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108-802: At the time of the German invasion in May 1940, Belgium had several political parties that were broadly sympathetic to the authoritarian and anti-democratic ideals represented by Nazi Germany . In Wallonia and Brussels , the largest of these groups was the Rexist Party , led by Léon Degrelle . This had originated as a faction of the mainstream Catholic Block , but split in 1935 to form an independent populist party. Ideologically, Rex supported Belgian nationalism , but its support for corporatism and anti-communism made it sympathetic towards aspects of Nazi ideology . It achieved some early success, peaking at

216-623: A French strike at Germany's Ruhr area using Belgium as a spring-board in October 1930 and again in January 1933. Belgium feared it would be drawn into a war regardless, and sought to avoid that eventuality. The Belgians also feared being drawn into a war as a result of the French–Soviet pact of May 1935 . The Franco-Belgian agreement stipulated Belgium was to mobilise if the Germans did, but what

324-581: A German attack on the country. The Belgians, recognising the danger posed by the Germans, secretly made their own defence policies, troop movement information, communications, fixed defence dispositions, intelligence and air reconnaissance arrangements available to the French military attaché in Brussels . Officially, the Belgian government retained a suspicious posture towards France, considering them as equal

432-546: A German invasion as inevitable and were determined that if an invasion did take place it would be effectively resisted by new fortifications such as Eben Emael . The Belgians had taken measures to reconstruct their defences along their border with Germany upon Adolf Hitler 's rise to power in January 1933. The Belgian government had watched with increasing alarm the German withdrawal from the League of Nations , its repudiation of

540-504: A bill to require longer military service and training was rejected on the basis that it would increase Belgium's military commitments, perhaps in conflicts far from home. King Leopold III made a speech on 14 October 1936 before the Council of Ministers to persuade the people and their government that Belgium's defences needed strengthening. He outlined three main military points for Belgium's increased rearmament: a) German rearmament and

648-618: A broad front in Normandy would permit simultaneous threats against the port of Cherbourg , coastal ports further west in Brittany, and an overland attack towards Paris and eventually into Germany. Normandy was hence chosen as the landing site. The most serious drawback of the Normandy coast—the lack of port facilities—would be overcome through the development of artificial Mulberry harbours . A series of modified tanks, nicknamed Hobart's Funnies , dealt with specific requirements expected for

756-525: A central position around Paris and Rouen and deploying them only when the main Allied beachhead had been identified. He also noted that in the Italian Campaign , the armoured units stationed near the coast had been damaged by naval bombardment. Rommel's opinion was that because of Allied air supremacy, the large-scale movement of tanks would not be possible once the invasion was under way. Hitler made

864-580: A danger to Belgian sovereignty as the Third Reich. French forces were not allowed to enter Belgium, even when the German plans to invade became imminent. The Allied plan to aid Belgium was the Dyle Plan ; the cream of the Allied forces, including French armoured divisions , would advance to the Dyle river in response to a German invasion. The choice of an established Allied line lay in either reinforcing

972-465: A few days. Rommel believed that Germany's best chance was to stop the invasion at the shore. He requested that the mobile reserves, especially tanks, be stationed as close to the coast as possible. Rundstedt, Geyr, and other senior commanders objected. They believed that the invasion could not be stopped on the beaches. Geyr argued for a conventional doctrine: keeping the Panzer formations concentrated in

1080-759: A force totaling some 600,000 men. Belgian reserves may have been able to field 900,000 men. The Army lacked armour and anti-aircraft guns. After the completion of the Belgian Army's mobilisation, it could muster five regular corps and two reserve army corps consisting of 12 regular infantry divisions, two divisions of Chasseurs Ardennais , six reserve infantry divisions, one brigade of cyclist Frontier Guards, one cavalry corps of two divisions, and one brigade of motorised cavalry. The Army contained two anti-aircraft artillery and four artillery regiments, and an unknown number of fortress, engineer, and signals force personnel. The Belgian Naval Corps ( Corps de Marine )

1188-659: A further postponement would have meant a delay of at least two weeks, as the planners had requirements for the phase of the moon, the tides, and time of day, that meant only a few days each month were deemed suitable. Adolf Hitler placed Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces and developing fortifications along the Atlantic Wall in anticipation of an invasion. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt placed Major General Dwight D. Eisenhower in command of Allied forces. The invasion began shortly after midnight on

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1296-587: A misinformation campaign using fake radio traffic to lead the Germans into expecting an attack on Norway, and Fortitude South, a major deception involving the creation of a fictitious First United States Army Group under Lieutenant General George S. Patton , supposedly located in Kent and Sussex . Fortitude South was intended to deceive the Germans into believing that the main attack would take place at Calais . Genuine radio messages from 21st Army Group were first routed to Kent via landline and then broadcast, to give

