French Campaigns
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FROM FALL WEISS TO FALL GELB Evolution of the Heer – French army A. POLAND – FALL WEISS TOTAL HEER TROOPS 26th August – 1st September 1939 : 7 Panzerdivisionen, 4 Leichten Divisionen, 4 ID (mot), 3 Gebirgsdivisionen and 87 ID = 105 divisions On 1st September 1939, the German Army is still immature, it lacks equipments and is far from being organized around the Blitzkrieg concept. The chain of command is still very classical and the armored units have not the importance they will gain later in 1940. 5 Korps include motorized units but there is no specific group dedicated to large mechanized operations beyond the tactical level. All the Panzerdivisionen and Leichten-Divisionen are dispersed. Only the 10th Army has in some concentrated mechanized troops, the Panzerwaffe of September 1939 is not directed towards a specific Schwehrpunkt of the front. The Panzerwaffe in Poland is mainly used in localized actions and not in big strategic maneuvers with several Korps working together. The Panzerdivisionen and Leichten Divisionen are then particular because of their fire power and mobility but in Poland their role is not the one they will show the world later. They made no fantastic breakthroughs; some Infanterie Division did as well without being motorized like the 10.ID and the 17.ID (XIII.AK, 8.Armee) which pierced the Polish lines without armored support on 1st - 4th September 1939. On 6th September they had reached Lodz at 150 km from their departure line. The Polish line was weak in that area and the point is not to show that is was easily broken but that the speed of the German advance with or without armor was similar. Only in 1940 on the western front was the Panzerwaffe really used to make deep and fast breakthroughs. The size of the Panzerwaffe is too limited in 1939 and its practical use is not yet well defined, the old school favoring the classical warfare is still powerful in the German high command. Once the breakthroughs achieved, the German units led a classical Kesselschlacht war and the mechanized units were often badly used, completely dispersed, often engaged in urban warfare (the 4.PzD was used to enter in Warsaw in 9th September and had 60 damaged/destroyed tanks in this type of combat not in favour of armored units) and they led often front attacks instead of outflanking their enemy. In the Infanterie Divisionen the men were 20-25 years old in the 1. and 2.Wellen (70 divisions) but sometimes 35-45 years old in the 3. and 4.Wellen (35 divisions), especially in the Landwehr. The training and equipments were very good for the 1. and 2. Wellen but largely insufficient for the 3. and 4.Wellen sometimes issued with WW1 equipments. The German infantry is also massively horse drawn / foot infantry and there is usually 1 motor vehicle for 2 to 6 horses according to the units that are considered. In 1939, this infantry led most of the battles and 42 of the infantry divisions remained to face the West front. In 1939, the German army is still very classical but in maturation and it already includes several innovations like the organization of the Panzerdivisionen : • The Panzerwaffe formed in 1934 includes in 1939 7 Panzerdivisionen and 4 Leichten-Divisionen (light armored divisions) beside 4 ID (mot). It is the most powerful element of the Heer but only 16% of the tanks are armed with a 3.7cm or a 7.5cm gun, 84% of the tanks are Panzer I, Panzer II or command tanks. At the tactical, mobility and flexibility level the German mechanized units were superior to their Polish opponents in 1939 but the inter-arms cooperation (tank/infantry/artillery/air support) was not yet mature even if already tested on the very basic level in Spain with the Panzer I and several crews. • The close air support provided by the Ju87s and Hs123s. • The omnipresent tactical air reconnaissance played a major role in Poland and later in France : spotter aircrafts (Hs126s and Fi156s) were accompanying the troops during their advance to communicate the enemy positions and direct the supports. Reconnaissance squadrons were detached to the Korps, Armee and even sometimes divisions. • The German tactics with good inter-arms cooperation (tank / aircraft couple, close air support provided by the Ju87s and Hs123s, omnipresent tactical air reconnaissance) were not mature in Poland but they are ready for Fall Gelb. The first large trials with air-ground cooperation were to be held in Grafenwöhr training area 21st - 25th August 1939, but cancelled due to the oncoming war. Therefore, in September 1939 the Germans had no new Blitzkrieg tactics to use. Later, in France, Greece and Yugoslavia, Blitzkrieg tactics were used. In Poland the battle turned into something that greatly resembled the Kesselschlachten