British and French infantry divisions

To complement my previous post, I have collected information about standard British and French divisions.

From http://www.britishmilitaryhistory.co.uk/documents.php?aid=166&nid=23&start=5 
and http://www.niehorster.org/017_britain/40_org/inf%20div/_inf-div.html

Quantity and weapon	British infantry division
Manpower	+- 13863 all ranks
Sub-machineguns	0 (?)
Scoped rifles	unknown
Flamethrowers	0 (?)
Anti-tankrifles	361
Light machineguns	644
Heavy machineguns	144
Light mortars 2-inch	108
Medium mortars 3-inch	18
Towed anti-tank guns	48 + 27 French 25mm guns
Light tanks Vickers VIB	28*
Scout Cars	50*
Carriers	90
25-pdr field guns	72
Anti-aircraft machineguns	Some of the LMG's are AA weapons.

* Not all divisions had a divisional cavalry regiment with light tanks and Scout Cars. Only five had one: the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 51st division. Three other regiments were part of the 1st Light Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade.

(?) I am not 100% certain about these figures.

A British division at full strenght had a lot of LMG's and artillery. The presence of carriers and light tanks is remarkable. They provided the division with a useful reconnaisance element. The British lack some regimental weapons like medium mortars. The Vickers HMG's were officially part of a separate MG battalion and not part of the combat brigades. The 2pdr anti-tankguns were part of the artillery regiment. A lot of the supporting weapons were situated at divisional level unlike German, French or Belgian divisions. 

From http://enpointe.perso.infonie.fr/di.html

Quantity and weapon	French infantry division
Manpower	+- 17500 all ranks
Sub-machineguns	0 (?)
Scoped rifles	unknown
Flamethrowers	0 (?)
Anti-tankrifles	0
Light machineguns	346
Heavy machineguns	168
Light mortars 60mm	27
Medium mortars 81mm	24
Towed anti-tank guns 25mm and 47mm	51-54 X 25mm + 8 X 47mm = 59-62
Field guns 75mm	48
Howitsers 105mm	12
Howitsers 155mm	12
Anti-aircraft guns 25mm	6

A full strenght French divsion was relatively well equipped. The most remarkable element is the small calibre of their most common anti-tank gun. The Hotchkiss modèle 1934 was underpowered compared to many 37-47mm guns. The additional 47mm SA 37 was one of the best anti-tank guns available at the time.

Small and ill-equipped?

Common history books about May 1940 often focus on the German, British and French army and neglect the Belgian (and Dutch) army. They often summarise it as follows: "The Belgian army was small, ill-equipped and surrendered quickly." After that, they continue writing about the three major powers. I have written in my previous post that Belgium raised a fighting force of 610.000 men. Not exactly a small force and even larger than the British Expeditionary Force with 450.000 men. The Belgian Navy and Army Airforce were poorly equipped. That is true. The ground force, however was reasonably well equipped. It is important to keep the trade-off between quantity and quality in mind. The BEF was well equipped and mobile, but with 10 combat ready infantry divisions rather small compared to the forces of Germany and France. The forces of France and Belgium on the other hand were very large compared to the size of their population and resources. Officers, NCO's, weapons, communication and transport equipment... All of it was spread amongst more units instead of concentrated in a smaller professional force. Germany, with a larger population, had a slightly better balance of quantity versus quality and could make use of captured Czech and Polish weapons to equip some units.

Population numbers

Belgian population in 1940: 8,3 million

Dutch population in 1940: 8.8 million

French population in 1940: 40 million

United Kingdom population in 1940: 48 million

German population in 1940: 70 million (+ the resources of Czechoslovakia and Poland)

Combat divisions available for the German front in 1940

Belgium: 22                                     divisions/million population: 2.65  

Netherlands: 10                                divisions/million population: 1.14

France: 94                                        divisions/million population: 2.35

UK: 10                                             divisions/million population: 0.21

Allies: 136                                                  divisions/million population: 1.29

Germany: 135                                  divisions/million population: 1.93

This simple calculation only includes combat divisions available for the front in North-West Europe. It doesn't include navies, Air Forces or units in Norway, colonies or other places. The British Royal Navy, for instance fought the Kriegsmarine in Norwegian waters. The Norwegian Campaign from 9 April - 10 June 1940 occurred at the same time as the Battle of Belgium 10 - 28 May 1940.

Both France and Great Britain sent ground units to Norway. These troops landed in several places. They did not operate at divisional stength. These units had the size of a regiment or battalion. One could say that the Allies had the equivalent of one British and one French division in Norway.
Germany sent two mountain divisions and five infantry divisions to Norway. The Norwegian army counted six divisional military districts. In reality each district could only muster a unit of brigade size. Norway had a population of 2,9 million in 1940. I would say that Norway had the equivalent of three normal divisions. (1.03 division equivalents/million of population)

These figures are important to interpret the strenght and armament of the Belgian divisions. We can see that Belgium had a very large force compared to its size. If Belgium had 1.93 divisions per million of population like Germany, then it would have a force of 16 divisions. This means that the six poorly equipped divisions of 2nd reserve did not have a German equivalent. 