1404-587: A truck or by a fully tracked armoured utilitie B-tractor. One report states that a round from a 47 mm gun went straight through a Sd kfz 231 and penetrated the armour of the Panzer IV behind it. These Belgian guns were better than the 25 mm and 37 mm guns of, respectively, the French and the Germans. The Belgians began mobilisation on 25 August 1939 and by May 1940 mounted a field army of 18 infantry divisions, two divisions of partly motorised Chasseurs Ardennais and two motorised cavalry divisions,

1512-770: The Luftwaffe bases to engage in strategic offensive operations against the United Kingdom in the coming conflict. However, the British government paid little attention to the concerns of the Belgians. The lack of this commitment ensured the Belgian withdrawal from the Western Alliance , the day before the remilitarisation of the Rhineland . The lack of opposition to the remilitarisation served to convince

1620-620: The 18 Days' Campaign ( French : Campagne des 18 jours ; Dutch : Achttiendaagse Veldtocht ), formed part of the larger Battle of France , an offensive campaign by Germany during the Second World War . It took place over 18 days in May 1940 and ended with the German occupation of Belgium following the surrender of the Belgian Army . On 10 May 1940, Germany invaded Luxembourg , the Netherlands , and Belgium under

1728-466: The 1er with 60 aircraft, the 2ème with 53 aircraft, and the 3ème with 79 aircraft. The Belgians were afforded substantial support by the French Army. The French 1st Army included General René Prioux 's Cavalry Corps. The corps was given the 2nd Light Mechanized Division (2 Division Légère Mécanique, or 2 DLM) and the 3rd Light Mechanized Division (3 DLM), which were allocated to defend

1836-540: The 25th Motorised Infantry Division (25 Division d'Infanterie Motorisée, or 25 DIM) and the 9th Motorised Infantry Division (9 DIM). This force would advance to Breda in the Netherlands. Normandy landings Airborne assault British Sector American Sector Normandy landings American Sector Anglo-Canadian Sector Logistics Ground campaign American Sector Anglo-Canadian Sector Breakout Air and Sea operations Supporting operations Aftermath The Normandy landings were

1944-585: The 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" , had only arrived in France in March–May 1944 for extensive refit after being badly damaged during the Dnieper-Carpathian operation. Seven of the eleven panzer or panzergrenadier divisions stationed in France were not fully operational or only partially mobile in early June 1944. German Supreme commander: Adolf Hitler Allied forces attacking Utah Beach faced

2052-570: The Avranches - Falaise line within the first three weeks. Montgomery envisaged a ninety-day battle, lasting until all Allied forces reached the River Seine . Under the overall umbrella of Operation Bodyguard, the Allies conducted several subsidiary operations designed to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the Allied landings. Operation Fortitude included Fortitude North,

2160-503: The BBC's French service from London. Several hundred of these messages, which might be snippets of poetry, quotations from literature, or random sentences, were regularly transmitted, masking the few that were significant. In the weeks preceding the landings, lists of messages and their meanings were distributed to resistance groups. An increase in radio activity on 5 June was correctly interpreted by German intelligence to mean that an invasion

2268-453: The Belgian combat vehicles included 200 T-13 tank destroyers . These had excellent 47 mm antitank guns and coaxial FN30 machine guns in turrets. The Belgians also possessed 42 T-15s . They were officially described as armoured cars but were actually fully tracked tanks with 13.2 mm turret machine guns . The standard Belgian anti-tank gun was the 47 mm FRC , towed either by

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2376-645: The British Expeditionary Force (BEF), along with many Belgian and French soldiers, to escape capture and continue military operations. France reached its own armistice with Germany in June 1940. Belgium was occupied by the Germans until the autumn of 1944, when it was liberated by the Western Allies. The Belgian strategy for a defence against German aggression faced political as well as military problems. In terms of military strategy ,

2484-465: The Gembloux gap . The armoured forces consisted of 176 of the formidable SOMUA S35s and 239 Hotchkiss H35 light tanks. Both of these types, in armour and firepower, were superior to most German types. The 3 DLM contained 90 S35s and some 140 H35s alone. The French 7th Army was assigned to protect the northernmost part of the Allied front. It contained the 1st Light Mechanized Division (1 DLM),

2592-849: The German Army invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing his new allies for the creation of a second front in western Europe. In late May 1942, the Soviet Union and the United States made a joint announcement that a "... full understanding was reached with regard to the urgent tasks of creating a second front in Europe in 1942." However, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill persuaded US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to postpone

2700-743: The Low Countries , with another eighteen stationed in Denmark and Norway. Fifteen divisions were in the process of formation in Germany. Combat losses throughout the war, particularly on the Eastern Front , meant that the Germans no longer had a pool of able young men from which to draw. German soldiers were now on average six years older than their Allied counterparts. Many in the Normandy area were Ostlegionen (eastern legions)—conscripts and volunteers from Russia, Mongolia, and other areas of

2808-518: The Luftwaffe and established air supremacy over western Europe, so Rommel knew he could not expect effective air support. The Luftwaffe could muster only 815 aircraft over Normandy in comparison to the Allies' 9,543. Rommel arranged for booby-trapped stakes known as Rommelspargel ( Rommel's asparagus ) to be installed in meadows and fields to deter airborne landings. German armaments minister Albert Speer notes in his 1969 autobiography that

