"French 1940 Artillery Observers" Topic

Hi

Just wondered if anybody knows whether French artillery observers had radio's or if they only had telephone landlines during the battle of France in 1940?

Grateful for any help.

Cheers Paul

There were radios, but doctrine was essentially not to use them because of the likelihood of enemy interception. I'd have to dig out the articles, but I seem to remember that they were pretty bulky and the batteries weren't all that long-lasting. No running around the battlefield with them.

Another factor was that procedures didn't emphasize rapid setup of OP, or rapid movement, or rapid setup of artillery units. Careful surveying was much more important, so that fire could be called onto enemy positions with great accuracy.

Of course, the reliance on the low-trajectory 75mm gun was a serious, serious problem. French attacks on dug-in German units on hilltops failed because the 75mm was unable to hit with any accuracy at all.

I thought I had a reference, but it fizzled.

But I did find this photo:
link

Hi

Thanks for the help and in particular the very useful photo.

Cheers Paul