French Paras in 1940?

[iCaMpWiThAWP]

There's a formation in the french oob(06) called Cie Inf d l'Air(129) they are PARATROOPERS, but in the 1937/1940 period there's no transport aircraft avaiable, weird isnt it? my question is where are the air transports? did any existed during this period?

[DRG]

Interesting...... I don't think this subject has been brought up before though those paras have been there for quite awhile

I did find some info LINK (http://forums.filefront.com/fh2-suggestions/245930-add-french-transport-c-440-goeland.html)
On paper there were two companies of French paratroopers in 1940, but they were not at full strenght. They were nevertheless considered "ready for action", and their deployment was planned as part of the Allied entry in the Netherlands, but eventually they were not dropped. Their "standard" plane was the Potez 650.

and

They did see action as local commandos ("corps francs") during the phoney war, but did not do real combat paradrops in 1940. Paratroopers did not fit well in the general French defensive doctrine. If you have an invulnerable defensive line, why drop men ahead of it? And if you are fighting a delaying action in Belgium, what would be the point in dropping a couple hundred men behind the enemy lines? As a result, although they were created very early (1937), had plenty of training and had adequate equipment especially developped for them, there was no effort to turn them into an large, effective fighting force.

Eventually, many of these men did see action as paratroopers... in 1944, but then they were a Free French unit in the SAS.


It's been quite a while since these were put in and I'm betting transport was not provided simply becasue they fought on the ground only. The Icon for the aircraft is in the game however but only in Romanian markings and they were used by the Romanians as para transports

Don

[iCaMpWiThAWP]

their deployment was planned as part of the Allied entry in the Netherlands but eventually they were not dropped.
but what if? :D
Still not worth creating a Potez 650 with load capacity to drop them around with, and an [A] formation just for what if battles

[PanzerBob]

Form a British Para Force and have the French Paras join the party. Let us know how that works out.

Bob out:D

[cbo]

Interesting...... I don't think this subject has been brought up before though those paras have been there for quite awhile

It's been quite a while since these were put in and I'm betting transport was not provided simply becasue they fought on the ground only. The Icon for the aircraft is in the game however but only in Romanian markings and they were used by the Romanians as para transports

Don

There is some more here in one of David Lehmanns detailed articles:

http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=5999

Apprently they saw plenty of (ground-) action during the "Phoney War" but not much after May 1940.

Still, would be a nice "what-if" unit to have. :-)

They used both the Potez 652 and the Farmann 224:

http://www.aviafrance.com/image.php?im=982
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=982&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=1057&ANNEE=&ID_MISSION=&MOTCLEF=

http://www.aviafrance.com/image.php?im=1654
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1654&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=501&ANNEE=0&ID_MISSION=0&MOTCLEF=

cbo

[iCaMpWiThAWP]

Interesting...... I don't think this subject has been brought up before though those paras have been there for quite awhile

It's been quite a while since these were put in and I'm betting transport was not provided simply becasue they fought on the ground only. The Icon for the aircraft is in the game however but only in Romanian markings and they were used by the Romanians as para transports

Don

There is some more here in one of David Lehmanns detailed articles:

http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=5999

Apprently they saw plenty of (ground-) action during the "Phoney War" but not much after May 1940.

Still, would be a nice "what-if" unit to have. :-)

They used both the Potez 652 and the Farmann 224:

http://www.aviafrance.com/image.php?im=982
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=982&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=1057&ANNEE=&ID_MISSION=&MOTCLEF=

http://www.aviafrance.com/image.php?im=1654
http://www.aviafrance.com/aviafrance1.php?ID=1654&ID_CONSTRUCTEUR=501&ANNEE=0&ID_MISSION=0&MOTCLEF=

cbo
So, no air insertions were done during the war?during the phoney war(SITZKRIEG?) they were employed as infantry or commandos?
btw, i wouldnt enter a plane like this, i think walking is safer :D

[DRG]

So, no air insertions were done during the war?



No.



during the phoney war(SITZKRIEG?) they were employed as infantry or commandos?

No combat jumps at all

Don

[noxiousnic]

Apprently they saw plenty of (ground-) action during the "Phoney War" but not much after May 1940.

Funny (indeed) 'cause in French, that part of the war is known as "La drôle de guerre", which you guessed it, means the funny war :)

Phoney, funny ;)

[DRG]

What I'll probably do is add the transport into MISC for the next release ( no idea when that will be ATM ) and let people build their own para force if they so desire.

Don

[chuckfourth]

They may not have been dropped as planned because they hadnt completed enough jumping training prior to the German invasion to "Qualify"
It might be a compromise approach to give them the normal infantry drop injury rate.
Best Regards Chuck.

[Lt. Ketch]

They may not have been dropped as planned because they hadnt completed enough jumping training prior to the German invasion to "Qualify"
It might be a compromise approach to give them the normal infantry drop injury rate.
Best Regards Chuck.

Very true. However, it's possible that if someone was really determined, they probably would have been dropped. Whether they "qualify" or not is generally up to the person throwing them out, not the guy falling through the air. I'm getting this funny image of a bunch of paratroopers cursing a blue streak in French all the way to the ground because they were "qualified" to pull the rip cord. :lol To a ground pounder, what more training does a paratrooper need?

[iCaMpWiThAWP]

They may not have been dropped as planned because they hadnt completed enough jumping training prior to the German invasion to "Qualify"
It might be a compromise approach to give them the normal infantry drop injury rate.
Best Regards Chuck.

Very true. However, it's possible that if someone was really determined, they probably would have been dropped. Whether they "qualify" or not is generally up to the person throwing them out, not the guy falling through the air. I'm getting this funny image of a bunch of paratroopers cursing a blue streak in French all the way to the ground because they were "qualified" to pull the rip cord. :lol To a ground pounder, what more training does a paratrooper need?
A lot more, first, paratroopers were trained to act independently, so, if you and 5 men miss the drop zone a mile, your task will still be the same, you need to know what to do if you are alone in the dark, go ask the men that jumped in normandy in june '44 if they all were in the LZ at the scheduled time, you also have to know, what if you start spinning?would you know how to stop?i wouldn't, military parachuting is harder than normal as you ar full of combat gear do i need more reasons for training paras?

[Lt. Ketch]

A lot more, first, paratroopers were trained to act independently, so, if you and 5 men miss the drop zone a mile, your task will still be the same, you need to know what to do if you are alone in the dark, go ask the men that jumped in normandy in june '44 if they all were in the LZ at the scheduled time, you also have to know, what if you start spinning?would you know how to stop?i wouldn't, military parachuting is harder than normal as you ar full of combat gear do i need more reasons for training paras?

Oh, I know about the paras in Normandy. A great read is Ambrose's "D-Day" where he interviewed many of them. I was just going off of the fact that France had mainly a "ground pounder" army and so may not think of those kinds of things. Really, I was just hung up on the image of the cusing frenchman falling through the air.