8th Infantry Division (France) Army, French Third Army, French Fourth Army, French Fifth Army, French Sixth Army and French Tenth Army. During the Battle of France in May 1940 the division was made up of the following units: It was a newly created division. The 12th Foreign Infantry Regiment was mainly made up of Spanish Republican Soldiers who had fled to France after the Spanish Civil War. The other regiments were made up of reservists. The 8th Motorised Infantry Brigade was absorbed by the 7th Light Armoured Division, creating the 7th Armoured Division in 1963. In 1977, the 7th Armoured Division was dissolved and
7th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht) to the west and 7th Panzer Division to the east, flanked by the SS Division Totenkopf. The following day the British launched a counterattack, deploying two infantry battalions supported by heavily armoured Matilda Mk I and Matilda II tanks in the Battle of Arras. The German 37 mm anti-tank gun proved ineffective against the heavily armoured Matildas. The 25th Panzer Regiment and a battery of anti-aircraft guns were called in to support, and the British withdrew. On 24 May, Hitler issued a halt order. The reason for this decision is still a matter of debate. He may have overestimated the