The Sound of Drums - A British Hearts of Iron AAR
Part Twenty-Nine
The dawn had barely broken on the 2nd May yet the British Parliament was packed. Germany was beginning its war in the west, and an emergency session had to be called. The resulting debate continued throughout the day, though to all involved it no doubt felt closer to lasting a fortnight.
Of major importance was the decision on how to defend France. Discussions on how the British Expeditionary Force could be best deployed to repulse a German attacks had been ongoing since October the previous year, yet no firm decision had been made. Thankfully such discussions had resulted in the creation of two main proposals; one grounded in the defensive tactics of the Great War by Rapidveggie, while the second by Minister Raisin Bran offered a more dangerous operation that, if successful, could result in the destruction of the entire German invasion force. In the end, it was Raisin Bran’s ‘Operation Crumpets’ that gained the votes, though shortly after the vote was passed the name became the more sensible ‘Operation Hangman.’
The Allies battle as one!
As the BEF began reorganising itself on the 3rd, the French began their own push into Belgium. Their own plans involved creating a ‘forward defence’ in Belgium, hoping that it would be enough to keep the Germans out of France completely. This would be the so-called Basel Line, and it was hoped that it could be formed well before Germany even entered Belgium. That plan was to fail.
The German invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxemburg began simultaneously on the 2nd May across all fronts. It appeared that, despite the continuous warnings from Britain and France that Germany would not respect their neutrality, surprise was total. With the exception of Arnhem, the frontlines of all three nations collapsed within a day, the first province (Groningen, in the Netherlands) captured on the 3rd May - less than 24 hours after the invasion began.
The situation degraded rapidly. On the 5th Amsterdam fell under attack, eventually falling two days later. Luxemburg was annexed into Germany on the 7th, and the French suffered the first attack on their own soil as Panzer forces probed the Maginot Line south of the former nation. More worrying was the situation in Belgium - though none of its provinces had been captured, neither the Belgian Army or the arriving French forces succeeded in a counter-attack against the invading forces arriving from Cologne. With additional German forces now able to head directly south behind the Meuse and Schelde Rivers, it would not be long before Belgium fell along with her northern neighbours.
The situation in the Low Countries, 8th May
It was not all bad news, though it was hard to see how anything good could possibly compare to the dreadful events of the week. Some hope came that Allied forces still had dominance in the air, as British, French and Australian aircraft took to the skies above eastern Belgium. The new Spitfire Mark.IX saw battle for the first time, achieving victory in the skies against their Luftwaffe counterparts, and three new squadrons were declared ready for action on the 7th.
The BEF once again proved that when it came to redeployment and massive reorganisation there was no one better or more efficient than the British. On the 3rd the divisions received their orders that they were to prepare for Operation Hangman, and within two days all troops were in their new positions. If the French were unable to hold Belgium, then the British were ready to hold France…
