0513_04: A Crossing at Dinant - PzC 12 France '40

Dinant, Belgium, 13th May 1940: By the morning of the 13th, Rommel was on the Meuse in force. His own powerful 7th Panzer Division was supported by elements of the 5th Panzer by this time. But the allies were not about to give up the fight and on the previous day a Belgian unit blew the bridge at Yvoir in the face of the advancing armoured cars and the bridges at Dinant and Houx had also been destroyed. Initial efforts by Rommel's troops to cross the river using rubber boats were beaten back. Then a recon unit found a way to put soldiers on foot across the river. The recon unit used an old weir that was connected to an island in the river and a bridgehead was formed. Upon learning of the crisis, the French rushed reinforcements to the area as the Germans hastily built a bridge to push the Panzers across and resume the drive west. [Size small]