Now let us look at the firepower of the Belgian active and 1st reserve divisions:

Quantity and weapon	Belgian active and 1st reserve division
Manpower	+- 17650 all ranks
Sub-machineguns	80
Scoped rifles	120
Flamethrowers	0
Anti-tankrifles	0
Light machineguns	344
Heavy machineguns	148
Light mortars DBT (50mm)	246
Medium mortars M76 (76mm)	24
Towed anti-tank guns	48
T13 tankhunters	12
Field guns C75TR or C75GP (75mm)	36
Howitsers Ob105GP (105mm)	12
Anti-aircraft machineguns MG08/15	64

Belgian 2nd reserve:

Quantity and weapon	Belgian 2nd reserve division
Manpower	+- 12205 all ranks
Sub-machineguns	0
Scoped rifles	42
Flamethrowers	0
Anti-tankrifles	0
Light machineguns	356
Heavy machineguns	116
Light mortars DBT (50mm)	0     (They had 324 VB riflegrenade launchers.)
Medium mortars M76 (76mm)	0
Towed anti-tank guns	0
T13 tankhunters	0
Field guns C75TR or C75GP (75mm)	24
Howitsers Ob105GP (105mm)	0
Anti-aircraft machineguns MG08/15	24

A German infantry division from the 1st Welle:

Quantity and weapon	German 1st Welle
Manpower	+- 17734 all ranks
Sub-machineguns	312
Scoped rifles	unknown
Flamethrowers	9
Anti-tank rifles	90
Light machineguns	435*
Heavy machineguns	110
Light mortars (50mm)	84
Medium mortars (81mm)	54
Light infantry gun leIG18	20
Heavy infantry gun sIG33	6
Towed anti-tank guns	75
Tankhunters	0
Light armoured cars	3
Medium Howitsers (105mm)	36
Heavy Howitsers (155mm)	12
Anti-aircraft guns (20mm)	12*

* Some of the LMG’s were used as anti-aircraft weapons.

A German infantry division from the 2nd Welle:

Quantity and weapon	German 2nd Welle
Manpower	+- 15273 all ranks
Sub-machineguns	unknown
Scoped rifles	unknown
Flamethrowers	9
Anti-tank rifles	90
Light machineguns	345*
Heavy machineguns	114
Light mortars (50mm)	unknown
Medium mortars (81mm)	unknown
Light infantry gun leIG18	26
Heavy infantry gun sIG33	0
Towed anti-tank guns	75
Tankhunters	0
Armoured cars	3
Medium Howitsers (105mm)	36
Heavy Howitsers (155mm)	12
Anti-aircraft guns (20mm)	0*

* Some of the LMG’s were used as anti-aircraft weapons.

The divisions of the other waves (Wellen) had a bit less firepower than the 1ste Welle and counted less men, around 15000 all ranks.

A good source is: http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/inhaltsverzeichnis1.htm

The Germans have a bit more LMG's, sub-machineguns and flamethrowers. They also have more medium mortars and infantry guns. Their artillery had larger calibres. This gave them a bit more offensive power. 

The Belgian divisions had more light mortars and heavy machineguns. Their artillery was largely made up of fast-firing field guns. This gave them an adequate defensive power. It is also apparent that a Belgian divisions had more armoured vehicles than a German division. This is expected due to differences in doctrine.

The Belgian divisions on 2nd reserve were very poorly equipped. But as I said earlier this is a consequence of the very large size of the Belgian Army. 

I think that we can conclude that a standard German division did not have a decisive advantage in firepower despite some differences. Many German infantry divisions had participated in the Polish campaign and were trained in the Stosstruppen tactics. They benefitted more from their experience and training, than from superior weapons. 

The organisation of the Belgian Armed Forces on the 10th of May 1940.

The organisation of the Belgian Armed Forces on the 10th of May 1940.

The Belgian Armed Forces comprised the Army, a small naval element and an Army Airforce. Unlike the Netherlands, Belgium did not have a real naval tradition. Belgium was often caught up in conflicts between the major continental powers. For this reason, it was obvious to concentrate efforts on the land army. Belgium  started operation a few observation balloons in the late 1880's. Airplanes were introduced from 1911 in the years prior to the Great War. Belgium used aircraft throughout the First World War. The air element was kept under control of the Army. Belgium did not have an independent Airforce until after the Second World War. The Army Airforce had about 265 aircraft. Most of them dated from the 1920's and 1930's only a small number were modern planes. (I will try to write more about the Army Airforce in the future.)

