![]() ![]() The guns of our battalion, together with the heavy weapons companies of ‘Deutschland’ Regiment, were to support the crossing by that regiment’s infantry. ![]() The enemy had blown the bridges and was defending the west bank. Our army’s advance had been so rapid that I did not catch up with the Division until it was positioned on the east bank of the River Somme. It was, therefore, not until the middle of May that the RTO in Cologne could send me back to my unit, 3rd Battalion of the Artillery Regiment. ‘We all wanted to get back quickly to our units, but we had to stay and finish the course. An account of that pell-mell advance southwards from the Somme, was given by Ernst Schuelke who was on a course for unit leaders in Sennelager when the campaign in the west opened. This forced the French government to ask for an armistice which was signed on the 25th. Many French divisions struggled heroically, but by the evening of 17 June the Army of the East was breaking up and by the 22nd it had surrendered. This does not imply either that the French Army did not continue to fight well or that SS V’ Division saw no action of any importance. On 14 June, the same day as that on which the Marne was crossed, Paris fell and with the surrender of the capital French morale plummeted and military efficiency suffered. The following weeks saw one river line after another carried with ease. Within days the French defences along the Somme, extravagantly named the Weygand Line, had been broken and on 9 June the Aisne was crossed. ![]()
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