35103 FRENCH TANK CREWMAN & NCO WWII

The French army, joining the Second World War, was prepared and trained on the basis of the experiences resulting mainly from the Great War. Thus, it adhered to the defensive doctrine of war, which placed particular emphasis on the methodical preparation of operations, their careful planning, as well as ensuring the strongest possible artillery support. In this doctrine, armored weapons were perceived as support for infantry units, which was reflected in the French armored structures of that time - they focused primarily on thick armor, possibly strong armament, and maneuverability was treated rather of secondary importance. A great example is the Char B1 bis or Somua S-35 tanks. Fatal communication in French tanks turned out to be a big problem, as it was clearly inferior to the solutions used in the German army. A serious drawback in the period 1939-1940 was also the dispersion of the French armored forces among infantry divisions, and although statistically the French army had many more tanks than the Wehrmacht, it deployed fewer mechanized and armored divisions. Moreover, their organization and structure were inferior to those used in the German army.The French Republic joined the Second World War on September 3, 1939, but until May 1940, the so-called strange war. The actual, large-scale military operations began only in May 1940 (the so-called French campaign). Shortly after the mobilization, the French army grew significantly and numbered about 2.2-2.3 million people on the north-eastern border. It is assumed that the French armed forces at the time of the German attack in May 1940 consisted of 117 divisions. Infantry divisions constituted a significant part of them. Each of them (excluding mountain and motorized infantry units) consisted of 3 infantry regiments, divided into three infantry battalions. Each battalion, in turn, was divided into 3 infantry companies and a heavy company. A single French infantry regiment numbered approximately 4,080 men. At the division level, this also included: the command company, the company of anti-tank weapons, the company of sappers and other supporting units. In total, the French infantry division had about 17,000 full-time employees, 370 manual machine guns, 170 heavy machine guns, 81 50 mm grenade launchers, 29 60 mm mortars, 27 81 mm mortars, 40 25 mm AT guns, 12 47 mm AT guns, 36 .75 mm and 24 howitzers 155 mm caliber. The main problems of the French infantry in the course of the French campaign are poor communication, not very modern combat tactics, often - but not always! - low morale of soldiers or bad command. Another drawback was the very poor anti-aircraft defense.