Dyle Plan
| Dyle-Breda Plan/Breda variant | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Second World War | |
 Western Front campaign, 1940 |
|
| Operational scope | Strategic |
| Location |
South-west Netherlands, central Belgium, northern France Coordinates: 50°51′00″N 04°21′00″E / 50.85000°N 4.35000°E |
| Planned | 1940 |
| Planned by | Maurice Gamelin |
| Commanded by | Alphonse Georges |
| Objective | Defence of the Netherlands, Belgium and France |
| Date | 10 May 1940 |
| Executed by | French 1st Army Group British Expeditionary Force Belgian Army |
| Outcome | Defeat |
The Dyle Plan or D Plan was the plan of the Commander-in-Chief of the French Army Général d'armée Maurice Gamelin to defeat a German invasion of France through Belgium. The Dyle (Dijle) river is an 86 km (53 mi)-long river from Houtain-le-Val through Flemish Brabant and Antwerp and the objective was to halt the German army along the line of the river. The Franco-Belgian Accord of 1920 co-ordinated communication and fortification efforts of both armies. After the German Remilitarization of the Rhineland on 7 March 1936, the German Army (Heer) closed up to the Belgian border and the Belgian government adopted a policy of strict neutrality.
French doubts about the Belgian army led to uncertainty if French troops could move fast enough into Belgium to fight a defensive battle from prepared positions and avoid an encounter battle. The Escaut Plan/Plan E and Dyle Plan/Plan D were devised for a forward defence in Belgium, along with a possible deployment on the French-Belgian border to Dunkirk. Gamelin chose the Escaut Plan then substituted Plan D for an advance to the line of the Dyle, which was 70–80 km (43–50 mi) shorter. Some officers at Grand Quartier Général (GQG, general headquarters of the French Army) doubted that the French could arrive before the Germans.
German dissatisfaction with the campaign plan Fall Gelb (Case Yellow), increased over the winter of 1939–1940 and then the Mechelen Incident occurred on 10 January 1940, when a German aircraft landed in Belgium carrying plans for the invasion. The incident was a catalyst for the doubts and led to the Manstein Plan, a bold, almost reckless gamble, for an attack further south through the Ardennes. The attack on the Low countries became decoy to lure the Allied armies, the easier to outflank them from the south.
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