Figure 1.--This wire service photo appeared in American newspapers. The caption read, "Exhausted French boy sleeping in Ana Moprgan's shelter." I do not know who Ana Morgan was.

The French people were aprehensive about the Warm but most felt safe behind the MaginotvLine and the Fremch Army which was regarded by many as the most powerful in Europe. This changed quickly after the German break through in the Ardennes and crossing the Meuse. Civilians began heading south, convinced that the the French Army would stop the Germans again as they did in World War I. French roads became clogged with refugees. Cars pilled with matresses and furniture tied to the roofs and packed with the entire family. There were also carts of all kinds. Many people were on foot. As panic spread the numbers only increased. The refugees made it difficult for the Army to move forces forward to restablish the front. And the Luftwaffe stafed the regugee filled roads to create further chaos. The fast moving Panzers were beyond anything that General Gamelin still using couriers rather than radio to communicate. Rommel as he drove to the Channel, wrote, "We passed refugee columns, the carts abandoned by their owners, who had fled in panic into the fields." as they moved south. Such a disaster had not been anticipated. After Dunkirk the Germans turned south and Parisians began to pour out of the city in large numbers. Trains carried refugees south as well as vehicles of every sort. And there was no provisions or accomodations for the refugees. The French Governmrnt was debating what to do. Prenier Renard wanted to resist from North Africa. General Weygand and Petain onjected. In the mean time the French people did not know what to do.

Created: 7:05 AM 9/15/2009
Last updated: 7:05 AM 9/15/2009