Some memories are destined to be short-lived. Such is the case of the armistice of 1940, which confirmed the French defeat and put an end to the fighting. Although Germany was delighted at the time, the episode would not lead on to regular commemorations. In France, if it was timidly celebrated by the Vichy regime, it was soon replaced by remembrance of the refusal. The call to arms of 18 June is today an important marker in the commemorative calendar.

On 3 September 1939, Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany. After a period of waiting and sporadic fighting known as the “Phoney War”, on 10 May 1940 an enemy offensive was launched from the Ardennes, which was to go on inexorably until the signing of the armistice brought it to a close on 22 June.

During that time, the defence of the Lyon area was indissociable from that of the Alpine front, under threat from the Italians, who had been at war with France since 10 June. It was also a strategic crossroads on the Germans’ route to the south.

On 10 May 1940, when the “Phoney War” was over, Germany sent its armies against France and Belgium.

After prevailing in the Somme and the Aisne, the enemy advanced on the Seine. General Weygand, commander-in-chief of the French armies since 20 May 1940, ordered the defence of all rivers that might block the path of the invasion to the south.

General Guderian’s XIX Army Corps, which attacked Sedan, comprised three divisions, the 1st, 2nd and 10th Panzer Divisions, with a total of approximately 1 000 tanks. Facing them was the French Second Army, under General Huntziger, whose command post was at Senuc.

After crossing the Ardennes, General Guderian’s XIX Army Corps advanced to the northwest. On 16 May, the German vanguard reached the outskirts of Saint Quentin.

General Touchon’s 6th Army was tasked with establishing a defensive front on the Aisne. Stalling operations were needed in order to achieve this, so a number of units were sent forward.

After the seemingly endless ”Phoney War” which followed Britain and France's declaration of war on Germany as a result of the invasion of Poland, the situation suddenly changed in the west when, on 10 May 1940, Germany launched an offensive on Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg.