And the Allies never had it during the war? Would the Axis have won. I hear it’s very important.
French divisions mobilized in 1939
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There’s a little “dilemma” that I’ve had for a while:
In the book If the Allies Had Fallen: Sixty Alternate Scenarios of World War 2, in chapter 2 scenario C (scenario was “What if the French launched an all-out attack to help the Poles?”), written by John K Munholland (who died 4 years ago), it is stated that on September 10 the French mobilized 110 divisions of all types. Because it was talking about an offensive against Germany in 1939 and noted some divisions would be required to garrison Africa and the border with Italy, it is safe to assume that it includes forces in these areas. 85 divisions were said to be on the German border, or capable of moving there.
Now here’s the thing. Wikipedia has a list of French divisions in World War 2, listing the mobilization dates of each unit. By counting, I turned up only 70-80 divisions. I bought George F Nafziger’s book French Army Order of Battle 1939-1945 to try to clarify, and I turned up a similar number (71 by September 5, and probably only 5-10 more over the next 5 days).
A 30-40 division gap is definitely odd and quite huge, and I haven’t found a solution in the 1-2 years since I first discovered this.
Do you know anyone or any sources that would help clarify this confusion? Thank you!New developments:
- I found testimony from Alfred Jodl mentioning “110 British and French divisions” facing the Germans. They were talking about the same time period. It’s exactly the same, but it’s something to consider.
- I found a citation for the book “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”, mentioning a higher number, but I couldn’t find the number in the book (I’m sure it’s the same one).
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@SuperbattleshipYamato I really doubt that the Frencj could field 100 Divisions in 1939.
I would accept the lower figure of 71 as correct.
That said , they really should have pushed into Western Germany, whilst the majority of Germany’s forces were in the East.
Counting and researching Divisions: Great way to spend your free time! -
Thank you so much! I appreciate your input.
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