Dark Earth: History of the Tank

French Tank Development Part III: World War 2 and Beyond

By May 1940, France had one of the largest tank forces in the world, fielding a total of 5389 vehicles in Metropolitan France, including reserves. The majority of these vehicles were light tanks dedicated to the support of the 122 infantry divisions of the Grande Armee and were thus spread far too thinly to be of optimal tactical utility. The 10 armoured active divisions were deployed across all four French Army Groups along the Western Front and only two partially equipped divisions were allotted to the General Reserve of the Masse de Manouevre at Paris. The British Expeditionary Force could add a further 8 armoured and 17 heavy motorized infantry divisions to this force, but the Belgian and Dutch armies did not field any substantial separate tank force. The 156 German and 23 Austro-Hungarian divisions could muster 18 Panzer divisions between them, giving a nominal advantage in numbers to the Allies. However, the Axis armoured forces were concentrated in the Low Countries and the Ardennes where they enjoyed a distinct localized superiority in numbers.

The first eight months of the war did not see any major offensives by either side on the Western Front, giving rise to what was known as the ‘Phoney War’. The Allies focused their production and planning on a great 1941 offensive into Germany, whilst preparing contingency operations to counter a German attack through the Low Countries. Orders were placed for the production 980 G1s in 1940 along with updated versions of the Renault and Hotchkiss light tanks that would be armed with high velocity 37mm anti-tank guns. 125 Renault R40s and 180 H40s were produced in the first half of 1940 and production was planned to reach levels of 120 tanks per month for the duration. A new variant of the Somua S35 cavalry tank with an improved suspension and welded turret armour, the S40, was planned to replace her older predecessor on production lines from July 1940. A project for the development of a self-propelled infantry support gun armed with a 75mm gun had been initiated in early 1939, but only 10 prototype vehicles had been produced for testing purposes by May 1940.

The Western Front of the Second World War was set alight on May 10th 1940 as Fall Gelb sprung into action. German Army Group B invaded the Netherlands and Belgium with 54 divisions, supported by the Austrian 2nd and 4th Armies. The French 1st Army Group and the BEF moved forward towards the Dyle River in response, following carefully coordinated plans for the establishment of a strong defensive line. The initial fighting in Belgium included the great tank clash of the Battle of Gembloux Gap begins, where the German 6th Army’s 3rd, 4th and 5th Panzer and four motorized divisions clashing with three armoured, three motorized and four infantry divisions of the 1st French Army. Initially, German lighter Panzer II and III tanks suffered heavy damage from the French B2s, Somuas and French heavy artillery, before a daring thrust outflanked the French positions and knocked out over a hundred tanks of the 2nd DCR. These attacks were barely stopped by use of converted 75mm field guns, often fired from extremely close range. The battle was a bloody draw, but would prove extremely important in buying time for the next stages of the wider campaign.

The Allied position was imperiled by the drive of Army Group B through the Ardennes and the capture of the key bridges over the Meuse at Sedan. For a few climactic days, it seemed as if the entire of the Allied position in Northern France would be smashed open and nothing would lie between the Panzers and the Channel. It would be the gallant but doomed stand of the 11th Army at Laon that won time for the French 4th Army Group, poised to attack into the Saar just days before, to swing back and race for the Aisne and the 2nd Army Group to strike south towards the Oise and threaten to pocket the German advance. The 11th Army, as the General Reserve had been hastily renamed, held the full fury of the German Army for two days from May 13th to May 15th before falling back to the Aisne, having lost virtually all of its tanks and heavy equipment and over half its manpower. At the final hour, France’s greatest archmage, Sieur Guillaume Flambard, flew down upon the field and threw back the pursuing German panzers with spell after spell, finally breaking his staff and disappearing in a storm of white flame. Their sacrifice had won precious time for the rest of the Allied armies and particularly for the arrival of the 4th Army Group, which had been shifted to the southern flank of the German salient along the Aisne.