2916-663: The North African Campaign and the Eastern Front . The battle also included the Battle of Fort Eben-Emael , the first strategic airborne operation using paratroopers ever attempted. The German official history stated that in the 18 days of bitter fighting, the Belgian Army were tough opponents, and spoke of the "extraordinary bravery" of its soldiers. The Belgian collapse forced the Allied withdrawal from continental Europe. The British Royal Navy subsequently evacuated Belgian ports during Operation Dynamo , allowing

3024-765: The Treaty of Versailles and its violation of the Locarno Treaties . The government modernised fortifications at Namur and Liège , and established new lines of defence along the Maastricht – 's-Hertogenbosch canal, joining the Meuse, the Scheldt and the Albert Canal. Protection of the eastern frontier, based mainly on destroying a number of roads, was entrusted to new formations (frontier cyclist units and

3132-537: The landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War . Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D-Day (after the mililtary term ), it is the largest seaborne invasion in history. The operation began the liberation of France , and the rest of Western Europe, and laid the foundations of

3240-502: The Albert Canal from Antwerp to Liège and the Meuse from Liège to Namur, which was to be held long enough to allow French and British troops to occupy the line Antwerp–Namur– Givet . It was anticipated that the forces of the guarantor Powers would be in action on the third day of an invasion. (b) Withdrawal to the Antwerp–Namur position. (c) The Belgian Army was to hold the sector–excluding Leuven , but including Antwerp–as part of

3348-678: The Allied First Army Group into central Belgium, while Army Group A conducted the surprise assault through the Ardennes. Belgium was to act as a secondary front. Army Group B was given only limited numbers of armoured and mobile units, while the vast majority of the army group comprised infantry divisions. After the English Channel was reached, all Panzer division units and most motorised infantry were removed from Army Group B and given to Army Group A, to strengthen

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3456-467: The Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected. With the Pas-de-Calais being the closest point in continental Europe to Britain, the Germans considered it to be the most likely initial landing zone, so it was the most heavily fortified region. But it offered few opportunities for expansion, as the area is bounded by numerous rivers and canals, whereas, landings on

3564-463: The Allied victory on the Western Front . Planning for the operation began in 1943. In the months leading up to the invasion, the Allies conducted a substantial military deception , codenamed Operation Bodyguard , to mislead the Germans as to the date and location of the main Allied landings. The weather on the day selected for D-Day was not ideal, and the operation had to be delayed 24 hours;

3672-407: The Allies to land at high tide so that the infantry would spend less time exposed on the beach, he ordered many of these obstacles to be placed at the high water mark . Tangles of barbed wire, booby traps , and the removal of ground cover made the approach hazardous for infantry. On Rommel's order, the number of mines along the coast was tripled. The Allied air offensive over Germany had crippled

3780-522: The Atlantic coast, from Spain to Norway, to protect against an expected Allied invasion. He envisioned 15,000 emplacements manned by 300,000 troops, but shortages, particularly of concrete and manpower, meant that most of the strongpoints were never built. As it was expected to be the site of the invasion, the Pas de Calais was heavily defended. In the Normandy area, the best fortifications were concentrated at

3888-619: The Atlantic meant German meteorologists had less information than the Allies on incoming weather patterns. As the Luftwaffe meteorological centre in Paris was predicting two weeks of stormy weather, many Wehrmacht commanders left their posts to attend war games in Rennes , and men in many units were given leave. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel returned to Germany for his wife's birthday and to petition Hitler for additional Panzer divisions. Germany had at its disposal fifty divisions in France and

3996-595: The Belgians in defending Belgium's eastern borders, which would allow it to stop a German attack well forward of the French border. The French were dependent on cooperation from the Belgians. Such a situation deprived the French of any prepared defences in Belgium to forestall an attack, a situation which the French had wanted to avoid as it meant engaging the German Panzer divisions in a mobile battle. The French considered invading Belgium immediately in response to

4104-523: The Belgians in the east of the country, at the Meuse – Albert Canal line, and holding the Scheldt Estuary , thus linking the French defences in the south with the Belgian forces protecting Ghent and Antwerp , seemed to be the soundest defensive strategy. The weakness of the plan was that it abandoned most of eastern Belgium to the Germans. Militarily it would put the Allied rear at right angles to

4212-426: The Belgians that France and Britain were unwilling to fight for their own strategic interests, let alone Belgium's. The Belgian General Staff was determined to fight for its own interests, alone if necessary. The French government was infuriated at King Leopold III 's open declaration of neutrality in October 1936. The French Army saw its strategic assumptions undermined; it could no longer expect cooperation from

4320-583: The Belgians were unwilling to stake everything on a linear defence of the Belgian–German border, in an extension of the Maginot Line . Such a move would leave the Belgians vulnerable to a German assault in their rear, through an attack on the Netherlands . Such a strategy would also rely on the French to move quickly into Belgium and support the garrison there. Belgium was wary of continuing its alliance with France. Marshal Philippe Pétain had suggested

