Hat 8162 WWII French Artillery Crew

The French army and a large part of its officer corps, joining the Second World War, were prepared and trained on the basis of experiences resulting mainly from the Great War. The French military doctrine was also based on this experience, which in turn meant that it placed great emphasis on the use of field artillery. At the outbreak of World War II, the French artillery park was undoubtedly large, and quantitatively stronger than its German counterpart. For example, in September 1939, the French army had approximately 5,700 75 mm cannons, approximately 1,200 105 mm cannons, and approximately 760 155 mm cannons. It is also worth adding that the infantry division stationed in the metropolis included a light artillery regiment consisting of 3 squadrons of 75 mm guns (36 cannons in total) and 2 squadrons of 155 mm guns (24 guns in total). The ammunition supply was not a problem either. Efforts were also made to modernize and motorize the artillery tract as much as possible. However, in the period 1939-1940, a significant problem was communication in French artillery units, its cooperation with infantry and - especially - mechanized units, as well as a certain design obsolescence of many types of French guns, often remembering the times of the First World War. In these fields, French artillery was clearly inferior to German artillery.