German Orders of Battle for the campaign in the West, May 1940

German Orders of Battle for the campaign in the West, 10 May 1940.
Deployment, army groups, armies, corps, divisions, organization and equipment, tanks.

Western Campaign 1940

The Western Campaign of 1940, also known as the Battle of France, was one of the most important campaigns of the Second World War, taking place from 10 May to 25 June 1940. It resulted in a decisive German victory over the French and British forces. The campaign led to the fall of France and the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the continent.

Invasion of the Netherlands: Germany invades Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg to bypass the heavily fortified Maginot Line along the German-French border.

Ardennes breakthrough: German tank divisions made an unexpected advance through the densely wooded Ardennes region, which the Allies had considered impassable for tanks.

Cutting off the Allied forces: The German advance reached the English Channel, effectively cutting off the Allied forces in Belgium and northern France.

Evacuation at Dunkirk: The encircled British and French troops are evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk in a large-scale operation involving civilian and military ships.

Fall of Paris: On 14 June, German troops entered Paris, which had been declared an open city by the French government.

Armistice: France signed an armistice with Germany on 22 June, capitulating and dividing the country into a German-occupied zone in the north and west and a collaborationist Vichy regime in the south.

The German victory in the Western Campaign was attributed to the effective use of combined arms warfare, particularly the coordination of air forces with rapidly advancing tank divisions (blitzkrieg tactics). The defeat of France and the Benelux countries dramatically altered the balance of power in Western Europe and allowed Germany to concentrate on other theaters of war.

German Orders of Battle

By May 1940, the number of divisions in the German army was as follows:

• 129 infantry divisions;
• 8 motorized infantry divisions (including 3 Waffen-SS);
• 10 Panzer divisions;
• 3 mountain divisions;
• 1 cavalry division;
• 2 airborne divisions;

In addition, the SS-Verfügungstruppe (from April 1940, known as the Waffen-SS) provided three motorized infantry divisions and a brigade. There were now over two-and-a-half million men under arms in the German Army, of which the Waffen-SS contributed about 100,000.

For the invasion of France the German Army was organized into three army groups:

• Army Group A (von Rundstedt) with 45 1/2 divisions including 7 Panzer;
• Army Group B (von Bock) with 29 1/2 divisions including 3 Panzer, and
• Army Group C (von Leeb) with 19 divisions.

Army Group C held a defensive position against the Maginot Line while the main offensive was launched by Rundstedt’s Army Group A in the Ardennes with a subsidiary invasion of Holland and Belgium undertaken by Army Group B.

Schematic layout of the German Wehrmacht in the West from May 10th, 1940

Schematic layout:

Overview of fully established and operational divisions of the Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe in the West on 10 May, 1940

Overview:

Approximate organization strength of the major types of the German Army divisions in 1940:

See also: Germany Army Unit Organization 1939-41.

Known quantities of tanks in May 1940:

Erich von Manstein

Early Career
Born into a Prussian aristocratic military family, he joined the Imperial German Army before World War I. He served with distinction during WWI and remained in the Reichswehr during the interwar years.

WWII Campaigns
– He was instrumental in developing the plan for the 1940 invasion of France, often referred to as the “Manstein Plan,” which emphasized a surprise thrust through the Ardennes.
– He commanded forces during Operation Barbarossa (1941), the invasion of the Soviet Union, and achieved notable success in the capture of Sevastopol in 1942.
– After the German defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler appointed him to lead Army Group South. Manstein managed to stabilize the front temporarily with a counteroffensive in early 1943, including the Third Battle of Kharkov.

Relationship with Hitler
Manstein was respected for his military ability, but often clashed with Hitler over strategy. He advocated for more flexible, mobile operations, while Hitler increasingly insisted on rigid “stand fast” orders.

Later War and Dismissal
By 1944, with the Eastern Front collapsing, Hitler dismissed Manstein for his continued disagreements. He never held another command.

Postwar
Captured by the British in 1945, Manstein was later tried at Nuremberg and convicted of war crimes, including neglect of duty regarding civilian massacres and the treatment of prisoners of war. He served a prison sentence but was released in 1953.
Afterward, he advised West Germany on the reconstitution of its armed forces (the Bundeswehr) and wrote his memoirs, Lost Victories (Verlorene Siege), which became influential but were criticized for downplaying Nazi crimes and his own complicity.

Legacy
Manstein is remembered as a brilliant strategist but also as a controversial figure, both for his military association with the Nazi regime and for his failure to oppose or prevent atrocities committed by forces under his command.

References and literature

The Armed Forces of World War II (Andrew Mollo)
Krieg der Panzer (Piekalkiewicz)
World War II – A Statistical Survey (John Ellis)
Manstein – Verlorene Siege (Erich v. Manstein Erinnerungen)
A World at Arms – A Global History of World War II (Gerhard L. Weinberg)