The British and French forces in Belgium began a phased general withdrawal from the Dyle Line to defensible positions further south, with the British 1st and 2nd Armies withdrawing back on the Channel Ports, the French 3rd and 4th Armies falling back to the fortresses of Lille and Cambrai and the French 1st and 2nd Armies pulling back from Maubeuge towards St. Quentin. This presented Von Rundstedt with a vexing dilemma, as the original aim of encircling the bulk of the Allied armies in Belgium had been made increasingly difficult by the flanking move of the French 2nd Army Group and the retreat of the French 1st Army Group to positions that would block his drive to the Channel north of the Somme. He shifted the axis of his advance to the south of Laon, with the aim of breaking into open country with his mobile armoured forces and reaching the Channel around Dieppe. The French 2nd Army Group forced a small bridgehead across the Oise and recaptured Hirson on May 16th, before it was taken once again by a ferocious assault by German motorized infantry. The new 6e Division Cuirassée commanded by General Charles de Gaulle struck the German positions in their flank in a daring night attack and threatened to drive back their entire vanguard. Fighting continued between the Aisne and the Oise until May 19th, when Rundstedt called a temporary tactical halt to the offensive to allow reserves and heavy artillery to be bought up. OKH convinced Hitler of the necessity of a momentary pause in operations by playing to his strategic fears and prejudices and depicting the proposal as an opportunity for Army Groups to link up, the infantry to catch up with the Panzers and pin down both flanks of the Allied line.

The French R35 and H35 light tanks had suffered grievously in their engagements with the heavier armed Panzer IIs, but in turn had the measure of the 20mm armed Panzer Is, which were withdrawn to support roles in response. The Somua S35s and Char D2s were a fine match for the German Panzer III mediums and could even engage the formidable Panzer IVs with a reasonable level of confidence. The Char B1 and B2 heavy tanks had played a key role in blunting the rampaging offence of the Panzers along the Champagne front, although many had been knocked out by German field artillery and 88mm anti-aircraft guns hastily employed in a field role. The two regiments of Char G1s had performed magnificently at the Battle of the Gembloux Gap, belying their small numbers with lethal firepower at distances beyond the range of most enemy tanks. German anti-tank guns and field artillery encountered better success against the older Char 2Cs, whose lack of mobility made them stand out as clear targets on the battlefield.

Positional fighting continued over the following days as the Germans bombarded and probed the Maginot Line and the defences of the British Expeditionary Force and defeated the remnants of the Belgian and Dutch armies in detail. Both the Allied and Axis forces had taken grave losses in the first stage of the Battle of France, including over a thousand French tanks. The Western Front again erupted into action on May 23rd 1940 in three separate offensives in Flanders, Alsace and Champagne, with the latter being the most terrible blow. The French front between Hirson and Marle was engulfed in fire and storm as foul weather magic, superheavy artillery fire and the full force of Nazi Germany’s Drachenkraft fell upon the French 10th Army, preceding an attack by 44 infantry and 8 Panzer divisions of Army Groups A and B that was supported by no less than 2400 Luftwaffe aircraft. The lines of defence was rent asunder and German armour and cavalry was able to break out through to the outskirts of St. Quentin, where a scratch force of artillery, second line tanks and reserve troops was able to temporarily halt them. Meanwhile, 37 infantry and 3 Panzer divisions assaulted the Maginot Line from the Saar, supported by 1200 aircraft and a large array of superheavy artillery pieces, including 60cm howitzers and four enormous 80cm siege guns which had a truly devastating effect. By nightfall, the defences of the Maginot Line had been penetrated in half a dozen places and the French 6th and 8th Armies were hard pressed to hold back the Germans.

