> Chris_Balsz wrote:

> no read fall of the Third Republic by Shirer.  The frogs had the men and the guns but their generals were pissing their pants at the thought of another Great War.  They were glad to insist the tactical situation required a French armistice.

Kraut armor in 1940 was pretty poor, the Pzk I had only machine guns, they had some Czech tanks that beefed up their arms, BUT the Krauts coordinated by radio and the french didn't. German infantry and armor could phone for air and arty support and French units could not.  Plus the French had their armor running around and didn't allow air units to operate independently of infantry divisions, and the orders weren't forthcoming.  They actually had more aircraft at the end of May 1940 than when the Germans started the mass attack.

Except for the fact that SS Panzer troops and their officers made the French conscripts (emphasis here) and their own officers look like a bunch of lost boy scouts.