Admittedly, this is not a great picture. It was taken on a damp, dank day in early October 2024 from the viewing platform at the top of the ridge in the Bois de Marfee. It shows the gentle sweep of the Meuse Valley. On a clear day, or so I was told, you can see the Meuse River at the bottom of the valley and the church spires and the castle in the city of Sedan, the scene of another French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
This would have been the viewing point of the commanders of the French 55th Division, whose artillery was strategically placed on the reverse slope of the ridge, trained on the various potential crossing points that Guderian's advancing Panzer divisions would take when attempting to cross the river in May 1940. As the Maginot Line had been rendered redundant by the Germans' skirting movement through the Ardennes, the natural barrier of the Meuse River was the place where the invaders could be checked for long enough to enable overwhelming reinforcements to be brought to bear.
But, for some reason, this did not happen. Instead, the French commanding officers went into a panic when they received reports that panzers had already crossed the river and had flanked the artillery positions at Marfee. They ordered their men to abandon their guns and retreat. This turned into a headlong rout. In reality, no panzers had crossed the river, but with the French artillery falling silent, the Germans were able to erect pontoon bridges to get the tanks across to the other bank. After that, they were able to break out across the plains of northern France.
For France, this was the turning point. From that moment on, the French were always on the back foot, never able to recover until they declared an armistice a few weeks later. It was the beginning of four long years of occupation, the Dark Years of my trilogy.
