Dyle Line

The Oxford Companion to World War II | 2001 | 700+ words | Copyright

Dyle Line, allied defensive position in Belgium which, according to General Gamelin's Plan D, was to be occupied and held by Allied forces if the Germans attacked. It ran southwards along the River Dyle to Wavre, and then to the Franco-Belgian border. In March 1940 Gamelin ordered that it also be extended northwards to Breda and the River Maas in the Netherlands so that Allied forces could join up with the Dutch Army in the event of a German attack. But Gamelin's plan had been foreseen by Hitler and on 10 May 1940 the Germans made their main thrust through the Ardennes (see FALL GELB) where the French had thought the terrain was too difficult for tanks to traverse. The line had hardly been occupied when the Allies, which included the British Expeditionary Force, were forced to withdraw to avoid being trapped, and the evacuation from Dunkirk and the fall of France quickly followed.

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I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Dyle Line." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Dyle Line." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-DyleLine.html

I. C. B. DEAR and M. R. D. FOOT. "Dyle Line." The Oxford Companion to World War II. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O129-DyleLine.html

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