Abbeville — the roads under the fighters

The civilians on the roads of the Somme on 20 May 1940 number in the thousands, fleeing south under the sun. Women, children and the elderly form slow columns, mingled with carts, bicycles and a few automobiles. Our composite family — a couple from the Abbeville region and their 2 children — left home the day before, when the cannon drew nearer and the neighbours departed.

For 10 days, the German breakthrough through the Ardennes has thrown everything into chaos. The Wehrmacht's armour is racing toward the sea and that day reaches the coast near Abbeville, cutting off the Allied armies of the North. Above the roads, the Luftwaffe applies an interdiction doctrine: hamper movements, saturate the axes, mingle troops and refugees in a single confusion. The Bf 109 fighters dive, strafe, then climb away.

On the roadway, an engine roar swells behind the column. The first people are already throwing themselves toward the verges. The family must decide in a few seconds what to do with its cart and its children.