French Tanks of World War II (2): Cavalry Tanks and AFVs (New Vanguard, 213)

Steven Zaloga's French Tanks of WWII (2): Cavalry Tanks and AFVs is a wealth of information about the cavalry tanks France went to war with in their light mechanized divisions and independent cavalry formations at the beginning of WWII. This Osprey title, New Vanguard 213, has all the color plates and period photos Osprey books are known for.The author guides the reader through the development of French tanks in the interwar years, focusing on the mid-to-late 1930's when France began to fear a resurgent Germany once more and sought to develop new tanks. The reader gets a good idea of the development path of French tanks (and their limitations based on France's military doctrine). There are good tanks such as the Somua S35 which had a one and a half man turret (not a one man turret as most believed - including me) and the very good Panhard armored car as well as the not-so-good tanks such as the Hotchkiss H35/H39.The book contains some very good tables showing weight, speed, weapons, armor thickness, etc. The one on tank gun effectiveness is very welcome and shows the French had very effective tank guns - especially the 47mm mounted in the Somua that clearly was superior to the German 37mm L45 gun in the Pzkfw III in armor penetration. There are good photos of tank interiors and of battle damage. The author points out that cast hulls of many French designs were certainly better than German tanks of the same era and had better angled armor as opposed to German designs that always seemed made only of flat, vertical plates.Unfortunately, the author then writes a list of excuses for French defeat in 1940. Rather than address what happened in combat between German tanks and those of the Allies, the author writes about the poor one man turrets of too many French designs, the lack of radios and "myths" of the 1940 campaign. Here's my problem with the book: it looks like the author is trying to explain away French defeat as the result of factors other than France's own military doctrine and military culture.Although I think many French units fought bravely and effectively, they simply got beat by a military that was better than they were in key areas such as tactics, operational art, leadership and initiative that extended down to the enlisted soldier. The author contends that French tank strength was far less than what has been recently published once the ancient WWI-style tanks are factored out. That may be true, but the author deliberately ignores the approximately 600 tanks of the BEF which also took part in the 1940 campaign alongside their French allies. The Germans were outnumbered by the Allies in tanks.The author states that the German operational plan in 1940 (sometimes called "Sichelschnitt") was an aberration in terms of the concentration of armor in German Army Group A which the author refers to as "the risky German 1940 operational plan". Excuses, excuses, excuses. If I may be so bold as to point it out, the Germans also had a large inventory of tanks and AFVs of marginal use on the battlefield (Pzkfw I was originally intended only as a training tank). If memory serves me, about 20% of the German armor was Czech 38t and 35t light tanks they seized from Czechoslovakia. The main German tank/antitank gun (the 37mm) was inferior to both the French 47mm and the British 2 pdr (40mm) guns.The author points out that later American and Soviet armies had tank distribution within their armies that more closely reflected French practice in 1940 than the German. Well, that has much to do with the incredible industrial might of the United States that made it possible to produce enough tanks to do that - an industrial might Germany did not have. Germany concentrated their striking power in the Schwerepunkt as a matter of doctrine and necessity.Despite my sharp disagreements with a few of the author's assertions, I think this book is certainly worthwhile for the wealth of specifications, armored vehicle design and development history as well as data on armor and weapon effectiveness which can then be compared to those of more well known German tanks. For those wanting more information on French interwar AFV design (as well as that of German, American, British and Soviet), I recommend  On Armor (Military Profession)  by Bruce Gudmundsson.

Number 213 of the New Vanguard series by Osprey is a companion piece to Number 209. The smart money would be on buying both to give a full overview. As per the first part, this work is written by Steven J Zaloga and illustrated by Ian Palmer. The usual Osprey features of conciseness, glossy illustrations, some technical data and development are present.The work is basically compiled chronologically and there is discussion of the reasoning for various decisions including the famous ‘one man turret’ issue. The tank designs are discussed - the pros and cons of each, their success or otherwise in battle is given passing mention and the use of some of these tanks past the French surrender is also mentioned. This volume also covers the French armoured car forces which makes it particularly interesting given the paucity of attention often paid to armoured cars in the histories.Given the illustrations, line drawings and photographs this would be a boon for the modeller just as much as the armchair historian (often one-and-the-same person if truth be told!).Just as per the first part of this work the authors ensures time is spent discussing the use of these weapons in theatres of war other than Europe and thus often after 1940. French armour was extant in the Levant and in North Africa and came into play again during Operation Torch landings and the British push into Vichy French held middle eastern regions.Interesting also is the section towards the rear of the book where Zaloga discusses many of the overall impressions of the French demise vis-à-vis tanks and looks at how those widely held impressions stack up in the cold hard light of day. It is only several paragraphs long but it is food for thought.While the brevity of the New Vanguard series of books is a major issue and the text can sometimes be a procession of details fired out like so much shorthand this book is very useful for the aforementioned modellers and armchair historians. This book should ideally be bought with its companion volume and probably even with the book on French tanks of World War 1.

Used as a modeling resource great info.

Good account of a subject difficult to find elsewhere in other books. In fact, this one of the few I have seen that says anything meaningful about French tanks of the pre-World War II era. For obvious reasons, the book focuses on the French tanks developed in the 1920s and 1930s. It discusses the external restrictions (primarily financial) that greatly affected the design of the tanks. It also discusses some theoretical tank designs that were proposed in the late 1930s that never got off the drawing boards because of the French army defeat in the summer of 1940. I didn't give this book 5 stars because it just doesn't give the kind of discussion that you can find for the German Panther and Tiger tanks (perhaps an unrealistic expectation on my part).

Steven J. Zaloga manages to squeeze into a slender volume enough detail to satisfy me. I needed a simple to use reference on this subject, and he gave me just that. Not that he stinted at all, he provided plenty of data on production of various models, on their engines, armor and weapons. All of which I wanted to know. He also told of their brief history in battle against the German army. He even mentioned the tanks use by other nations and by the French forces outside of metropolitan France. He has lots of photos for us as well. I was well satisfied by this small volume.

Outline of development of French armoured vehicles pre second world war. Light on detail,but some interesting photos.

really good book as good if not better than book 1 nice photos facts and coloured plates.

Superb vehicles driven by heroes....so what went wrong?

Excellent starter on the subject. I have loads of these Vanguard books.

That was what i needed.