Episode #1.4

In her broadcast, Nancy Campbell says "the Phoney War has reached a dramatic end, with the British Expeditionary Force engaging in battle with the Nazi force at the town of Louvain (Leuven)". She also claim the Germans advanced with 136 divisions into Belgium and Holland, and the allied troops numbering only half that. That is a false note. The German attack began on 10 May, and the BEF at their position on the Dyle line (stretching along the river Dyle) first made contact with the Germans on the 14th. The number of German division on the Western Front was as said, but only 29 of these (Army Group B) took part in the attack on Holland and Belgium, with a total of 93 division set up for the overall attack on the Low Countries and France. The combined allied ground forces (including 10 Dutch and 22 Belgian) in the north consisted of 151 divisions, where the BEF comprised 13 divisions. The German forces were not that much better equipped in general than the French and British, but they were indeed better prepared (and trained). The French had more tanks available than the Germans, and they where not inferior in any way. It was their displacement with the infantry, rather than in specialized armoured units, that made them fall short. In fact, the Germans captured three times as many French tanks as they destroyed. But as for air forces, the German Lufwaffe outnumbered the allies by nearly the double.

At the beginning, Ju 87 Stukas are seen passing above Harry and Sgt Raddings at an altitude of about 50 - 60 meters (200 ft) on a level bomb run, dropping their bomb on the town in front of them. This would not be viable form of attack. The Stuka was a dive bomber and would perform a direct attack (varying between 60 and 90°, but mainly as close to 90 as possible), with the preferred altitude being 4,600 m (15,100 ft), and the bomb released at a minimum height of 450 m (1,480 ft).