The Battle of Britain Five Months That Changed History, May—October 1940 by James Holland (z-lib.org).epub

short way, taking over part of the British northern line. Part of French First
Army would also take over part of the British line, thus freeing troops to
take part in the proposed counter-attack. By the time Gort eventually turned
up, the plan was presented to him as a fait accompli.
It was a hopeless idea, not least because the main British lines of supply
from the south had already been cut by the Germans. Gort’s troops were
already getting low on ammunition and food. Furthermore, the three British
divisions earmarked for the attack were blatantly not enough for the task set
them. Gort could have refused, but did not. Nonetheless, how Weygand
could have thought that these complicated troop movements could have
enabled an attack to be made the following day, only he could have known.
As it was, Gort soon put the kibosh on that. First, he insisted that the BEF,
which up to then had been keeping the Army Group B at bay quite
successfully, should fall back to the French–Belgian border line on the night
of 22/23 May. The following night, the Belgians would relieve one British
division in the north of the line, and the French two in the south. That meant
the three divisions needed for the attack that had been released would not be
ready until 26 May at the earliest. No-one was happy. The British felt it was
a pig of a plan, the Belgians suspected they were being abandoned, and the
French felt not enough was being done. Then, as Billotte was driving back
to Lens, he was involved in a car crash and later died. No replacement was
found for him until 25 May. Why it took four days to appoint a new Army
Group Commander was anyone’s guess.
The next day, Wednesday, 22 May, the French did attempt a
counterattack at Cambrai, but it was beaten off, while German infantry was
now catching up the panzers and together pressing hard on the beleaguered
British units at Arras. The chances of there being any counter-attack at all
on the 26th were diminishing rapidly. ‘We are down to about two and a half
days’ rations and 3–400 r.p.g. [rounds per gun],’ noted Pownall on the
evening of the 22nd, ‘enough for only one defensive battle. A very tight
corner indeed.’ By the morning of the 23rd, the BEF, along with the French
First Army, were stuck out on a limb, now that the Belgians had fallen back
to the River Lys, which ran in a north-easterly direction, and the BEF had
fallen back to the border, which ran in a south-easterly direction. German
forces were pressing the BEF hard along its front, northern and southern
flanks, and with Guderian’s panzers now at the Channel it was in danger of