General Prioux and victory at Hannut May1940

Thew first panzer battle in the west?

"The 2nd and 3rd DLMs of General Prioux badly mauled the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions of General Hoepner at Hannut, and only because Prioux retired behind the main French line as ordered was the German position in Belgium not seriously disrupted."

http://stonebooks.com/archives/001022.shtml

I have more info on a book on this that there would have been some 650 German tanks ( Pz I and II´s mostly ? ) and 320 french tanks (?)

Anyone got more detailed info on this one?

 

Give me a day or two on this.

 

Great T.A.!

Hope you find more on this as I thought that this might have had interesting effects on the German attack plans..maybe?

 

*Bump*

Or others?

 

Not on this specific event, but there was more than one tactical Allied tank victory in 1940 (Arras, some de Gaulle actions). But if Prioux would not have retreated, the fate of his tanks would have probably been the same as in the other tank victories: Being smashed by Stukas or 8-8.

 

Got it, Kai!

During the days 12th and 13th of the German invasion. The situation of the Dutch was desperate and everything seemed lost while the 9th Panzer division was literally rolling to the outskirts of Rotterdam. However, the Dutch resistance was though and general Von Küchler, commander of the XVIII German Army gave strict orders "to crush enemy resistance by any means". Général Giraud's VII Army had been withdrawn to the Scault line. The remains of the Belgian Army withdrew to the Dyle line. Lord Gort reported that "there had been no important things to report".

However, général Prioux 's Corps de Cavallerie formed the front of général Blanchard's I Army and received the entire strenght of the German blow in northern Belgium. On the 12th there were only skirmishes between either side's tanks. Then on the 13th it became the first real tank battle of the campaign, of WWII and indeed, of the history of warfare. Very strong armoured formations from Panzer divisions 3rd and 4th under general Hoeppner, closely supported by 'Stukas' smashed the lines of the French light mechanised divisions. During the 14th, combats took place around Merdorp, a town west of Hannut and some kilometres away of Ramillies battle field. The Germans reported not severe casualties, but they were astonished and shocked by the quality of French 'Soumuas' tanks for sure, which couldn't be pierced by most of German guns. But the Germans rapidly realised the French's weaknesses of low rate of fire and short range, as well as uncoordinated attacks and formations. Thus, the Germans immediately exploited thier superior mobility and unified leadership, fired at shorter ranges and slowly destroyed French battle groups one by one. By the end of the day, général Prioux withdrew his anti-tank defense at Perwez. The Germans claimed having destroyed 30 'Somuas' and 70 H-35s 'Hotchkiss'.

 

Ok,

Thanx Friedrich!

Found this in the net; would be interesting to read?



some pages from it, unfortunately I don´t speak French..

http://perso.club-internet.fr/splou/PRIOUX4.htm

and a map:

http://perso.club-internet.fr/splou/PRIOUX1.htm

 

Thanks, Kai! It would be an interesting reading!

 

Interesting. I was just recently sent this account from a friend in France. I am sure he will not mind if I copy it entirely since you are interested in the subject.

HANNUT - GEMBLOUX (12-15 May 1940) :
On 10th May the French troops headed for Belgium being attacked by the Germans. They are moving during night and reach Gembloux itself on 13th May. Their
mission is to block the German advance to allow other french troops and English troops to establish defensive position between the Dyle and the Meuse. The area
is favorable to the tanks, therefore to the ennemy whose tanks are more numerous. The French used the Bruxelles-Namur railroad and the cities of Gembloux and
Ernage to anchor the defenses.

The first contact between French and German tanks took place in Hannut on 12th May 1940.
The French cavalry Corps, with its 8 Somua S-35 squadrons (13e and 29e Dragons in the 2e DLM, 1er et 2e Cuirassiers in the 3e DLM) had to delay the
German XVI. Panzerkorps. The infantry (Dragons portés) was organized into strongpoints, the tanks were deployed on the rear, ready to counter-attack between
the infantry positions. On 12th May 1940 the Hannut area (3e DLM) was attacked by the Panzer group Eberbach. The German tanks reached the center of the town.
A first counter-attack was led by the Hotchkiss H-39 squadron of Capitaine Sainte Marie Perrin but all the tanks were destroyed and the commanding officer killed.
Colonel Du Vigier then launched the Somua squadron of Capitaine Beaufort into action. The Germans sustained heavy losses and were forced to retreat. General
Hoeppner (XVI.PzK) had been amazed by the efficiency of the Somua S-35 in comparison to the Hotchkiss tanks, it was the first time the German encountered
French tanks.
"During the 12-13th May night I gave the orders to engage all the Hotchkiss tanks but to avoid combat with the Somua S-35s if not at close range
because the French 47mm SA35 gun was too dangerous at medium/long range."

