S-2 has a number of articles for this issue, but first must start off with a confession. The French Army Special Issue had a number of minor errors that some of you caught, and one major error that no one seems to have caught (yet). There is a missing page covering the French Colonial Infantry Division, and the start of the French Active Infantry Division. The following article should help correct that problem. French Colonial Infantry Division Troop Quality: VETERAN, MORALE 9 DIVISIONAL HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Car 1 Command Stand 1 Staff Radio Truck 3 INFANTRY REGIMENTS, each with: REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Car 1 Command Stand 1 Staff Radio Truck REGIMENTAL WEAPONS COMPANY, with: 2 25L72 AT Guns 2 Gun Crew Stands 2 Light Trucks 1 81 mm Mortar Stand (DS) 1 Medium Truck REGIMENTAL ENGINEER COMPANY, with: 1 Command Engineer Stand 1 Flamethrower Engineer Stand 1 Medium Truck with Trailer 3 INFANTRY BATTALIONS, each with: BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Stand 1 Command Car 1 Patrol Stand 3 INFANTRY COMPANIES, each with: 1 Command Infantry Stand 3 Infantry Stands MACHINE GUN COMPANY, WITH: 2 MMG Stands LIGHT ARTILLERY REGIMENT, with: REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Stand 1 Car 1 Staff Radio Truck 3 LIGHT ARTILLERY BATTALIONS, with: BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Stand 1 Forward Observer Stand 2 Cars 1 Supply Truck 3 BATTERIES, each with: 1 Command Stand 1 75L36 Field Gun 1 Medium Truck 1 Gun Crew Stand (DS) MEDIUM ARTILLERY REGIMENT, with: REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Stand 1 Command Car 1 Staff Radio Truck MEDIUM ARTILLERY BATTALION, with: BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Stand 1 Forward Observer Stand 2 Cars 1 Medium Supply Truck with Trailer 3 FIRING BATTERIES, with: 1 Command Stand 1 Gun Crew Stand (DS) 1 105L19 Howitzer 1 Medium Truck MEDIUM BATTALION, with BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Stand 1 Forward Observer Stand 2 Cars 1 Medium Supply Truck 3 FIRING BATTERIES, each with: 1 Command Stand 1 Gun Crew Stand (DS) 1 155L 15 Howitzer 1 Medium Truck DIVISIONAL AT COMPANY, with: 1 Command Stand 1 Car 3 Gun Crew Stands 3 Light Trucks 3 25L72 AT Guns DIVISIONAL AA COMPANY, with: 1 Command Stand 1 25L60 AA Guns 3 Light Trucks DIVISIONAL RECON BATTALION, with: BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, with; 1 Command Stand 1 Car 1 Staff Radio Truck HORSE SQUADRON, with; 1 Cavalry Command Stand 2 Cavalry Recon Stands MOTORCYCLE SQUADRON, with: 1 Command Motorcycle Infantry Stand 2 Recon Motorcycle Infantry Stands WEAPONS SQUADRON, with, 1 MMG Stand 1 HMG Stand 1 25L72 AT Gun 1 Gun Crew Stand 3 Light Trucks 2 DIVISIONAL ENGINEER COMPANIES, each with: 1 Command Engineer Stand 2 Engineer Stands 1 Supply Wagon Notes 1. Before the start of World War II, there were 4 Colonial Infantry Divisions numbered 1 through 4. In the fall of 1939, they were reorganized, with two regiments of Senegalese Infantry added to the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Colonial Divisions. The displaced Colonial Infantry Regiments, along with additional Senegalese Infantry Regiments, formed the 5th, 6th, and 7th Colonial Divisions. 2. All members of the Colonial Regiments were volunteers who in joining the Colonial Regiments argued to service overseas as needed. As a result, they are rated as among the best of the French Anny. 3. The Divisional AT Battery has one of its 25mm guns replaced by a 471-53 in early 1940. ACTIVE INFANTRY DIVISION Troop Quality: EXPERIENCED, Morale 8 DIVISIONAL HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Car 1 Command Stand 1 Staff Radio Truck 3 INFANTRY REGIMENTS, each with: REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS, with 1 Command Stand 1 Car 1 Staff Telephone Wagon REGIMENTAL WEAPONS COMPANY 2 25L72 AT Guns 2 Gun Crew Stand 2 Limbers 1 81mm Mortar Stand (DS) 1 Wagon 3 INFANTRY BATTALIONS, each with: BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Stand 3 INFANTRY COMPANIES, each with: 1 Command Infantry Stand 3 Infantry Stands MACHINE GUN COMPANY 2 MMG Stands (And now we are back to page 6 of the Spring 1990 CP.) ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE FRENCH ARMY First of all, my thanks to Peter Marshall, as well as others, who noted the following errors in the Weapons Characteristics Table: 1. The 25L60 ATG should be 25L72 ATG 2. The 37L31 should instead be the 37L21 3. The To Hit numbers and penetration for the 47L53 is incorrect. It should be: 2" 5" 10" 15" 20" 25" 30" 40" 9:3 9:2 9:2 7:1 4:1 3:0 2:-1 1:-1 4. The D2 has only a turret MG 5. The Char B1 has only a turret MG Peter also had some other questions on TO&E's, some of which I can answer, some of which I can't, and some of which I will throw open to the readership. The Dismounted Dragoon Battalions have 5 AMR's in their Armored Company according to the TO&E's, but they should have only 4 models by actual count as there where 20 in the company. At this point in time I am not sure of the answer, but I believe it was due to the organization of the company. I think that it worked out that there were four sections, as well as a headquarters in the company. The French Machine Gun Companies seem light on their weapons, which presents an interesting problem, in fact one that we overlooked with the enclosed LIGHTER THAN A FEATHER supplement on the Japanese Army. The French Machine Gun Company has two platoons of 2 sections, with each section having a 4 Hotchkiss clip fed Machine Guns. If there weapons were belt fed, the organization would be 4 stands of MMG. Due to the slower rate of fire with the clip, they were done as 2 stands of MMG, with a ROF of 2. A possible solution would be to give them four MMG stands, but cut the ROF down to one instead of two. (The same should be done for the Japanese Machine Gun Companies, but their organization is already based on 4 guns per stand. ) Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Newsletter #5 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com