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Abbeville 27 May till 05 Jun of 1940.
The bridgehead. The Destruction of 12th Division - 20th May 1940
12th (Eastern) Division was one formation called into service by Hore-Belisha's doubling of the Territorial Army in the Spring of 1939, a political gesture executed without consulting the Chiefs of Staff which resulted in raising a large number of volunteers for whom no arms could be provided. In March 1940 it was decided that three of these second line divisions (12th, 23rd & 46th) should be sent to France for pioneer duties building marshalling yards, airfields and depots.
On the 16th May 46th Division, stationed around St Nazaire, was ordered up to Seclin, South of Lille. On arrival they were ordered to keep the roads clear of refugees but almost immediately they were swept into a combatant role, as was 23rd Div. This left 12 Div (Maj. Gen. RL Petre) as the only British unit south of the Somme. But this division was dismantled since the 36 Brigade was sent to Lens, the 37 Brigade towards Amiens and the 35 Brigade towards Abbeville, to make matters worse it lost its commander assigned to the defense of Arras (Petre FORCE).
When Brig Wyatt took over command of 12th Div he had one brigade in contact with HQ but no information about the enemy. Meanwhile Brig. de Cordova's 35th (Queens) Brigade was setting up in an arc which stretched from the Somme South of Abbeville to the St Omer road overlooking the airfield to the North. They established road blocks on the 3 main roads leading out of their position but their orders were "Positions are not to be tactical but areas are allotted with regard to the fact that the brigade may have to defend Abbeville".
The 3 Queens battalions were the worst armed in the division having only 3 Brens and 5 A/T rifles in each battalion. At 1100 a devastating air attack on Abbeville not only destroyed the bridges over the Somme but put the telephone system out of order, so that comms had to be sent by despatch rider or runner. At 1415 hrs Brig. Wyatt sent them an order to "Carry out recce for withdrawal of 1 battalion across the Somme to protect right flank, also to consider manner of withdrawal of remainder of brigade across river" and at 1715 hours: "Enemy reported at 1200 hrs today in vicinity of Doullens with AFVs. 35 Brigade will withdraw across the Somme and take up positions on west bank covering roads Abbeville - Blagny and Abbeville - Eu. Right flank will be refused to cover approaches from South".
By that time 35th (Queens) Brigade had effectively ceased to exist. Trouble had started on their left where late in the afternoon 2/6th Oueens found Germans on either side of them but the whole battalion escaped, except for the rearguard platoon which was surprised by tanks as they crossed the St Omer road. The rest of the Brigade suffered more severely. 2/7th Queens in the centre of the position fired off all their A/T ammo to halt an attack by light tanks, but when battalion HQ sent out orders to withdraw the message was miscarried and only the HQ company and 2 platoons reached the river. The remainder stayed where they were and were rounded up the following morning. Even when a company which had been detached to guard an ammo dump near Amiens rejoined them, the battalion could not find as many as 200 men. The 2/5th on the right also held off some light tanks. They were required to hold on until 2/7th had fallen back behind them. When at 2300 hrs the order to retreat was given it was found that the main road along the river bank was piqueted by tanks. Lt. Col. Young split the battalion into small groups and told them to make their own way across the Somme as best they could. 120 men escaped.
Sources: Lost Victories. Erich v. Manstein.
http://batailles-1939-1940.historyboard ... s-t104.htm
Militaria Magazine Hs21 Le Mois Terrible La Bataille D'abbeville.
In zwanzig Minuten elf Feindpanzer abgeschossen. Ralph Tegethoff http://www.deutsche-stimme.de/ds/ De junio de 2004.
http://www.deutsche-stimme.de/ds/
The Destruction of 12th Division. 20th May 1940 by Pete Gill http://www.magweb.com
Cheers. Raúl M
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