Saar Offensive - Aftermath

Aftermath

The attack did not result in any diversion of German troops. The 40-division all-out assault never materialised. On 12 September, the Anglo French Supreme War Council gathered for the first time at Abbeville in France. It was decided that all offensive actions were to be halted immediately. General Maurice Gamelin ordered his troops to stop "not closer than 1 kilometre" from the German positions along the Siegfried Line. Poland was not notified of this decision. Instead, Gamelin informed Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły that 1/2 of his divisions were in contact with the enemy, and that French advances had forced the Wehrmacht to withdraw at least six divisions from Poland. The following day, the commander of the French Military Mission to Poland—General Louis Faury—informed the Polish chief of staff—General Wacław Stachiewicz—that the planned major offensive on the western front had to be postponed from 17 to 20 September. From 16 to 17 October the German army, now reinforced with troops returning from the Polish campaign, conducted a counter-offensive that retook the remainder of the lost territory, still held by French covering forces, which withdrew as planned. German reports acknowledge the loss of 196 soldiers, plus 114 missing and 356 wounded. They also claim that 11 of their aircraft had been shot down as far as 17 October. The French suffered around 2,000 casualties between dead wounded and sick. By that time, all French divisions had been ordered to retreat to their barracks along the Maginot Line. The Phoney War had begun.