The Need for Organisational Resilience - Chapter 1

Ardennais were an elite, motorised unit. Most French light and heavy motorised units (DCR

and DLM) were formidably trained and equipped.

The Germans could muster some elite infantry units, among them the Grossdeutschland

regiment. However, a major factor swung the pendulum in favour of the Germans. Overall,

roughly 40 per cent of the German forces consisted of reservists, while the comparable

figure for the French army was roughly 80 per cent, double the number.

Front line infantry were equipped with a range of artillery. Most common among the

French troops was the quick-firing 75mm field gun, an updated design from World War I. The

Germans fielded fewer, but more powerful guns, such as the 10.5cm Leichte Feldhaubitze

(light artillery howitzer) or the infamous high-velocity 88mm multi-purpose Flak

(Flugabwehrkanone) , which was used as an artillery, anti-aircraft and anti-tank gun.

The 88mm gun became one of the most recognised and most feared guns in World War II. Its high velocity projectile – 840m/s – could penetrate any known allied tank design. In 1940, there were only relatively few ‘eighty eights’ deployed, in this image in the role of attacking Maginot Line fortifications. (BArch, n.d.)

In an anti-tank role, the backbone of the French army was the 47mm APX anti-tank gun,

and the Hotchkiss 25mm semi-automatique modèle 1934 , each able to penetrate the front

armour of any German battle tank at the time. In contrast, the Germans most commonly

fielded the 37mm anti-tank gun, which proved inadequate to overpower French bunkers or

most of the medium and heavy tanks deployed by the Allies.

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