German 7th Panzer Division...

history · 11 June 1940 · 84 years ago

German 7th Panzer Division under Rommel captured Le Havre, France, then turned back and drove 30 miles to the northeast to St-Valery-en-Caux, where the German troops succeeded in encircling 46,000 French and British troops. Elsewhere in northern France, troops under Guderian captured Rheims. In the south, Italian troops began crossing the Alps toward the French border. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Foreign Minister Anthony Eden traveled to France for a Supreme War Council meeting at Chateau du Muguet near Briare. Churchill, detecting feelings of defeat, reminded the French that the 28 Mar agreement noted that none of the two countries could seek a separate peace with Germany without the other country's consent. During this meeting, French Navy Admiral François Darlan assured Churchill that the French fleet would not fall into German hands. 

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