![]() This scenario is between the Germans and the British. Seventy-four MKI and MKII Matildas rolled into battle, the Mk1s armed only with machine guns. It turned out to be well timed, as the Germans were planning their own attack to be launched only an hour later. On 21 May, the British launched their counter-attack. The group was given a codename worthy of a 1980s action film: ‘Frankforce’. He placed Major General Harold Franklyn in charge of the attack, and gave him two divisions including 74 British tanks and 60 French tanks. The commander-in-chief of the BEF, Lord Gort, devised a counter-attack that would delay the German advance and give the BEF enough time to link back up with the rest of the Allied forces. In May, the Germans surprised the Allies even further by breaking through their lines and threatening Boulogne and Calais, a move that would cut off the BEF from the French army, leaving it surrounded and vulnerable. ![]() ![]() While not a completely unfounded notion, the failure to see the potential of an armoured brigade would be a mistake of which the Germans were happy to take advantage. ![]() French army doctrine saw armour in a support role, with infantry and artillery taking centre stage in any conflict. The French had a massive armoured contingent, but it was spread thinly throughout the country, and not concentrated enough to pose a serious threat. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had been fighting alongside the French Army, but the speed and surprise of the German invasion was having the intended effect, as the French defence was crumbling and the Allies were being pushed back to the Channel. In the spring of 1940, the Battle of France was not looking good for the Allies. It was a bold move against numerically superior forces, but would it work? In an effort to halt the German advance, the British devised a counterattack. On, during the Battle of France, the city of Arras was surrounded by Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division. Tank skirmish at Guébling, by Steve Noon © Osprey Publishing Ltd. ![]()
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