4428-568: The Brussels–Ghent gap supporting the Belgian Army, holding the main defensive positions, some 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Brussels. The main defensive position ringing Antwerp would be protected by the Belgians, barely 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the city. The French 7th Army was to reach the Zeeland or Breda, just inside the Dutch border. The French would then be in a position to protect

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4536-457: The Channel after five days, encircling the Allied armies. The Germans gradually reduced the pocket of Allied forces, forcing them back to the sea. The Belgian Army surrendered on 28 May 1940, ending the battle. The Battle of Belgium included the first tank battle of the war, the Battle of Hannut . It was the largest tank battle in history at the time but was later surpassed by the battles of

4644-628: The Charleroi suburb of Trazegnies . As his vehicle passed through the Bois du Rognac neighborhood between Monceau-sur-Sambre and Courcelles , resistance members opened fire on the vehicle killing all its occupants except a gendarme assigned as a guard. The identities of the resistance members involved have never been established. The attack happened as the Allied forces which had landed in Normandy in June, were already advancing rapidly towards Belgium and German forces were in full retreat. News of

4752-680: The Cotentin Peninsula and eventually capture the port facilities at Cherbourg . The British at Sword and Gold Beaches and the Canadians at Juno Beach would protect the US flank and attempt to establish airfields near Caen on the first day. (A sixth beach, code-named "Band", was considered to the east of the Orne). A secure lodgement would be established with all invading forces linked together, with an attempt to hold all territory north of

4860-480: The Dutch border were the targets. Failure to capture the bridges would leave Walter von Reichenau 's German 6th Army , the southernmost army of Group B, trapped in the Maastricht-Albert Canal enclave and subject to the fire of Eben-Emael. The fort had to be captured or destroyed. Adolf Hitler summoned Lieutenant-General Kurt Student of the 7. Flieger-Division (7th Air Division) to discuss

4968-516: The Fiats, Hurricanes, and Battles had been delivered. The shortage of modern types meant single-seat versions of the Fairey Fox light bomber were being used as fighters. The AéMI possessed 250 combat aircraft. At least 90 were fighters, 12 were bombers and 12 were reconnaissance aircraft. Only 50 were of reasonably modern standard. When liaison and transport aircraft from all services are included,

5076-594: The French and British of their concerns. They feared that the Dyle plan would put not just the Belgian strategic position in danger, but also the entire left wing of the Allied front. King Leopold and General Raoul Van Overstraeten , the King's aide de camp , warned Gamelin and the French Army command of their concerns on 8 March and 14 April. They were ignored. The Belgian plan, in the event of German aggression [italics in original] provided for: (a) A delaying position along

5184-445: The French frontier defences; while for the British, with their communications located at the channel ports, would be parallel to their front. Despite the risk of committing forces to central Belgium and an advance to the Scheldt or Dyle lines, which would be vulnerable to an outflanking move, Maurice Gamelin , the French commander, approved the plan and it remained the Allied strategy at the outbreak of war. The British, with no army in

5292-541: The German high command, concerned about the susceptibility of the airports and port facilities along the North Sea coast, held a conference on 6–8 June 1944 to discuss reinforcing defences in that area. Speer wrote: In Germany itself we scarcely had any troop units at our disposal. If the airports at Hamburg and Bremen could be taken by parachute units and the ports of these cities seized by small forces, invasion armies debarking from ships would, I feared, meet no resistance and would be occupying Berlin and all of Germany within

5400-463: The German lines of communication and to prevent an Allied breakout. This plan would still fail if sufficient ground could not be quickly taken in Belgium to squeeze the allies against two fronts. Preventing this from happening were the defences of Fort Eben-Emael and the Albert Canal. The three bridges over the canal were the key to allowing Army Group B to move at high speed. The bridges at Veldwezelt, Vroenhoven and Kanne in Belgium, and Maastricht on

5508-502: The Germans the impression that most of the Allied troops were stationed there. Patton was stationed in England until 6 July, thus continuing to deceive the Germans into believing a second attack would take place at Calais. Many of the German radar stations on the French coast were destroyed in preparation for the landings. In addition, on the night before the invasion, a small group of Special Air Service operators deployed dummy paratroopers over Le Havre and Isigny . These dummies led

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5616-401: The Germans to believe that an additional airborne landing had occurred. On that same night, in Operation Taxable , No. 617 Squadron RAF dropped strips of "window", metal foil that caused a radar return which was mistakenly interpreted by German radar operators as a naval convoy near Le Havre. The illusion was bolstered by a group of small vessels towing barrage balloons . A similar deception

5724-486: The Germans would not commence the invasion with this plan. It suggested that the Germans would try an attack through the Belgian Ardennes and advance to Calais to encircle the Allied armies in Belgium. The Belgians correctly predicted that the Germans would attempt a Kesselschlacht (literally "cauldron battle", meaning encirclement ), to destroy its enemies. The Belgians had predicted the exact German plan as offered by Erich von Manstein . The Belgian high command warned

