The French do not deserve the insults they receive re WW2. The French fought hard and bravely and put the Germans in real difficulty.
The figures speak for themselves. Of the 3,000 tanks the Germans deployed, 1,800 were put out of action. Of 3,500 planes they lost 1,600. In a month of fighting they lost 50,000 dead and more than 160,000 wounded.
The French also capably covered the British retreat to Dunkirk with the result that far more men were successfully evacuated than had been feared.
In addition, there was also tough fighting against the Italians in the Alps, while on the Maginot Line only a handful of forts had capitulated by the armistice in mid-June.
The French do not deserve the insults they receive re WW2. The French fought hard and bravely and put the Germans in real difficulty.
The figures speak for themselves. Of the 3,000 tanks the Germans deployed, 1,800 were put out of action. Of 3,500 planes they lost 1,600. In a month of fighting they lost 50,000 dead and more than 160,000 wounded.
The French also capably covered the British retreat to Dunkirk with the result that far more men were successfully evacuated than had been feared.
In addition, there was also tough fighting against the Italians in the Alps, while on the Maginot Line only a handful of forts had capitulated by the armistice in mid-June.