This site is dedicated to the soldiers of the 2nd Cuirassier Regiment of the French Cavalry Corps who faced the German invasion on Sunday May 12, 1940 during what will generally be considered the first tank battle in history. Through the unique prism of the family archives of these men, the objective is to discover their epic story of 1940.
Before the Armistice of June 1940 in the Périgueux region, these French fighters received their baptism of fire in Crehen, Thisnes, Merdorp or Jandrenouille (Belgium, see Battle of Hannut) and suffered the first shock from German troops in this region of Hesbaye to which this site pays privileged but not exclusive attention. Many of these men died or were injured during this day, like the 5 crews of the Geneste platoon which was completely destroyed.
Thanks to the internet, it was possible for us to get in touch with the descendants of certain soldiers who took part in the fightings. Through the few photographs or documents that it was possible to gather 80 years after the events, this site narrates the fate of a unfortunately too limited number of them. The pursued aim is therefore not so much to retrace the precise course of the battles (a subject already addressed by other works) as to illustrate how the little history of ordinary people was impacted, always painfully and sometimes fatally, by the great History. Through some emblematic fighters honored here, it is to all of their brothers in arms that this site pays tribute so that the sacrifice and the acts of these brave people are never forgotten.
