Battle of Arras (1940)

Battle of Arras
Part of World War II
Situation in France, 21 May 1940. The counterattack near Arras is seen the centre-left of the image.
Date 21 May 1940 Location Arras, France 50°15′N 2°42′E / 50.250°N 2.700°E / 50.250; 2.700Coordinates: 50°15′N 2°42′E / 50.250°N 2.700°E / 50.250; 2.700 Result See Aftermath
Belligerents
United Kingdom  France	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Harold Franklyn	Erwin Rommel
Units involved
5th Infantry Division 50th Infantry Division 3e Division Légère Mécanique 1st Army Tank Brigade	7th Panzer Division 5th Panzer Division 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf
Strength
74 tanks 2,000 infantry	c. 225 tanks 5,000–10,000 infantry
Casualties and losses
c. 35 tanks 50–75 killed or wounded	300 killed or wounded, 400 captured 7th Panzer Division lost 9 tanks
170 British prisoners were murdered in the Wormhoudt massacre, by members of II Battalion, SS Infantrie-Regiment Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, 3rd SS Division Totenkopf
Arras Arras, capital (chef-lieu/préfecture) of the Pas-de-Calais, départment of Nord-Pas-de-Calais

The Battle of Arras (1940) took place during the Battle of France of the Second World War. It was an Allied counter-attack against the flank of the German army, near the town of Arras, in north-eastern France. The German forces were pushing north towards the channel coast, to trap the Allied forces that had advanced east into Belgium. The counter-attack at Arras was an Allied attempt to cut through the German armoured spearhead and frustrate the German advance. The Anglo-French attack made early gains and panicked some German units but was repulsed after an advance of up to 10 km (6.2 mi) and forced to withdraw after dark, to avoid encirclement.

Army Group A (Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt), defeated the French at the Battle of Sedan from 12–15 May and crossed the Meuse. A French counter-attack at the Battle of Montcornet on 17 May by the 4e Division Cuirassée de Réserve (4e DCR, Colonel Charles de Gaulle), from Montcornet to the south, was defeated by an improvised defence and the 10th Panzer Division, which was rushed forward on the French flank. The German counter-attacks were supported by Fliegerkorps VIII (Generaloberst Wolfram von Richthofen) and the French lost 32 tanks and armoured vehicles. On 19 May, after receiving reinforcements, the 4e DCR attacked again and was repulsed with the loss of 80 of 155 vehicles, much of the loss being caused by the aircraft of Fliegerkorps VIII, which attacked French units assembling to attack the flanks of German units. By the end of the Battle of Montcornet, much of the French Ninth Army on the Meuse had disintegrated under the attacks of Fliegerkorps VIII.