bataille de GEMBLOUX Mai 1940

[pzkarl]

La bataille de GEMBLOUX en mai 1940 a été précédée de la rencontre entre blindés sur ce que l'on nommé la bataille d'HANNUT qui a fait l'objet du numéro 63 (et modif 64) de VAE VICTIS.
Pour la bataille d'HANNUT.. aucun problème, de par les "dimensions" du terrain (une grosse table de ping pong "élargie"... du moins sur la règle que certains jouent dans notre club (Spearhead 1cm=40m, l'unité de manoeuvre étant le bataillon).

Par contre je manque de beaucoup plus d'éléments sur le bataille qui a suivi le combat de retardement des blindés français, à savoir GEMBLOUX.
SCHUTZE GAMES (nos amis kangourous...) a sorti il y a trois ans un jeu, mais je suis un peu sceptique sur ceraines données.

Auriez vous plus de données sur cette bataille d'arrêt... le décrochage frrançais étant du principalement aux "mauvaises nouvelles venant du sud est (Sedan, Monthermé et autres passages de la Meuse).... et notamment des onnées pour adapter à une table de ping pong à l'échelle sus indiquée....

[SgtPerry]

J'ai trouvé ça

http://www.anac-fr.com/2gm/2gm_42.htm

Sinon il y a plusieurs pages dans l'ouvrage Comme des Lions de Dominique Lormier (Ed Calman-Levy)

[pzkarl]

Je connais le livre et l'ai parcouru... mais c'est maigre... par contre le lien internet est interessant et il montre bien les deux doctrines de combat qui se font face et ce qu'arait pu être 1940... càd un nouveau 14-18 et une hécatombe française en hommes (les allemands ont eu la leur de par la durée de la guerre qu'ils ont menée puis subie).
Jepoursuis donc mes recherches.

[SgtPerry]

De même il n'y a pas grand chose dans l'excellent livre de Frieser, "le mythe de la guerre-éclair".

Il n'y a rien dans les historica (#51 et #52) sur Sedan. J'ai parcouru rapidement mais 39-45 Magazine mais je n'ai rien vu!

[SgtPerry]

from http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=445116

HANNUT - GEMBLOUX (12-15 May 1940) :

On 10th May the French troops headed for Belgium being attacked by the Germans. They were moving during night and reached Gembloux on 13th May. Their mission was to block the German advance to allow other French and English troops to establish a defensive position between the Dyle and the Meuse. The area is favorable to the tanks, therefore to the ennemy whose tanks are more numerous. The French used the Bruxelles-Namur railroad and the cities of Gembloux and Ernage to anchor the defences.

The first contact between French and German tanks took place in Hannut on 12th May 1940.
The French cavalry Corps, with its 8 Somua S-35 squadrons (13e and 29e Dragons in the 2e DLM, 1er et 2e Cuirassiers in the 3e DLM) had to delay the German XVI. Panzerkorps. The infantry (Dragons portés) was organized into strongpoints, the tanks were deployed on the rear, ready to counter-attack between the infantry positions. On 12th May 1940 the Hannut area (3e DLM) is attacked by the Panzer Gruppe Eberbach. The German tanks reach the center of the town. A first counter-attack is led by the Hotchkiss tanks of Capitaine Sainte-Marie Perrin : 11 French tanks and 5 German tanks are destroyed. The 9 other Hotchkiss are ordered to retreat.
In Crehen the Sous-Lieutenant Lotsisky and his Somuas destroyed 4 Panzers, 1 gun battery and several trucks.
In Thisne, despite heavy losses the French troops destroyed the Befehlspanzer of Lt Col Eberbach who will later be Kommandeur of the 4.PzD.
Colonel Du Vigier then launched the Somua squadron of Capitaine Beaufort into action. The Germans sustained heavy losses and were forced to retreat. General Hoeppner (XVI.PzK) had been amazed by the efficiency of the Somua S-35 in comparison to the Hotchkiss tanks, it was the first time the German encountered French tanks. During the 12-13th May night General Hoeppner gave the orders to engage all the Hotchkiss tanks but to avoid combat with the Somua S-35s if not at close range because the French 47mm SA35 gun was too dangerous at medium/long range.
On 13th May, at the beginning of the afternoon the 2e Esc/1er Cuirassier from Capitaine Ameil is launched in an attack against the 4.PzD positions. The Somuas stopped at 800m of the German positions, all the German tanks were crowded in a forest edge. The 4 Somua S-35 platoons opened fire and slaughtered the German Panzers (about 60% of the 4.PzD was composed of PzI and PzII). The 4.PzD could not deploy as it was programmed and the 3.PzD had to be engaged to outflank the 2e Esc/1er Cuirassier but it encountered the Somua S-35 squadron of the 1e Esc/1er Cuirassier (Lieutenant Mazeran), perfectly embossed and engaging the flank of the Germans. About 50 German tanks were destroyed or partially disabled but the French position was finally taken because the Somuas had no ammunitions anymore. Only one platoon (Lieutenant Racine) managed to retreat and 29 impacts of 20mm and 37mm shells were numbered on his tank.
From the 42 Somuas of the 1er Cuirassier, only 16 were still operational on the 13th May evening, all covered with impacts.

