vrijdag 17 juli 2015

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. 


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.

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