office in
Lauterbach Almost everyone expected a major French attack on the
Western Front soon after the start of the war, but Britain and France were cautious as both feared large German air attacks on their cities; they did not know that 90 percent of German frontline aircraft were in Poland nor did they realise that the few German units that were holding the line had effectively been "pared to the bone" and stripped of any real fighting capability leaving the French unknowingly with a 3:1 advantage over the Germans. Consequently what followed was what historian Roger Moorhouse called a "sham offensive on the Saar" that began on 7 September, four days after France declared war on Germany. The
Wehrmacht was engaged in the attack on Poland and the French enjoyed a decisive numerical advantage along the border with Germany but the French did not take any action that was able to assist the Poles. Eleven French divisions, part of the
Second Army Group, advanced along a near
Saarbrücken, against weak German opposition. The French army advanced to as far as in some areas, and captured about 12 towns and villages with no resistance:
Gersheim,
Medelsheim,
Ihn,
Niedergailbach,
Bliesmengen,
Ludweiler,
Brenschelbach,
Lauterbach, Niedaltdorf,
Kleinblittersdorf,
Auersmacher, and
Sitterswald (occasionally called "Hitlersdorf" in some French reports). Four
Renault R35 tanks were destroyed by mines north of
Bliesbrück. By 9 September, the French occupied most of the
Warndt Forest. On 10 September, while a minor German counterattack retook the village of
Apach, French forces reversed the loss only hours later. The French 32nd Infantry Regiment made further gains on 12 September, seizing the German town of Brenschelbach with the loss of one captain, one sergeant, and seven privates. Near the meeting point of the French, German, and Luxembourgeois borders, the Schengen bridge was destroyed. The offensive was halted after French forces had taken the Warndt Forest, which had been heavily
mined by the Germans. The French stopped short of the Siegfried line, although they came within a few kilometres south of it, immediately east of Saarbrücken. The French held German territory along all of the Rhine-
Moselle front, but after the collapse of Poland, General
Maurice Gamelin on 21 September ordered French units to return to their starting positions on the
Maginot Line. Some French generals, such as
Henri Giraud, saw the withdrawal as a wasted opportunity and made known their disagreement with it. As the withdrawal was taking place, on 28 September a counterattack by the German 18th Infantry Regiment (from the then newly formed
52nd Division) in the area between
Bischmisheim and
Ommersheim was repelled by French forces. On 17 October, the withdrawal was complete. There had been about 2,000 French casualties (killed, wounded, or sick). ==Aftermath==