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British Expeditionary Force (WWII)
The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was the name of the contingent of the British Army sent to France in 1939 after Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany on 3 September, beginning the Second World War. The BEF existed from 2 September 1939 when the BEF GHQ was formed until 31 May 1940, when GHQ closed down and its troops reverted to the command of Home Forces. During the 1930s, the British government had planned to deter war by abolishing the Ten Year Rule and rearming from the very low level of readiness of the early 1930s. The bulk of the extra money went to the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force but plans were made to re-equip a small number of Army and Territorial Army divisions for service overseas. General Lord Gort was appointed to the command of the BEF on 3 September 1939 and the BEF began moving to France on 4 September 1939. The BEF assembled along the Belgian–French border. The BEF took their post to the left of the French First Army under the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other companies. The first carriers – the Bren Carrier and the Scout Carrier with specific roles – entered service before the war, but a single improved design that could replace these, the Universal, was introduced in 1940. The vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War. Universal Carriers were usually used for transporting personnel and equipment, mostly support weapons, or as machine gun platforms. Design and development The origins of the Universal Carrier family can be traced back generally to the Carden Loyd tankettes family, which was developed in the 1920s, and specifically the Mk VI tankette. In 1934, Vickers-Armstrongs produced, as a commercial venture, a light tracked vehicle that could ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fall Gelb
The Manstein Plan or Case Yellow (german: Fall Gelb) also known as Operation Sichelschnitt (german: Sichelschnittplan, from the English language, English term sickle cut), was the Military operation plan, war plan of the German Army (Wehrmacht), German armed forces (german: Wehrmacht) during the Battle of France in 1940. The original invasion plan was an awkward compromise devised by General Franz Halder, the chief of staff of (OKH, Army High Command) that satisfied no one. Documents with details of the plan fell into Belgian hands during the Mechelen incident on 10 January 1940 and the plan was revised several times, each giving more emphasis to an attack by Army Group A through the Ardennes, which progressively reduced the offensive by Army Group B through the Low Countries to a diversion. In the final version of the plan, the main effort of the German invasion was made against the Ardennes, the weakest part of the Allied line, where the defence was left to second-rate French ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beauman Division
The Beauman Division was an improvised formation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) during the Second World War, which fought in France against the German 4th Army in June 1940, during (Case Red), the final German offensive of the Battle of France. Background Battle of France After the Phoney War, the Battle of France began on 10 May 1940 when the German armies in the west commenced the "Manstein Plan" . The German Army Group B invaded the Netherlands and advanced westwards. General Maurice Gamelin, the Supreme Allied Commander, initiated the Dyle Plan (Plan D) and invaded Belgium to close up to the Dyle River with three mechanised armies, the French First Army and Seventh Army and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). The plan relied on the Maginot Line fortifications along the German-French border but the Germans had already crossed through most of the Netherlands, before the French forces arrived. Army Group A advanced through the Ardennes and crossed the Meus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenth Army (France)
The Tenth Army (french: Xe Armée) was a Field army of the French Army during World War I and World War II. World War I The Tenth Army, first called ''détachement d'armée Maud'huy'', was formed on 1 October 1914 during the Race to the Sea. It gained a victory in the Battle of Arras (1914). Later, it took part in the Second Battle of Artois (May 1915), the Third Battle of Artois (September 1915), the Battle of the Somme (July 1916), and the Second Battle of the Aisne (April 1917). In October 1917, at the request of the Italian Supreme Commander, General Luigi Cadorna, the Tenth Army moved onto the Italian Front alongside British Expeditionary Force units, together forming the Italian Expeditionary Force. For this operation the army included the 12th Army Corps and the 31st Army Corps, for a total of six infantry divisions of French troops. The Italians had been pushed back at the Battle of Caporetto by German Army reinforced Austro-Hungarian divisions. French forces were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force them to move around the fortifications. The Maginot Line was impervious to most forms of attack. In consequence, the Germans invaded through the Low Countries in 1940, passing it to the north. The line, which was supposed to be fully extended further towards the west to avoid such an occurrence, was finally scaled back in response to demands from Belgium. Indeed, Belgium feared it would be sacrificed in the event of another German invasion. The line has since become a metaphor for expensive efforts that offer a false sense of security. Constructed on the French side of its borders with Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium, the line did not extend to the English Channel. French strategy therefore envisioned a move into Belgium ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
51st (Highland) Division
