Battle of the Lys (1940)

Battle of the Lys
	Part of the Invasion of Belgium of World War II
	; Final Defensive Positions of the Allies along the Lys River
Date	24–28 May 1940
Location	Region of Kortrijk (Southwest Flanders), Belgium51°3′18″N 3°44′3″E / 51.05500°N 3.73417°E
Result	German victory Vinkt massacre; Belgian surrender on 28 May;
Belligerents
Belgium; France; United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Leopold III (POW); Oscar Michiels (POW); Georges Blanchard; Alan Brooke	Fedor von Bock; Georg von Küchler
Strength
500,000	12 divisions
Casualties and losses
40,000+ casualties	unknown; 320–400+ captured

The Battle of the Lys (French: Bataille de la Lys, Dutch: Leieslag) was a major battle between Belgian and German forces during the German invasion of Belgium of 1940 and the final major battle fought by Belgian troops before their surrender on 28 May. The battle was the bloodiest of the 18 Days' Campaign. The battle was named after the Leie (French: Lys), the river at which the battlefield occurred.

^ ^a ^b "HyperWar: The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940 [Chapter XI]". www.ibiblio.org.
^ "National Leie Monument" Archived 9 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, toerismekortrijk.be
^ Veranneman 2014, pp. 40–45.
^ Epstein 2014, pp. 251–256.

[FF-1] "HyperWar: The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940 [Chapter XI]". www.ibiblio.org.

[LysMon-2] "National Leie Monument" Archived 9 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, toerismekortrijk.be

[FOOTNOTEVeranneman201440–45-3] Veranneman 2014, pp. 40–45.

[FOOTNOTEEpstein2014251–256-4] Epstein 2014, pp. 251–256.

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