Battle for Montherme

DATE: 06/04/2025

TIME (GMT): 18:00

ERA: WW2

MAP(S): Montherme

TYPE: COOP

GAME: Arma 3

EVENT: Official

AUTHOR(S): Jarvis for Brothers in Arms

SLOTS: 59 / 70

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RATING: (35)

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The Battle for Monthermé took place in May of 1940, during the German invasion of France. Prior to this battle, German armoured forces had successfully broken through the cavalry screens of the French Second and Ninth Armies in the Ardennes region that had taken positions on the other side of the Meuse River.

The German forces deployed were tasked with creating a breakthrough within the Ardennes area, before establishing bridgeheads over the Meuse River with infantry using rubber boats, securing these positions, and then constructing pontoon bridges to allow heavy armour to cross the Meuse; once this had been achieved, the Germans would penetrate deep into the French lines with its armoured units, creating chaos in the French rear area.

At Monthermé, the 6th and 8th Panzer Divisions, under the command of Generalleutnant Hans Reinhardt, would arrive at the hills above the town around 3pm on the 13th. Reinhardt's XLI Panzer Corps was behind Rommel and Guderian due to the constricting terrain of the Ardennes, so he ordered his men to secure a crossing over the Meuse by 4pm. Once at the river, two waves of rubber boats were sent across the Meuse but were repulsed by heavy machine gun fire, which was only entirely eradicated once the café being used by the French as a bunker had been completely destroyed by tank fire. The Germans were able to make two successful landings across the Meuse, forcing a French retreat from the town. The French 102nd Fortress Division and the 61st Division would cease to exist as a fighting force during combat in the following days; and by the 15th of May, Reinhardt's Panzers had advanced 37 miles beyond the Meuse River.

13th May 1940, Monthermé, Ardennes Region - Having arrived above the town of Monthermé around 3pm, Generalleutnant Reinhardt has ordered forward elements of the 6th Panzer Division to secure crossings over the Meuse river immediately.