United States Army in World War II: Special Studies
Rearming the French
by Marcel Vigneras
1956
. . . To Those Who Served
Realization of French hopes. General Henri Giraud watches as the first convoy bearing war matériel for his forces approaches North Africa
Table of Contents
French Assistance to the A.E.F. in World War I – The American Decision To Rearm the French in World War II
Part One: The North African Forces
Chapter 1: Early Attempts to Formulate a Rearmament Program
Procedures – Initial Groping Toward a Policy – Setting Up the Joint Rearmament Committee – General Giraud Sends a Military Mission to Washington – Emergency Provision of Equipment – General Giraud Eyes the Larger Program – The Deadlock Over a Firm Plan
Franco-Anglo-American Conversations – President Roosevelt and General Giraud Negotiate an Agreement – Clarification of the Agreement
Chapter 3: Phase I of the Program (January–July 1943)
Phase I Is Launched – The CCS Agree on a Rearmament Formula – Implementing Phase I
Chapter 4: Early Organizational Problems
AFHQ Spells Out Rearmament Policies – Allied Assistance in Handling Materiel – The French Organize an Expeditionary Corps
Chapter 5: Phase II of the Program (July–August 1943)
Negotiations – Political Complications – Implementing Phase II – Fusion of the Giraud and de Gaulle Forces – Results of Phases I and II
Chapter 6: Phase III of the Program (Mid-August–November 1943)
The 15 August Plan – French Political Situation Threatens Program – Implementing Phase III
Chapter 7: The Program Marks Time (November 1943–February 1944): I
“La Bataille des Services” – The 1st DMI Incident – Cutback of the Program – The 23 January Plan
Chapter 8: The Program Marks Time (November 1943–February 1944): II
The French Reorganize Their Supply System – Supply and Maintenance of the Expeditionary Forces – Supply Situation – End of January 1944
Chapter 9: Phase IV of the Program (February–October 1944) I: Background and Objectives
Rearmament Operations Resume – Control Over the French Forces – Reorganization of the French High Command – Franco-American Relations – The 23 January Plan Becomes the Basis of Phase IV – Secondary Programs
Chapter 10: Phase IV of the Program (February–October 1944) II: Implementation
Equipping the Units on the ANVIL Troop List – Service Troops and the Lack of Technicians – Shortages of Equipment – SCAMA’s Role During Phase IV – Repossession of U.S. Equipment – Disposal of British Equipment
Chapter 11: The North African Forces in Action
Italy and Other Battlegrounds in the Mediterranean – France – Logistical Support of the French ANVIL Forces – The North African Rearmament Program Ends
Chapter 12: Rearming the French Air Force
Chapter 13: Rehabilitating the French Navy
Chapter 14: Liaison, Language, and Training Problems
Liaison and the Language Barrier – Training
Chapter 15: Controversy Over Substitute Weapons
Artillery – Tanks – Small Infantry Weapons
Chapter 16: Other Material Problems
Food – Clothing – Special Supplies – Miscellaneous Equipment – Accounting.
Chapter 17: Agencies Handling Rearmament
The joint Rearmament Committee – The Joint Air Commission – SCAMA and Stock Control Section – French Training Section
Part Two: The Metropolitan Forces
Chapter 18: Initial Assistance
Supply of the Resistance Forces – Employment of French Liberated Manpower
Chapter 19: Arming Liberated Manpower
Interim Organization and Equipping of Labor and Internal Security Units – The Liberated Manpower and Metropolitan Programs
Chapter 20: The Liberated Manpower And Metropolitan Programs In Operation
Implementing the Liberated Manpower Program – Implementing the Metropolitan Program – Revising the Metropolitan Program – Carrying Out the Revised Program
Chapter 21: The Rearmament Operations End
Suspension of the Metropolitan Program – Political Developments Doom Rearmament
Chapter 22: Re-Equipping the French Air Force and French Navy
The Air Force – The Navy
Chapter 23: Rearmament Division, SHAEF Mission to France
Membership, Organization, and Operation – Training Under Inspection Group
Chapter 24: French Plans for a Far East Expeditionary Corps
Map: Operations and Participating French Forces
Tables
Table 1. Equipment Furnished American Expeditionary Forces in World War I, by Type and Supplying Country: 6 April 1917–11 November 1918. .
Table 2. Equipment, by Type, Available to the North African Forces: 1 October 1942
Table 3. American- and British-Equipped Squadrons of the FAF: December 1943
Table 4. Quantities of Equipment Packaged by OSS in the United Kingdom and Airdropped into France: January–October 1944
Table 5. Major Items of Equipment Furnished by the United States to the French Forces
Charts
Chart 1. Organization of the French High Command in North Africa: 1 April 1943.
Chart 2. Position of JRC and Related Agencies Within the Allied Command Structure: 1 April 1944
Chart 3. Internal Organization of the Joint Rearmament Committee: 1 April 1944.
Chart 4. SCAMA: Internal Organization and Coordination With Other Agencies.
Chart 5. Position of Rearmament Division in SHAEF: 1 January 1945
Chart 6. The Rearmament Division, SHAEF Mission to France: March 1945
Illustrations
Realization of French Hopes – Victory Parade, Paris, 1918 – Lt. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower – General George C. Marshall – Meeting at Casablanca, 24 January 1943 – U.S. Vehicles for North African Forces – General Eisenhower Delivering an Address – Lt. Gen. Mark W. Clark Presenting Newly Arrived U.S. Equipment – Inspecting U.S. Equipment – Vehicle Assembly Line – Reviewing American Troops – Col. Ernest A. Suttles – General Alphonse Juin – Goumiers of the 9th Colonial Infantry Division – Goumiers of the 4th Group of Tabors – Spahis in North Africa – Conference in Algiers – Siena, Italy – 9th Colonial Infantry Division – Troops Entering Portoferraio, Elba – French 2nd Armored Division – Maj. Gen. Jacques Leclerc – Street Fighting in Marseille – Reviewing French Troops in Liberation Ceremony, Marseille – Victory Parade Through the Streets of Paris – P-40 Warhawks for the Lafayette Escadrille – Unloading P-38 Fighter Planes – French Submarine, Casablanca Harbor – Battleship Richelieu Passing Under Manhattan Bridge – Battleship Jean Bart at Casablanca – Firing a 105-mm. Howitzer – U.S. Instructor Demonstrating the Use of Signal Equipment – Maj. Gen. Alexander M. Patch – Tank Destroyer for the French – French Tank Crew With U.S. Light Tank M5 – 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division Men Unloading American Rations – French Wacs Assembling on the Beach – Members of the Joint Rearmament Committee – Brig. Gen. Harold F. Loomis – French Forces of the Interior – Insignia of 1st French Army and its Major Components – Battleship Strasbourg – Rearmament Division, SHAEF Mission to France
The illustrations are from the files of the Department of Defense except for those from the following sources:
Service Cinématographique des Armées, Frontispiece
National Archives, page 7.
Acme Photograph, page 216.
Center of Military History: United States Army
Washington, D.C.
United States Army in World War II
Kent Roberts Greenfield, General Editor
Advisory Committee (as of 30 June 1956)
Henry M. Wriston, Columbia University
Col. Joseph C. Stewart, Continental Army Command
Samuel Flagg Bemis, Yale University
Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Dunn, Army War College
Gordon A. Craig, Princeton University
Brig. Gen. William F. Train, Command and General Staff College
Elmer Ellis, University of Missouri
Maj. Gen. Robert P. Hollis, Industrial College of the Armed Forces
T. Harry Williams, Louisiana State University
Col. Thomas D. Stamps, United States Military Academy
Office of the Chief of Military History
Maj. Gen. John H. Stokes, Jr., Chief
Kent Roberts Greenfield, Chief Historian
Col. Ridgway P. Smith, Jr., Chief, War Histories Division
Lt. Col. E. E. Steck, Chief, Editorial and Publication Division
Joseph R. Friedman, Editor in Chief
Maj. James F. Holly, Chief, Cartographic Branch
Margaret E. Tackley, Chief, Photographic Branch