Char B1 (n° 226) “Toulouse”: Abandoned in Origny-Sainte-Benoite

     Built by Renault, Char B1 No.226 was delivered to the 510th. RCC (Régiment de Chars de Combat) early in 1938 where the unit was stationed in Nancy, France. In September 1939, the tank was transferred to the 15th. BCC (Bataillon de Chars de Combat) but by April 18, 1940, the tank was assigned to 1st. Compagnie, 8th. BCC. The tank, named “Toulouse”, was commanded by Lieutenant Jean Renevey and had a driver by the name of Sergent Lavaux. Who the remaining three crew members were remains unknown.

     The 8th. BCC was within the area of operations of the French 9th. Army commanded by Général d'Armée André Corap. It was Corap's troops that faced Heeresgruppe A (Army Group A) which was under the command of Generaloberst Gerd von Rundstedt. Included in this force was the 7th. Panzer Division led by Generalmajor Erwin Rommel. It was the task of Heeresgruppe A to break through the Ardennes into France and while Belgian and French forces were able to cause minor delays, they did not have the anti-tank capacity nor the available manpower to stem the flow of German forces. It was the poor roads in the region which was the main cause of German delays and the Armée de l'Air Française (French Air Force) failed to take advantage of bombing the long German traffic lines that were more or less at a standstill. As an example, Panzergruppe Kleist (the original name of 1. Panzerarmee) had over 40,000 vehicles jammed into four passable routes through the Ardennes. By May 12, 1940, elements of Heeresgruppe A reached the Meuse Line which was a series of French forts and emplacements some 31 miles long. The next day, Panzergruppe Kleist launched attacks to establish three bridgeheads through the Meuse Line in what became the Battle of Sedan. The Germans focused their airpower against a narrow portion of the Line and the Luftwaffe flew 3,940 bomber and dive-bomber sorties against the French in a non-stop, eight hour bombing. Although there was some French resistance, it crumbled underneath the relentless aerial bombardment and by midnight, the Germans were five miles behind the Meuse Line. The combat in and around Sedan was intense but by May 15, 1940, the Germans had succeeded in pushing through, cutting off Corap's 9th. Army along its southern flank and in short order, the isolated French forces collapsed and surrendered.

     The photograph depicts “Toulouse“ along Rue Pasteur in Origny-Sainte-Benoite. What exactly happened to it is not known but most likely, the tank either had mechanical problems or ran out of petrol on May 16, 1940. Interestingly, “Toulouse“ was photographed many times by German troops and one such photograph shows the tank with no damage at all with a German soldier standing beside it holding a shell for the hull mounted 75mm ABS SA 35 howitzer. Later photographs show the tank in the condition seen here and from this, it can be surmised that the tank was struck by a German tank gun whose crew was unaware the tank had already been abandoned. That the shot was was through the rear of “Toulouse“ lends some credence to this as the Char B1 was difficult to knock out from the front and when able, German tank crews tried to get side or rear shots into the B1. The damage does show the Char B1's 6-cylinder, 16.5 litre inline Renault engine and six gear transmission (5 forward gears and 1 reverse gear). The hit set the tank on fire and secondary explosions caused further damage to the tank, including lifting the turret up and off its turret ring. At some point, the wreckage around the tank had been cleaned up and the tank's tracks coiled up next to the hull. It can be presumed that “Toulouse“ was eventually scrapped.

     As a note, the town of Origny-Sainte-Benoite has a war memorial commemorating French troops who had come from the town that fought and died during the First World War as well as World War Two. It is located off E44 on a plaza bordered by Place Jean Mermoz.

Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf E: Shot to Pieces in France

A PzKpfw III Ausf E belonging to the 8th. Panzer Brigade, 5th. Panzer Division riddled with hits from French anti-tank fire during the Battle of France.

     The Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf E (Sd Kfz 141) was a significant enhancement of the medium tank. A redesign of the suspension allowed the tank to carry nearly double the armor protection of the earlier PzKpfw III makes. Another added feature, relevant to crew survival, was the inclusion of escape hatches on both sides of the hull. The Maybach HL120TR engine replaced the earlier HL108TR model and it was paired to a new gearbox which, unfortunately for the need for swift production of the tank, was a cause of delays on the assembly lines. For armament, the tank carried the 37mm KwK L/46.5 gun with two co-axial 7.92mm MG 34 machine-guns along with a hull mounted MG 34. In all, the tank held 131 rounds of ammunition for the gun and 4,500 rounds of ammunition to feed the machine-guns. For frontal protection, the turret had 30mm of armor at a 15 degree slope, the superstructure had 30mm at a 9 degree slope, and the hull 30mm at a 21 degree slope. The gun mantlet also had 30mm of armor. The sides of the tank had 30mm of armor though outside of the turret, it was at a 0 degree slope which meant it was less effective. The remainder of the tank had between 21mm of armor to as little as 12mm location depending.

     This level of protection for the five man crew, unfortunately, was not shell proof and in fact, it was vulnerable to a number of French anti-tank weapons when German panzer units took the PzKpfw III Ausf E into battle. The Canon de 25mm Semi-Automatique Modèle 1934 was both a towed anti-tank gun as well as one which equipped one of the more numerous French armored cars, the Panhard 178. The gun was able to penetrate 20mm at a 60 degree slope out to 1,000 meters and 29mm at the same degree of slope at 500 meters. Thus, even at the longest range, the Canon de 25 was a threat to the PzKpfw III. Another weapon the Germans had to contend with was the 47mm SA35 tank gun used in the SOMUA 35 cavalry tank and the Char B1 heavy tank and this gun was capable of piercing up to 60mm of armor at a range of 550 meters. Finally, yet another weapon commonly encountered was the Hotchkiss Mitrailleuse de 13.2mm CA Modèle 1930 mounted on some French light tanks and armored vehicles which, when using armor-piercing ammunition, could penetrate 18mm of armor at 500 meters and between 21mm to 26mm at shorter ranges. The vulnerability of the PzKpfw III Ausf E is vividly illustrated by this photograph which was taken sometime during the Battle of France which was fought from May 10, 1940 to June 25, 1940.

