Summary of Robert Kershaw's Dünkirchen 1940

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

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#1 On May 9, 1940, Hitler had a meeting at his headquarters in Berlin to discuss the upcoming campaign against France and Britain. The meeting was supposed to last a month, but did not last a day longer.

#2 On May 9, 1940, Hitler had a meeting at his headquarters in Berlin to discuss the upcoming campaign against France and Britain. The meeting was to last a month, but did not last a day longer.

#3 On May 9, 1940, Hitler had a meeting at his headquarters in Berlin to discuss the upcoming campaign against France and Britain. The meeting was to last a month, but did not last a day longer.

#4 On May 9, 1940, Hitler had a meeting at his headquarters in Berlin to discuss the upcoming campaign against France and Britain. The meeting was supposed to last a month, but did not last a day longer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Sep 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798350031324

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Insights on Robert Kershaw's Dnkirchen 1940

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The German invasion of France and the Netherlands was set for May 1940, but bad weather and the lack of support from many of Hitler’s senior generals caused numerous postponements. Sitzkrieg, the German equivalent of Phoney War, was what resulted.

#2

The Führer’s special train, Amerika, was waiting alongside the platform in the small station. It consisted of ten to 12 dark-green Deutsche Reichsbahn coaches lined up behind two powerful steam locomotives. The train had defense and communications elements, with Hitler’s personal passenger car.

#3

During the trip, Hitler was preoccupied with the outcome of the revolutionary new glider assault he had supported to be flown against the key Belgian military fortress at Eban-Emael. It had been discussed in great detail the week before. The huge modern fort blocked panzer entry onto the north Belgian plain.

#4

The weather decision governing X-Day was crucial. The first day of spring, which was expected to bring clear winter weather, instead brought snow and ice. Sitzkrieg, or seat-war, was maintained. The spectre of former slaughter on the Western Front during 1914–18 war was still present in the memories of both sides.

#5

The German plan was to attack the West through Belgium, and it was this plan that was compromised in February 1940. The three-pronged attack against the West was the preferred option of the German General Staff, but Hitler preferred not to stake all on one card.

#6

The German plan was to separate the Allied powers, in particular the French and British, and annihilate each in battle. The Germans had not wasted the winter months. They had trained extensively, and their division was up to a high level of assessment.

#7

The German Army, led by Army Group B, was responsible for tearing through the defenses of the Low Countries with its Eighteenth and Sixth Armies. The overall configuration of the advance was more a massive double offensive.

#8

The Dutch strategic concept of retiring behind a moat created by blown bridges into the Keep area inside Fortress Holland was unhinged by the first major airborne landings in modern history. Some 4,500 paratroopers jumped and 500 landed by glider to capture key objectives.

#9

The Dutch and Belgian governments asked for French military assistance after 4am on 10 May. The French Seventh Army and the BEF began crossing the border into Belgium.

#10

The Battle of France was a mobile war, with the Germans moving constantly to attack the Allies. The Allied line-up was the Seventh French Army on the north coast, with the Belgians in between, and the BEF, First French Army, and Ninth French Army bordering the Maginot Line to the south.

#11

The German campaign in Poland was not a lightning war at the