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They also anticipated that the Germans would try to land airborne and glider forces behind the Allied lines to break open Belgian fortifications. Such warnings were not heeded by the French or British.
In March 1940, Swiss intelligence detected six or seven Panzer divisions on the German-Luxembourg-Belgian border. More motorised divisions had also been detected in the area. French intelligence were informed through aerial reconnaissance that the Germans were constructing pontoon bridges partially - about halfway - over the Our River on the Luxembourg-German border.
The French military attaché in the Swiss capital - Bern - warned that the centre of the German assault would come on the Meuse at Sedan, sometime between 8 and 10 May. The report was dated 30 April. These reports had little effect on Gamelin, as did similar reports from neutral sources such as the Vatican, and a French pilot's sighting of a 100-kilometre-long line of German armored vehicles inside Germany to the Luxembourg border.
Germany had mobilised 4,200,000 men of the Heer, 1,000,000 of the Luftwaffe, 180,000 of the Kriegsmarine, and 100,000 of the Waffen-SS. When consideration is made for those in Poland, Denmark and Norway, the Army had 3,000,000 men available for the offensive on 10 May 1940. These manpower reserves were formed into 157 divisions. Of these, 135 were earmarked for the offensive, including 42 reserve divisions.
The German forces in the West in May and June deployed some 2,439 tanks and 7,378 artillery guns, including matériel reserves committed. In 1939–40, 45 percent of the army was at least 40 years old, and 50 percent of all the soldiers had just a few weeks' training. Contrary to what the Blitzkrieg legend suggests, the German Army was far from fully motorised; just 10 percent of their army was motorised in 1940 and could muster only 120,000 vehicles, compared to the 300,000 of the French Army.
The British had the most enviable contingent of motorised forces. Most of the German logistical tail consisted of horse-drawn vehicles.
Only 50 percent of the German divisions available in 1940 were combat ready, often being more poorly equipped than their equivalents in the British and French Armies, or even as well as the German Army of 1914. In the spring of 1940, the German army was semi-modern. A small number of the best-equipped and "elite divisions were offset by many second and third rate divisions".
Army operational deployment
The German Army was divided into three army groups. Army Group A, commanded by Gerd von Rundstedt, was composed of 45½ divisions, including seven armoured, and was to execute the decisive movement through the Allied defences in the Ardennes. The manoeuvre carried out by the Germans is sometimes referred to as a "Sichelschnitt", the German translation of the phrase "sickle cut" coined by Winston Churchill after the events to describe it, but never the official name of the operation. It involved the participation of three armies (the 4th, 12th and 16th) and had three Panzer corps.
One, the XV, had been allocated to the 4th Army, but the other two, the XXXXI (Reinhardt) and the XIX (Guderian) were united with the XIV Army Corps of two motorised infantry divisions on a special independent operational level in Panzergruppe Kleist (officially known as XXII Corps).
Army Group B under Fedor von Bock, composed of 29½ divisions including three armoured, was tasked with advancing through the Low Countries and luring the northern units of the Allied armies into a pocket. It consisted of the 6th and 18th Armies. Army Group C, composed of 18 divisions under Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, was charged with preventing a flanking movement from the east, and with launching small holding attacks against the Maginot Line and the upper Rhine. It consisted of the 1st and 7th Armies.
Communications
The real trump card for the Germans was the radio. The Panzers all had radios that allowed voice communication with other units. This enabled German armour to respond rapidly to a constantly changing battlefield situation. It allowed for last-minute changes in tactics and improvisations to be formed far more quickly than the enemy could. Some commanders regarded the ability to communicate to be the primary method of combat. Radio drills were even considered more important than firing accurately.
Communication allowed German armour to coordinate their formations, bringing them together for a mass firepower effect in the attack or defence. This offset the French advantage in numbers and equipment, which was deployed in "penny-packets" (dispersed as individual support weapons). The French also lacked radios and orders were passed from mouth to mouth. The opposing systems would give the Germans a decisive edge in battle.
The radio network went beyond tank-to-tank commands. The system also permitted a degree of communication between air and ground forces. Attached to Panzer Division were the Fliegerleittruppen (tactical air control troops) which were given wheeled vehicles. There were too few Sd.Kfz. 251 command vehicles to make this a uniform facility throughout the army, but the theory allowed the army in some circumstances to call upon the Luftwaffe units, while either on the ground or airborne, to support an attack that army artillery could not deal with.
It is said the participants in the dash to the English Channel carried out by Guderian's Corps never had to wait more than 15–20 minutes for the Luftwaffe to appear over a target after they made such calls.
A specific Junkers Ju 87 group (VIII Fliegerkorps), which was to support the dash to the channel should Army Group A break through in the Ardennes, kept one Ju 87 and one fighter group ready for immediate take-off. On average, they could arrive to support armoured units within 45–75 minutes of orders being issued.