By the end of the day, the Allied position on the Western Front was in danger of being split into two, with minimal strategic reserves behind the Somme and the Aisne and most of the Anglo-French armies concentrated to the north. Field Marshal Ironside advised Prime Minister Churchill and the Imperial General Staff that the BEF could hold their current positions quite comfortably, but would be severely threatened should the Germans press on the Channel ports from the south. Contingency preparations are ordered for an evacuation of the BEF from the Channel Ports. French Prime Minister Reynaud telephoned Mr. Churchill in the late evening of May 24th to express his concerns that a full German penetration would not only lead to the French 3rd and 4th Armies being cut off, but would leave Paris wide open in the light of the German attacks on the Maginot Line. Withdrawing the 34 French divisions of the 1st Army Group back to the Somme-Aisne Line would give the Allies a strong defensive barrier held by almost 100 divisions, but at the cost of leaving the BEF in a pocket around the Channel ports. Churchill agrees, with the BEF to defend Flanders and the Pas de Calais for as long as possible, supported by the Grand Fleet and the RAF.

The French campaign then divided into a two quite separate battles between the French and Germans around the Aisne and the Somme and between the Germans and Anglo-French forces in Flanders. The BEF and elements of the French 3rd Army were driven back into a shrinking pocket around the Channel Ports by May 25th . German Army Group B, numbering 56 divisions, turned towards the BEF and began to advance on Yser-Boulogne Line with the intent of breaking the British defences and driving them into the sea. Intense British artillery firepower halted most German offensives, with well dug in Valiant tanks picking off advancing panzers with relative ease. The RAF committed an all-out effort in support of the BEF and smashes a concentration of German armour near Lille as well as driving the Luftwaffe from the battlefield. RN monitors, cruisers and destroyers conduct heavy bombardments of German positions in Belgium and south of Boulogne overnight. Over the next 3 days, the Battle of the Yser raged on as four German Panzer divisions clashed with three British armoured and three infantry divisions. The German forces pressed forward to the point of breaking the second British defensive line, but were torn apart in a counterattack supported by 24” superheavy howitzers firing from Dunkirk and Calais and an advance by 29 Dreadnoughts; 10 were destroyed by 150mm heavy field guns firing over open sights as they threatened to tear open the whole centre of the German line. Despite this temporary respite, the long term survival of the pocket was considered untenable by the Imperial General Staff and a decision was made to evacuate the BEF from the Channel Ports, covered by the aircraft of Fighter command and the guns of the Grand Fleet. From May 28th to June 6th, over 820,000 British, French, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and Indian troops were miraculously delivered from Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne to British shores, along with substantial quantities of arms and equipment.

Along the Aisne and the Somme, the French Army now faced the impossible task of defending against the bulk of the enemy. The battles of Noyon and Soissons on June 16th-18th represented the last gasp of French resistance before the Panzers broke out into their rear and the 1st and 2nd Army Groups began a desperate withdrawal to the Seine. Paris was declared an open city on June 20th and the French Army began a fighting retreat to the south to cover the evacuation to Algeria of the King, the treasures of the nation, Premier Reynaud and his cabinet and as much of the airforce and fleet as possible. Lyons fell on June 26th and large pockets of French forces began to be compelled to surrender to the oncoming German forces. As the Great Evacuation began from Toulon, Marseilles and Montpellier, remaining parts of the government and Parliament at Vichy began negotiations for an armistice with Germany to save France from utter destruction. Headed by former Premier Pierre Laval and backed by the King’s brother Francois, the Duc d'Orléans, it sued for peace on July 2nd 1940, defying the government in exile of Prime Minister Reynaud in Algiers and accusing it of having abandoned France after leading it to ruin. After a flurry of telegrams with both parties accusing the other of treason, Francois assumed the throne with the backing of remaining elements of the Royal Court and dismissed Reynaud. Young King Louis XXI and Reynaud responded by decrying the action as treason and moving decisively against their perceived opponents in Algeria. The Algiers night rang with gunfire and the flash of spells and, by dawn, the pro-Vichy elements of the government and army in exile had been defeated. On July 6th, the Vichy government signed an armistice agreement with Germany at Compiegne, with Northern France to be occupied by the German Army at French expense, various heavy weapons, tanks and vehicles to be surrendered, the French Army to be reduced to 12 divisions and the 2 million French prisoners of war currently held in German captivity to remain until a final peace treaty was signed. Hundreds of thousands of other loyal French troops melted into the population in the cities and the countryside to wait for the hour of their redemption when the sound of Roland’s olifant would ring across her fields and Oriflamme would fly once again.

