The Battle of Arras

The German and British forces had little idea what was happening around them on the morning of 21 May, because both sides were only just arriving on the battlefield after long marches. Rommel's columns were skirting to the south of the town in the early afternoon when the British tanks suddenly started firing on them from the small villages and woods that dotted the landscape.

The German 37mm anti-tank guns with the 7th Panzer's motorized infantry regiments were brought into action, but their shells bounced off the heavily armoured British tanks, earning the guns the nickname "door knockers" from their crews. Rommel brought up his panzer regiment, but it also found its guns had difficulty penetrating the British armour. The 7th Panzer's columns reeled in confusion as the Matilda tanks pressed on regardless, leaving the British and German infantry in their wake to engage each other.

Two British tank columns pushed through Rommel's troops. One ran into the 7th Panzer's artillery regiment, which turned its 105mm howitzers on them. The division's anti-aircraft battalion was also deployed to the German gun line by Rommel, and eventually the British tanks were halted. It was a desperate battle that involved the German tank general having to rush from gun to gun to encourage his artillery men to keep firing.

To the southwest of Arras, the Totenkopf Division ran into the other British tank column. Matildas and armoured cars were soon rampaging over the positions of the SS division's anti-tank battalion. Its 37mm anti-tank guns proved as ineffective as the army's and soon the SS gunners were in full retreat, taking cover with Totenkopf infantry in a nearby village. They then tried to return to the battle by forming tank-hunting squads armed with grenades, but their attempts to "stalk" the British tanks were repulsed with heavy losses. For over an hour the situation seemed hopeless as the British armour ranged across the battlefield at will. One SS supply column was badly shot up by the British tanks and its crews fled in confusion, leading Rommel to report gleefully that the whole of the SS division had "panicked".

The supermen panic

Like his army counterpart, Eicke threw himself into steadying the morale of his troops, and eventually he deployed the heavy guns of his artillery regiment to drive off the British. The Totenkopf Division paid a heavy price for its success, losing 39 dead, 66 wounded and 2 missing during the battle for Arras. The division had been "blooded" in a confused battle, but it had rallied thanks in part to its commander's personal presence.

With their tank attack stalled at Arras, the British began to withdraw north towards Dunkirk. They may have suffered a strategic defeat, but they now set about trying to stall the German advance to allow as many of their troops as possible to escape home across the English Channel.

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