ljadw wrote:From WW2 Talk "6th Green Howards at Gravelines 23/24 may 1940 "
1) The diary of the batallion mentions that it arrived at Gravelines at 0700 hrs 23 may .
2 ) The diary of major Patch (Bcy ) says that it was the WHOLE batallion .
The diary of the Green Howards proves that already on 23 may (BEFORE the halt order) there were British and French forces blocking a German advance to Dunkirk and that Guderian was lying , not for the first and not for the last time .
Guderian does not lie. You just read very little on the topic. Make hasty conclusions.
In Guderian's memoirs it is written, Gravelines is taken on May 23rd. The next day the division fought on a broad front in four settlements.
http://militera.lib.ru/memo/german/guderian/05.html
On May 23, the 1st Panzer Division began to advance with fights towards Gravlin, while the 2nd Panzer Division was fighting for Boulogne at that time. Storming the city was of a peculiar nature, as the old city stone walls for a long time prevented our tanks and infantry from penetrating the city. With the help of ladders and thanks to the effective support of 88-mm anti-aircraft guns, we finally managed to overcome the stone wall near the cathedral and penetrate the city. Began fighting in the port, during which the fire of tanks, an English torpedo boat was sunk and several others damaged.
On May 24, the 1st Panzer Division reached Canal Aa between Olk and the coast and captured the bridgeheads at Olk, Saint Pierre Brook, Saint-Nicolas and Burbur; The 2nd Panzer Division fought to clear Boulogne; The 10th Panzer Division, with its main forces, reached the line of Devr, Same.
The corps was given a regiment of the standard "Adolf Hitler". I assigned him the task of operating in the coastal zone in order to increase the impetuosity of the advance of the 1st Panzer Division to Dunkirk, the 2nd Panzer Division was ordered to withdraw all spare parts from Boulogne and send them to the coastal strip, the 10th Panzer Division blocked Kale and the start prepare to storm the old sea fortress. In the afternoon, I visited the division and ordered to move forward systematically to reduce losses. For operations on May 25, the division was reinforced with heavy artillery, which could be removed from the Boulogne site. [159]
The 41st Army Corps of Reinhardt created a bridgehead at St. Omer on the river. Aa.
Other point : your reference to Soviet tanks driving at 65 km in Austria in may 1945 is irrelevant, as we are talking about may 1940, not may 1945, when all German organised resistance has collapsed .
You wrote, the tanks were 80 km to the south near Lille. The Germans would go to Gravelines on their territory. Cleared of the enemy. 56 tank corps of Manstein from the morning of June 22, 1941 to the morning of 26, with fights passed 300 km. 75 km per day. On the march could and 150 km a day.