On May 12th, 1940, General Gamelin has given the Cavalry Corps the mission to execute a delaying battle, somewhere between Gembloux and, to prevent the enemy from reaching the Gembloux area until the eighth day of an invasion and to allow the 1st Army sufficient time to dig in. The Cavalry Corps had included the 3e DLM, recently constituted on 1 February, manned with reservists and still insufficiently trained. Nevertheless, still considered this force sufficient to either contest a river-crossing at Maastricht, or wage a maneuver battle or, as a third alternative, defend an improvised line. What follows next is the first clash between German and French armor doctrine and equipment.
On May 12th, 1940, General Gamelin has given the Cavalry Corps the mission to execute a delaying battle, somewhere between Gembloux and, to prevent the enemy from reaching the Gembloux area until the eighth day of an invasion and to allow the 1st Army sufficient time to dig in. The Cavalry Corps had included the 3e DLM, recently constituted on 1 February, manned with reservists and still insufficiently trained. Nevertheless, still considered this force sufficient to either contest a river-crossing at Maastricht, or wage a maneuver battle or, as a third alternative, defend an improvised line. What follows next is the first clash between German and French armor doctrine and equipment.
WW2 micro-armor in the western desert, April 1943.
Description:
After the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia had been outflanked by the "left-hook" attack through the Tebaga Gap, Axis forces had managed to avoid being trapped and had withdrawn to the Wadi Akarit, north of Gabès. This position had been identified long before by Erwin Rommel as a preferred defensive position; he had unsuccessfully argued with his superiors for a controlled withdrawal to it immediately after the Second Battle of El Alamein. He argued that it was the best opportunity for his forces to hold off the Eighth Army and thus prolong Axis presence in Africa.
WW2 micro-armor in the western desert, April 1943.
Description:
After the Mareth Line in southern Tunisia had been outflanked by the "left-hook" attack through the Tebaga Gap, Axis forces had managed to avoid being trapped and had withdrawn to the Wadi Akarit, north of Gabès. This position had been identified long before by Erwin Rommel as a preferred defensive position; he had unsuccessfully argued with his superiors for a controlled withdrawal to it immediately after the Second Battle of El Alamein. He argued that it was the best opportunity for his forces to hold off the Eighth Army and thus prolong Axis presence in Africa.
During the German offensive “Operation Solstice”, elements of the 503rd SS Schwere Panzer BN was counterattacked by the 11th Guards Heavy Tank Brigade, around the fortified town of Arnswalde.
Description:
During the German offensive "Operation Solstice", elements of the 503rd SS Schwere Panzer BN (Tiger II) was counterattacked by the 11th Guards Heavy Tank Brigade (JS 2). The ensuing battle represented the culminating clash between the highest technological advances and doctrines of Germany and the Soviet Union.