Synopses & Reviews
The French Army of 1939 was considered by contemporaries to be the strongest army in the world at that time. In fact, as the events of the next ten months soon revealed, the Army was riddled with fatal weaknesses. In this book, the first of two volumes examining the French Army of World War II (1939-1945), Ian Sumner and François Vauvillier examine the organisation, uniforms and equipment of the army of 1939-40 and Vichy France. It includes orders of battle and formation charts as well as many illustration and colour uniform artworks.
Synopsis
The first in two-volume set, this book examines the uniforms equipment, and organization of France's military forces during World War II. In 1939 the French had -- on paper at least -- the most powerful land army in the world. This volume covers that army on the eve of the war, through the "Phony War", the lightning invasion of May-June 1940, and the campaigns in Norway, North Africa, the Middle East, and Indochina.
About the Author
Ian Sumner was born in 1953 in Eccles, near Manchester, UK. He originally trained as a librarian in Newcastle-upon-Tyne but now devotes himself to full-time writing. He has written numerous titles for Osprey, and also several books on the history of the East Riding of Yorkshire, where he now lives with his wife. Francois Vauvillier is the greatly respected editorial director of the French Military publishers Histoire and Collections is the former editor of Gazette des Uniformes and of Militaria magazine. His special personal interests include French uniforms of both World War I and World War II.