The French government and armed forces in exile in North Africa, already being called the Free French, announced they would not be bound by the armistice and would continue to fight on alongside the British Empire. French West Africa, French Equatorial Africa, the French West Indies and French Indochina fell into the Vichy camp, while French troops in Norway elected to continue fighting alongside their British, Norwegian and Polish allies. The French Army in North Africa comprised 8 light infantry and colonial divisions, with further manpower available in the form of 200,000 evacuated French and Belgian troops. However, they lacked any modern tanks, artillery, fuel or heavy armament and the defences of French North Africa for the moment depended on 174 Char D1s and 129 R35s along the Mareth Line in Tunisia. Initial plans for the construction of Char G1 tanks in North Africa ran into the roadblock of reality as the true paucity of resources, machine tools and industrial plant hit home. The Free French Army would rely upon the occasional delivery of surplus British Valiant tanks for the remainder of 1940. In 1941, the decision was made to reequip the Mediterranean based armoured forces with American medium tanks; French troops in Norway and Britain would continue to operate the ubiquitous Crusader. This would result in the French 1st Army being equipped with the M4 Sherman and the French 2nd Army being equipped with the Crusader when they joined up along the Loire in July 1944.

Ultimately, it had not been the particular tanks that equipped the French Army in 1940 that contributed to their defeat in the three bloody stages of the Battle of France, but rather how they were organized, commanded and deployed. The division between cavalry and infantry armoured divisions had proved decidedly inefficient and the overall dispersal of tanks and tank units had prevented a concentration of force that could have dealt a lethal blow to the early stages of the German offensive when it was slowed down around the Oise. The thousands of French light tanks proved effective in support of troops when operations mirrored those of 1918, but technology and operational art had moved beyond this point in the intervening 20 years and they could not effectively counter the medium Panzer IIs and IIIs. In the aftermath of the armistice, both the Vichy and Free French armies looked to alter their previous armoured doctrine to models based on German and British practice respectively, despite being handicapped by the conditions of the peace and material shortages. Marshal de Gaulle in particular formulated plans for the employment of an independent Corps de Cuirassée of three armoured divisions in the eventual liberation of France.

Secret design work continued in France on an improved variant of the Char G1, designated the G2, and a number of prototypes were carefully assembled and tested in carefully concealed operations. The 34t tanks were equipped with the same 75mm main armament as the G1, although it was intended to employ 90mm Schneider guns when production could begin. Production of the G1 for German and Austro-Hungarian use continued through 1943, finally coming to a stop when the AMX plant was put out of action by an audacious daylight raid by RAF Mosquitoes. It would equip several Panzer and Panzergrenadier divisions and performed creditably against the T-34s of the Red Army on the Eastern Front. The majority of the captured French Army tanks were used by the German Army for second line garrison work and anti-partisan operations across Occupied Europe. Once France had been liberated in late 1944, one of the first acts of the reestablished government was to order production of the Char G2. 1529 tanks were built between 1946 and 1952 in what can only be described as an act of supreme will intended to show that France had returned as an independent power. They gradually replaced the Crusaders and Pershings in use in French Indochina in 1954 and 1955.

The nation faced a parlous situation in the grim light of the postwar world, having to balance their extensive occupation commitments in Germany, Austria and Italy with the necessity of a Far Eastern Expeditionary Corps to reassert French control of Indochina. The initial postwar French Army was equipped with a combination of Shermans, Crusaders and G2s. They were joined in 1949 by the first real postwar French tank, the 14t AMX-13. It was designed as a lightly-armoured airmobile vehicle capable of supporting paratroopers and rapid deployment forces with its high velocity 75mm main gun. Capable of a road speed of up to 65km/hour, it would see considerable service in the Indochina War and in tough counterinsurgency operations in North Africa. A total of 3569 vehicles were built between 1949 and 1960, serving in the French, Spanish, Belgian and Italian armies.

