German Forces

Military honours

Bundesarchiv, Koblenz

On June 1, 1940, General Alfred Wager, XXVII. Armeekorps' commander and members of his staff honoured a gallant foe by taking a salute to the surrendering French units of the Lille pocket as they marched past in the main square of Lille. The parade at 9.30 a.m. was led by the divisional commanders, followed by 3 companies - two from the 2eme D.I.N.A., and one from the 5eme D.I.N.A. - all bearing arms but without ammo, and then by the remainder who had been disarmed. When the German High Command came to hear of this it considered it all to be a waste of time and it seems that the Commander-in-Chief of the Army, Generaloberst von Brauchitsch, criticised General Wager for his old-fashioned chivalry.