5832-406: The Italian mainland in September the same year. By then, Soviet forces were on the offensive and had won a major victory at the Battle of Stalingrad . The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the next year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Initial planning was constrained by the number of available landing craft, most of which were already committed in

5940-417: The London-based État-major des Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur ( French Forces of the Interior ), the British Special Operations Executive orchestrated a campaign of sabotage to be implemented by the French Resistance . The Allies developed four plans for the Resistance to execute on D-Day and the following days: The resistance was alerted to carry out these tasks by messages personnels transmitted by

6048-405: The Mediterranean and Pacific . At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill promised Stalin that they would open the long-delayed second front in May 1944. The Allies considered four sites for the landings: Brittany , the Cotentin Peninsula , Normandy, and the Pas-de-Calais . As Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off

6156-464: The Normandy Campaign such as mine clearing, demolishing bunkers, and mobile bridging. The Allies planned to launch the invasion on 1 May 1944. The initial draft of the plan was accepted at the Quebec Conference in August 1943. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed commander of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force . General Bernard Montgomery was named commander of the 21st Army Group , which comprised all land forces involved in

6264-416: The Normandy coast could be a possible landing point for the invasion, so he ordered the construction of extensive defensive works along that shore. In addition to concrete gun emplacements at strategic points along the coast, he ordered wooden stakes, metal tripods, mines, and large anti-tank obstacles to be placed on the beaches to delay the approach of landing craft and impede the movement of tanks. Expecting

6372-610: The Rexists. In order to acquire more influence and German support, Rex attempted to bring itself closer to the occupation authorities. On 1 January 1941, Degrelle announced Rex's total support for the occupation authorities and for the policy of collaborationism and its political influence in German circles rose after the German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. Over following years, especially after 1943, Rex consolidated its control over local government in German-occupied Wallonia and an increasing number of party members were installed as burgomasters with German support. This

6480-401: The Soviet Union. They were provided mainly with unreliable captured equipment and lacked motorised transport. Many German units were under strength. In early 1944, the German Western Front ( OB West ) was significantly weakened by personnel and materiel transfers to the Eastern Front. During the Soviet Dnieper–Carpathian offensive (24 December 1943 – 17 April 1944), the German High Command

6588-421: The airborne divisions. Commander, Second Army : Lieutenant General Sir Miles Dempsey Overall, the Second Army contingent consisted of 83,115 men, 61,715 of them British. The British and Commonwealth air and naval support units included a large number of personnel from Allied nations, including several RAF squadrons manned almost exclusively by overseas air crew. For example, the Australian contribution to

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6696-412: The amphibious invasion and establishment of a secure foothold, was codenamed Operation Neptune. To gain the air superiority needed to ensure a successful invasion, the Allies undertook a bombing campaign (codenamed Operation Pointblank ) that targeted German aircraft production, fuel supplies, and airfields. Elaborate deceptions, codenamed Operation Bodyguard , were undertaken in the months leading up to

6804-399: The assault. It was first suggested that a conventional parachute drop be made by airborne forces to seize and destroy the forts' guns before the land units approached. Such a suggestion was rejected as the Junkers Ju 52 transports were too slow and were likely to be vulnerable to Dutch and Belgian anti-aircraft guns. Other factors for its refusal were the weather conditions, which might blow

6912-477: The attack reached Rexist officials, both in Charleroi and Brussels, shortly afterwards and sparked violent reprisals. A 150-strong Rexist militia unit arrived in Courcelles. Two civilians were murdered in the street and several houses set alight. In the night of 17–18 August, there were numerous arrests and killings in the Courcelles region, where three more civilians were killed. The main killing occurred at dawn on 18 August when 21 civilians rounded up in Courcelles

7020-442: The border fortifications along the Albert Canal and the Meuse, without withdrawing, until the French Army arrived to support them. Gamelin was not keen on pushing his Dyle plan that far. He was concerned that the Belgians would be driven out of their defences and would retreat to Antwerp, as in 1914. In fact, the Belgian divisions protecting the border were to withdraw and retreat southward to link up with French forces. This information

7128-430: The city's northern flank, the tank country lying in the strategic depths of the Belgian forces occupying the city and the axis of advance into the west of the country. Further lines of defence ran south-west, covering the Liège–Namur axis. The Belgian Army also had the added benefit of the French 1st Army , advancing toward Gembloux and Hannut , on the southern flank of the BEF covering the Sambre sector. This covered

7236-406: The complete re-militarisation of Italy and Russia had caused most other states, even pacifists like Switzerland and the Netherlands, to take exceptional precautions. b) Vast changes in military methods, particularly in aviation and mechanization, meant that initial operations could now be of alarming force, speed and magnitude. c) The lightning reoccupation of the Rhineland came with bases for