from World War I even if more motorized. On the other hand, the so-called "Blitzkrieg" proper was revealed later to the Allies. POLISH ARMY 1939 • 39 infantry divisions, 11 cavalry brigades, 2 motorized cavalry brigades and independent units • 998 AFVs (324 tanks, 574 tankettes and 100 armored cars) • About 3500 field artillery pieces • About 400 planes 1) Infantry 30 infantry divisions + 9 reserve infantry divisions Each with : 3 infantry regiments 1 light artillery regiment 1 heavy artillery battalion (12 pieces) 1 engineer battalion 1 signal company 1 AA battery (4 guns) Each infantry regiment contains : 3x infantry battalions 1x MG battalion Æ Total : 84 infantry regiments + 6 mountain infantry regiments 2) Cavalry 11 cavalry brigades Each with : 3 to 4 cavalry regiments 1 light artillery squadron (12-16 pieces) 1 AA squad (2 guns) 1 engineer company several service units Each cavalry regiment contains : 4x squadron 1x MG company several service units Æ Total : about 40 cavalry regiments (27 uhlan, 10 mounted rifles and 3 light horse) 3) Armored units 2 motorized cavalry brigades, each with : 2x 2 motorized cavalry regiments 1x Vickers light tank company 2x reconnaissance TK tankettes company 1x AT battalion Independent units : 2x 7TP tank battalions 2x 7TP tank companies 1x Renault R35 battalion (evacuated to Romania, didn't fight) 3x FT17 tank companies 11 cavalry brigades and 18 infantry divisions had also 1 recon company with WZ armored cars or TK, TKS or TKF tankettes. Total : 50x Renault R35 (37mm SA18 gun) 3x Hotchkiss H35 tank (37mm SA18 gun) 135x 7TP (20 with two MG-armed turrets, 115 with a good 37mm Bofors gun) 102x FT17 (about 70 with a French 37mm SA18 gun) 34x Vickers tanks (47mm Vickers QF gun) 574x TK, TKS or TKF tankettes (24 TKS tankettes were armed with 20mm wz.38 FK-A gun) 100x armored cars (of those were armed with the French 37mm SA18 gun : 6 Peugeot, 30 armored halftracks Citroën-Kégresse wz.28, 10 armored car wz.29 close to the French Laffly 50AM, 30 armored cars wz.34 based on a Citroën-Kégresse chassis). That makes a total of 998 AFVs including 371 AFVs armed with 20mm, 37mm or 47mm guns (271 of the tanks, 24 of the tankettes and 76 of the armored cars). 4) Artillery Apart from the divisional artillery there were also 23x heavy artillery groups 3x super heavy artillery groups 20x siege artillery platoons The AT artillery is present as - platoons in the cavalry brigades - companies in the infantry regiments Total : Field Artillery : 24x 65mm wz.06 French mountain guns 1230x Schneider 75mm wz.97 guns (also used in AT role) – Buffetaut indicates 1374 guns 466x 75mm Mle1902 Russian guns 900x 100mm Skoda howitzers 242x Schneider 105mm guns (118 wz.13 and 124 wz.29) – Buffetaut indicates 254 guns 38x De Bange 120mm guns (32 wz.78/09/31 and 6 wz.78/10/31) with trail from Russian 6" howitzer) – Buffetaut indicates 43 guns 340x Schneider 155mm wz.17 French howitzers – Buffetaut indicates 340 guns too 27x very heavy 220 mm mortars AT artillery : 1200x 37mm Bofors guns AA artillery : 306x 40mm Bofors guns 72x 75mm Bofors guns 84x Schneider 75mm wz.1897/25 French AA guns 12x Schneider 75mm wz.1918/24 French AA guns on De Dion-Bouton cars (self-propelled AA guns) 2x Schneider 75mm wz.1917 French AA guns POLISH LOSSES : 200,000 losses (66,300 KIA, 133,700 WIA and MIA) (an about 200,000 civilian killed by bombings) 787,000 prisoners 188 aircrafts + many escaped to Rumania ENGAGED BY GERMANY • About 63 divisions • 2771 tanks (16% of the tank armed with a 3.7cm or a 7.5cm gun) • About 5000 field artillery pieces • About 3000 planes GERMAN LOSSES : 40,390 losses (13,110 KIA, 27,280 MIA and WIA) + Soviets (2953 KIA) 285 aircrafts definitely destroyed (+ 279 damaged ones) 236 tanks definitely destroyed (8.5% of the engaged tanks) B. THE PHONEY WAR Between 1920 and 1927, France made military agreements with Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia but in 1938 the situation had considerably evolved : • Belgium is completely neutral • Czechoslovakia is seen as too weak to counter any German or even Italian attack. It is in trouble because of the German minorities in the Sudetes and France doesn't really count anymore with it. • Romania is between Hungary and Bulgaria and is not really in a situation to be an ally but French armaments are being delivered to Romania (Renault R35 tanks, 105mm field guns, Brandt mortars etc.) • Poland appears then as the last possible ally. The French intelligence services noted weaknesses about the Polish Army in their reports : o insufficient instruction of the NCOs o tactical doctrines not adapted to modern warfare o insufficient ammunition and equipment o war industry too weak But they also noted good points like the instruction of the officers and the ardent patriotism.