Battle of Saumur ( 1940 ) The Battle of Saumur occurred during the last stages of the Battle of France during World War II , when officer cadets from the Cavalry School at Saumur , led by superintendent Colonel Michon , made a defensive stand along the Loire River at Saumur and Gennes . For two days the Cavalry School , and other assorted units which had fallen back before the German advance , held off a German attack . Since the battle occurred after the message by Marshal Pétain which called for an end to fighting ( on 17 June 1940 ) , the event is often considered one of the first acts of the French Resistance . Prelude . By coincidence , the German troops advancing into the area were from the 1st Cavalry Division ( Germany ) , a horseborne unit . The battle therefore set graduates of the German cavalry school against the cadets from the French cavalry school . The Germans had 10 , 000 troops , modern tanks , armoured cars , artillery and the usual divisional equipment , whereas the French troops comprised 800 cadets , their teachers , and any retreating men that could be collected to add to the defense . The cadets took up defensive positions with 10 old 25 mm guns , 35 machine guns , four 81 mm mortars , seven 60 mm mortars , five small World War I - era tanks , three armoured cars and two 75 mm artillery pieces covering four bridges and of the south bank of the Loire on 18 June 1940 . Battle . The Germans arrived at the river at Saumur just before midnight on 18 June riding motorcycles with sidecars followed by armoured cars . A 25 mm gun manned by Cadet Hoube scored the first hit ; by next morning he had hit seven tanks and two armoured cars . It was the start of the battle that was to continue until 20 June . The French blew the Pont Napoleon at Saumur , and the railway bridge to the east . The Germans brought up artillery and 2 , 000 shells hit Saumur over the next two days . At Gennes , to the west of Saumur , as German scouts arrived the suspension bridge was also blown , however on the evening of 19 June , 50 German troop carriers arrived packed with assault troops who then assaulted the island in the river using rubber boats , but were repelled . Early next morning , having been reinforced and with artillery support , the Germans used rafts and boats to overwhelm the few defenders whose ammunition had run out , however they were unable to cross from the island to the south bank of the Loire , which was still strongly defended by the cadets . To the east of Saumur , the Germans tried another 5 : 00 am crossing , and despite losses , managed to obtain a foothold on the south bank , but were held back from advancing on Saumur by the Saumur cadets , and reinforcements from the infantry cadet school that had just arrived to help . Other Germans moving further west towards Angers managed to find a point at which they could force a crossing against a different French defending unit and captured the city of Angers , to the east , the Germans had also managed to cross the river towards Tours and were advancing south and circling behind Saumur . The German commander gave an order to disengage from the Saumur fight , as it was easier to bypass the town rather than continue against the stiff resistance and incur more heavy losses . An armistice had been agreed on 19 June , however , it was not signed until 22 June at Compiègne . Meanwhile , late on 20 June , Colonel Michon decided the cadets could no longer hold Saumur and withdrew them south . Max Hastings in All Hell Let Loose describes the battle in great detail and focuses on Colonel Michon who he calls ' an old war horse ' somewhat affectionately . Aftermath . The Germans entered Saumur on the morning of 21 June 1940 , where they would remain until the liberation of the town in August 1944 by the forces of an ex - student of the school , General George S . Patton , who had been studying there in 1912 . The German commander , General Kurt Feldt , praised the resistance of the students in his after action report , in which he was the first to call them " cadets of Saumur " . The 218 students captured by the Germans were released in the following days instead of being interned . The school was Mentioned in Despatches at the Order of the Army by General Maxime Weygand . The town of Saumur was awarded the Croix de Guerre with palm , the citation referring to the town being a symbol of French patriotism . Among the French soldiers killed was the organist and composer Jehan Alain .