     The tank belonged to the 8. Panzer-Brigade which was part of the 5. Panzer-Division. This can be told by the division insignia that consisted of an upside down “Y” with single dot next to it that is on the side of the hull, next to the Balkenkreuz. There are over a dozen hits by at least two different calibers which have struck the front of the tank. The impacts on the turret cracked the cupola's optic ring, knocked the gun's armored sleeve off, and destroyed part of the gun mantlet. Perhaps the more damaging hits are near the driver's station where three penetrations hit with enough force to crack the superstructure. Not visible in the photograph are three hits to the front hull, one of which appeared to have penetrated. Sitting on the fender is 75 round saddle magazine for the MG 34 and the black object on the tank above the driver's position is the crash helmet portion of a schutzmütze, as worn by panzer crewman. The black wool beret that would have covered it is missing. Despite the damage, another photograph of this same tank was taken elsewhere that showed the tank had been recovered and taken to a field repair location. Whether or not it was being repaired or simply stripped of parts to keep other tanks going cannot be told for certain. Likewise, it is unknown if any of the crew had been killed following the tank being knocked out.

The Canon de 75 Modèle 1897: World's First Modern Artillery Piece

(Author's Collection)

     The French Canon de 75 Modèle 1897, better known simply as the “75”, is considered to be the first modern artillery piece and a testament to its design can be seen in its use by over a dozen nations, deployment in multiple conflicts spanning the years, and that the “75” set the pattern for artillery which came after it. The key reason for the success of the “75” was its hydro-pneumatic recoil mechanism. By using cylinders with compressed air and hydraulic oil, the recoil force of the gun barrel is taken up by the cylinders. The effect of this is that the carriage of the gun barely moves, if at all. Guns without such a recoil mechanism had to be repositioned and relayed onto target after every shot as the recoil forces acted on the gun carriage, moving it out of position. With the “75”, a high rate of fire could be achieved as the gun crew did not have to put the cannon back into position. An adequately trained “75” crew could put 15 rounds per minute down range while a highly experienced crew could double that rate.

     In this photograph, an American gun crew is training with the “75” which in U.S. nomenclature was the 75mm Gun M1897. That they are training is evidenced by their wearing the campaign hats rather than helmets and that the firing position is completely exposed which would not be the case if at the front. We see the barrel in full recoil and the advantage of the carriage not moving is clearly evident by two of the crew being right behind the gun shield. The U.S. would license build the “75” though those artillery units in World War One were mostly equipped with French built “75” guns. The design would continue in use by the U.S. Army, being modernized in the 1930s with a new carriage, improved range of motion, and improved ammunition. French built guns updated were designated as the M1897A2 and A3 models while U.S. built guns were designated M1897A4 guns. When replaced in service in 1941 by the M101 105mm howitzer, the “75” was used as an anti-tank gun on M3 GMC (Gun Motor Carriage) tank destroyers and these vehicles would see action throughout the war in all combat theaters.

The Messerschmitt Me 163B-1a: A Captured Komet

     The Messerschmitt Me 163 “Komet” was the world’s first operational rocket fighter, entering combat for the first time with the test unit Erprobungskommando 16 on May 13, 1944. Because of the highly limited endurance (7.5 minutes of powered flight), the Me 163 was deployed as a point defense fighter, flying from bases close to known Allied bomber flight paths. The high speed while under power meant interception of the Me 163 was difficult at best. The combat service of the Me 163, taken as a whole, was underwhelming. When Me 163 bases were discovered, bombers would simply fly around them, out of range of the Komet. The high speed, while giving defending escorts fits, meant the Me 163 pilot had mere seconds to line up a bomber, fire, and bank away to avoid collision. Only the most skilled pilots could achieve hits. Finally, once the fuel was used up, the Me 163 was no more than a glider and so the Allied fighters would attack Komet bases before the Me 163s could sortie or would simply wait until the Me 163s expended their fuel and would “bounce” them as they glided back to their base.

     This particular Komet, a Me 163B-1a (the type most deployed in combat), belonged to II.Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 400 (JG 400) [II/JG 400]. It carried the Werk Nummer (Work Number) 191301 and was captured by the U.S. and given the Foreign Equipment (FE) number 500 (FE-500). The plane was sent to Freeman Field in the U.S. and while there, was refurbished to make it ready for flight testing. On April 12, 1946, FE-500 was air freighted in a Fairchild C-82 Packet to Muroc, CA (now Edwards Air Force Base). Once there, the FE number was replaced with a “T-2” number after the Technical Data Laboratory (which evaluated Axis aircraft) became part of the T-2 Intelligence section. Starting on May 3, 1946, T-2-500 underwent numerous unpowered gliding flights, being towed into the air by a Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Nearly all of the flights were carried out by Gustav E. Lundquist (seen here in the cockpit). T-2-500, although the highly reactive fuels T-Stoff and C-Stoff were available, did not fly under power as it was discovered that the laminate on the wooden wings was failing and so T-2-500 was put into storage, ending up in Silver Hill in 1954. 

     The aircraft was put on public display in unrestored condition but in 1996, the aircraft was lent to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum who restored the Komet. In 2011, it was returned to the Smithsonian and is currently on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia.