Fall Gelb: The 1940 Blitzkrieg Quiz

Answer: Lightning War

The Lightning War was first put into practice during the invasion of Poland in September 1939. The main feature is the co-ordinated use of tanks (panzers) and planes.

Answer: 7. Flieger-Division (7th Flyer Division)

The main part of the 7. Flieger-Division was dropped in the Netherlands, around The Hague. Small parts were dropped in Belgium, most notably to capture Fortress Eben-Emael near Liège.

Answer: 10

There were 10 Panzer-Divisions (the 1st to the 10th) They were deployed in special Panzerkorps, the so-called 'Armeekorps (mot.)' which in 1942 were renamed Panzerkorps.

Answer: General of Cavalry Ewald von Kleist

Many were suprised when General of Cavaly von Kleist was appointed, especially as Guderian did not like him. He thought Kleist 'lacked confidence in the Panzer-Divisions'.

Answer: Sedan

Sedan was the place where the panzers of Guderian's XIX. Armeekorps crossed the Meuse, thus sealing the fate of the French Republic. The town was only lightly defended becuase the French High Command thought it was 'protected by the impassable Ardennes'.

Answer: 7

Army Group A under Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt was the 'Schwerpunkt' or 'Focal Point': it was the largest and most important of the Army Groups, containing 45 Infantry Divisions and 7 Panzer-Divisions.

Answer: Maginot Line

The Maginot Line was constructed in the early 30's and was named after the French Minister of Defense André Maginot. He wanted to expand the line along the northern border. Belgium, in 1930 an ally of France, didn't want the line to be constructed along the Franco-Belgium border. It stretched from the Swiss Border to the border of Belgium.

Answer: Divison Cuirassée de Réserve

Although it was a sort of armoured division, the Division Cuirassée's mostly didn't have any Infantry, the French still wanted to deploy the tanks between the infantry units in platoon-sized or even smaller units. Further, the DCR's had almost no air support.

Answer: The French had one-man turrets, the German 3-man turrets

The French tanks had thicker armor and a larger main gun, but there was only one man in the turret, the commander was also the gunner and loader. The Germans had 3-man turrets, each man had a specific task, often 1 man could take over all the other tasks.

Answer: Charles de Gaulle

De Gaulle was a strong proponent of tanks. He advised the high command to organise tank divisions of 500 tanks. However, like in most countries, de Gaulle's ideas were rejected by the older commanders of the time. In May/June 1940, de Gaulle commanded the French 4th armoured division. The 4th lacked air and infantry support and was swept aside by the Panzers and the Luftwaffe.

Answer: Erich von Manstein

Erich von Manstein was the brain behind the Sickelschnitt, the encirclement of the French and British armies in Belgium and around Dunkirk. He did, however, not lead an Armoured Corps, but instead he was given command of the 38th Infantry Corps. Von Manstein eventually got command of an Armoured Corps, but only after the French Campaign had ended.

Answer: June 14th

The French declared paris an Open City on June 10th and four days later German troops of von Küchler's 18th Army entered the city.

Answer: Maurice Gamelin

Maurice Gamelin was an old school commander. He thought the war was going to be a re-run of WWI. He still believed in cavalry although he made some efforts to mechanise the French army. Gamelin was replaced only after the Germans broke through at Sedan.

His succesor, Weygand, also was not able to stop the German advance, mainly because the French lost most of its 1st class divisions in Belgium and only 2nd, 3rd and even 4th Class units were available.

Answer: Compiègne

It was the same place as where the 1918 Armistice was signed. Among others, Wilhelm Keitel signed for Germany and General Huntziger for the French. It was set up to be as embarrassing as possible for the French. After it was signed, the traincar is said to have been moved to Berlin and was supposedly blown up by the SS shortly before the Reich fell.

Answer: Vichy France

The capital of the newly-formed country was based in Vichy, a relativly small town in the interior of France. Here, Phillipe Petain and his government led the country until November 1942, when the Germans took over the country.