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The Infanterie Regiment Grossdeutschland in France.

Villers -sur Semois .

The gun No. 6 went into action firing on nearby buildings, a shell exploded among French horses, that galloped uninjured in a stampede. The gun No. 5 took a position in the courtyard of the church in order to silence a heavy machine gun and succeeded after two shots. The French troops were of the 2 . Squadron, 5e Cuirassiers ( 2 DLC). Beck-Broichsitter's story: the commanders of the weapons and the grenadiers behaved superbly. From the cover of a bush I saw how, one after another, four enemy light tanks were knocked out. Our plan of attack was correct.

Finally the enemy evacuated the town's center but renewed his resistance on the western edge, actually at 17:20 hours (plus one hour for the Germans) the HQ of the French Regiment had ordered the withdrawal along the railway located slightly west of Villers . The 2 . Squadron was violently attacked at 17:30 hours (18:30 hours German time) and had to withdraw, reaching Tintigny at 20:30 hours.

The II. / IR GD remained in Villers -sur- Semois overnight. The next day at 05:00 hours the vanguard and with it the 3. Platoon of assault guns moved again towards Mellier.

"First Contact!" 6./II Battalion Infantryregiment ’Grossdeutschland’ and the battle for Villiers-sur-Semois. 10 May 1940. An historical background for Flames of War By Simon McBeth.
La Campagne de mai 1940 en Belgique. Lt Col A. Bikar.
German Armored Assault Artillery. Information Bulletin Nº 2. MID 461.
historyfacts.biz/en/04.../Sturmbatterie.pdf

Cheers. Raúl M .

Feliz Año Nuevo - Happy New Year - feliz Ano Novo - gluckliches Neues Jahr - Bonne Année - Felice Anno Nuovo - Szczęśliwego nowego roku!!.

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Apostilles of the Schützen Regiment 1 in France 1940.

On May 12, 1940 the I./ SR 1 with the support of two platoons of PR 1 and artillery support of the II. / AR 73 reached the Semois in Bouillon. Towards the afternoon it was possible to clear the city and to form a bridgehead in the heights of the south shore.


A Sd Kfz 251 Ausf. A of SR 1 wading the Semois by Bouillon in May 1940; By the platform on the driver's compartment it is seen that it is the vehicle of a Pl/Coy leader ...................................................

After overcoming the obstacle of the Meuse River, on May 14, 1940, at 11:30 hours the SR 1 crossed the Ardennes Canal west of Omicourt. The II. Battalion of the regiment marched behind some tanks towards the dominant heights in Vendresse and there established a defense. From 16:00 hours, the French attacks were reduced and the regiment was able to continue its advance. The first battalion of the regiment continued the march as the vanguard.


A Sd Kfz 251 Ausf. A of the 8. / SR1 in advance westwards by Vendresse ....................................

Sources: http://www.ebay.at/sch/i.html?_pgn=1&cn ... ia%20fotos
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... er/SR1.htm
http://www.kfzderwehrmacht.de/Homepage_ ... iants.html

Cheers. Raúl M .

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Hangest sur Somme 1940.

On June 5, 1940, the Battle of Hangest-sur-Somme began. The challenge of this battle is to cross the Somme, which the 7. Panzer (which crossed the Ardennes) managed to do. The 5th DIC defended Hangest-sur-Somme to the last with paltry means (a 25mm anti-tank gun).

At 09:00 in the morning, Hangest-sur-Somme has not yet fallen. The Senegalese of the 53rd RICMS (Régiment d'Infanterie Coloniale Mixte Sénégalais) hold the top of the larris but the Germans, supported by large artillery, mount the assault and score a success.

However, according to a testimony by Robert Dupays: "At Hangest-sur-Somme, certain sharpshooters from the same regiment were shot down immediately after their capture." The fighting was so violent that the German press (Pommersche Zeitung) quoted the fight with the colonial soldiers in these terms: "The French fought fiercely, the Negroes used every possibility of defense to the last, every house was defended. To break this resistance, it was necessary to put the flamethrowers into action and defeat the last Senegalese, killing them one by one.

Hangest-sur-Somme will fall in the afternoon. The 7. Panzer can now move south...................

Sources: http://www.ajpn.org/commune-Hangest-sur ... 80416.html
http://www.picardie-1939-1945.org/phpBB ... =39&t=2873

Cheers. Raúl M .

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The II. Abteilung (Detachment/Group) of the 77th Artillery Regiment.

The II. / 77th Artillery Regiment was formed on October 12, 1937 in Schwäbisch Gmünd, in Military District V. The group was formed through contributions from the 73rd Artillery Regiment and the 76th Artillery Regiment. The unit was formed as a motorized element. It was equipped as an element at army level with light field howitzers. In 1938, the detachment was relocated to its original location in Karlsruhe, also in Military District V. During the Polish campaign, the group was deployed as an army troop.

On May 9, 1940, at 2:30 p.m., the detachment was alerted and received orders to march in the following day. The group had been housed in the permanent quarters in Sechtem, in the Bonn district, since the first days of November 1939.

On May 10, 1940, the march from the local quarters in Sechtem took place at 4:30 p.m. It went via Waldorf, Brenig, Heimerzheim, Ollheim, Muddendorf, Cuchenhaim, Röchheim. The detachment was deployed in the Roitzheim area and in a forest 2 kilometers south of Euskirchen. The detachment was now subordinate to the XV Army Corps (Mot) in the 4th Army.

At the beginning of the Western campaign, the 62nd Infantry Division and the 5th Panzer Division were subordinate to the XV Army Corps (also known as Hoth Group). On May 11, the 7th Panzer Division was subordinate to it. The corps' task was to cover the right flank of Panzer Group Kleist. From May 10, 1940, the corps advanced through the Ardennes about 35 km north of Panzer Group Kleist. The corps was to try to reach and cross the Meuse between Dinant and Houx before the advancing French units.

On May 11, 1940, the order for the departure time and marching order for II./ AR 77 arrived at around 6:00 a.m. At 8:00 a.m. the detachment was integrated into the marching column, which was made up of corps troops. The march went via Münstereifel, Tondorf, Blankenheim, Dahlen, Kronenburg. The detachment was stationed in the Baasen area and north of there. The weather that day was sunny and clear, but still relatively cool. The energetic intervention of all superiors was often necessary to get the columns that had collided with each other moving again.

Source: https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... orps-R.htm
https://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gl ... AR77-R.htm

Cheers. Raúl M .

Not in France but in the Belgian village of Thulin near the French-Belgian border in the end of may 1940
Source : Mai 40 la campagne de dix-huit jours Peter Taghon Kindly regards
Prosper