France
The victory over France, which is often forgotten, with the British expeditionary force sent to her aid, brought Germany huge successes in armament. France had a huge military potential, at least equal to Germany, and was additionally supported by the British. It should be added here that after the defeat in the war, a state body called Vichy emerged from France, which took over part of the existing armament of the French army.
At the beginning of the war with Germany, the French army numbered about 900,000 people and 5 million reservists. The number of weapons was 2 795 000 8- mm rifles, 35,000 7.5mm rifles, 200,000 old rifles, 48,700 heavy machine guns, 4,940 mortars, 4,558 25 mm armored guns, 1,120 47 mm armored guns, 357 20 mm aviation guns, 1,103 25 mm air guns, 42 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, 1748 75 mm pneumatic guns, 17 90 mm Air Force guns, 105 mm guns, 5667 75 mm guns, 1188 105 mm guns, 760 155 mm guns, 449 155 mm GPF guns (fortress), 2043 155 mm howitzers, 476220-mm howitzers, 68 220-mm guns, 135 280-mm howitzers.
The naval forces of the French troops consisted of five old battleships (including 3 modernized ones), 25 cruisers (including 3 battleships and 7 heavy ones), 77 submarines, dozens of destroyers and many other types of units. The French Navy lacked anti-aircraft weapons, as well as equipment and tactics that would allow it to fight enemy submarines. During the war, the French navy suffered several serious losses (the destroyers Jaguar, Chacal, Orage and L'Androit were sunk). During the evacuation of Dunkirk, the French fleet suffered heavy losses. Many of their ships were sunk by the French themselves, and during naval clashes in the Mediterranean with Italy, the French fleet suffered losses. Great Britain took over a significant part of the French fleet (including in the ports of southern England, in Alexandria) or was sunk by them in order not to fall into the hands of the Germans or the Vichy government (although, for example, the attack on Dakar ended with the defeat of the British). After the Germans entered Vichy in 1942, some of the ships of the still strong French fleet stationed in Toulon either sank on their own or fled to England. Several French ships were restored by the Italians, repaired and later served the Italian Navy. The German fleet took over a small part of the French fleet. One submarine: La Favorite (UF2), as well as several escorts. https://drbet.org.uk/dr-slot.html
The victory over France, which is often forgotten, with the British expeditionary force sent to her aid, brought Germany huge successes in armament. France had a huge military potential, at least equal to Germany, and was additionally supported by the British. It should be added here that after the defeat in the war, a state body called Vichy emerged from France, which took over part of the existing armament of the French army.
At the beginning of the war with Germany, the French army numbered about 900,000 people and 5 million reservists. The number of weapons was 2 795 000 8- mm rifles, 35,000 7.5mm rifles, 200,000 old rifles, 48,700 heavy machine guns, 4,940 mortars, 4,558 25 mm armored guns, 1,120 47 mm armored guns, 357 20 mm aviation guns, 1,103 25 mm air guns, 42 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, 1748 75 mm pneumatic guns, 17 90 mm Air Force guns, 105 mm guns, 5667 75 mm guns, 1188 105 mm guns, 760 155 mm guns, 449 155 mm GPF guns (fortress), 2043 155 mm howitzers, 476220-mm howitzers, 68 220-mm guns, 135 280-mm howitzers.
The naval forces of the French troops consisted of five old battleships (including 3 modernized ones), 25 cruisers (including 3 battleships and 7 heavy ones), 77 submarines, dozens of destroyers and many other types of units. The French Navy lacked anti-aircraft weapons, as well as equipment and tactics that would allow it to fight enemy submarines. During the war, the French navy suffered several serious losses (the destroyers Jaguar, Chacal, Orage and L'Androit were sunk). During the evacuation of Dunkirk, the French fleet suffered heavy losses. Many of their ships were sunk by the French themselves, and during naval clashes in the Mediterranean with Italy, the French fleet suffered losses. Great Britain took over a significant part of the French fleet (including in the ports of southern England, in Alexandria) or was sunk by them in order not to fall into the hands of the Germans or the Vichy government (although, for example, the attack on Dakar ended with the defeat of the British). After the Germans entered Vichy in 1942, some of the ships of the still strong French fleet stationed in Toulon either sank on their own or fled to England. Several French ships were restored by the Italians, repaired and later served the Italian Navy. The German fleet took over a small part of the French fleet. One submarine: La Favorite (UF2), as well as several escorts. https://drbet.org.uk/dr-slot.html
