Siege of Lille (1940)

The Siege of Lille was a Second World War battle fought during the Battle of France. It took place from 28–31 May 1940 in the surroundings of the city of Lille, France during the Battle of France. It involved the remaining 40,000 men of the once-formidable French First Army in a delaying action against seven German divisions, including three armoured divisions, which were attempting to cut off and destroy the Allied armies at Dunkirk.

General Molinié and Colonel Aizier negotiate a surrender at midnight in honor of the defenders of Lille and its suburbs. Saturday, June 1 at the Grand Place French troops and some English surrendered arms to the Germans.

As a consequence of the continued French resistance, a number of Allied formations managed to escape to Dunkirk. Winston Churchill, writing in The Second World War described the French defence of Lille as '..for four critical days contained no less than seven German divisions which otherwise could have joined in the assaults on the Dunkirk perimeter. This was a splendid contribution to the escape of their more fortunate comrades and of the BEF.'

It appears that the German divisions in question were the 4th, 5th, and 7th Panzer Divisions, and the 7th, 217th, 253rd and 267th Infantry Divisions.