Army tactics
The main tool of the German land forces was combined arms combat. In contrast to the Allies, they relied on highly mobile offensive units, with balanced numbers of well-trained artillery, infantry, engineer and tank formations, all integrated into Panzer divisions. They relied on excellent communication systems which enabled them to break into a position and exploit it before the enemy could react. Panzer divisions could carry out reconnaissance missions, advance to contact, defend and attack vital positions or weak spots.
| Battle of France | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Germany Italy (from 10 June) |  France Belgium United Kingdom Canada Netherlands Luxembourg | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Walter von Brauchitsch Gerd von Rundstedt Fedor von Bock Wilhelm von Leeb Albert Kesselring Hugo Sperrle Umberto di Savoia | Maurice Gamelin (until 17 May) Alphonse Georges(until 17 May) Maxime Weygand(from 17 May) Leopold III (POW) Lord Gort Henri Winkelman(POW)  Władysław Sikorski | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
Axis armies
| |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Germany: 141 divisions 7,378 guns 2,445 tanks 5,638 aircraft 3,350,000 troops Alps on 20 June 300,000 Italians | Allies: 144 divisions 13,974 guns 3,383 tanks 2,935 aircraft 3,300,000 troops Alps on 20 June ~150,000 French | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
Germany: 157,621 total casualties(c. 49,000 dead)
1,236 aircraft lost 795 tanks destroyed Italy: 6,029
Total: 163,650 casualties
| 360,000 dead or wounded, 1,900,000 captured 2,233 aircraft lost Total: 360,000 casualties | ||||||
This ground would then be held by infantry and artillery as pivot points for further attacks. Although their tanks were not designed for tank-versus-tank combat, they could take ground and draw the enemy armour on to the division's anti-tank lines. This conserved the tanks to achieve the next stage of the offensive. The units' logistics were self-contained, allowing for three or four days of combat. The Panzer divisions would be supported by motorised and infantry divisions.
The German Army lacked a formidable heavy combat tank like the French Char B1. In armament and armour, French tanks were the stronger designs and more numerous (although the German vehicles were faster and more mechanically reliable). But while the German Army was outnumbered in artillery and tanks, it possessed some critical advantages over its opponents. The newer German Panzers had a crew of five men: a commander, gunner-aimer, loader, driver and mechanic.
Having a trained individual for each task allowed each man to dedicate himself to his own mission and it made for a highly efficient combat team. The French had fewer members, with the commander double-tasked with loading the main gun, distracting him from his main duties in observation and tactical deployment. It made for a far less efficient system.
Even within infantry formations, the Germans enjoyed an advantage through the doctrine of Auftragstaktik (Mission command tactics), by which officers were expected to use their initiative to achieve their commanders' intentions, and were given control of the necessary supporting arms.
Luftwaffe
One of the German strengths was the Luftwaffe. It divided its forces into two groups. In total, 1,815 combat, 487 transport and 50 glider aircraft were deployed to support Army Group B, while a further 3,286 combat aircraft were deployed to support Army Groups A and C. In the first year of the war, the Luftwaffe was the best-trained, most modern and experienced air force in the world.
The main task of German aviation was to provide close support in the form of the dive-bomber and medium bomber. In 1940, the Luftwaffe was a broadly based force with no constricting central doctrine, other than its resources should be used generally to support national strategy. It was flexible and able to carry out operational, tactical and strategic bombing effectively. Flexibility was the Luftwaffe 's strength in 1940. While Allied air forces in 1940 were tied to the support of the army, the Luftwaffe deployed its resources in a more general, operational way.
It switched from air superiority missions, to medium-range interdiction, to strategic strikes, to close air support duties depending on the need of the ground forces. In fact, far from it being a dedicated Panzer spearhead arm, less than 15 percent of the Luftwaffe was designed for close support of the army in 1939, as this aspect was not its primary mission.
Anti-aircraft defences
It is generally supposed that the Germans also had a major advantage in anti-aircraft guns, or Flak. In reality, the generally cited figure of 2,600 88 mm heavy Flak guns and 6,700 37 mm and 20 mm light Flak seems to refer to the German armed forces total inventory, including the anti-aircraft defences of Germany's cities and ports and the equipment of training units. (A 9,300-gun Flak component with the field army would have involved more troops than the entire British Expeditionary Force)
The actual provision of Flak for the invading forces was 85 heavy and 18 light batteries belonging to the Luftwaffe, 48 "companies" of light Flak integral to divisions of the army, and 20 "companies" of light Flak allocated as army troops, that is, as a disposable reserve in the hands of HQs above corps level: altogether about 700 88 mm and 180 37 mm guns manned by Luftwaffe ground units and 816 20 mm guns manned by the army.