7344-410: The eastern industrial regions. It also had the advantage of absorbing Dutch and Belgian Army formations (including some 20 Belgian divisions). Gamelin justified the Dyle Plan after the defeat using these arguments. On 10 January 1940, in an episode known as the Mechelen Incident , German Army major, Hellmuth Reinberger , crash-landed in a Messerschmitt Bf 108 near Mechelen-aan-de-Maas . Reinberger

7452-487: The elections of 1936 in which it received 11.5 percent of the national vote, but experienced a decline in the following years before the German invasion and remained marginal. After the Belgian surrender on 28 May 1940, a German Military Administration was created to govern the occupied territory. Preferring a strategy of indirect rule , the administration preferred to work with established Belgian political and social elites, largely ignoring fringe political groups such as

7560-429: The end of the German occupation, "Rex was essentially caught up in a process of local civil war." Prosper Teughels  [ fr ] , Rex's first burgomaster of Greater Charleroi, was assassinated on 19 November 1942. He was succeeded by Oswald Englebin  [ fr ] who was also a Rexist. On 17 August 1944, Englebin was shot dead, together with his wife and son, Philippe, as they returned to their house in

7668-455: The event of German aggression toward Poland, while the British and French maintained their military obligations to Belgium. Militarily, the Belgians considered the Wehrmacht stronger than the Allies, and that engaging in overtures to the Allies would make Belgium a battleground without adequate allies. The Belgians and French remained confused about what was expected of whom if or when hostilities commenced. The Belgians were determined to hold

7776-459: The expanded operation meant that the invasion had to be delayed to June. Eventually, thirty-nine Allied divisions would be committed to the Battle of Normandy: twenty-two American, twelve British, three Canadian, one Polish, and one French, totalling over a million troops. Operation Overlord was the name assigned to the establishment of a large-scale lodgement on the continent. The first phase,

7884-650: The field and behind in rearmament, were in no position to challenge French strategy, which had assumed the prominent role of the Western Alliance. Having little ability to overrule the French, the British strategy for military action came in the form of strategic bombing of the Ruhr industry. On the official Belgian withdrawal from the Western Alliance, the Belgians refused to engage in any official staff meetings with French or British military staff for fear of compromising their neutrality. The Belgians did not regard

7992-516: The final decision, which was to leave three Panzer divisions under Geyr's command and give Rommel operational control of three more as reserves. Hitler took personal control of four divisions as strategic reserves, not to be used without his direct orders. Commander, SHAEF: General Dwight D. Eisenhower Commander, 21st Army Group: General Bernard Montgomery Commander, First Army : Lieutenant General Omar Bradley The First Army contingent totalled approximately 73,000 men, including 15,600 from

8100-439: The five landing sites on the first day, but Carentan , Saint-Lô , and Bayeux remained in German hands. Caen , a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five beachheads were not connected until 12 June. German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. After

8208-519: The following German units stationed on the Cotentin Peninsula: Americans assaulting Omaha Beach faced the following troops: Allied forces at Gold and Juno faced the following elements of the 352nd Infantry Division: Allied forces attacking Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches faced the following German units: Alarmed by the raids on St Nazaire and Dieppe in 1942, Hitler had ordered the construction of fortifications all along

8316-412: The following months and tried. 27 of these were sentenced to death and executed at Charleroi on 10 November 1947. The road with the house in which the majority of the killings took place was renamed the rue des Martyrs ( lit.   ' Martyrs' Street ' ) and is commemorated by a plaque. An annual commemoration of the massacre has been held on 18 August in subsequent years in memory of the victims of

8424-704: The gap in the Belgian defences between the main Belgian positions on the Dyle line and Namur to the south. Further south still, the French 9th Army advanced to the Givet–Dinant axis on the Meuse river. The French 2nd Army was responsible for the last 100 kilometres (62 mi) of front, covering Sedan, the lower Meuse, the Belgian–Luxembourg border and the northern flank of the Maginot line. The German plan of attack required that Army Group B would advance and draw

8532-457: The invasion to prevent the Germans from learning the timing and location of the invasion. The landings were to be preceded by airborne operations near Caen on the eastern flank to secure the Orne River bridges and north of Carentan on the western flank. The Americans, assigned to land at Utah Beach and Omaha Beach, were to attempt to capture Carentan and Saint-Lô the first day, then cut off

8640-444: The invasion would have required recalling men and ships already in position to cross the English Channel and would have increased the chance that the invasion plans would be detected. After much discussion with the other senior commanders, Eisenhower decided that the invasion should go ahead on 6 June. A major storm battered the Normandy coast from 19 to 22 June, which would have made the beach landings impossible. Allied control of

8748-454: The invasion. On 31 December 1943, Eisenhower and Montgomery first saw the plan, which proposed amphibious landings by three divisions with two more divisions in support. The two generals insisted that the scale of the initial invasion be expanded to five divisions, with airborne descents by three additional divisions, to allow operations on a wider front and to hasten the capture of Cherbourg. The need to acquire or produce extra landing craft for

8856-645: The landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods , and barbed wire, making the work of the beach-clearing teams difficult and dangerous. The highest number of casualties was at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting , and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialised tanks. The Allies were able to establish beachheads at each of

8964-537: The landings for shortly before dawn, midway between low and high tide, with the tide coming in. This would improve the visibility of obstacles on the beach while minimising the amount of time the men would be exposed in the open. Eisenhower had tentatively selected 5 June as the date for the assault. However, on 4 June, conditions were unsuitable for a landing: high winds and heavy seas made it impossible to launch landing craft, and low clouds would prevent aircraft from finding their targets. The weather forecast that reported

9072-400: The left flank of the Belgian Army forces protecting Antwerp and threaten the German northern flank. Further east, delaying positions were constructed in the immediate tactical zones along the Albert Canal, which joined with the defences of the Meuse west of Maastricht. The line deviated southward, and continued to Liège. The Maastricht–Liège gap was heavily protected. Fort Eben-Emael guarded

9180-521: The main Allied defensive position. In an agreement with the British and French armies, the French 7th Army under the command of Henri Giraud was to advance into Belgium, past the Scheldt Estuary in Zeeland if possible, to Breda , in the Netherlands. The British Army's British Expeditionary Force or BEF, commanded by General John Vereker, Lord Gort , was to occupy the central position in

9288-812: The massacre. A small chapel was also erected. The Courcelles massacre remains the most famous example of collaborationist reprisals against the civilian population in Belgium. The Belgian journalist Maurice De Wilde devoted the final episode of his 1988 documentary series De Tijd der Vergelding ( The Time of Retaliation ) to the Courcelles massacre. Battle of Belgium German victory German occupation of Belgium Luxembourg The Netherlands Belgium France Britain 1941–1943 1944–1945 Germany Strategic campaigns The invasion of Belgium or Belgian campaign (10–28 May 1940), often referred to within Belgium as

9396-457: The morning of 6 June with extensive aerial and naval bombardment as well as an airborne assault —the landing of 24,000 American , British, and Canadian airborne troops . The early morning aerial assault was soon followed by Allied amphibious landings on the coast of France c.   06:30. The target 50-mile (80 km) stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors: Utah , Omaha , Gold , Juno , and Sword . Strong winds blew

9504-412: The newly formed Chasseurs Ardennais ). By 1935, the Belgian defences were completed. Even so, it was felt that the defences were no longer adequate. A significant mobile reserve was needed to guard the rear areas, and as a result it was considered that the protection against a sudden assault by German forces was not sufficient. Significant manpower reserves would also be needed, but the public rejected

9612-495: The operation included a regular Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron, nine Article XV squadrons , and hundreds of personnel posted to RAF units and RN warships. The RAF supplied two-thirds of the aircraft involved in the invasion. [REDACTED] 79th Armoured Division : Major General Percy Hobart provided specialised armoured vehicles which supported the landings on all beaches in Second Army's sector. Through

9720-567: The operational plan Fall Gelb (Case Yellow). The Allied armies attempted to halt the German Army in Belgium , believing it to be the main German thrust. After the French had fully committed the best of the Allied armies to Belgium between 10 and 12 May, the Germans enacted the second phase of their operation, a break-through, or sickle cut, through the Ardennes , and advanced toward the English Channel . The German Army ( Heer ) reached

9828-521: The paratroopers away from the fort and disperse them too widely. A seven-second drop from a Ju 52 at minimum operational height led to a dispersion over 300 metres alone. Hitler had noticed one potential flaw in the defences. The roofs were flat and unprotected; he demanded to know if a glider , such as the DFS 230 , could land on them. Student replied that it could be done, but only by 12 aircraft and in daylight; this would deliver 80–90 paratroopers onto

9936-464: The port facilities at Cherbourg and Saint-Malo . Rommel was assigned to oversee the construction of further fortifications along the expected invasion front, which stretched from the Netherlands to Cherbourg, and was given command of the newly re-formed Army Group B, which included the 7th Army, the 15th Army , and the forces guarding the Netherlands. Reserves for this group included the 2nd , 21st, and 116th Panzer divisions. Rommel believed that

10044-461: The previous day were taken to the cellar of a requisitioned house, part of a row of inconspicuous corons at the present-day rue des Martyrs near to the site of Englebin's assassination; 19 of them were killed. The victims were local notables including lawyers, engineers, doctors, and senior police officers. The killings were supervised by leading party members, including its leader Victor Matthys and his eventual successor Louis Collard , as well as

10152-612: The promised invasion as, even with US help, the Allies did not have adequate forces for such an activity. Instead of an immediate return to France, the western Allies staged offensives in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations , where British troops were already stationed. By mid-1943, the campaign in North Africa had been won. The Allies then launched the invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and subsequently invaded

10260-513: The regional leader Joseph Pévenasse. Entirely separately, the German occupation authorities in Belgium retaliated for Englebin's assassination by executing 20 hostages already held for other resistance activities. Belgium was liberated by Allied forces in September 1944 and the pursuit of Nazi collaborators ( épuration ) began. It was estimated that the Courcelles massacre involved 150 perpetrators of whom 97 were identified. 80 were arrested in

