Battle of Saumur (1940)

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Saumur


caption=
date=1940-06-18 - 1940-06-20
place=Saumur and Gennes
result=French heroic failure
combatant1=
Students of the Cavalry School, other elements
combatant2=
First Armoured cavalry division
commander1= Colonel Michon
commander2= General Feldt
strength1=560
strength2=
casualties1= 79 killed, 47 wounded
casualties2=|

The Battle of Saumur occurred during the last stages of the Battle of France, when officer cadets from the Cavalry School at Saumur, led by superintendent Colonel Michon, made a defensive stand along the Loire River at Saumur and Gennes. For two days the Cavalry School, and other assorted units which had fallen back before the German advance, held off a German attack. Since the battle occurred after the message by Marshal Pétain which called for an end to fighting (on 17 June, 1940), the event is often considered one of the first acts of the French Resistance.

By coincidence, the German troops advancing into the area were from the 1st Cavalry Division, a horseborne unit. The battle therefore set graduates of the German cavalry school against their counterparts from the French cavalry school. French troops took up defensive positions on four bridges of the Loire on 18 June, 1940, and held off the Germans until 20 June.

General Feldt praised the resistance of the students in his report, in which he is the first to call them "cadets of Saumur". The 218 students captured by the Germans were released in the following days instead of being interned. The school was mentioned in Despatches at the Order of the Army by General Weygand.

Sources

* [http://www.anac-fr.com/2gm/2gm_99.htm Combat des Cadets de Saumur sur la Loire]
* [http://globetrotterz.free.fr/europe/france/paysdelaloire/saumur.htm Saumur]
* "For Honour Alone: The Cadets of Saumur in the Defence of the Cavalry School, France, June 1940" by Roy Macnab
* "Les Cadets de Saumur, Juin 1940" by Patrick de Gmeline