On 13th May, at the beginning of the afternoon the 2e Esc/1er Cuirassier from Capitaine Ameil is launched in an attck against the 4.PzD positions. The Somuas
stopped at 800m short of the German positions, all the German tanks were crowded in a forest edge. The 4 Somua S-35 platoons opened fire and slaughtered the
German Panzer II and Panzer III. The 4.PzD could not deploy as it was programed and the 3.PzD had to be engaged to outflank the 2e Esc/1er Cuirassier but it
encountered the Somua S-35 squadron of the 1e Esc/1er Cuirassier (Lieutenant Mazeran), perfectly embossed and engaging the flank of the Germans. About 50
German tanks were destroyed or partially disabled but the French position was finally taken because the Somuas had no ammunitions anymore. Only one platoon
(Lieutenant Racine) managed to retreat and 29 impacts of 20mm and 37mm shells were numbered on its tank.
From the 42 Somuas of the 1er Cuirassier, only 16 were still operational on the 13th May evening, all covered with impacts.

Gembloux in Belgium saw the engagement between 376 French tanks (2nd and 3rd DLM = Division légère mécanique) and 664 German tanks (XVI. Pz Korps).
It is the fisrt big tank battle of WW2. The French lines are also reinforced by the 1st and 15th DIM (General Juin).
On 14th May 500 German tanks attacked the positions of the 2 infantry divisions but the attack is still blocked despite the large use of artillery and the support of
the Luftwaffe.
About 60 German tanks were destroyed by the French field artillery (grossly half of the 35. Pz Rgt). Two French companies are totally destroyed in Ernage. From
the 700 men of the 7th RTM only 74 are still alive on 16th May. The front didn't collapse but the losses are really heavy. At Gembloux it is a Pyrrhus victory for
the French but the German pierced the lines in an other area. The mobility and tactics of the Germans almost systematically resulted in concentration of firepower
and local superiority in the objective area.

LOSSES IN GEMBLOUX :
- 105 tanks destroyed on the French side
- 165 tanks destroyed on the German side

Germans never attacked with less than Panzer Battalion's strength (so about 80 Panzers including 10 PzIII and 6 PzIV) against squadron strength strongpoints (20
French tanks either Hotchkiss or SOMUA). The reason is simple : tactical regulation (French officers latter admitted that they were surprised by the German tank
concentration) and transmissions (lots of radio vs few radios, the classical 1940 tank stuff).
Then you have to know that apart from the officers, the tank commanders were reservists that actually did their military service on horses ! They had fired a few
shells at Suippes and now, they were facing a flood of German panzers ! (It is still amazing that they did not run away at this point). To actually hit a Panzer with
the one-man turret would prove to be difficult : panzers were fast, training insufficient ... But on the German side, the situation was not very good as well : apart
from 75mm gun (PzIV), no German shell could pierce the Somua S35 and the Hotchkiss (and even not talking about the B1bis not present in this battle), they
could only be destroyed at close range. Also German tankers went to duel the French Somuas at long range (around 800 to 1000 m) with both sides using too
many rounds for nothing but the 47mm gun of the Somua was able to destroy the German tanks at longer range.
Even counterattacks by 10 SOMUAs were viewed as critical on the German side ! The French would trade tanks for time.
When coming to the reason of French losses, a high proportion of Hotchkiss were destroyed by gun fire but for SOMUAs, a significant proportion were lost due to
drivers errors or mechanical breakdowns.
In tank battle, the one that hold the ground in the end has a tremendous advantage. Belgian civilians still remember that after the battle, German field workshops
would work during the night to repair.

 

One should also note that the French DLM lacked infantry support too. Even where the French 'won' a tank battle they had no resources to hold the ground afterwards. The two (it might be 3)battalions / squadrons of dragoons porte really amounted to about 4 total companies of infanty. They were well provided with heavy weapons but, this small amount of infanty is hardly sufficent to hold ground against the panzergrenadier contengent of a panzer division. The same went for artillery. Most of the French guns were 75mm M1897's with only a battery of 105's available.
In most cases, the DLM deployed platoon strength infantry groups for screening and delaying actions where they were quickly scattered and rendered ineffective by the Germans.

 

Wow!

Thanx Major, Thanx T.A.!

Thas was very interesting!

 

Thnak you very much, M.D. and T.A.! Supperb posts!

 

Oops...

 

interesting...

 

That's a funny coincidence, I have that book, I bought it ages and ages ago in a second-hand bookshop. Different cover but same book!

 

Any interesting details,Za?

 

Well, I read this a long while ago so I can't remember a lot. My main impression is the book was mainly concerned about the author's embroilment in the de Gaulle / Giraud controversy in North Africa, so nothing very very interesting, unfortunately...