Gembloux in Belgium saw the engagement between 376 French tanks (2nd and 3rd DLM = Division légère mécanique) and 664 German tanks (XVI. Pz Korps). It is the fisrt big tank battle of WW2. The French lines are also reinforced by the 1st and 15th DIM (General Juin).
On 14th May 500 German tanks attacked the positions of the 2 infantry divisions but the attack remained inefficient despite the large use of artillery and the support of the Luftwaffe.
About 60 German tanks were destroyed by the French field artillery (grossly half of the 35. Pz Rgt). Two French companies are totally destroyed in Ernage. From the 700 men of the 7th RTM only 74 are still alive on 16th May. The front didn't collapse but the losses are really heavy. At Gembloux it is a Pyrrhus victory for the French but the German pierced the lines in an other area. The mobility and tactics of the Germans almost systematically resulted in concentration of firepower and local superiority in the objective area.

LOSSES IN GEMBLOUX :
- 105 tanks on the French side
- 165 tanks on the German side

Germans never attacked with less than Panzer battalion's strength (so about 80 Panzers including 10 PzIII and 6 PzIV) against squadron strength strongpoints (20 French tanks either Hotchkiss or SOMUA). The reason is simple : tactical regulation (French officers latter admitted that they were surprised by the German tank concentration) and transmissions (lots of radio vs few radios, the classical 1940 tank stuff).
Then you have to know that apart from the officers, the tank commanders were reservists that actually did their military service on horses ! They had fired a few shells at Suippes and now, they were facing a fload of German panzers ! (It is still amazing that they did not run away at this glance). To actually hit a Panzer with the one-man turret would prove to be difficult : panzers were fast, training insufficient ... But on the German side, the situation was not very good as well : apart from the 75mm gun (PzIV), no German shell could pierce the Somua S35 and the Hotchkiss (and even not talking about the B1bis not present in this battle) at a cumfortable range, they had to move to close range. Also German tankers went to duel the French Somuas at long range (around 800 to 1000 m) with both sides using too many rounds for nothing but the 47mm gun of the Somua was able to destroy the German tanks at longer range.
Even counterattacks by 10 SOMUAs were viewed as critical on the German side ! The French would trade tanks for time.
When coming to the reason of French losses, a high proportion of Hotchkiss were destroyed by gun fire but for SOMUAs, a significant proportion were lost due to drivers errors or mechanical breakdowns.
In tank battle, the one that hold the ground in the end has a tremendous advantage. Belgian civilians still remember that after the battle, German field workshops would work during the night to repair.

[pzkarl]

J'ai enfin trouvé mon bonheur et c'est peeu que de le dire (ou l'écrire)!
2 bouquins (en fait 2 tomes):L'arme blindée française de Gérard-SAINT-MARTIN Edition Economica
T1 Mai juin 1940 Les blindés français dans la tourmente
33 euros le T1 (ben quand on aime...)
Une mine de renseignements, notamment sur la période qui a précédé 39-40 coté états majors français quant à l'emploi (ou non emploi) de "l'arme blindée"....
Ensuite sur les combat de mai-juin en analysant ceux ci de manière assez détaillée: les DCR, les DLM... Par contre coté cartographie c'est un peu maigre... des schémas certes mais pour traduire ceux ci sur une table de jeu, faut aller chercher les cartes Michelin ou IGN (pour la France... car la Belgique en dehors de Google earth...).

Par ailleurs j'ai obtenu (il y a des jours comme ça) un autre bouquin: "La campagne de 1940" chez Tallandier... enfait le recueil des actes d'un colloque fin 2000 sous la direction de Christine Levisse-Letouzé584 pages ! et ... 24.70 euros. On est à un niveau plus de "réflexions" mais on y apprend des choses trés interessantes (pour ceux que la période interesse).
Par contre (mais là c'est plus normal ça manque un peu de cartes....)