The Army was the largest branch of the Armed Forces. It comprised the Field Army and Fortress troops. The Belgian Armed forces counted around 610.000 men total (8% of the population). About 100.000 of these were still in the training centers. The rest were in actuve duty. The Army counted twelve infantry divisions: six active, six 1st reserve and six 2nd reserve. The active and 1st reserve divisions exchanged a regiment to make 12 homogeneous units. Each division had three infantry regiments plus supporting units. The active and 1st reserve divisions were relatively well equipped and even had twelve T13 self-propelled anti-tank guns/tankhunters.  The divisions of 2nd reserve had old rifles and machineguns dating from WW1. They also had very few heavy supporting weapons.

The cavalry started motorisation in 1935. The last unit gave up its horses in 1938. Belgium chose to equip its cavalry with motorcycles. Only the heavy weapons were transported by lorries or tractors. It is likely that this choice was influenced by the actions of the Belgian Expeditionary Corps in Russia during World War One. This Corps fought with the Russians on the Eastern front and was equipped with armoured cars and motorcycles. 

Cavalry reservists had been trained on horses. The High Command chose to equip these recalled reservists with bicycles instead of horses. Belgium had a dense road network and bicycles required few logistic support. Bicycles were a very useful form of transportation in North-West Europe and were also used by the Dutch and German military. 

The cavalry was organised in two divisions and one brigade. Each division comprised three motorcycle regiments and two bicycle regiments plus artillery, engineers and logistic support. These two divisions counted some T15 light tanks and T13 tankhunters. They seem to have had 16 T15's and 16 T13's each. The independent cavalry brigade consisted of two regiments mounted in lorries. The cavalry also manned the eight operational ACG-1 tanks in the Escadron AB/CC (Armoured Car Squadron of the Cavalry Corps).

The Chasseurs Ardennais are another interesting branch. The Chasseurs Ardennais (hunters of the Ardenns) were organised in two divions and a motorcycle battalion. They were a light infantry force. They have some resemblance with mountain units like the German Gebirgsjäger with the exception that the Chasseurs Ardennais were intended to operate in the forested hills of the Ardennes and not in real mountain area's like the Alps. The Chasseurs counted a lot of professional soldiers. They are often regarded as the elite of the Belgian army. The 1st division had three infantry regiments, entirely equipped with bicycles, plus supporting units. It also counted nine T15 light tanks and thirty-two T13 tankhunters. This was the largest concentration of armoured vehicles in one division. The second division was less mobile. Only 1/3 of the men had bicycles, but all of the heavy weapons were transported by lorries. This division did not have armoured vehicles, it had towed guns instead. Finally the Chasseurs Ardennais also formed a motorcycle battalion with two infantry companies plus heavy machineguns and towed anti-tank guns.

The infantry, cavalry and Chasseurs Ardennais account for 22 divisions and a brigade. But there are still some other combat units who are sometimes neglected.

The Cyclistes Frontières/Grenswielrijders were set up with a similar task as the Chasseurs Ardennais. These Border Cyclists were intended to operate close to the German border north of the Ardennes. They were organised in two regiments and one battalion.They were light infantry on bicycles supported by some heavy machineguns and quite a large amount of T13's. The 1st regiment had 12 tankhunters, the 2nd had 6 + 6 old Vickers Carden-Loyd Mark VI vehicles. The Limburg battalion did not have any tankhunters but the independent T13 Grenswielrijder company had nine. 

The Gendarmes were a paramilitary police unit. They provided two regiments for the army, called light regiments. These regiments consisted of infantry in motorcycles, supported by heavy machineguns and towed anti-tank guns. Each regiment also had 6 old Berliet  VUDB armoured cars and 2 T13 tankhunters. 

It is relevant to include the Border Cyclists and light regiments because they are mobile units with some armoured vehicles. 

Summary Field Army
6 active infantry divisions
6 1st reserve infantry divisions
6 2nd reserve infantry divisions
2 cavalry divisions, 1 brigade and one tank company (Escadron AB/CC)
2 Chasseurs Ardennais divisions and one battalion
2 Border Cyclist regiments, 1 battalion and one T13 company
2 Gendarmerie light regiments

(+ 7 special fortress battalions)

These are the combat units of the Belgian Field Army. These combat units were supported by a large amount of artillery, engineer and logistic units. 

The Fortress troops are the second part of the Army. They manned the fortresses at Liège and Namur and provided 7 special fortress battalions equipped with heavy machineguns. These seven battalions operated smaller bunkers but withdrew together with the field army. 

Some good sources:
A good source on orders of battle is the site of Leo Niehorster:

http://www.niehorster.org/000_admin/000oob.htm
The Axis History forum has a section on the smaller nations in WW2.
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewforum.php?f=12
This is a good site with day-by-day accounts in Dutch.

http://18daagseveldtocht.wikispaces.com/home