On the Western Front during World War II, in the Battle of Arras in 1940, a British soldier was killed by German gunfire. Nearby, a jeep carrying German officers and soldiers glided across the grassland.

　　On the Western Front during World War II, in the Battle of Arras in 1940, a British soldier was killed by German gunfire. Nearby, a jeep carrying German officers and soldiers glided across the grassland. A German soldier in the back seat caught sight of the British soldier's corpse.

　　By May 21, 1940, the French Army had been weakened. German armored units broke through the Ardennes Forest and advanced toward French ports along the English Channel. The hinge connecting the British Expeditionary Force and French forces fighting in northern France and Belgium with the main French force fighting in the south was destroyed. To cut off the Germans, British and French tanks and infantry launched an attack at Arras.

　　British forces were confused, demoralized, and exhausted. Armor, infantry, and artillery struggled to coordinate. The German Air Force seized air superiority. On the afternoon of May 21, a two-pronged British attack commenced, with tanks penetrating the flanks of German supply columns and inflicting damage. Though British tanks advanced, the absence of supporting infantry made the situation difficult.

　　German artillery counterattacked the British. German infantry forced British tanks to withdraw, then held back the advancing British infantry, resuming combat. Disruption and lack of coordination between British units and French forces ultimately forced the British to halt their attack. British armored units penetrated 16 km, capturing hundreds of Germans and temporarily disrupting German supply lines.

　　Long-term, the Battle of Arras led Adolf Hitler and many generals to overestimate the British attack and fear its precursors. It prompted demands to contain British forces around Arras rather than continue supporting German operations along the coast. Hitler's order to halt the attack facilitated the evacuation from Dunkirk, saving British and French troops. In the Battle of Arras, British forces suffered approximately 500 casualties, while German forces suffered about 350 casualties.