10368-484: The same region. Assassinations of Rexist officials became common, especially in Charleroi where two Rexist burgomasters would be assassinated during the conflict. These attacks sparked retaliation by Rexist militias against civilians and suspected resistance sympathisers, often with tacit approval of the German authorities, and these escalated after the Normandy Landings in June 1944. It has been argued that by

10476-462: The start of a possible German invasion moving close to the Belgian frontier. On 24 April 1937, the French and British publicly declared that Belgium's security was paramount to the Western Allies and that they would defend their borders against aggression of any sort, whether directed solely at Belgium, or to obtain bases to wage war against "other states". The British and French released Belgium from her Locarno obligations to render mutual assistance in

10584-587: The storms was sent from a weather station on the western coast of Ireland. Group Captain James Stagg of the Royal Air Force (RAF) met Eisenhower on the evening of 4   June. He and his meteorological team predicted that the weather would improve enough for the invasion to proceed on 6 June. The next available dates with the required tidal conditions (but without the desirable full moon) would be two weeks later, from 18 to 20 June. Postponement of

10692-522: The target. Hitler then revealed the tactical weapon that would make this strategic operation work, introducing the Hohlladungwaffe (hollow-charge) – a 50 kilograms (110 lb) explosive weapon which would destroy the Belgian gun emplacements. This tactical unit spearheaded the first strategic airborne operation in history. The Belgian Army could muster 22 divisions, which contained 1,338 artillery pieces but just 10 AMC 35 tanks. However,

10800-418: The total strength was 377; however only 118 of these were serviceable on 10 May 1940. Of this number around 78 were fighters and 40 were bombers. The AéMI was commanded by Paul Hiernaux, who had received his pilot's license just before the outbreak of World War I , and had risen to the position of commander-in-chief in 1938. Hiernaux organised the service into three Régiments d'Aéronautique (air regiments):

10908-503: Was based at Ostend, while the Second and Third divisions were based at Zeebrugge and Antwerp. The Aéronautique Militaire Belge (Belgian Air Force - AéMI) had barely begun to modernise their aircraft technology. The AéMI had ordered Brewster Buffalo , Fiat CR.42 , and Hawker Hurricane fighters, Koolhoven F.K.56 trainers, Fairey Battle and Caproni Ca.312 light bombers, and Caproni Ca.335 fighter-reconnaissance aircraft, but only

11016-589: Was carrying the first plans for the German invasion of western Europe which, as Gamelin had expected, entailed a repeat of the 1914 Schlieffen Plan and a German thrust through Belgium (which was expanded by the Wehrmacht to include the Netherlands) and into France. The Belgians suspected a ruse, but the plans were taken seriously. Belgian intelligence and the military attaché in Cologne correctly suggested

11124-515: Was forced to transfer the entire II SS Panzer Corps from France, consisting of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions, as well as the 349th Infantry Division , 507th Heavy Panzer Battalion and the 311th and 322nd StuG Assault Gun Brigades. All told, the German forces stationed in France were deprived of 45,827 troops and 363 tanks, assault guns, and self-propelled anti-tank guns. The 1st SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler" , 9th , 11th , 19th and 116th Panzer divisions, alongside

11232-691: Was not clear was whether Belgium would have to mobilise in the event of a German invasion of Poland. The Belgians much preferred an alliance with the United Kingdom . The British had entered the First World War in response to the German violation of Belgian neutrality. The Belgian Channel ports had offered the German Imperial Navy valuable bases, and such an attack would offer the German Kriegsmarine and

11340-549: Was not given to Gamelin. As far as the Belgians were concerned, the Dyle Plan had advantages. Instead of the limited Allied advance to the Scheldt, or meeting the Germans on the Franco-Belgian border, the move to the Dyle river would reduce the Allied front in central Belgium by 70 kilometres (43 mi), freeing more forces for use as a strategic reserve. Belgium felt this would save more Belgian territory, in particular

11448-536: Was particularly true in the industrial region around Charleroi and La Louvière known as the Pays Noir , historically a centre for socialist and communist activism, where Rex even formed its own paramilitary units. However, the deterioration of the German military position on the Eastern Front emboldened the Belgian Resistance which were also active among communist and socialist workers in

11556-470: Was resurrected in 1939. Most of the Belgian merchant fleet, some 100 ships, evaded capture by the Germans. Under the terms of a Belgian–Royal Navy agreement, these ships and their 3,350 crewmen were placed under British control for the duration of hostilities. The general headquarters of the Belgian Admiralty was at Ostend under the command of Major Henry Decarpentrie. The First Naval Division

11664-503: Was undertaken near Boulogne-sur-Mer in the Pas de Calais area by No. 218 Squadron RAF in Operation Glimmer . The invasion planners determined a set of conditions involving the phase of the moon, the tides, and the time of day that would be satisfactory on only a few days in each month. A full moon was desirable, as it would provide illumination for aircraft pilots and have the highest tides . The Allies wanted to schedule

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