At the time of the collapse of France, the equipment of the French Army was on the
whole of excellent quality and type, and the factories of her industrial
areas were keyed to wartime production. New prototypes were being evolved,
and considerable research work was in progress. It was therefore reasonable
to expect not only that large quantities of captured war material would come into
general use in the Axis armies, but that the Germans would endeavor to swing
the whole industrial resources of occupied France into the manufacture of
advanced French designs, in addition to normal German equipment, for use
by the Axis.
By February 1941, it was already clear that this was the case. The National
Socialist Motor Corps was training drivers and mechanics for German's mechanized
units on large number of Chenillette tracked carriers. These vehicles are very
small tractors. They tow a tracked trailer in which an 81-mm mortar or a
light antitank weapon can be carried. Being armored, they could be
used in a role very similar to that of the Bren carrier, or as a tractor for
antitank or infantry guns. In addition, it became known that French tanks were being
sent to Germany; that damaged French tanks were being repaired for the same
destination; and that manufacture of French types was continuing on a large scale
in Occupied France.
In June 1941, there was a report that about 400 French R35 tanks in Germany
were having the turret removed and replaced by an open-roofed armored
box shield, in which were mounted a Czech 47-mm antitank gun and a coaxial
machine gun. This arrangement was supposed to give a traverse of 50 degrees. The
thickness of the shield was said to be 25 mm in front, 20 mm at the sides,
and 15 mm in the rear. This report coincided with evidence of a somewhat
similar alteration in the German Mark I tank.
The increasing tendency of the Germans to mount heavier guns in tank
chassis extended, according to a report of July 1941, to the
French 31-ton "Char B", which the Germans were said to have
adapted by fitting a 450-horsepower engine and by mounting the very
effective German 88-mm multipurpose gun. About the same
time, according to a highly placed Axis industrialist, France had
produced her five-thousandth tank for the Reichswehr.
Early in the Russian campaign, French R35 tanks were identified from a
photograph in a German newspaper as forming part of the German forces. This
identification was later confirmed by a report that French tanks were being used
in considerable numbers. The only unit definitely identified, however, as being
equipped with a proportion of R35 tanks is the 10th Reserve Tank Battalion, which
uses them for training only.
It is also confirmed that large numbers of French tanks have been
handed over to Italy, including the R35 and the obsolete FT type. The
2d Tank Battalion Renault R35 has been identified with
the 4th Tank Regiment at Rome. There is also a
battalion "Somua" with the 4th Tank Regiment at Rome, and it is known that
the Somua S35 is being used by the Germans. A new version of the S35 known
as the Char S40 was to have been made with a more powerful engine and a
better suspension. Another Somua type is the SAu4O, which mounted a
long barreled 75-mm gun in the hull. Since
the S.O.M.U.A. (Societe d' Ouillage Mecanique et d' Usinage d' Artillerie) factory
in Paris is making tanks for the enemy, these types may possibly be in production.
Included in the general designation "R35" may be found an improved
type with a better suspension, a more powerful Hotchkiss engine, and a slightly
different silhouette.
It seems probable that French armored cars also are being used by the
Germans. The first report came from a German prisoner, who described
French armored cars with armament "just like a German Mark II Tank". The
French Panhard 178 AMD 35 armored car is an 8-ton 4-wheeled type with 18-mm front
and side armor and mounting one 25-mm quick-firing gun and one
machine-gun. Recent evidence indicates that this car may be in course of
adoption by the German armored division. Its speed of 50 miles an hour makes
this type a very efficient vehicle for its intended purpose.