Sarkar, Dilip Blitzkrieg 1940

Defying Hitler: Two VCs and the Forgotten Infantry Battle of 21 May 1940

When Britain mobilized for war in September 1939, numerous reservists were reactivated. One of them was the author's grandfather, Guardsman H. H. Smith, who rejoined the 3rd Grenadier Guards Battalion. The 3rd Grenadiers belonged to the 1st Guards Brigade and were among the first troops deployed to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. When Hitler's troops attacked on May 10, 1940, the BEF was forced to advance into Belgium to halt the Germans at the River Dyle. On the evening of Monday, May 20, 1940, five British and two Belgian infantry divisions faced each other on a 51-kilometer front along the west bank of the River Escaut. There, General Gort intended to hold the line and fight. The following day, chaos erupted. After a devastating and protracted artillery barrage, the five opposing German divisions attempted to cross the rivers but were only able to establish temporary bridgeheads on the west bank of the Escaut at Tournai and Pecq. At Tournai, the Germans were repulsed by the Royal Norfolks. Sergeant Major George Gristock was later awarded the Victoria Cross for his "outstanding act of gallantry" that day. Lance Corporal Harry Nicholls of the 3rd Grenadier Regiment also displayed gallantry at Pecq, which likewise earned him the Victoria Cross. In both instances, the Germans were driven back. Despite the valiant resistance of his men, Gort had no choice but to withdraw once more. Holding the line along the 51-kilometer front in some of the fiercest fighting of the Blitzkrieg was a remarkable featyet, astonishingly, it is not mentioned in the official history of the campaign. In this book, researched over thirty years in collaboration with survivors and the families of the fallen, as well as the Grenadier Guards themselves, the author tells the whole story of the 1st Guards Brigade during the Dunkirk campaign and some of the first Victoria Crosses awarded in the Second World War.