From the Rhein River to the Atlantic 1940 Pt 1 - Invasion of Luxembourg - 10th PzD, 1st PzD Guderian

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL and get access to exclusive film footage

This private footage showing lead German elements entering the Netherlands on May 10 of 1940 fits in well with todays video. They were part of the spearhead of Operation Case Yellow which was the attack on the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France.

is my weeding out process. Viewers that have seen plenty of WW2 documentaries understand how most shown footage, and even content for that matter, is recycled over and over. If you are still with me then they you probably understand.

This video is part 1 in the series Vom Rhein zum Atlantic which will cover the 1940 German invasion of Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium and the thrust through France to the coast that began on May 10 of 1940.

As a framework, I’ll be using some of the first hand reports from the Luftwaffe-Kriegsberichter-Kompanie 4, that were put together by General Ulrich Grauert. In the series I’ll be mixing in various other primary sources including film footage, newspapers, maps, propaganda leaflets and photographs.

This is a beautifully bound 1940 collection of the newspaper Illustrierter Beobachter. I was able to buy volume 1 of the collection covering January through June with the money received from my Patreon supporters so we have them to thank for having that.

These newspapers include plenty of detailed maps, many of which show troop movements for orientation and photographs that are widely unknown. It’s an outstanding primary source for these videos.

This map is from the May 16th, edition 20, 6 days into the fighting. Its caption refers to the long held desire for Germany to finally and decisively reverse the hated Treaty of Versailles that had been signed ending WW1.

Facing Germany France and the United Kingdom had about 120 divisions on the continent that were combat ready. In addition were the French garrison troops that were manning the Maginot Line.

There were 21 divisions positioned on the German French border, 47 on the French Belgian border, about 50 that were held back as strategic reinforcements around Paris. 9 mostly motorized English divisions were positioned on the left flank.

From the 24 Belgian divisions, 20 were on the German Belgian border and 4 were situated on the coast and interior of the country.

The Netherlands had 11 mobilized divisions, 9 of which were positioned on the German Dutch border and 2 on the coast. Neutral Luxembourg had fortified the border defensively.

In Report Nr. 135 the war correspondent Siegfried Kappe wrote

Luxemburg has been successfully occupied by German troops within a few hours.

On the evening of May 9th each unit follows its specific secret orders. At the time the significance was not yet understood. Only when the sun had set did the march columns gather together heading west and suddenly everything was clear. But would we only be marching to the border or would we continue on?

We advance through the valleys accompanied by the harmonious rattling of our vehicles’ motors which change in tone together as they shift gears when going up and downhill. We’re part of a heavy Flak column and the prime movers engines and tracks produce a charachteristic clatter. When mixed with the hum of the accompanying motorcycle unit, the noise is quite deafening.

In front of us are pioneers with their massive pontoons. Behind are motorized infantry in their heavy trucks. Vehicles to the left and right advancing in unison in the dark, hundreds, thousands of vehicles.

At 2.30 in the morning we arrive to the Sauer river which represents the border with Luxemburg and the Flak guns take up positions. The far bank of the river is well lit and the German side remains dark. In contrast, not a sound is heard from the far bank but all the noise that we are making certainly has made clear to everyone that something’s up.

We’re now back with the newspaper collection looking at Nr. 21 from May 23 which covers the invasion of Luxembourg. We see Hitler awarding iron crosses to Fallschirmjäger or paratroopers who took part in the operation. We’ll be covering their exploits in the next video so remember to subscribe.

At exactly 5.35 in the morning the German Luxembourg border was crossed. German pioneers immediately set to work removing defensive obstacles and building pontoon bridges. The invading forces encountered little resistance from the Luxembourg military who were confined in their barracks. By noon, the capital city had fallen.

The Western Army Counter Attacks

This caption reads
The photograph below shows Luxemburg police speaking with a German officer. To the left are German infantry securing a location as heavy flak passes by.

Here we see the crossing of a canal by German troops. The caption states that the inflatable raft is capable of transporting a heavy motorcycle and side car.

[didymussumydid]

L.e onDeg Relle has an excellent series of lecture about these invasions. As a boy during the first world war, a major belgian political figure in the interwar period, and an infantryman on the eastern front, his perspective is very insightful. He takes pains to point out how few casualties both sides suffered during the German invasion of Belgium, for instance, such as during the paratroop capture of the Eben Emael fortress.

[vkash]

That looks like a really interesting book! Thank you for the lesson and extra footage, and also for your entire work.

[johnhargreaves]

Good commentary and graphics, excellent find well worth the effort; good use of funding. Regards JohnH

[danielgreen]

I dont know where you find this stuff still but im Grateful you have ! ..Excellent just wish your Videos were longer The Adverts in the Papers and the photos all speak for themselves and are fascinating you have got some very interesting and rather rare Artefacts in what you have shown us over the months And I am going to have to put my hand in my pocket and become a member just for the fact that i know that theres a whole lot more on there! Haha cheers looking forward to seeing whats next

[andrewshawmodels]

Brilliant! The narration matches the footage precisely - great presentation. Watching the You tube film first with the commentary sets up the Patreon footage nicely. Awesome content. 👍

[tekis]

I'm going to start promoting this channel on other military channels that I frequent!! Got to get membership UP!!

[DarryllC]

You've hit a grand-slam this time Frederick. I've seen NONE of this material before - which I'm especially surprised about regarding the portion of the "Panzer Greifen an!" propaganda film in your post for members - since that is some of the best stuff I've seen showing the initiation of the Ardennes offensive. I certainly would appreciate any tidbits of background you can share on this kind of material. As in, where has it been, and why we've never seen it before. Maybe an anecdote on how it was found.
Please don't leave us hanging too long for part 2 :)

[frasermacdonald]

the first couple of seconds is the rarely filmed trippel sg6 schwimmwagen

[dorfrez]

I enjoy your channel. Is there anyway to set up a way to tip you occasionally? I am usually broke but may be able to give $2.00 occasionally

[waltieable]

Americans today are so ignorant of all history including their own. It is a crying shame to see this ignorance. Some of us that are of a different school of thought appreciate all that you do.