Atlas of Battles

battle, major, interwar and Second World War

Battle of Sedan

Battle of Sedan was a battle fought on 13 May 1940 at Sedan, in what is now France. It was part of the Western Front, which ran from 1939 to 1945. The recorded result: German victory.

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"M108/9 14 May 1940 1st Panzer Regiment crosses pontoon bridge over the Meuse at Floing, near Sedan [Army film office, Spandau-Ruhleben]"
"M108/9 14 May 1940 1st Panzer Regiment crosses pontoon bridge over the Meuse at Floing, near Sedan [Army film office, Spandau-Ruhleben]". Unknown authorUnknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought13 May 1940
WhereSedan, France49.703N, 4.942E
OutcomeGerman victory
BelligerentsFrance; United KingdomagainstGermany
Part ofWestern Front1939 to 1945

Where it sits in the Western Front

Siege of Fort Hegra, 1940Battle of France, 1940German invasion of Belgium, 1940Battle of Maastricht, 1940Battle of Sedan, 1940Battle of Boulogne, 1940Battle of Dunkirk, 1940Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal, 1940Siege of Lille, 1940Dunkirk evacuation, 1940Battle of Pont-de-l'Arche, 1940Battle of Lanzerath Ridge, 1944Operation Madelaine, 1944Battle of Moerbrugge, 1944Siege of Dunkirk, 1944Battle of Metz, 1944Battle of Opheusden, 1944Battle of Vianden, 1944Battle of Broekhuizen, 1944Losheim Gap, 1944Battle of Clervaux, 1944Siege of Bastogne, 1944Battle of St. Vith, 1944Operation Nordwind, 1944Operation Bodenplatte, 1945Battle of Bure, 1945Battle for the Kapelsche Veer, 1945Operation Blockbuster, 1945Battle of Würzburg, 1945Ruhr Pocket, 1945Battle of Hamburg, 194519401945Battle of Sedan, 1940
31 placed engagements of the Western Front in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date13 May 1940
PlaceSedan, France
49.703N, 4.942E
KindBattle, interwar and Second World War
Strength20,000 men; 300 tanks; 174 artillery pieces; 152 bombers; 250 fighter aircraft60,000 men; 41,000 vehicles; 771 tanks; 1,470 aircraft; 141 artillery pieces; 96 rubber boats
Casualties and losses5,000+ killed, wounded, or captured; 167 aircraft5,067 killed or wounded (12–17 May); at least 81 rubber boats
Commanders
  • Maurice Gamelin
  • Charles Huntziger
  • Henri Giraud
  • Marcel Têtu
  • André Corap
  • Patrick Playfair
Battle of SedanBattle of SedanBattle of La MarféeBattle of the MeuseBattle of SedanBattle of BazeillesBattle of StonneBattle of StonneBrusselsLilleSaarbrückenBonnMetzCharleroiNancyReims100 km49.703N, 4.942E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 5 times between 1641 and 1940.

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1940

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: GER 19TH PZ CORPSDefender: FR 2ND ARMY(+)
Strength48,00060,000
Casualties800 (1.7%)5,000 (8.3%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1085
Outcomeattacker won
Duration2 days
Front width9 km9 km
Attacker advanced10 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 486), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Sedan is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 1,383 in present-day France.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q269207, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Sedan (1940), revision 1382949448, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.