Order of battle for the Battle of France

The Order of Battle for the Battle of France details the hierarchy of the major combatant forces in the Battle of France in May 1940.

Contents

Allies

The bulk of the forces of the Allies were French, although the United Kingdom (British Expeditionary Force), Netherlands, and Belgium had significant forces in the battle opposing Germany. Supreme Command was held by the French Commander-in-Chief General de'armee Maurice Gamelin, his deputy General de'armee Alphonse Joseph Georges was appointed Commander of the North Western Front.

French First Army Group

The 1st Army Group was tasked with guarding the northeast frontier of France, and with moving into Belgium and the Netherlands to oppose any German invasion of those nations. The First controlled four French armies as well as the Belgian Army and the British Expeditionary Force. General de'armee Gaston Bilotte was Commander-in-Chief until his death in a car crash on 23 May 1940, General de'armee Georges Maurice Jean Blanchard was appointed to succeed him.

French Second Army Group

The French 2nd Army Group was responsible for manning the bulk of the Maginot Line from Montmedy to south of Strasbourg, and controlled three armies. General de Armee Andre-Gaston Pretelat was Commander-in-Chief of the army group throughout its existence.

French Third Army Group

The French 3rd Army Group was responsible for manning the southern end of the Maginot Line, along the River Rhine and controlled a single army. The army group's Commander-in-Chief was General de Armee Antoine-Marie-Benoit Besson.

Dutch Army

The Netherlands had four corps, one motorized division and a defense division deployed to begin the battle. General Henri Winkelman was Supreme Commander of the Dutch Army.

French army facing Italy

Commanded by General René Olry

Originally the French 6th Army, the Army of the Alps was responsible for manning the southeast frontier with Italy. Overall, French forces in the region numbered about 35 000 soldiers.

French reserves

The French began the battle with three reserve corps positioned behind the army groups. The VII and XXIII Corps were stationed behind the 2nd and 3rd Army Groups.

British Expeditionary Force

Main article: British Expeditionary Force order of battle (1940)

Axis

The commander-in-chief of the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) was Field Marshal ("Generalfeldmarschall") Walter von Brauchitsch. Initially the Axis forces consisted of the forces of the German army. They were joined in the conflict by the Italian army on June 10.

OKH Reserve

Army Group A

Commanded by General (Generaloberst)[note 1] Gerd von Rundstedt (Chief of Staff - Major-General ("Generalleutnant")[note 2]Georg von Sodenstern)

German Army Group B

Commanded by General[note 1] Fedor von Bock

German Army Group C

Commanded by Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb.

Italian Army Group "West"

Commanded by Prince General Umberto di Savoia

Overall, the Italian forces numbered about 312 000 troops. However, they had inadequate artillery and transport and they were not equipped for cold Alpine environment.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e In the German army the rank of Colonel general ("Generaloberst") was equivalent to the rank of full general
  2. ^ The German rank of "Generalleutnant" was the equivalent of major-general.
  3. ^ The German rank of "Generalmajor" was the equivalent of brigadier-general.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o The German ranks of General of Infantry ("General der infanterie"), General of the Artillery ("General der artillerie"), General of Armour ("General der Panzertruppe") etc. were equivalent to lieutenant-general.