The siege of Lille, or Lille pocket, (28–31 May 1940) took place during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second Wor ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The siege around the city of

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

took place between the French IV Corps and

V Corps 5th Corps, Fifth Corps, or V Corps may refer to: France * 5th Army Corps (France) * V Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * V Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...

(about of the First Army (General René Prioux) and four German infantry divisions supported by three ''panzer'' divisions. The III Corps of the First Army had managed to retreat to the Lys river with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) divisions nearby. The two surrounded French corps resisted German attacks until forced to surrender at midnight on 31 May/1 June. The defence of the Lille Pocket enabled more Allied troops to retreat into the Dunkirk perimeter and take part in the Battle of Dunkirk.

Prelude

During the morning of 27 May, the 1st Panzer Division attacked

Gravelines Gravelines (, ; ; ) is a commune in the Nord department in Northern France. It lies at the mouth of the river Aa southwest of Dunkirk. It was formed in the 12th century around the mouth of a canal built to connect Saint-Omer with the sea. A ...

on the western side of the Dunkirk perimeter and cut off the garrison and its commander, Bertrand Fagalde was captured; the remaining French fought on. To the south, German panzers crossed the river Aa and other German troops advanced on Wormhoudt. Two panzer divisions crossed La Bassée Canal and overran the British 2nd Division. The 7th Panzer Division rushed the gap and reached the X ''Armeekorps'', cutting off the Allied troops in Lille. On the night of the BEF divisions near Lille were able to retreat over the Lys but only the three infantry divisions of the III Corps ( Léon de la Laurencie) of the French First Army (General René Prioux) managed to get away. Many of the French units that had retreated from much further south were still in the salient around Lille when the 6th Army (

Walther von Reichenau Walter Karl Ernst August von Reichenau (8 October 1884 – 17 January 1942) was a field marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Reichenau commanded the 6th Army, during the invasions of Belgium and France. During Operation ...

) surrounded the city.

Siege

The forces in Lille, commanded by Jean-Baptiste Molinié, were fortunate that a patrol captured (Lieutenant-General) Fritz Kühne, commander of the 253rd Infantry Division and recovered documents showing the positions of the German troops surrounding the city. Molinié used the information to plan a breakout for 28 May. At the IV Corps ( André Boris) and

(General

Darius Bloch Darius may refer to: Persian royalty ;Kings of the Achaemenid Empire * Darius I (the Great, 550 to 487 BC) * Darius II (423 to 404 BC) * Darius III (Codomannus, 380 to 330 BC) ;Crown princes * Darius (son of Xerxes I), crown prince of Persia, ...

) attempted to break out on the west side of Lille and retreat towards the Lys. The (2e DINA, Major-General Pierre Dame) tried to cross the Deûle river over the bridge to Sequedin (just south of Lomme). The (5e DINA, Major-General Augustin Agliany) tried to escape over the Moulin Rouge bridge on the Santes road, south of Haubourdin. Another attempt was made during the morning of 29 May; the Germans had mined the bridge but two French tanks and two companies of infantry got across but were then forced back. Molinié and five divisions of the First Army fought from house to house in the suburbs of Lille, German troops trying to infiltrate the French defences through gaps and among the many civilian refugees stranded in the city. On 29 May, the 15e DIM surrendered; with food and ammunition dwindling, Molinié and Colonel Aizier negotiated a surrender and hostilities ended at midnight on Friday 31 May/Saturday 1 June. Molinié, another troops surrendered to the Germans at the Grand Place. The German commander, General Alfred Wäger, allowed the French the

honours of war The honours of war are a set of privileges that are granted to a defeated army during the surrender ceremony. The honours symbolise the valour of the defeated army, and grew into a custom during the age of early modern warfare. Typically a surre ...

; the garrison paraded through the Grand Place, as German troops stood to attention, a compliment for which Wäger was reprimanded.

