In the air: On the morning of May 10, 72 French airfields were attacked, some being damaged and some destroyed. Since then our Luftwaffe has been striking at the deployment of many troops in uninterrupted sorties, has destroyed more and more airfields and already gained complete mastery in the air during the first day. Apart from aimless bombing attacks at night it is no longer possible for the French or English air forces to be employed effectively—especially in the daytime. I may give you an example: The moment the bridges outside Maastricht were rebuilt, an enormous stream of German troops began to move forward across them and the bridges over the Albert Canal.
Destructive Air Attacks
The English and French air forces really began destructive attacks and indeed twice: the first time with 16 aircraft; all 16 were shot down, eight by fighters and eight by antiaircraft fire. The enemy air force was not able to hinder or interfere with the deployment or advance of our troops in any way. Isolated attacks on German cities and also on the Ruhr—which incidentally are denied by the English because of their cowardly fear of our reprisals—were grievous for individual victims but were completely unimportant from the economic or military point of view. The losses sustained by the French, English and Belgian air forces in the first three days of the fighting amount to at least between 1,100 and 1,400 aircraft. Numerous airfields have been destroyed and their hangers wrecked.
At sea: Here above all our aircraft have inflicted further heavy losses on the English in continuous attacks. The ranks of the British Navy have been visibly thinned particularly in destroyers and cruisers.
So far our own losses on land and in the air are extraordinarily slight. There is no comparison between them and those of the enemy.
This, Duce, is the situation, as it stands today. Pray accept my thanks for the letter which you addressed to me in these historic days and comradely greetings from.
Yours,
(Signed) Adolf Hitler
Five days later, another glowing victory report. Holland was completely occupied. The Belgium campaign was almost over. Brussels was surrounded by a ring of fire and steel. Antwerp was collapsing. Blitzkrieg lightning bolts had pierced the Maginot Line on a wide front and the French forces were scrambling wildly to set up new defenses.
Each letter from Hitler now encouraged Mussolini to get into the act fast before it was all over. Each letter made the Duce more anxious to grab some of the glory before Hitler owned the world.
Though his days were so busy he had little time to eat or sleep, Hitler set aside precious minutes for long, detailed reports to his brother dictator. For he wanted Italy’s help badly, little realizing how bad that help would be.
Adolf Hitler to Benito Mussolini
The Fuhrer’s Headquarters, May 18, 1940
Duce:
A week has now elapsed since the beginning of the offensive. I will give you quite briefly a picture of the situation as it appears today:
1) The offensive which was launched between Luxembourg and Groningen in Holland is now piercing all the essential systems of fortifications and fieldworks on the whole of the front except for that section lying between Maubeuge and Dunkirk.
This last section is however unimportant, because it is already completely cut off.
2) Holland is completely occupied by German troops. The islands of Zeeland are almost completely in our hands, the island of Walcheren, which is the last one before Antwerp, offered to surrender last night.
3) Belgium. Belgium has lost the whole of her canal system; the Dyle position which lies in front of Brussels and connects Antwerp with Namur has completely collapsed; the English and French are withdrawing in disorder everywhere; advance troops reached Brussels last night; the city is already surrounded on a wide front toward the south; the fall of Antwerp is imminent. The southeastern fortifications of Antwerp were penetrated in the course of yesterday, a number of forts are already in our hands. Three forts in Liege are still holding out but are not hampering us and we are having them watched by a few companies. I am not using time or material to deal with this any further. The same applies to Namur. West of Namur we have already thrust forward as far as Charleroi and have surrounded it on the north and south.
4) The Belgian territory situated to the south of Charleroi and Liege is completely occupied by us, as in Luxembourg. French troops were thrown as far as the Maginot Line everywhere.
5) The Maginot Line itself in its extension from south of Garignan to near Maubeuge has been pierced on a front of over 100 km. and left far behind us.
6) The Luftwaffe has gained complete mastery in the air. There is now hardly any interference by enemy aircraft in the daytime. There are scattered incursions at night with a small number of bombs dropped. The military or economic damage done is nil. Except for the victims of a French air raid on Freiburg in Breisgau, the number killed by enemy air attacks on the territory in our rear still does not amount to 40 people.
7) The Dutch Army has ceased to exist. The Belgian Army has been largely smashed.
Many French and English divisions have been most heavily hit and partly reduced to disorder, so that they no longer represent any serious fighting force.
8) As far as the damage to their rear transport system permits, the French are endeavoring to establish a new defensive or offensive front as the case may be. I am keeping an eye on this. The miracle of the Marne of 1914 will not be repeated!
Our losses, Duce, are extraordinarily slight when set against the successes obtained.
This is briefly the situation at the moment, the result of 8 days’ fighting. The spirit of the Army and the Luftwaffe, their courage in face of death and their discipline are outstanding.
Pray accept the cordial greetings of a comrade.
Yours,
(Signed) A. Hitler
Dunkirk convinced Mussolini that he couldn’t lose by siding with Germany.
