaries. Holland capitulates: Draper, Bekker, Telford Taylor, Sponeck. French High Command reactions: Bardies, Minart, Menu, Spears i, Gamelin i, Reynaud (1), Ironside, Werth.
Chapter 14
The French 1st Armoured Division and Rommel’s break-out: Serre, d’Astier, Starcke, French periodicals, Bardies, Tschimpke, Borchert, German periodicals, Manteuffel, personal correspondence. Reinhardt breaks out at Monthermé: German periodicals, Guderian (3), Stackelberg. Fighting at Stonne: Spaeter, Wittek, Lemelsen (Die 29 Infanterie-Division), French periodicals, Serre. 1st Panzer breaks out at Sedan: Guderian (3), Kielmansegg, Stoves, Lemelsen (op. cit.), Draper, French per
iodicals, Doumenc, Bardies. R.A.F. begin bombing Ruhr, Reynaud asks for more fighters: Paquier (1), Richards & Saunders, Ellis, d’Astier, Müller, Webster, Narracott, Bräck, Churchill ii, Douglas. Kleist’s ‘Halt Order’ of 15 May to Guderian: Guderian, Goerlitz (1), Goutard (1), personal correspondence, French periodicals, Halder.
Chapter 15
French High Command actions, 10–15 May: Gamelin i & iii, Bois, Baudouin, Beaufre, Minart, Menu, Bardies, French periodicals, Goutard, Bardoux, Ironside, Churchill ii, Reynaud (1), Lyet, Draper, Hartog, Pertinax. Reynaud and Churchill, 15–16 May: Bois, Baudouin, Benoist-Méchin, Reynaud (1), Ironside, Churchill ii, Gamelin iii. French Government actions of 16 May: Baudouin, Herriot, Reynaud (1), Draper, Bois, Monzie, Gamelin iii. French censorship: Shecan, Boothe, Chastenet (3), Vasselle (1), Koestler, Waterfield, Bois, Werth. First panic in Paris: Sheean, Mendès-France, Bardoux, Hartog, Werth, Bois, Herriot, Benoist-Méchin. Churchill in Paris, 16 May: Benoist-Méchin, Churchill ii, Spears i, Chautemps, Baudouin, Reynaud (1), Ironside, General Ismay (Memoirs), Ellis, Douglas, Müller, Taylor (1), Richards. French High Command decisions, 16 May: Mellenthin, Minart, Roton, Doumenc, Lyet, French periodicals, Bardies. Guderian’s breakthrough, 16 May: Gontaut-Biron, Lerecouvreux, Ruby, Kielmansegg, Stoves, Spaeter. French 2nd Armoured Division’s operations: Serre, Voisin, French periodicals, personal correspondence, Bardies, Roton, Doumenc. Rommel’s ‘Avesnes Raid’: principally Rommel, and Doumenc, Rocolle, Menu, Roton, Borchert, Goutard, German periodicals, Manteuffel.
Chapter 16
The German High Command, 10–17 May: Murawski, Wehrmacht communiqués, Shirer (1), P. C. Ettighoffer (44 Tage und Nächte), Halder, Warlimont, Goutard, Heusinger, Jacobsen (1), German periodicals, Ellis, Guderian (2), Haupt, Telford Taylor, personal correspondence, Blumentritt, Mellenthin, Manteuffel, Kielmansegg. De Gaulle’s first counter-attack: Serre, de Gaulle (2) Tournoux, d’Astier, Gontaut-Biron, Voisin, Stoves, Kielmansegg, French and German periodicals, Mengin, Bardies, Roton, Bauer. Panzers consolidate: Doumenc, Manteuffel, Kosak, Prioux, Stackelberg, Guderian (2), Haupt, Lemelsen (Die 29 Infanterie-Division). Waning Allied air effort, effect on land forces: Webster & Frankland, d’Astier, Richards & Saunders, Narracott, Balbaud, Paquier (1). Retreat from northern Belgium: Prioux, Ellis, Balbaud, Bryant, Jacobsen (1). French High Command and Government actions: French periodicals, Weygand (1) & (2), Gamelin iii, Minart, Doumenc, Baudouin, Bardoux, Roton.
To Lose a Battle Page 71
