Hannut - Gembloux battle (12-15 May 1940)

Hello,

Here is a compilation from personnal notes and debates on the France 1940 discussion group.

HANNUT - GEMBLOUX (12-15 May 1940) :

On 10th May the French troops headed for Belgium being attacked by the Germans. They were moving during night and reached Gembloux on 13th May. Their mission was to block the German advance to allow other French and English troops to establish a 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 defences.

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) is attacked by the Panzer Gruppe Eberbach. The German tanks reach the center of the town. A first counter-attack is led by the Hotchkiss tanks of Capitaine Sainte-Marie Perrin : 11 French tanks and 5 German tanks are destroyed. The 9 other Hotchkiss are ordered to retreat.
In Crehen the Sous-Lieutenant Lotsisky and his Somuas destroyed 4 Panzers, 1 gun battery and several trucks.
In Thisne, despite heavy losses the French troops destroyed the Befehlspanzer of Lt Col Eberbach who will later be Kommandeur of the 4.PzD.
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 General Hoeppner 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 attack against the 4.PzD positions. The Somuas stopped at 800m 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 Panzers (about 60% of the 4.PzD was composed of PzI and PzII). The 4.PzD could not deploy as it was programmed 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 his 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 remained inefficient 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 on the French side
- 165 tanks 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 fload of German panzers ! (It is still amazing that they did not run away at this glance). 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 the 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) at a cumfortable range, they had to move to 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.

Regards,

David

 

Welcome to the forum David, what an excellent report !

And thank you for giving our new section such a flying start, not to mention high standard.

 

Agreed on all counts, Skua.

The French might well have achieved more had they been better trained and equipped. Interwar parsimony and ultraconservatism saw to it that they were not. Still, they managed to inflict an impressive amount of damage on the Germans.

 

It should be noted that the same ultra conservatives who hurt the attempt at modernizing the French Army were VERY fast to betray France, and give up the war.

Peitan not only betrayed France but killed thousands of innocent french men women and children, many of them veterans of WW1, just for being jewish.

Still the Patriotic French Army fought well in Belgium, but it should be remembered that it was what Manstien had in mind when he presented his plan to Hitler.