One of the major challenges to the Western Allied armies in the late 1940s and early 1950s was perceived to be the Red Army’s fleet of heavy tanks, such as the KV-4, IS-3 and IS-10. Although the British 25pdrs and 36pdrs and the American 90mm and 105mm were capable of successfully engaging them at battle ranges, their thick armour protected them against the larger caliber low velocity weapons carried by the older Allied heavy tanks. These also needed replacement after heavy use in the last two years of the war. A general Western requirement for a heavy tank saw the development of the British Conqueror, the US M102, the Swedish Stridsvagn 100, the German Löwe and Tiger tanks and the French AMX-50. Weighing in at 67.8 tons, it was armed with a 120mm gun and a number of 12.7mm and 7.5mm machine guns. Its sloped armour was equivalent to over 230mm of conventional protection and its top speed was a creditable 49km/hour. 783 were built between 1952 and 1957, serving exclusively with the armoured divisions of the French Army.

1954 saw the introduction of the first French main battle tank, the AMX-25, after a protracted 7 year development period. It was a 45t design developed from the G2 and significantly influenced by the Centurion. Armed with a Royal Ordnance 105mm high velocity gun and protected by upwards of 140mm of frontal glacis armour, the AMX-25 was a fast and quite well protected tank. The 750hp diesel engine was extremely reliable in a variety of conditions and could propel the tank at speeds of up to 65km/hour. 2436 would be built over the next six years, equipping the Grande Armée as it rebuilt itself from the nadir of defeat and replacing the wartime American and British medium tanks in active home service.

The year was also marked by the epic Battle of Dien Bien Phu in Indochina. 24,000 troops of the French Empire, elite paratroopers and Foreign Legionnaires of the 11th Division Parachutiste supported by heavy artillery and a regiment of AMX-13s held out against almost 100,000 Viet Minh for 179 days before the siege was broken by a series of massive air raids by USAF and RAF heavy bombers that cleared the way for an aerial evacuation. The French light tanks proved useful when dug in as artillery on the bitterly contested high ground surrounding the valley, but found mobile operations difficult in the rugged terrain. Thirty eight out of fifty tanks were destroyed in the course of the fighting. The battle resulted not so much in a French victory, but in avoidance of a catastrophic defeat. The bloody war in Indochina would continue for the next two years before the Geneva Conference of 1956 lead to an unsteady armistice.

Well if the French needed British and US air power to win at Dien Bien Phu means that at that time they did not have their own bombers in service ore am i wrong.

Your summation of Dien Bien Phu is correct - the USAF and RAF heavies were around in the Far East and were decisive in their air strikes. The French bomber force was concentrated in Europe, consisting in the post WW2 period of Lancasters, followed by Canberras while their own jet bomber project struggled onwards.

The Battle of France was more costly for the Germans, but they did have a larger force and an Austrian-Hungarian army to balance it out.

France is a constitutional monarchy, with the post 1871 restoration of the fused Orleanist/Legitimist cause under Henri V.

South Vietnam is a pro French 'empire', with strong interest and influence from the Americans.

Nice to see how the Germans developed and use tanks in the Great War, question, is the A7V the same as OTL and did the Germans like OTL also captured and use a lot of British Mark tanks.

Thanks for the highlighting stevep, missed that, also seems that a wyrm Aethicandus dragon is powerful enough to destroy a Mark tanks which are not small tanks, i wonder does it do it with fire breathing ore a different method.

Not something anybody inside a German tank would go true, did the Germans also have dragons who did the same thing to British and French tanks ore was this only a British anti tank tactic.