But I am impressed with the general. He is a hard taskmaster and drives around the forward units manically. We get very little sleep. But his doctrine of leading from the front works. We have a wireless, a map table and ciphers in the command vehicle — much better than sitting twenty kilometres to the rear with a row of telephones, which is what all the other generals do. He keeps the tanks moving, which keeps the enemy off balance.
He has just flown off in a Storch to have discussions with Cousin Paul in the rear. Expected back later this evening.
Later… Guderian returned and had some pretty nasty things to say about General Kleist. I decided not to remind him that he was being rude about my relative! Our orders are to cross the Meuse tomorrow afternoon. Kleist has heard from Berlin that the French 7th Army with all its armour is moving north into Flanders rather than east to meet us. This is very good news, and just what Theo predicted.
A lot to do to get the orders out for tomorrow’s attack. And although we have crossed the Moselle on exercise, the Meuse will be much more difficult when properly defended. I think I will be seeing real action tomorrow.
13 May
Exhausted. I have scarcely slept at all for the last seventy-two hours. Or is it ninety-six? It’s been a long and dangerous day, but we have a toehold across the Meuse!
The morning was spent frantically trying to produce orders for the assault. I had the idea of using the same orders in our files from the war game on the Moselle we did a couple of weeks ago. Simply added six hours to everything, so the start time of 1000 became 1600.
The French have abandoned the larger part of Sedan which lies on the east bank of the Meuse. The river itself is wide and fast-flowing, and on the west bank are steep green hills with trees, pillboxes, stone towers and gun emplacements. It is like a mountain spitting fire! I thought there was no chance of us ever getting across.
Then our Stukas came, wave after wave of them. They dive down out of the sky, sirens screaming, and drop bombs on the French positions. They kept it up all afternoon. The noise is indescribable, even on our side of the river. It must be hell under it, and it seems to have kept most of the French artillery and machine guns quiet.
At 1600 our infantry paddled across the river in dinghies. They took casualties but have established a couple of bridgeheads on the far bank. Once the orders were issued, Guderian drove back and forth between 1st Panzer and 2nd Panzer. Then we boarded a dinghy to cross the river, under fire of course. When we got to the other side, the smart-arse commander of the 1st Rifle Regiment said, ‘Joyriding is forbidden on the Meuse.’ To be fair to Guderian, he laughed.
At nightfall we returned here to Corps HQ. The engineers are building a pontoon over the river for the tanks to cross tomorrow.
I am so tired. I must get some sleep!
14 May
Fierce battle around Sedan. The bridge has been built and tanks have crossed over. Intelligence suggests that French armour are massing for a counter-attack. Some of the French have turned and run, but some are still fighting, and they have superb positions on the heights looking down on the river. Now we are seeing a lot of French and British aeroplanes. It’s touch and go.
At noon General von Rundstedt, Commander of Army Group A, arrived to take a look. Guderian took him, and me, out on to the centre of our new bridge in the middle of an air raid. The British bombers are not very accurate, but they are aiming at the bridge! Rundstedt tried to take it as calmly as Guderian, but you could see he was rattled. There were bodies in the river, but I didn’t jump in after them this time. These fellows weren’t struggling, they were face down in the water and covered with dark patches of blood.
The noise is extraordinary: artillery gunfire, the rattle of machine guns, the thuds and splashes of bombs, the screams of the Stukas, and the constant rumble of tanks on the move. And yet the sun shines.
15 May
French tanks arrived. Air attacks continue. We are hard pressed.
16 May
We are out in open country! We drove 65 kilometres today. Sedan is secure, as is our beachhead over the Meuse. Without warning, the French gave up their counter-attacks and turned tail. We have no orders for what to do in this situation, so Guderian decided to push west. We reached Montcornet, where we took hundreds of prisoners who had no idea we were anywhere near them.
It’s a wonderful feeling, like a long-distance runner pulling ahead of his competitors in a sprint for the finish line. Like the runner, though, I fear we will become exhausted. Guderian’s philosophy is not to bother about our flanks, but to stay moving and keep the enemy off balance. That seems to be working so far, but I can’t help worrying that when the French finally bring up serious reinforcements our flanks will be in trouble.
You can see why they call him Schneller Heinz.
17 May
Looks like I have lost a commander! General Kleist flew in first thing this morning, and without even saying ‘good morning’, let alone ‘well done’, he gave Guderian a public bollocking for disobeying his orders. Apparently we should have halted at the Meuse. Guderian calmly asked to be relieved of his command. This took Kleist aback for a moment, but then he told him to hand over to one of his divisional generals and stalked off. I think he recognized me, but didn’t show it. I always used to admire Cousin Paul, but I think his behaviour is outrageous. What is the point of sacking your best general at the moment of a stunning victory?
So we are hanging around at Montcornet until General List arrives with orders from Rundstedt to sort things out.
18 May
Guderian has been reinstated. Technically we have to keep our HQ at Montcornet, but we are permitted ‘reconnaissance in force’, which means we are off again!
2nd Panzer reached Saint-Quentin this afternoon. The whole of northern France is opening up before us.
42
Extract from Lieutenant Dieter von Hertenberg’s Diary
19 May
Crossed the old Somme battlefield. War has changed in the last twenty years, thank God.
Close shave this afternoon. Our command vehicle was in a wood, virtually alone save for a battery of AA guns, when we heard French tanks close by. If they had found us, they would have captured us. Fortunately they moved off.
Regent’s Park, London, 19 May
It was a glorious day in the park. After a brutal winter, flowers were shooting up in the few beds that had remained undisturbed by war preparations. Even the ack-ack guns and the bobbing barrage balloons seemed to be celebrating spring. The iron railings had all been removed, turning the city park into something more akin to a lush rural meadow. There were few people about, just some old codgers snoozing in deckchairs and a group of small boys sailing their boats on the lake, untroubled by German submarines.