The 51st (Highland) Division was an infantry division of the British Army that fought on the Western Front in France during the First World War from 1915 to 1918. The division was raised in 1908, upon the creation of the Territorial Force, as the Highland Division and later 51st (Highland) Division from 1915. The division's insignia was a stylised 'HD' inside a red circle. Early doubts about the division's performance earned it the nickname of "Harper's Duds" after the name of its commander, Major-General George Harper. The division was renamed the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division and fought during the Second World War as part of the Territorial Army after the Territorial Force was disbanded in 1920. In June 1940, the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was attached to French 10th Army and after a fighting retreat from the Somme the greater part of the division was forced to surrender, having been cut off at St Valery-en-Caux on the Channel coast. In North Africa, the reconsti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunkirk Evacuation
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The operation commenced after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France. In a speech to the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called this "a colossal military disaster", saying "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured. In his "We shall fight on the beaches" speech on 4 June, he hailed their rescue as a "miracle of deliverance". After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, France and the British Empire declared war on Germany and imposed an economic blockade. The British Expeditionary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Commune de Dunkerque (59183) INSEE It lies from the border. It has the third-largest French harbour. The population of the commune in 2019 was 86,279. Etymology and language use The name of Dunkirk derives from '' or ' |
Somme (river)
The Somme ( , , ) is a river in Picardy, northern France. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geological syncline which also forms the Solent. This gives it a fairly constant and gentle gradient where several fluvial terraces have been identified. Name The Somme river was known in ancient times as ''Samara''. It presumably means 'the summery river', that is to say the 'quiet river', stemming from an adjective *''sam-aro''- ('summery') itself derived from the Celtic root *''samo''- ('summer')., s.v. ''Samara'' and ''Samarobriva Ambianorum.'' The city of Amiens was also known as ''Samarobriva'' (Gaulish: 'bridge on the Samara'). It is attested by the early 1st century BC as the chief town of the Ambiani, an ancient Gallic tribe of the region. The modern department of Somme was named after this river. History left, '' King Edward III Crossi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Arras (1940)
The Battle of Arras took place on 21 May 1940, during the Battle of France in the Second World War. Following the German invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May, French and British forces advanced into Belgium. The German campaign plan (Case Yellow) had evolved into a decoy operation in the Netherlands and Belgium, with the main effort through the Ardennes. German units crossed the Meuse without waiting for reinforcements at the Battle of Sedan. Instead of consolidating bridgeheads on the west bank of the Meuse, the Germans began an advance down the Somme river valley towards the English Channel. The Allies were thrown into confusion and their attempts to cut off the panzer spearheads degenerated into sporadic, un-coordinated counter-attacks which never achieved sufficient concentration to succeed as the main Allied armies were in Belgium. The offensive at Arras was planned by the British and French to relieve the pressure on the British garrison in the town of Arras and was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Sedan (1940)
The Battle of Sedan or Second Battle of Sedan (12–15 May 1940)Frieser 2005, p. 196. took place in the Second World War during the Battle of France in 1940. It was part of the German ''Wehrmacht''s operational plan codenamed ''Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow) for an offensive through the hilly and forested Ardennes, to encircle the Allied armies in Belgium and north-eastern France. German Army Group A crossed the Meuse with the intention of capturing Sedan and pushing westwards towards the Channel coast, to trap the Allied forces that were advancing east into Belgium, as part of the Allied Dyle Plan. Sedan is situated on the east bank of the Meuse. Its capture would give the Germans a base from which to take the Meuse bridges and cross the river. The German divisions could then advance across the open and undefended French countryside to the English Channel. On 12 May, Sedan was captured without resistance and the Germans defeated the French defences around Sedan on the west bank o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dyle (river)
The Dyle (french: Dyle ; nl, Dijle ) is a river in central Belgium, left tributary of the Rupel. It is long. It flows through the Belgian provinces of Walloon Brabant, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. Its source is in Houtain-le-Val, near Nivelles in Walloon Brabant. The most important cities along the Dyle are (starting from the source) Ottignies, Wavre, Leuven and Mechelen, the last of which is often called the 'Dijlestad' (Dyle City). The main tributaries of the Dyle are the rivers Demer (in Werchter, Rotselaar municipality), and the Zenne at the ''Zennegat'', on the farthest outskirts of Mechelen, where the canal Leuven-Mechelen also connects. A few hundred metres downstream, the confluence of the Dyle and the Nete at Rumst forms the river Rupel, which further comes into the Scheldt on which the Antwerp seaport is located. The Dyle used to be navigable for small ships from Werchter on, although nowadays commercial and pleasure navigation is limited to Mechelen, the upper lock ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
