Saar Offensive

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Saar Offensive
Part of the Phoney War of World War II
Disposition of French forces
Date 7 September – 16 October 1939 (1939-09-07 – 1939-10-16) (1 month and 9 days) Location Saarland, Germany 49°10′N 7°15′E / 49.167°N 7.250°E / 49.167; 7.250 Result German victory French tactical withdrawal Beginning of the Phoney War
Belligerents
France Diplomatic support:  United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Maurice Gamelin A.G. Prétalat	Erwin von Witzleben
Strength
40–85 divisions 400 tanks 4,700 artillery pieces	22 divisions 100 artillery pieces
Casualties and losses
2,000 casualties 4 tanks destroyed	552 casualties 114 missing[1] 11 aircraft destroyed[2]

The Saar Offensive was the French invasion of Saarland, Germany, in the first stages of World War II, from September 7 to October 16, 1939, in response to the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939. The original plans called for 40 divisions, one armored division, three mechanised divisions, 78 artillery regiments and 40 tank battalions to assist Poland, which was then under invasion, by attacking Germany's neglected western front. Despite 30 divisions advancing to the border (and in some cases across it), the attack did not have the expected result. When the swift victory in Poland allowed Germany to reinforce its lines with homecoming troops, the offensive was halted. French forces then withdrew amid a German counter-offensive on 17 October.