Fall Rot

During World War II, Operation Fall Rot (Case Red in English) was the second phase of the conquest of France by the German Army, begun on 5 June 1940. It had been made possible by the success of Operation Fall Gelb in the Battle of France. Before the invasion, it had not yet been decided whether mainland France would be attacked; this would depend on the outcome of Fall Gelb. Fall Rot consisted of two suboperations: first a preliminary attack was carried out in the west over the river Somme in the direction of the Seine; the main offensive started on 9 June in the center over the river Aisne. Due to the strength of the Maginot Line it was decided to avoid a direct attack and instead out flank it through the Low Countries utilizing the military doctrine of "blitzkrieg" (Lightning war in English) developed by Basil Liddell Hart, an English military theorist, and enhanced by Heinz Guderian, utilizing a combination of power and speed. After four hours of dive-bombing the French defenses at the river Meuse the Germans crossed in four places at 4:00 PM. The first attack by Rommel's army was driven back however the other three were met with success and by six o'clock they had successfully breached the French defenses. By the next day the German army was 20 miles (32 km.) into enemy territory and by the next 40 (64)by May 21 they had reached the English Channel and driven a wedge between the French and English forces in the north and the forces in the south. By May 31 the Allied forces were isolated in Dunkirk on the north coast. During Operation Dynamo, 330,000 allied units had retreated from France. The only instance of German difficulty was when a unit of British Matilda tanks attacked Rommel's right flank from Arras. Fortunately for the Field Marshall his 7th Panzer Division was equipped with 88mm. anti-aircraft guns which he used to tear through British armor. It broke the French front and allowed German armor, or "Panzer", units to cut off the armies in the Maginot Line on 17 June. That same day France asked for an armistice, officially capitulating on 25 June. Operation Fall Rot would not be able to be reversed without a major landing from across the English Channel which would come on June 6, 1944 with the D-Day landings of Operation Overlord at Normandy.