[SgtPerry]

Je viens de lire ça sur TMP http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/msg.mv?id=55247

The following is from the France 1940 group on Yahoo. It was provided by Messr. David Lehmann, who has kindly shared the results of his labours researching the archives in Europe. The following IMO would make for a smashing good wargames secenario or mini-campaign for either 10mm or 28mm wargamers:

<<This text has been written mainly thanks to the testimony of Louis Brindejonc published in "Revue Historique des Armées" (n°1 – 1987). He is commander of a 25mm SA34 AT gun during the battle of Gembloux. Louis Brindejonc is then part of the support company (lieutenant Gaidot) of the I/2e RTM (1st battalion of the 2e Régiment de Tirailleurs Marocains). The 2e RTM (colonel Cordier) is one regiment of the 1e DM (Division Marocaine) beside the 1e RTM and the 7e RTM. The author will be captured on 21st May 1940 and kept in the Stalag VIII C in Silesia. After 2 evasions he manages to join again his regiment in Marrakech (Morocco) on 10th June 1941.

Louis Brindejonc is squad leader in a MG platoon before being transferred in the AT gun squad (including two 25mm SA34 AT guns) of the support company of the I/2e RTM.

The crew of his 25mm SA34 AT gun is following

- Caporal-chef Louis Brindejonc : commander
- Nepveu : gunner
- Moktar : assistant gunner (loader)
- Ahmed : ammunition bearer
- Lahoucine : ammunition bearer
The crew seems to be lack 1 man. They have 1 AT gun, 1 car, 1 horse and ammunitions.

On 13th May at 23h00, the I/2e RTM is deployed between Ernage and Gembloux. Brindejonc's AT gun is attached to the 1st rifle company (capitaine Couston-Lemaître). 2 rifle platoons are deployed on the main resistance line constituted by the railroad, 200 m in front of the emplacement of the AT gun. The men are preparing their foxholes.

The 25mm AT gun is 2 km north-west of Gembloux, just next to the town of Ernage. Behind the gun emplacement there is the town of Cortil-Noirmont. The majority of support company is deployed at about 200m, at the edge of a wood, with the 81mm mortars and a 20mm Mle1939 (Oerlikon) AA gun. The battalion HQ and the medical post are located in the Sart farm, on the path between Cortil-Noirmont and Ernage.

Brindejonc's AT fun is well dug in, hidden behind a small folding of the terrain and concealed by camouflage nests.

After 3 days of marching and 1 night of preparing their emplacements, the men are extremely tired. Moktar spots the first German tanks on 14th May morning. He wakes Brindejonc up but the latter doesn't see the tanks. The mountain dweller from the Atlas has sharp eyes and Brindejonc spots the enemy tanks only with its goggles: 2, 3 and then 4 German tanks appear . finally 2 other tanks are spotted more on the left for a total of 6 tanks.

The gunners arrived at night and had not the opportunity to study and reconnoitre the ground for landmarks at known range. The French AT gun opens fire .the first shot is too short, the impact can be seen in the ground in front of the targeted tank. Brindejonc orders "range 800m !" and the enemy tanks are still closing in . this shot is probably too long as nothing can be noticed . the tanks are still advancing. Brindejonc indicates then "range 600m !" and the first German tank is immediately knocked out.

A second tank, which is firing at the French infantry, is then targeted. The 25mm SA34 gun fires at high rate of fire without interruption and the second German tank is knocked out.

2 other tanks try yet to evade the issue and move in zig-zag manner, realizing only now that they are engaged by an AT gun. Unable to spot the French AT gun and its emplacement, the German tanks are successively advancing and firing aimlessly, one tank trying to cover the movement of the other one.

The impact of the 25mm shell on the left flank of the 3rd tank is clearly visible, forming a little red flash. Suddenly the turret hatch is opened: 2 men bail out and a 3rd one remains dead on the superstructure of the tank [the crew being at least of 3 men, the tank is probably a Panzer II].

Suddenly Brindejonc realized all the noise and the intensity of the battle taking place around him. The FM 24/29 LMGs and the Hotchkiss Mle1914 MGs are firing, the artillery shells are flying over the French troops and expode among the German troops.

The German advance is stopped by the accurate and intense French artillery fire. Only the 3 knocked out tanks remains on the ground in front of Brindejonc's position. Nepveu continue to fire at them to put them on fire. The rest of the day remains quiet in the area of Louis Brindejonc.

On evening, capitaine Couston-Lemaître visits the AT gun crew and congratulates them for the 3 German tanks still smoking on the battlefield. The night is quiet, only disturbed by the arrival of food supply and later by a Renault UE chenillette delivering 20 Mle1935 light AT mines. The mines are deployed 100m in front of the gun.

On 15th May, around 10h30, Brindejonc witnesses Ju87 dive bombers attacking the rear French lines and the artillery positions until 15h00. Later they bomb the whole French positions. The French air force seems absent to Brindejonc but he sees one Ju87 being shot down by the 20mm Mle1939 AA gun of the battalion.

