The Invasion of France and the Low Countries
May 10 to June 5, 1940
May 10 to June 5, 1940
The German attack in the West in the spring of 1940, codenamed Case Yellow by the German High Command, was a suprise attack of motorized troops through the lightly defended Ardennes forest in southern Belgium. The German Army famously pushed through with fast moving tank units supported by air to ground fightres and bombers. Key airfileds, forts, and other strategic objectives were captured by German airborne troops in Belgium and Holland. The vaunted Maginot Line on the French/German border was essentially bypassed, and The British Expeditionary Force positioned farther north in Belgium was caught by a suprise as German units moved to outflank them from the south. By late May, German units were pushing southwest to Paris, and the British Expidentionary force, along with some retreating French, were moving to the British Channel, including the port at Dunkirk.