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Battle of France
Part of the Western Front of the Second World War Battle of France collage Clockwise from top left: German Panzer IV tanks passing through a town in France; German soldiers marching past the Arc de Triomphe after the surrender of Paris, 14 June 1940; column of French Renault R35 tanks at Sedan, Ardennes; British and French prisoners at Veules-les-Roses; French soldiers on review within the Maginot Line fortifications.
Date 10 May – 25 June 1940 (1 month and 15 days)
Location France, Low Countries
Result
Decisive German victory, leading to the Second Armistice at Compiègne parts of France placed under German military occupation (pending conclusion of war)
French Third Republic reconstituted as the French State Franco-Italian Armistice Free France movement started
Belligerents
Germany Italy (from 10 June) France France Belgium United Kingdom Canada Netherlands Luxembourg
Commanders and leaders
Nazi Germany Walther von Brauchitsch Nazi Germany Gerd von Rundstedt Nazi Germany Fedor von Bock Nazi Germany Wilhelm von Leeb Nazi Germany Albert Kesselring Nazi Germany Hugo Sperrle Italy Umberto di Savoia France Maurice Gamelin (until 17 May) France Alphonse Georges (until 17 May) France Maxime Weygand (from 17 May) Belgium Leopold III (POW) United Kingdom Lord Gort Netherlands Henri Winkelman (POW) Władysław Sikorski
Units involved
Axis armies[show] Nazi Germany Nazi Germany Nazi Germany Nazi Germany Nazi Germany Nazi Germany Nazi Germany Nazi Germany Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Italy Italy Italy
Allied armies[show] France France United Kingdom Belgium France France France France France France France France
Netherlands
France
Strength
Germany: 141 divisions[1] 7,378 guns[1] 2,445 tanks[1] 5,638 aircraft[2][3] 3,350,000 troops Alps on 20 June 300,000 Italians Allies: 144 divisions[1] 13,974 guns[1] 3,383 tanks[1] 2,935 aircraft[4] 3,300,000 troops Alps on 20 June ~150,000 French
Casualties and losses
Germany: 157,621 total casualties[nb 1](c. 49,000 dead) 1,236 aircraft lost[5][9] 795 tanks destroyed[10] Italy: 6,029[nb 2]
Total: 163,650 casualties 360,000 dead or wounded, 1,900,000 captured 2,233 aircraft lost[11]
Total: 360,000 casualties
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Campaigns of World War II
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Battle of France: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_France#Allied
The Battle of France, also known as the Fall of France, was the successful German invasion of France and the Low Countries during the Second World War, beginning on 10 May 1940, defeating primarily French forces. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes and then along the Somme valley to cut off and surround the Allied units that had advanced into Belgium. When British and adjacent French forces were pushed back to the sea by the highly mobile and well-organized German operation, the British government decided to evacuate the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) as well as several French divisions at Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo.
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Allied casualties:
Casualties were as follows:
France: According to the Defence Historical Service, 85,310 killed (including 5,400 Maghrebis), 12,000 missing, 120,000 wounded and 1,540,000 prisoners (including 67,400 Maghrebis).[255] Some recent French research indicates that the number of killed was between 55,000 and 85,000.[6] In August 1940, 1,540,000 prisoners were taken into Germany where roughly 940,000 remained until 1945 when they were liberated by advancing Allied forces. At least 3,000 Senegalese Tirailleurs were murdered after being taken prisoner.[256] While in German captivity, 24,600 French prisoners died; 71,000 escaped; 220,000 were released by various agreements between the Vichy government and Germany; several hundred thousand were paroled because of disability and/or sickness.[257] Aerial losses are estimated at 1,274 aircraft destroyed during the campaign.[11]
Britain had fewer than 10,000 killed in action (including the Lancastria disaster), for a total casualty figure of 68,111 (killed, wounded and captured).[258] Some 64,000 vehicles destroyed or abandoned[258] and 2,472 guns destroyed or abandoned.[258] RAF losses throughout the entire campaign (10 May – 22 June) amounted to 931 aircraft and 1,526 casualties. They also lost 243 ships to Luftwaffe bombings in Dynamo, including 8 destroyers and 8 troopships.[258]
Belgium: Losses in manpower were 6,093 killed and wounded. Some 2,000 prisoners of war died in captivity and[259] more than 500 were missing.[260] Those captured amounted to 200,000.[261] Belgian wounded amounted to 15,850.[261] They also lost 112 aircraft.[98]
Poland: Losses in manpower were around 6,000 killed and wounded. Nearly 12,000 troops (2nd Infantry Division) were interned in Switzerland for the duration of the war.[citation needed]