Though he had not yet received Hitler’s report of the great retreat across the English Channel, Mussolini knew by June 30 that the British had given up France. The Dunkirk withdrawal began on May 26 and continued to June 4. Nine hundred ships, many of them tiny fishing boats, carried 338,226 troops over the Channel to England, including 26,175 French soldiers and marines. The valiant rescue fleet worked night and day, pounded constantly by shells and bombs from the sky and shore.
Before history’s most heroic retreat was over, Mussolini decided to commit Italy to all-out war. He lost no time then in relaying the news to Hitler.
Il Duce was sure the next stop would be England, and he wanted to be with pal Adolf when London’s bridges came tumbling down.
Benito Mussolini to Adolf Hitler
Rome, May 19, 1940
Fuhrer:
I thank you for having found time during a pause in the tremendous victorious battle to send me a communication on the progress of the operations. I repeat that these operations have been followed not only with interest but with enthusiasm by the Italian people who are now convinced that the period of non-belligerency cannot last much longer. I intend to give you important news on this subject in the next few days.
I assume that your Foreign Minister has already informed you of the messages which were sent to me by Roosevelt and Churchill recently and of my replies; but all this is only of relative importance now.
I send you my most comradely greetings.
(Signed) Mussolini
In this letter, written on the eve of the Dunkirk withdrawal, Hitler appraises the fighting troops—gives his opinions of the Dutch, Belgian, English, and French soldiers, and of his own German warriors. With the fall of France assured and English troops preparing to pull out for home, Der Fuehrer allows himself the luxury of relaxing and expressing his innermost views on men and war. This is a contemplative, even philosophical letter, unlike the achievement reports that preceded it. Through his written thoughts, Hitler gives the reader an insight to his own complex character.
Adolf Hitler to Benito Mussolini
The Fuhrer’s Headquarters, May 25, 1940
Duce:
Days of great historic moment have passed since my last letter to you. I have not written to you about this yet since such weighty decisions and measures, as have now become possible, always ran the risk of setbacks. But this danger has now definitely passed. The numbers of the infantry units pouring in through the breaches made by the armored and motorized divisions are now so great—and are increasing hourly—that any attempt to bring about a turn of fate would only lead to further and even greater setbacks for the English and French commands. Before I gave the order for the final breakthrough toward the Channel, I was of the opinion that even at the risk of the evacuation or withdrawal of some Anglo-French forces there would nevertheless have to be a lull in our advance. In the two days thus gained, we succeeded in repairing the roads, which were in part terribly devastated, to such an extent that thanks to the formation of large transport groups there is no more fear of any supply difficulties. Similarly, the infantry divisions which were striving onward in forced marches were now able to link up again with the armored and motorized units which were surging forward. The military dilettantes of the press of our Western Powers of course saw this at once as a slackening in German pressure. Duce, only a fraction of the number of German infantry divisions has so far made contact with the enemy. Of the armored units, three divisions have so far only had slight skirmishes, two further armored divisions have as yet had virtually no contact with the enemy. Of the motorized divisions a number of crack units have also made no contact with the enemy. They will not be sent into action until today or tomorrow. Furthermore, the success gained has justified the measures which have been taken. At the moment the front toward the south is very strongly reinforced while in the north we have already advanced beyond Calais.
Air superiority has been completely achieved in so far as the French air force is concerned; as regards the English air force, it is so far secured that protection of the continent against English air attacks is guaranteed at all times.
Opinion of Enemy
As for the morale of our enemies, Duce, the following may be said:
1) THE DUTCH: They offered much stronger resistance than we first expected. Many of their units fought very bravely. However, they had not the appropriate training or any experience of war. Thus they could generally be overcome by German forces which were often numerically greatly inferior.
2) BELGIUM: The Belgian soldier on the whole also fought very bravely. His experience of war is to be rated as considerably greater than that of the Dutch. At the start his tenacity was amazing. It is now failing visibly, now that he realizes that his function is essentially to cover, if at all possible, the English withdrawal.
3) THE ENGLISH SOLDIER: The English soldier has the qualities which were typical of him during the World War. Very brave and dogged in defense, clumsy in attack, miserably led. Arms and equipment are first rate, the organization on the whole is bad.
4) THE FRENCHMAN: Very marked differences become apparent in the French when their military ability is evaluated. There are very bad units side by side with excellent ones. On the whole the difference in quality between the active and nonactive divisions is extraordinarily noticeable. Many of the active units have fought desperately, the reserve units are for the most part obviously not equal to the impact of battle on morale. For the French, just as for the Dutch and Belgians, there is of course in addition the realization that they are fighting to no purpose for objectives which have hardly anything in common with their own real interests. In the same way, their morale was very adversely affected by experiencing that wherever possible the English were striving in the main to spare their own units, preferring to leave critical spots to their allies.
As far as the German armed forces are concerned, Duce, the successes gained justify the favorable opinion I have always held of them. This applies in striking fashion to our Luftwaffe, to the excellent armored units, but especially to a valiant and always reliable infantry. The artillery, too, has fulfilled expectations.