Strength
France had spent a higher percentage of its GNP from 1918 to 1935 on its military than other great powers, and the government had begun a large rearmament effort in 1936. Due to a declining birthrate during the period of the First World War and Great Depression and the large number of men who died in World War I, France had a severe manpower shortage relative to its total population, which was barely half that of Germany. To compensate, France had mobilised about one-third of the male population between the ages of 20 and 45, bringing the strength of its armed forces to 5,000,000. Only 2,240,000 of these served in army units in the north. The British contributed a total strength of 897,000 men in 1939, rising to 1,650,000 by June 1940. In May, it numbered only 500,000 men, including reserves. Dutch and Belgian manpower reserves amounted to 400,000 and 650,000, respectively.
Armies
There were 117 French divisions in total, of which 104 divisions (including 11 in reserve) were for the defence of the north. The British Army contributed 13 divisions, three of which had not been organized when the campaign began. Some 22 Belgian, 10 Dutch and two Polish divisions were also a part of the Allied order of battle. British artillery strength amounted to 1,280 guns. Belgium fielded 1,338 and the Dutch, 656. France had 10,700 pieces. This made a total of around 14,000 artillery pieces, 45 percent more than the Germans. The French army was also more motorised than its opponent, which still relied heavily on horses. Although the Belgians, British and Dutch had barely any armour, the French had a powerful force of 3,254 tanks. The force was both larger and of higher quality than Germany's, as shown by its tactical victory in the Battle of Hannut, the largest tank battle of the campaign.
The French Army was of mixed quality. It had in its order of battle some formidable units, particularly the light and heavy armoured divisions (DCR and DLM), and several professional infantry divisions. However, many divisions were composed of reserve soldiers, above 30 years old, and were ill-equipped. A serious qualitative deficiency was a lack of anti-air artillery, mobile anti-tank artillery and radio communication systems, despite the efforts of Gamelin to produce mobile artillery units. He used telephones and couriers to communicate with the field during the Battle of France; only 0.15 percent of military spending between 1923 and 1939 had been on radios and other communications equipment.
French tactical deployment and the use of mobile units operationally was also inferior to that of the Germans. Tactically, armour was spread thinly along the French line; French infantry divisions were supported by tank battalions of about 100 tanks, which prevented them from being a strong, independent operational force. Making matters worse, only a handful of French tanks in each unit had radios installed, and the radios themselves were often unreliable, thus hampering communication.
French tanks were also very slow in speed in comparison to the Panzers (except for the SOMUA S35), as they were designed as infantry support, enabling German tanks to offset their disadvantages by out-manoeuvering the French on the battlefield. In 1940, French military theoreticians still considered tanks as infantry support. As a consequence, at various points in the campaign, the French were not able to react as quickly as German armour.
In operational terms, the French did not seem to give much thought to armoured units as main offensive weapons. Although some military professionals such as Colonel de Gaulle tried during the 1930s to convince French High Command of the necessity to form armoured divisions supported by aviation and infantry, military conservatism prevented these "new ideas" from emerging.
The French High Command was focused on maintaining broad and continuous fronts as it had in 1914–18.
The state of training was also unbalanced, with the majority of personnel trained only to man static fortifications.
Minimal training for mobile actions was carried out between September 1939 and May 1940.
The German Army lacked a formidable heavy combat tank like the French Char B1. In armament and armour, French tanks were the stronger designs and more numerous (although the German vehicles were faster and more mechanically reliable). But while the German Army was outnumbered in artillery and tanks, it possessed some critical advantages over its opponents. The newer German Panzers had a crew of five men: a commander, gunner-aimer, loader, driver and mechanic.
Having a trained individual for each task allowed each man to dedicate himself to his own mission and it made for a highly efficient combat team. The French had fewer members, with the commander double-tasked with loading the main gun, distracting him from his main duties in observation and tactical deployment. It made for a far less efficient system.
Even within infantry formations, the Germans enjoyed an advantage through the doctrine of Auftragstaktik (Mission command tactics), by which officers were expected to use their initiative to achieve their commanders' intentions, and were given control of the necessary supporting arms.
Luftwaffe
One of the German strengths was the Luftwaffe. It divided its forces into two groups. In total, 1,815 combat, 487 transport and 50 glider aircraft were deployed to support Army Group B, while a further 3,286 combat aircraft were deployed to support Army Groups A and C. In the first year of the war, the Luftwaffe was the best-trained, most modern and experienced air force in the world.
