At the outbreak of World War II, Charles de Gaulle was put in charge of the French 5th Army's tanks (five scattered battalions, largely equipped with R35 light tanks) in Alsace, and on 12 September 1939, he attacked at Bitche, simultaneously with the Saar Offensive.
In late February 1940, Paul Reynaud told de Gaulle that he had been earmarked for command of an armoured division as soon as one became available. In late March, de Gaulle was told by Reynaud that he would be given command of the 4th Armoured Division by 15 May. The government appeared likely to be restructured, as Édouard Daladier and Maurice Gamelin were under attack in the aftermath of the Allied defeat in Norway, and had this happened de Gaulle, who on 3 May, was still lobbying Reynaud for a restructuring of the control of the war, might well have joined the government. By 7 May, he was assembling the staff of his new division.