Aftermath

Some parties of French troops managed to get out of the pocket; Capitaine Philippe de Hauteclocque, the chief of staff of the 4e DI escaped and reached the 7e Armée on the Somme. By the time of the surrender,

Operation Dynamo Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

, the Dunkirk evacuation had been running for a week. In ''

The Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

'' (1949),

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

described the Allied defence of Lille as a "splendid contribution" that delayed the German advance for four days and allowed the escape of the British Expeditionary Force from

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.William L. Shirer William Lawrence Shirer (; February 23, 1904 – December 28, 1993) was an American journalist and war correspondent. He wrote ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', a history of Nazi Germany that has been read by many and cited in scholarly w ...

wrote in 1969 that the "gallant" defence of Lille "helped the beleaguered Anglo-French forces around the port to hold out for an additional two to three days and thus save at least 100,000 more troops". The defenders of Lille were the only garrison accorded honours of war during the campaign of 1940 and with the defenders of

Fort Vaux Fort Vaux (french: Fort de Vaux), in Vaux-Devant-Damloup, Meuse, France, was a polygonal fort forming part of the ring of 19 large defensive works intended to protect the city of Verdun. Built from 1881 to 1884 for 1,500,000 francs, it house ...

during the

Battle of Verdun The Battle of Verdun (french: Bataille de Verdun ; german: Schlacht um Verdun ) was fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916 on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front in France. The battle was the longest of the First World War and ...

in 1916, one of only two French garrisons to receive this distinction by Germany in both world wars. Alistair Horne wrote in 1982 that the French defence of Lille enabled the BEF and the rest of the First Army to retreat into the Dunkirk perimeter and in 2013, Douglas Fermer wrote that the Battle of Lille diverted about seven German divisions during the evacuation of Dunkirk. In a 2016 publication, Lloyd Clark wrote that the French breakout attempts were doomed to fail but that the German besiegers had been held off for four days when the Dunkirk perimeter was being consolidated. (Field Marshal)

Walther von Brauchitsch Walther Heinrich Alfred Hermann von Brauchitsch (4 October 1881 – 18 October 1948) was a German field marshal and the Commander-in-Chief (''Oberbefehlshaber'') of the German Army during World War II. Born into an aristocratic military family ...

blamed the halt order to the ''panzer'' divisions, issued by Hitler, for the delay; had the ''panzer'' forces been allowed to continue the pocket would have been sealed along the coast, preventing the Allied evacuation.

Casualties

Lloyd Clark wrote in his 2016 publication that the Germans took prisoner "seven generals, and and vehicles....".

Orders of battle

Bundesarchiv Bild 121-0396, Frankreich, Allee mit zerstörten Fahrzeugen

French
Commander: Jean-Baptiste Molinié Data from

Lloyd Clark Lloyd Clark FRHS (born 1967) is professorial research fellow in the Humanities Research Institute of the University of Buckingham. As a professor, he teaches Modern War Studies and Contemporary Military History. He is a leading military histori ...

(2016) unless specified. * III Corps ( de La Laurencie) ** 1^e Division d'Infanterie Motorisée ** 2^e Division d'infanterie nord-africaine * IV Corps ( André Boris) ** 1^e division d'infanterie marocaine ** 15^e Division d'Infanterie Motorisée (

Alphonse Juin Alphonse Pierre Juin (16 December 1888 – 27 January 1967) was a senior French Army general who became Marshal of France. A graduate of the École Spéciale Militaire class of 1912, he served in Morocco in 1914 in command of native troops. Upon ...

) * V Corps (

Darius Paul Bloch Darius Paul Dassault ( Bloch; 13 January 1882 – 3 May 1969) was a French general who was in the French Résistance in World War II. He was born in Paris. His alias Dassault developed when he was in the French Résistance. The name alludes to the ...

'Dassault'' ** 5^e Division d'infanterie nord-africaine German * XXVII Corps ( Alfred Wäger) **

4th Panzer Division The 4th Panzer Division ( en, 4th Tank Division) was an armored division in the Army of Nazi Germany. In World War II, it participated in the 1939 invasion of Poland, the 1940 invasion of France, and the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. I ...

** 253rd Infantry Division * XV (Motorised) Corps (

Hermann Hoth Hermann Hoth (12 April 1885 – 25 January 1971) was a German army commander, war criminal, and author. He served as a high-ranking panzer commander in the Wehrmacht during World War II, playing a prominent role in the Battle of France and on t ...

) ** 5th Panzer Division ** 7th Panzer Division *

XI Corps 11 Corps, 11th Corps, Eleventh Corps, or XI Corps may refer to: * 11th Army Corps (France) * XI Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars * XI Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

( Joachim von Kortzfleisch) ** 7th Infantry Division * 217th Infantry Division * Army Group A Reserve ** 267th Infantry Division

Footnotes

References

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