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To: Eternal_Bear
Please do post the order of battle for the Tunisian campaign. I'd like to see it...
114 posted on 02/11/2003 1:49:32 PM PST by RoughDobermann
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To: RoughDobermann
At the end of Tunisian campaign, these were the divsional assets possessed by the French in North Africa:3rd Algerian, 7th Algerian, 8th Algerian, 9th Colonial, 10th Colonial,2nd Morrocan, 4th Moroccan, 2nd Armored, 1st African Armored, 5th African Armored, 1st Free French. The armored divsions were not fully formed though elements had participated in the earlier fighting. Some of the infantry was also being reequipped. There were also a large number of smaller units and militias. Most of these divisions were formed from the original 8 or so Vichy divisions.
117 posted on 02/11/2003 11:16:10 PM PST by Eternal_Bear
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To: RoughDobermann
Found a more relevant source of info: for actual fighting during the Tunisian campaign, The French employed 4 full divisions: The Tunisian which was destroyed early in the fighting, the Algiers, Morocco and the Oran divisions (using Vichy designations). The other divsions were garrsisoning and reforming. There was also an equivalent of an armored division (the armored brigade being the equivalent of a British brigade) plus other bits and pieces. We employed 4 or 5 divisions. However, the Vichy equipped divisions were only about as half as effective as a comparable American ones due to their ancient equipment.

I would say in closing that if we include all the French forces in North and Northwest Africa including militias, air force and navy in early 1943, we are looking at perhaps a half million men. True, the majority were colonials (Moslems btw) but there weren't too many French settlers to draw upon. This is far from a shameful performance.
118 posted on 02/12/2003 12:05:43 AM PST by Eternal_Bear
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