The Need for Organisational Resilience - Chapter 3

Pontoon bridge crossing the river Meuse. (BArch, n.d.)

A recurring picture emerged on the French side. It was understood, that counterattacks

had to be launched to detach the Germans from the west Bank of the Meuse, and to prevent

any armoured support crossing. Powerful units, such as the 3rd Armoured and the 3rd

Motorised Division were placed under Huntzinger’s control. They should have routed any

German infantry that had made it across the Meuse by now. But not one unit moved forward

in this section; Grandsard (X Corps) argued that there was

…too great a facility to interpret an order than to execute it as received; too great

a facility to modify an order than to execute it as received; too great a facility to

modify under the pretext of initiative, when confronted by unchecked information.

(Horne 1990, 365)

The wait to ‘plug’ the emerging gaps at Sedan, Dinant and Monthermé could not come at a higher price for the French. On 12 th /13 th May, the first Panzers crossed the river Meuse

at Sedan; shortly after, others following suit.

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