After the bombing, the Germans renewed their assaults with tanks followed by infantry. During the first 5 minutes of the attack, Brindejonc's 25mm AT gun knocks out a 4th and a 5th tank. Targeting the tank is now easier since he has well visualized the range. Brindejonc notes that these tanks are bigger and heavier than those he had to fight on 14th May. He identifies them quickly as Panzer IIIs, according to the profiles he could study during his instruction. Nonetheless, it is not the type of the tank that amazed him . but their number. About 15 Panzer IIIs are now in front of his position, advancing, stopping to fire, using the ground very well to find hull down positions.

The 25mm AT gun fires continuously but its emplacement remains unspotted by the German tankers and is not directly threatened. The crew of the AT gun is calm, silent and disciplined. The men know their job.

There are only 15 shells left and the fire is stopped until the German tanks leave their concealed positions. Each shell has to hit its target. The AT gun remains silent during about 20 minutes, the German tanks seem not to move anymore.

Brindejonc observes the tanks with his goggles. One previously spotted turret cannot be found anymore, where is this tank now ? The Panzer III moved without being spotted. Suddenly Brindejonc sees one dark shape advancing behind a hedge. Another dark shape is stopped 30m in front of this one. This hedge is perpendicular to the railway and continues until the Sart farm. The railroad must have been crossed at one point at least. These tanks are too far to the left for the traverse of the gun. Lying on the back, the crew rotates the AT gun from several degrees. Nepveu fires on the first tank which burns immediately (probably the fuel tank which has been hit) and within 1 minute the second tank is also knocked out. The 25mm AT gun has scored 7 German tanks [probably 3 Panzer II and 4 Panzer III].

The crew is surprised that none of the tanks managed to spot the AT gun, which was firing at high rate of fire [the flash hider seems indeed very efficient]. The German tanks appeared blind but it is not the case for everyone. A Fi156 Fieseler Storch spotter plane is circling now above the positions of the 1st company at an altitude of about 100m despite the rifles firing at it. After 2 passages over the AT gun he drops a violet smoke dispenser only 20m in front of the AT gun. German mortars open then fire on the AT gun that has finally been discovered. The shells are arriving by groups of 2 or 4. The enemy mortars manage to find the good range to shell the AT gun. One shell hits directly the gun, one body is projected in the air (Lahoucine) and Nepveu is WIA on his back. Ahmed's dismantled body lies on the breech but Brindejonc is safe. The destroyed AT gun is abandoned and the men leave for the medical post under enemy fire. The farmyard is full of splinters. Brindejonc finds Moktar again, lying on a table and having lost a hand. Moktar left the AT gun and managed to reach the Sart farm alone.

French rifle platoons of the first line have retreated to the Sart farm and continue to fight. Adjudant Robert, one of the platoon leaders, is seen lying on a roof and firing on the Germans. Brindejonc is amazed by this image but also by the unusual weapon he was manning: a shotgun. Adjudant Robert is firing with buckshots at German soldiers infiltrating in the gardens next to the farm.

Lieutenant Gaidot, commander of the support company, is also wounded and present in the medical post. He orders Brindejonc to regroup isolated men, about 10 soldiers, and they go all in a stable. Gaidot indicates that the HQ has received a message from capitaine Couston-Lemaître (commander of the 1st rifle company on the first line): "I cannot hold anymore; my platoons are destroyed. If you cannot send reinforcements it will be my last message". The position of capitaine Couston-Lemaître is about 300m in front of the farm. The mission of Louis Brindejonc is now to lead the 10 men to this position to reinforce the 1st company. Suddenly a fireball, a big thunderstrike . and Brindejonc finds himself in the medical post. A German artillery shell or a bomb has hit directly the stable. One part of the farm is burning

French tanks [Renault R35s from the 35e BCC, mistakenly identified by Brindejonc as Hotchkiss H39 tanks] launch a counter-attack in the area, from Cortil-Noirmont to the railroad and the town of Ernage. The French tanks are immediately fired at. Many German shells are hitting them but they simply bounce on the armor and cannot stop them. The Renault R35 tanks go past the Sart farm and bring relief to the French troops there. They pass Brindejonc's previous AT gun emplacement and one of the tank explodes on one of the AT mines laid there by the French gunners ! The Renault R35 tanks are now much closer to the enemy and several are knocked out by German AT or tank guns. The Sart farm is burning and evacuated. The HQ and the medical post move back thanks to the counter-attack led by the French tanks.>>

Hopefully this will inspire some of you more overly-conventionally-minded WW2 enthusiasts to take a walk on the wild side of gaming and try an early war scenario where the Germans didn't have everything their own way…;-)

Enjoy!

Leland R. Erickson
Metal Express
metal-express.net

[worrywort]

Tu devrais également essayer le HS n°4 "Blitzkrieg à l'ouest" de Militaria Magazine. Il y a des infos sur Hannut et Gembloux. D'ailleurs contrairement à l'article de Vae Victis, la bataille est une victoire incontestable française.

LA revue ne se trouve plus qu'à l'occasion... Bon courage.