Photos WW2 French Forces

[AtlanticFriend]

Is it just me or do the wheels of the artillery piece look like they were designed for being pulled by a train on tracks?

I'm not sure the dimensions of the gun would fit French rail width. Some guns from the first half of the 20th century had, like this Filloux 155, fully metallic wheels but as far as I know this model was designed for either horse or motorized traction (like with the LATIL tractor on the picture).

 

[Connaught Ranger]

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French troops en route to Narvik during the Norway campaign. They belong to either the Chasseurs Alpins or the Légion Etrangère's 13th Demi-Brigade. It is said all men of the 13th DBLE lied about their knowing how to use skis, so eager they were to deploy in Norway and face German troops.

I also read they (French Military) forgot to bring the cloth tapes to cover and protect the skies when crossing rocky ground which effected their movement somewhat.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

A Char B1-bis heavy tank leaving the factory.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

A 400mm railway gun in action.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

"Snacks for Hitler", graciously offered by Warrant Officer Henri Caron, from the Leclerc (future 2nd Armored) Division. Regrettably, Henri Caron died in the battle for Paris on August the 25th, 1944 as he was sent, with his tank the Romilly, to dislodge German soldiers from one of their positions Rue de la République.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

The seaplane tender Commandant Teste. She could carry 26 CAMS-55 light seaplanes for naval reconnaissance. She was also extensively used to ferry Air Force planes, a task she was well equipped to perform given her vast hangars and several cranes.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

A CAMS-55 seaplane.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

And finally, a Potez-620 transport plane in flight.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

A 25mm anti-tank gun Modèle 1934 and its crew.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

A group of fantassins, with a Châtellerault LMG. Probably taken during the Phoney War, in the winter.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

An Aéronavale Loire-Nieuport LN 410 dive bomber.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

Dewoitine-520 fighters being assembled in Toulouse, at the Société Nationale des Constructions Aéronautiques du Midi (SNCAM). The SNCAM was a state-owned factory composed of the nationalized assets from Dewoitine. Toulouse is still, to this day, the hub of French aircraft industries.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

Senegalese Tirailleurs setting up a 81mm mortar.

 

[TheKiwi]

How much do you think the nationalisation of aircraft making in the 1930's affected the ability to get modern replacement aircraft into service?

 

[AtlanticFriend]

How much do you think the nationalisation of aircraft making in the 1930's affected the ability to get modern replacement aircraft into service?

Can't say for sure. On the one hand, it probably helped organize production on the macro scale. On the other, it temporarily disorganized local production at the existing factories at a crucial time for rearmament. I think the major issue was that there were too many programs going on at the same time, with specs that kept falling behind the technological advances or favored mediocre multi-role performance (the infamous Air Force BCR - Bomber Fighter Recon - programs for example).

Same with tanks in a way, IMHO, which ended up with France fielding FCM-36s, H-35s (and its developments), R-35s, Somuas, B1-bis, D-2s, D-1s, 2Cs... Infantry tanks, cavalry tanks, heavy tanks, breakthrough tanks...The French army would have been better served if they had been issued similar weapons systems. Personally, I'd have gone with the D-2 and S-35 tanks, which were on par or superior to the Pz-III and got the best bang for the buck ratio (400,000 francs for a D-2, 1.5 million francs for a B-1bis).

In the end, though, the deciding factor for France's collapse was that the whole war plan was betting everything on ONE scenario - which almost came into play, to be fair - and that the high command was absolutely inept.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

Not military but definitely WW2-era : a giant Latécoère 631 clipper seaplane in flight.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

A Hotchkiss H-39 infantry tank and its transport truck.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

Flying camouflaged : a Caudron 455 "Goéland" light transport plane. This one is used for medical transport.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

A Requin-class minelaying submarine.

 

[AtlanticFriend]

Close-up on the nose guns and engines of a Bréguet Br-693 assault bomber. Fielded by the Armée de l'Air just months before the German invasion, it carried 400 kgs worth of bombs, either in a 2x200 kgs or a 8x50 kgs configuration. There was a project to navalize the plane and use it on the carriers supposed to replace the aging Béarn. Neither the naval bomber nor the new carriers (which would have been more or less an equivalent of the British Ark Royal-class) came to be.