The German Army and the German Luftwaffe are emerging from this fighting completely unimpaired as regards material and personnel. They have, however, been enriched by additional experience and an extraordinarily feeling of confidence.
In this connection I should like to point out that a small band of heroes has been fighting in Narvik since April 9 under the most difficult conditions in snow and ice and on the most meager rations and in addition hampered by being forced to go carefully with every cartridge against a vastly superior enemy. But we have now succeeded in pushing forward the construction of our northern advanced air bases to such an extent that it will shortly be possible to help this valiant little band of warriors by means of uninterrupted air attacks. We intend to see that these fiords gradually become more and more a graveyard for British ships. On land, too, these men will then receive support from the most modern dive bombers.
It is not possible to say how long Allied resistance will last in the encircled zone. The mass of our heavy and heaviest artillery which has been brought up, the guarantee of abundant supplies of ammunition, and also the employment of fresh infantry divisions will now permit us to proceed with brutal force on this front. It will probably collapse in a few days under the weight of the attacks now beginning.
Bitter at French
General Weygand will not be able to do anything about it. But he will receive the same thanks from the degenerate parliamentary rascals as did his predecessor, Gamelin. When I think, Duce, that precisely M. Reynaud is one of the chief culprits in this catastrophe, and when on the other hand I keep in mind the treatment and the fate meted out by these parliamentary Democrats to those who are nevertheless still patriotic soldiers, and the fate in store for them in the future, then I am filled with immeasurable contempt for a system and an era which hands over the fate of great nations to these inferior products of nature The arrest and shooting of true patriots in these countries can lead to nothing but their collapse. I can understand opposition being resisted in one’s own country. But the thought of patriotic members of one’s own opposition, who have proved by their previous conduct their boundless love for their own people, being delivered up to a foreign power from a desire to be rid of them, and with tacit consent that they are to be shot by Senegalese, is so repulsive, that I have a profound feeling of spiritual solidarity with these victims, although reason is bound to tell me that by robbing themselves of their most valuable blood these nations are anyhow only destroying themselves. It seemed that Degrelle and Mussert have also been shot, one in the citadel at the other at Abbeville, along with many others. If this proves to be true, it will only be proof that the fall of this regime is at hand, just as the murder of Codreanu meant more to Rumania than the mere extinction of a member of the opposition.
Duce, you will understand my feelings, for somewhere above the community of the mediocre there is a solidarity or at least a feeling of sympathy, between exceptional men.
Accept, Duce, my most sincere and comradely greetings.
Yours,
(Signed) A. Hitler
Benito Mussolini to Adolf Hitler
Rome, May 30, 1940
Fuhrer:
I thank you once more for the message which you sent me and in which I found the information concerning the courage of the soldiers of the different armies particularly interesting.
In the meantime I have received news of the capitulation of Belgium and I congratulate you on this.
I have delayed my reply to you for some days because I wanted to announce to you my decision to enter the war as of June 5. Should you consider that I ought to wait a few days longer for the sake of better coordination with your plans, you will tell me so; the Italian people are however impatient to be at the side of the German people in the struggle against the common foe.
During these nine months the efforts made in the field of military preparations have been significant. Today there are 70 divisions whose st
riking power is good; of these, 12 are overseas (220,000 men in Libia, 100,000 in Albania). Italian East Africa has 350,000 men available—Italians and natives—who are not included in the figures given.
As I have told you earlier, the Navy and Air Force are already on a wartime footing.
I shall assume supreme command of all the armed forces. If I had the means I could form another 70 divisions, for there is no lack of manpower.
From the political point of view I consider it necessary not to extend the conflict to the Danube Basin and the Balkans, from which Italy too must draw those supplies which she will no longer be able to obtain from beyond Gibraltar.
I think that a statement on these lines which I shall make at an appropriate moment will have a reassuring effect on those nations and will render them impervious to any possible moves by the Allies.
Once this is established, our General Staffs will take the requisite steps for the development of the operations.
While awaiting a reply from you, pray accept, Fuhrer, the expression of my comradely friendship.
(Signed) Mussolini
Editor’s Note: With Italy on his side, Hitler felt the struggle for Europe would soon be over. But now that Mussolini finally set the long-awaited date for an Italian declaration of war, a strange thing happened. Hitler asked him to wait a bit longer!
THE SECRET LETTERS BETWEEN HITLER AND MUSSOLINI
Second Installment
On May 31, 1940, Western Europe lay broken and bleeding beneath the marching boots of German armies. The Dunkirk retreat was at its height. The British Expeditionary Force was pulling out of France as fast as 900 ships could shuttle across the English Channel.
It was Adolf Hitler’s greatest hour of triumph; it was England’s most valiant hour of defeat. And Mussolini was straining at the leash to get into the war, now that he saw Hitler’s successes. But Der Fuehrer asked Il Duce to withhold his official declaration a few more days—or to make it any time but Friday, June 7. As he explains, many Germans believe that Friday is a bad day to begin ventures. And Hitler was never a man to risk the wrath of the gods.
Hitler Is Alive! Page 29