German Panzers and Infantry during the Blitzkrieg against France

Pz.Gen. Heinz Guderian during the Blitzkrieg against France

SS-Standarte Germania during the Blitzkrieg against France

Generalleutnant Heinz Wilhelm Guderian's Panzer Corps spearheaded the drive through the Ardennes and over the Meuse River. He led the attack that broke the French lines at the Battle of Sedan ending with the British Expeditionary Force and French forces trapped at Dunkirk. The priority placed on the Panzer Divisions facilitated the speed and aggression of the German advance. The advance throug the Low Countries and France was so rapid that German units were often in danger of overstretching their supply lines. This Race-to-the-Channel took its toll on the troops. The military genius of Heinz Guderian remains admirable even today, for it was his tactics that brought the German Reich its swift victory over Europe in the first years of the war. He became one of the principal architects of armored warfare and the Blitzkrieg. Left image: Heinz Guderian in his Sd.Kfz. 251 mobile command half-track during the Battle of France in May 1940 - note the legendary Enigma code machine. A failure of operational security (OPSEC) explains the fact that Kriegsberichter Leutnant Eric Borchert was able to take this incredible photo. The author and photographer Borchert was later killed in action on October 10 1941 during the Axis Siege of Tobruk in Libya. c. Bundesarchiv. Right image: men of SS-Standarte Germania during the Blitzkrieg against France. The soldier on the left carries the legs of a mortar over his shoulder and is armed with the old 9mm P 08 Luger automatic pistol. Although withdrawn from service the Luger remained a popular possession among German (and Allied) troops. During the Polish and French campaigns the tabs were ordered to be removed, however the cuff titles remained. The South Tyrol-born photographer SS-KB Friedrich Zschäckel was a holder of the Iron Cross First Class, and was promoted SS-Obersturmführer on April 20 1943. This makes him one of the highest-ranking SS combat photographers, as well as one of the most well-traveled. He served with Reich in 1941, Nord and Leibstandarte in 1942, Totenkopf and Das Reich in 1943 and Hitlerjugend in 1944. Before the war, Zschäckel taught photography in München with Adolf Hitler's official photographer Heinrich Hoffmann. Fritzel Zschäckel is believed to have died in October 1944, but reliable sources claims that he died aged 62 on July 23 1973 in Buenos Aires in Argentina. Credit: Mateusz Pietruszkiewicz. c. Bundesarchiv.