Qualla: Battle of Hannut

Battle of Hannut: Introduction

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hohum, CC BY-SA 3.0. On the morning of 12 May 1940, French SOMUA S35 tanks rolled into positions along a ridge between Hannut and Merdorp, and for two days fought the largest tank battle the world had ever seen. The SOMUAs were better armored than anything the Germans had brought. Their guns could kill a Panzer at any range a Panzer could kill them. The French crews fought well, held their ground, and bled the German divisions hard. And while they did, three hundred kilometers south, the real German attack slipped through the Ardennes forest unopposed. The Battle of Hannut was not lost on its battlefield. It was lost by being fought at all.

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Image: Hohum | CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of Hannut: The Trap

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Public domain. Erich von Manstein had spent the winter convincing the German high command to overturn the obvious plan. The obvious plan was a repeat of 1914 - a sweep through Belgium toward the English Channel, the kind of attack the French and British were prepared for. Manstein proposed some...

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Image: Public domain

Battle of Hannut: The Tanks

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, CC BY 3.0. General René Prioux's Corps de Cavalerie was the spearhead. Two divisions, the 2e DLM and the newer 3e DLM, between them fielding 520 tanks: 176 SOMUA S35 medium tanks, 172 Hotchkiss H35 lights, and reconnaissance vehicles. The SOMUA was a remarkable machine. It mounted a 47mm gu...

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Image: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT | CC BY 3.0

Battle of Hannut: Day One

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hohum, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Germans reached Hannut on 12 May. The 4th Panzer Division attacked toward Crehen, hit French strongpoints along the ridge, and bled trying to push through. The 2nd Cuirassiers Hotchkisses fought from prepared positions until their commander fell. The dragoons lost heavily. Th...

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Image: Hohum | CC BY-SA 3.0

Battle of Hannut: Day Two

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CC BY 2.5. On 13 May, the 3rd Panzer Division joined the 4th, and German doctrine began to tell. The Panzers maneuvered in concentrated formations coordinated by radio. The French operated in small groups, each commander seeing only his own piece of the field, communications running by liai...

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Image: CC BY 2.5

Battle of Hannut: What It Bought

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Eebie, CC BY-SA 4.0. On 14 May the 3rd and 4th Panzers attacked again, this time at Perwez and Gembloux. They broke through some sectors, were stopped in others, took heavy losses again. The French First Army had reached its trench lines and was dug in, which was the entire point of Hannut. The 2nd D...

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Image: Eebie | CC BY-SA 4.0

Battle of Hannut: Lessons Written in Iron

Sat, 16 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Hohum, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Battle of Hannut would remain the largest tank battle in history until Kursk in 1943 - which dwarfed it. But Hannut taught the lessons Kursk would test. Armor concentrated and coordinated by radio beats armor dispersed across a wide front, even when the dispersed armor is ind...

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Image: Hohum | CC BY-SA 3.0