The Battle of Hannut-France 1940

French and German forces clash in the first great armored battle of the Second World War.

Music used
Moonlight sonata, Beethoven
BTS prologue, Kevin MacLeod
Drive, Ross Budgen
Crossing the Chasm, Kevin Macleod

Sources
Fall Gelb (2): Airborne Assault on the Low Countries, Douglas Dildy
Panzer III vs SOMUA S.35, Steven Zaloga
The Battle of the Belgian Plain: 12th-14th may 1940:The First Great Tank Battle, Jeffrey Gunsburg
The Blitzkrieg Legend, Karl Heinz Frieser
Case Red: The Collapse of France, Robert Forczyk
To Lose a Battle, Alistair Horne
The Second World War, Anthony Beevor

[philippeponasse]

Another great daring video on a little known event.
The Norwegian campaign as well as the battles of Montcornet (1940) & Bir Hakeim (1942) would make for good videos.

[FWD]

Excellent Video Sir !!
Please keep them coming !

[phil-svon]

In fact, the French anti-blitzkrieg device proved to be effective in central Belgium.
At the battle of Gembloux, which immediately followed the battle of Hannut, the 16th Panzer Corps was stopped dead in the open country.
The French plan in this sector worked perfectly.
The elite of the French army was of exceptional fighting quality.

[Balrog]

The force big tank battle is totally unknow especially in the english-speaking world. Really good work.

[thetypetwolife]

What an awesome video. I fricken love youtube history. I was just talking to my woman about how between channels like Tik, The Great War and now your channel Ive gained a Master's Understanding of these epic events.

[philRminiatures]

Remarkable work on an important battle (which I knew very little about!), A high quality video with a lot of information, and a resistance in 1940 that is not often mentioned, even in France! Great job, congrats!

[alex_zetsu]

A good video, but please consider the volume of your voice in mind when editing the video. It's too quiet. And turning down the music won't help because it will be much quieter that YouTube ads so the headphones will be blown apart every time.

[mauriciomorais]

You make great videos, but may I suggest next time you show the DATES and TIMES of the battles and manoeuvres. Fall Gelb lasted only a month, it was a short, fast operation, in which the timing of events was CRUCIAL.

[thhseeking]

Just a couple of things...Fall Gelb was based on the "von Schlieffen" plan, not "von Schiefflen" plan, and the general responsible for the Ardennes plan was Erich von ManstEIN, not ManstIEN.

[splatmn]

Really well done video! I hope to see more like these soon!

[SentientTent]

Nice job. I think your editing has improved.

[climberly]

another excellent and interesting video!

[oddmanout]

It is worth noting how garbarge the 37mm SA18 of the H35 and R35 tanks was, and the fact the french crews accomphished anything with them, is a testament to the training of the DLM, to stand toe to toe with the feared panzer divisions.

[zakariaalami]

The german where pushed back by moroccan infantry wow as a moroccan didnt know they did participated in this stage of war, my maternal grandfather faught the germans in 1944 to 1945, greetings from Morocco

[hotszying]

Not only single time that Hoepner was taught the lessons by French during the 1940 campaign

[kzikcgc]

excellent work, where was the French Air Force?

[danmorgan]

Technically the Somua had a two man turret it was just a trash design. The radio operator would assist the tank commander by handing the commander/gunner shells. The radio operator would then have to duck to avoid getting hit by the recoil of the gun. This isn't a good idea.

[MaximilianDenisPatrickPonsonby]

proof that the french millitary were brave and effective fighters, capable of carrying on the war. it was their leaders that gave up