Arras Counter-Attack 1940

Arras Counter-Attack 1940 The Arras Counter-Attack was the only significant British armoured attack of the ill-fated 1940 Campaign and for the first time is a full book.

A review from the Battlefields Trust!
28/05/2020

A review from the Battlefields Trust!

By early April 50th Northumbrian Division (Territorial Force) was in Northern France attempting to train but 151 (Durham...
02/04/2019

By early April 50th Northumbrian Division (Territorial Force) was in Northern France attempting to train but 151 (Durham) Brigade, which provided the infantry element of the Arras Counter-attack, was distracted by digging defences and miles of anti-tank ditches. Many were miners and with only picks and shovels were making more progress than some divisions with diggers!
Get the book now while it is still at a cracking introductory price. https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Arras-Counter-Attack-1940-Paperback/p/14028

Final things in the process to get to print this week - the index. Worst part the whole long business but its got to be ...
06/08/2018

Final things in the process to get to print this week - the index. Worst part the whole long business but its got to be done!

The gateway to the WW1 Dainville British Cemetery still bears the scars of war - in this case caused when C Company of 8...
23/06/2018

The gateway to the WW1 Dainville British Cemetery still bears the scars of war - in this case caused when C Company of 8 DLI (Right Column) assisted some French tanks, during the afternoon of 21 May 1940, in rounding up Germans who had taken cover in the cemetery.

The most numerous tank in 1st Army Tank Brigade's ORBAT on 21 May 1940 was the Infantry Tank Mark I and like its larger ...
25/04/2018

The most numerous tank in 1st Army Tank Brigade's ORBAT on 21 May 1940 was the Infantry Tank Mark I and like its larger brother it was also (confusingly) called 'Matilda'. The standard 1940 German 37mm anti-tank gun, known as the 'Panzer Knocker' by its crews, could not pe*****te its armour and gun crews only hope for a 'mobility kill' by damaging tracks and running gear. Other than M Kills and mechanical breakdowns, the majority of the sixty British tanks knocked during the 'counter-attack' were 'kills' by the 105mm Light Field Howitzers of the artillery regiment and the handful of 88mm guns.

The debate about what was intended by the Advance of 1 Army Tank Brigade and 151 Durham Brigade around the West of Arras...
23/04/2018

The debate about what was intended by the Advance of 1 Army Tank Brigade and 151 Durham Brigade around the West of Arras on the afternoon of 21 May 1940 seems endless. Today we can see that there was a confusion between operational and tactical aims; operationally it was intended to be the first phase of an Anglo-French counter-stroke against the panzer spearheads that had already reached the Channel, while tactically it was to improve the situation by clearing the area south of Arras 'in order to gain elbow room' for subsequent phases (which didn't of course happen).
That the British tanks and infantry ran into the flank of of Rommel's 7th Panzer Division as it transited around Arras was entirely happenstance.
The map shows the British plan.

It often seems that it assumed that the tanks of 4 and 7 RTR were the only British troops who took part in operations so...
14/04/2018

It often seems that it assumed that the tanks of 4 and 7 RTR were the only British troops who took part in operations south of Arras on 21 May 1940. In fact 6th, 8th and 9th DLI of 151 Brigade were all present, the latter battalion being in reserve. In fact the tanks were supposed to be under the command of the infantry commanding officers but orders were giver separately and proper liaison, let alone regrouping never happened. In the event both infantry and tanks set off at their very different paces.
The Arras Counter-Attack exposed just how much the British Army had to learn about armoured warfare or should that be relearn?

Generalmajor Erwin Rommel as commander of the Fuhrer Es**rt unit during the 1939 Polish Campaign had witnessed how effec...
14/04/2018

Generalmajor Erwin Rommel as commander of the Fuhrer Es**rt unit during the 1939 Polish Campaign had witnessed how effective the panzers had been in slipping through and around the enemy - he became an armoured enthusiast. As one of Hitler's favourites he took command of the newly raised 7th Panzer Division in early 1940. He was given a camera and film by Reich Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels, which suited the self publicist Rommel down to the ground. The resulting images are some of the best know of the campaign but he was in too much trouble to pose for the camera on the afternoon of 21 May 1940 - so none taken of the Arras Counter-Attack.!

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