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Background Information


This is a short list of introductory websites to the campaign. You will notice it is not very strong on the English and Belgian experience. We will add some in next month’s update. Please feel free to suggest sites (preferably with your arguments why it should be included) through Marcs@cs.ru.nl

France 1940 website
http://france1940.free.fr/
Excellent site (in English and French) on various aspects of the 1940 campaign and the run up to the war. Covers the Allies and German forces.

France 1940 mailing list http://groups.yahoo.com/group/France1940/
A discussion group of very high quality with an extensive archive. Mainly about France in May 1940, but also covers the 1930s and mobilisation and often discusses allied operations in the Low Countries and other parts of Europe as well. Please go through the archive before starting a new discussion or asking questions. Chances are considerable that your question has been asked before.

Armée de Terre Française 1940
http://www.atf40.fr/
French language site on the French land forces in 1940. Maps, orders of battle, operations, allied forces.

Axis History Factbook
http://www.axishistory.com/
Site on all aspects of the Axis warfare in the Second World War. Campaigns, orders of battle, politics, units and equipment.

Leger 1939-1940
http://www.leger1939-1940.nl/
Dutch language site on the mobilisation and operations of the Dutch army in 1939-1940.

Mei 1940
http://www.mei1940.org/
Dutch language site on the Dutch experience through the whole of WWII.

War over Holland, May 1940. The Dutch Struggle
http://www.waroverholland.nl/
English language site on the Dutch experience in the 1939-1940 mobilisation and operations.



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Further reading:

This bibliography was kindly provided by Frank van den Bergh and reproduced with some minor additions and editing.

It is, of neccessity, an incomplete bibliography on the events of May 1940. Whole libraries have been filled on the subject and there is no way in which a bibliography like this could do it it full justice. Books in Dutch, French and German are listed besides the ones in English. Indeed many detailed studies on French, Dutch or German forces are only available in these languages. It is immediately apparent that we are short on books on the German, French and Belgian experience. We would like to add some in next month’s update. Please feel free to suggest books (preferably with your arguments why it should be included) through Marcs@cs.ru.nl

The books are listed alphabetically according to the author’s name. First we give some general overviews of the campaign then continue with more specialised accounts for those that want to dig deeper.

H. Amersfoort, P. Kamphuis (eds.), Mei 1940. De strijd op Nederlands grondgebied, Den Haag, Sdu uitgevers, 2007. Revised edition of one of the most recent critical analyses of the fighting in the Netherlands in 1940. Regrettably only available in Dutch.

Len Deighton, Blitzkrieg, From the Rise of Adolf Hitler to the Fall of Dunkirk, n.p., Jonathan Cape, 1980. A potted overview of the campaign, not as analytical as Frieser.

De Fabribeckers, La Campagne de l’Armee Belge en 1940, Brussel, Rossel edition. This is the only book I’ve ever seen on the Belgian Army in 1940. It is quite detailed. As such it is worth studying. A Dutch language edition of this book exists as well.

Karl-Heinz Frieser, Blitzkrieg-Legende. Der Westfeldzug 1940, München, Oldenbourg Verlag, 1996. This is one of the best, most analytical books I’ve ever read on the campaign. Makes all earlier works obsolete. Really. An English edition of this books exists as well.

Alistair Horne, To lose a battle. France 1940. First published 1969. Although not as analytical as Frieser, still a valuable read.

Alistair Horne, De 42 dagen, Amsterdam, Omega boek, 1981. Dutch translation of To Lose a Battle. Julian Jackson, The Fall of France. The Nazi invasion of 1940. Oxford, University Press, 2003. Thought provoking study on the reasons of the French defeat, looking at French domestic politics, the Anglo-French alliance and military development in the 1930s.

L. de Jong, Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, deel 3, Mei 1940. Part of the Official History of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in WW II.

Jean-Paul Pallud, Blitzkrieg in the west, London, Battle of Britain publishing, 1991. This book is a monumental effort on the Blitzkrieg in the West with lots and lots of photo’s. It is a good companion to Frieser.

Hugh Sebag Montefiore, Dunkirk. Fight to the last man. London, Penguin Books, 2006. From an English perspective (and with little love for the French). Gripping account of tactical combat in the first two weeks of the campaign.

Specialised books
Anonymous, Denkschrift über die niederländische Landesbefestigung, Berlin, 1941 (herdruk). This is a reprint of an official German assessment of the Dutch defences, published in 1941. Extremely good on details of bunkers and the like.

Anonymous, 1939-40 La Bataille de France, Volume VI, l’Aeronavale in : Icare, Revue de l’administration Française. Special issue of the French aviation magazine Icare on the French Naval Air Arm in 1940.

Anonymous, 1939-40 La Bataille de France, Volume VII, l’aeronautique militaire Belge, in: Icare, Revue de l’administration Française. Special issue of the French aviation magazine Icare on the Belgian Air Force in 1940

H. Amersfoort, ‘Ik had mijn roode-kruis band afgedaan’ Oorlogsrecht en de gedragingen van Nederlandse en Duitse militairen in gevecht, mei 1940, Den Haag, Sdu Uitgevers, 2005. A study of violations of the laws of war by Dutch and German troops in 1940, often in the heat of battle.

Stéphane Bonnaud, Hommes et Materiels du 15e BCC, Chars B au combat, Paris, Histoire et Collections, 2002. A detailed study of A French tank battalion equipped with the Char B in the events of 1940.

Dominique Breffort & André Jouineau, French Aircraft from 1939 to 1942, Volume 1, from Amiot to Curtiss, Paris, Histoire et Collections, 2004. This book and the following are good for studying the French Air Force in 1940

Dominique Breffort & André Jouineau, French Aircraft from 1939 to 1942, Volume 2, from Dewoitine to Potez, Paris, Histoire et Collections, 2005

E. H. Brongers, De slag om de residentie 1940, Baarn, Hollandia, 1968

E.H. Brongers, Opmars naar Rotterdam, Baarn, Hollandia, 1983

E.H. Brongers, Grebbelinie 1940 Bussum, Hollandia, 1982. the books by Brongers are detailed but are marred a bit by an nationalistic Dutch persepective. Only the Germans commit war crimes in his books. For more modern opinions, see Amersfoort’s books.

Franck Mallet, D’une guerre a l’autre, La strategie française de 1919 à 1939, in: Vae Victis, La revue du jeu d’histoire tactique et strategique, no 18, Janvier-Fevrier 1998, pp. 24-29

Jean-Yves Mary & Alain Hohnadel, Hommes et ouvrages de la Ligne Maginot, Parijs, Histoire et Collections, 2001 (drie delen). A detailed and well illustrated series of books on the men and works of the Maginot Line. Includes details on uniforms nad is well worth the effort.

Jean Mayet, Le Char 2C, Saumur, Musee des Blindes. Detailed study of the biggest French tank in 1940, a 12 metre long, 3.80 meter high, 70 ton monster with a crew of 12! The battalion equipped with these tanks never saw action and destroyed the tanks to prevent them falling in German hands...

Philippe Naud, Pétrole-picotin!, les DLC françaises, in: Vae Victis, la revue du jeu d’histoire tactique et strategique, no 20, Mai-Juin, 2998, pp. 18-22.

Philippe Naud, Une étrange défaite..., La campagne de 1940, in: Vae Victis, La revue du jeu d’histoire tactique et strategique, no 36, Janvier-Fevrier 2001, pp. 20-27.

Philippe Naud, Les blindés français 1940, A l’épreuve du feu, mai-juin 1940, in: Vae Victis, La revue du jeu d’histoire tactique et strategique, no 62, Mai-Juin 2005, pp. 20-29. These three articles are detailed studies on aspects of the French army in 1940. Well worth reading.

Georges Schmidt, Gill van Dessel, De Belgische Luchtmacht 1914-1940, Brussel, uitgeverij Rossel, 1976

Wim Schoenmaker, Thijs Postma, Mei 1940, de verdediging van het Nederlandse luchtruim, Amsterdam, De Bataafsche Leeuw, 1982 Good study of the Dutch Air Defences.

Ian Sumner, François Vauvillier, Michael Chappell, The French Army 1939-45 (1), Londen, Osprey publishing, 1998. Good starter volume on the French Army of 1940. Packs a lot of background information in a slim volume.

Pierre Touzin, Les Engins blindes Français. 1920-1945. Gazette des Armes, Hors serie no. 3. Detailed study of French tanks. François Vauvillier, Les Automitrailleuses de reconnaissance, tome 1, l’AMR 33 Renault, Paris, Histoire et Collections. This and the next book are detailed studies of a French armoured vehicle and the units that were equipped with it in 1940.

François Vauvillier, Les Automitrailleuses de reconnaissance, tome 2, l’AMR 35 Renault, Paris, Histoire et Collections. François Vauvillier, 1940, l’infanterie, Hors Serie Uniformes no. 3. A detailed study of the uniforms and equipment of the French metropolitan infantry in 1940.

François Vauvillier, 1940, l’infanterie, Hors Serie Uniformes no. 3. A detailed study of the uniforms and equipment of the French metropolitan infantry in 1940.

H.R. Visser, J/S. Van Wieringen, Kazematten in het Interbellum, vestingbouwkundige bijdragen, Utrecht, Stichting Menno van Coehoorn, 2002. A detailed survey of Dutch casemates built in the 1930s.

Rene Vliegen, Fort Eben-Emael, Eben Emael, 1990