MEMORIAL DE LA BATAILLE DE FRANCE T4

On 17 June 1940, while the French Army was obeying the orders given by Weygand on 13 June and was in full retreat towards the south west, the Germans, cottoning on to the extent of this movement, were hot on its heels in order “to destroy the French Army”, to use the words of Hitler’s 14 June directive. The new head of the government, Marshal Pétain made a speech on the radio in which he pronounced the unfortunate words “the fighting must cease”, a blunder the Germans didn’t hesitate to exploit to get the French troops to surrender. This did not prevent what Roger Bruge called the “Fighters of 18 June” from continuing the brave struggle to the south of the River Loire, along the Marne Canal to the Rhine or on the Ligne Maginot. It was the same on the front in the Alps. Here, the Italians failed in their attempts to gain as much territorial advantage as they could for use in the armistice negotiations. The last tragic week of this campaign is brought to life in this book, presenting the lessons to be learnt from these final battles.