The main task of German aviation was to provide close support in the form of the dive-bomber and medium bomber. In 1940, the Luftwaffe was a broadly based force with no constricting central doctrine, other than its resources should be used generally to support national strategy. It was flexible and able to carry out operational, tactical and strategic bombing effectively. Flexibility was the Luftwaffe 's strength in 1940. While Allied air forces in 1940 were tied to the support of the army, the Luftwaffe deployed its resources in a more general, operational way.
It switched from air superiority missions, to medium-range interdiction, to strategic strikes, to close air support duties depending on the need of the ground forces. In fact, far from it being a dedicated Panzer spearhead arm, less than 15 percent of the Luftwaffe was designed for close support of the army in 1939, as this aspect was not its primary mission.
Anti-aircraft defences
It is generally supposed that the Germans also had a major advantage in anti-aircraft guns, or Flak. In reality, the generally cited figure of 2,600 88 mm heavy Flak guns and 6,700 37 mm and 20 mm light Flak seems to refer to the German armed forces total inventory, including the anti-aircraft defences of Germany's cities and ports and the equipment of training units. (A 9,300-gun Flak component with the field army would have involved more troops than the entire British Expeditionary Force)
The actual provision of Flak for the invading forces was 85 heavy and 18 light batteries belonging to the Luftwaffe, 48 "companies" of light Flak integral to divisions of the army, and 20 "companies" of light Flak allocated as army troops, that is, as a disposable reserve in the hands of HQs above corps level: altogether about 700 88 mm and 180 37 mm guns manned by Luftwaffe ground units and 816 20 mm guns manned by the army.
Strength
France had spent a higher percentage of its GNP from 1918 to 1935 on its military than other great powers, and the government had begun a large rearmament effort in 1936. Due to a declining birthrate during the period of the First World War and Great Depression and the large number of men who died in World War I, France had a severe manpower shortage relative to its total population, which was barely half that of Germany. To compensate, France had mobilised about one-third of the male population between the ages of 20 and 45, bringing the strength of its armed forces to 5,000,000. Only 2,240,000 of these served in army units in the north. The British contributed a total strength of 897,000 men in 1939, rising to 1,650,000 by June 1940. In May, it numbered only 500,000 men, including reserves. Dutch and Belgian manpower reserves amounted to 400,000 and 650,000, respectively.
Armies
There were 117 French divisions in total, of which 104 divisions (including 11 in reserve) were for the defence of the north. The British Army contributed 13 divisions, three of which had not been organized when the campaign began. Some 22 Belgian, 10 Dutch and two Polish divisions were also a part of the Allied order of battle. British artillery strength amounted to 1,280 guns. Belgium fielded 1,338 and the Dutch, 656. France had 10,700 pieces. This made a total of around 14,000 artillery pieces, 45 percent more than the Germans. The French army was also more motorised than its opponent, which still relied heavily on horses. Although the Belgians, British and Dutch had barely any armour, the French had a powerful force of 3,254 tanks. The force was both larger and of higher quality than Germany's, as shown by its tactical victory in the Battle of Hannut, the largest tank battle of the campaign.
The French Army was of mixed quality. It had in its order of battle some formidable units, particularly the light and heavy armoured divisions (DCR and DLM), and several professional infantry divisions. However, many divisions were composed of reserve soldiers, above 30 years old, and were ill-equipped. A serious qualitative deficiency was a lack of anti-air artillery, mobile anti-tank artillery and radio communication systems, despite the efforts of Gamelin to produce mobile artillery units. He used telephones and couriers to communicate with the field during the Battle of France; only 0.15 percent of military spending between 1923 and 1939 had been on radios and other communications equipment.
French tactical deployment and the use of mobile units operationally was also inferior to that of the Germans. Tactically, armour was spread thinly along the French line; French infantry divisions were supported by tank battalions of about 100 tanks, which prevented them from being a strong, independent operational force. Making matters worse, only a handful of French tanks in each unit had radios installed, and the radios themselves were often unreliable, thus hampering communication.
French tanks were also very slow in speed in comparison to the Panzers (except for the SOMUA S35), as they were designed as infantry support, enabling German tanks to offset their disadvantages by out-manoeuvering the French on the battlefield. In 1940, French military theoreticians still considered tanks as infantry support. As a consequence, at various points in the campaign, the French were not able to react as quickly as German armour.
In operational terms, the French did not seem to give much thought to armoured units as main offensive weapons. Although some military professionals such as Colonel de Gaulle tried during the 1930s to convince French High Command of the necessity to form armoured divisions supported by aviation and infantry, military conservatism prevented these "new ideas" from emerging.
The French High Command was focused on maintaining broad and continuous fronts as it had in 1914–18.
The state of training was also unbalanced, with the majority of personnel trained only to man static fortifications.
Minimal training for mobile actions was carried out between September 1939 and May 1940.
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