Armoured Car Squadron and Portee troop, 1 Marocco Spahis

[BattlewagonBruce]

I have been researching this unit and have a few leads. Does anyone out there have any photos or reference for which armoured cars they used?

I suspect they may have used Panhards, but perhaps British provided vehilces.

I have found pics of a Dodge truck converted to a 75mm portee and a Morris version too.

thanks in advance

Bruce

[aircav]

Oh how disappointed am I!!
I saw the Battlewagonbruce name & thought hmm.... armoured car squadron, portee troop & spahis & thought, oh yes, going to be some nice eye candy here, but know only questions  

Sorry can't help wi the inquiry

[Poiter50]

Now I'm waiting for Lou Passejaire to chime in.

Hope I got his name correct.

Oh how disappointed am I!!
I saw the Battlewagonbruce name & thought hmm.... armoured car squadron, portee troop & spahis & thought, oh yes, going to be some nice eye candy here, but know only questions  

Sorry can't help wi the inquiry

[lou passejaire]

yep ...

here i am ...

in bolt action terms :

Morrocan Spahis
platoon armored cars ( veteran, Recce, 7+ damage value) 403 pts
3 Marmon Herrington Mk III

1 with turret mounted 20mm solothurn, coaxial MMG, pintel LMG 111 pts
upgrade to Turretless Marmon Herrington: Panzerbuchse 41, pintel LMG; Recce, Open-topped, 7+ damage value for -1 pt
upgrade to Daimler Mk 1 ( veteran, turret-mounted 2-pdr light anti-tank gun with co-axial MMG, 7+ damage value )
command vehicle 025 pts
Armoured Company Commander +2 (2 Radio Networks) 015 pts
1 with turret mounted french 25mm AT gun, coaxial MMG, pintel LMG 141 pts
1 with turret mounted Boys AT rifle, , coaxial MMG, pintel LMG 111 pts


Conus Gun platoon ( veteran, open topped ,light howitzer, 7+ damage value )
Marmon Herrington Mk III  with turret mounted Boys AT rifle, , coaxial MMG, pintel LMG 111 pts
command vehicle 025 pts
3 Ford or Morris 30cwt with 75mm gun, pintel LMG 138pts


and don't forget their sister company :
Free French Tank Company
platoon Crusaders ( veteran Turret-Mk2 :mounted light anti-tank gun; Mk3 mounted medium anti-tank gun; Co-axial MMG, 8+ damage value )499 pts
1 Crusader Mk 3 174
Command Vehicle 025
Armoured Platoon Commander +1 (1 Radio Networks) 005
upgrade to Sherman 1 ( veteran , turret-mounted medium anti-tank gun with co-axial MMG and forward-facing hull-mounted MMG , 9+ damage value ) for +48pts
1 Crusader Mk 2 150
1 Crusader Mk 2 150

Prior to the Marmon Herrington ( around the Bir Hakeim Battle ) :
1940 to 1941 ( after Exporter ) : all cavalry unit
1941 to 1942 partly french Dodge Tanake ( syrian built armored car ) partly motorized infantry

this truck belong to the command platoon of the Free French Tank Company
Pack 38 on a Ford F60 ...



it's difficult to understand the free french ...  

an other question ?  

[lou passejaire]

to add :

On the 30 of june 1940, Captain Jourdier and his Escadron de Spahis Marocains escaped from Syria to join the British troops in Palestine . They were not part of the Dakar and Gabon Campaign . In the early stages of the Erythrean campaign, The Spahi squadron became the reconnaissance element of the British forces . For Operation Exporter ( attack on Vichy Lebanon Syria ) the Escadron de Spahis Marocains was a mixed force mostly still cavalry but with a motorized platoon ( with Morris CS8 ) .
After the fall of Vichy Lebanon Syria, it became a motorized squadron with a platoon of dodge Tanake armoured cars ( a dodge truck, armoured, with a 37mm gun, coaxial MG, pintle mounted LMG, who can carry a half combat team of 6, captured from the Vichy forces ) they were part of the Scot columns before the final fight in Bir Hakeim .
In August 1942, they became an armoured car regiment , with Marmon Herrington Mk3. Due to the poor fighting ability of the marmon herrington, a lot of the armoured cars were fitted with french 25mm AT guns, and a lot of the platoon leaders Marmon with solothurn AT rifle, or german / italian guns . and a squadron of 75mm Autocanon , the conus guns, was added to the unit .
With the Crusader Mk2 of the 1st Compagnie de chars de la France Libre, they became the "fighting french flying column" .
They latter became part of Leclerc Force L , during the last stages of the tunisian campaign .
they became part of Leclerc 2nd armoured division in France .

The main problem is that there are few internet ressources , mostly in french, and mostly with errors in the tags of the pictures ...
There are 2 good books, in French, mostly written by Colonel Thierry Moné :
Les burnous bleu sur les chemins du devoir,  les Spahis du 1er Marocains de 1939 à 1947, Colonel Thierry Moné, Ed.  Association La Gandoura , 2007, 205 pages
Spahis contre Rommel, Spahis du 1er Marocains de la France Libre et de la France Combattante 1940-1943, Colonel Thierry Monè, Ed. par l’auteur, 2009, 28 pages + 12 tirés  à part  ( a beautiful book with watercolours drawing and original pics )
i'm afraid they are out of print  

more pics ?




and the dodge tanake ...

[Poiter50]

I so wish some of the 28mm companies would issue these. 

[lou passejaire]

there is a Marmon Herrington noted as TBA on the Die Waffenkamer website but it was TBA in 2013 ...
there is a dodge tanake planned by Die Waffenkamer ...

there is a Marmon Herrington planned in 2015 by Blitzkrieg .

I think that the Blitzkrieg one will be realesed first . May be with the next batch of Western desert models from the Perry brothers ... before summer ...

[BattlewagonBruce]

Guys

Thanks so much - amazing detail and information.

I am doing a lot of FFL and Arab Legion in 1:72 at present.

As requested here are some pics:





Some heavy support for the FFL and some Arab Legion troops.

[lou passejaire]

some mistakes on your nice figures ...

the bofors will be manned by fusiliers marins with sailor caps


the 25pdr will be manned by artillery men and not by foreign legion guys ...
the marmon herrington Mk2  was not used by the free french 

nice minis 

[BattlewagonBruce]

yes I know. The client wanted them in the Kepi blanch.

Is that a Bedford truck towing the Bofors in your great photograph?

thanks for the comments - very helpful

[lou passejaire]

Not sure of the bedford tow ...

quite sure it's a canadian Ford 3 tonners

[Poiter50]

Agree on it being a Ford. One of the ones supplied before they came up the the CKD idea.

Not sure of the bedford tow ...

quite sure it's a canadian Ford 3 tonners

[Etranger]

Is that a Bedford truck towing the Bofors in your great photograph?
....

The Bedford (or Ford, hard to tell) is actually behind the Bofors gun if you look closely, rather than being attached.

great thread with some great ideas BTW. 

[lou passejaire]

a lot of canadian Ford and Chevrolet trucks were used by the Free French ...
they were always short of transport .
and this is a Canadian Ford fitted with a french quad 13,2 AA MG manned by the same unit

And it's not different for the troops acting from tchad ... 4 Laffly S15TOE armoured cars, some chevrolet 15CWT and 30CWT, some civilian Matford trucks , and some laffly who did not like sand and heat ...

i'm glad that more free french figures will come before summer ...

and there are a lot of unusual vehicles created/used by the Free French, from Conus Gun to 25mmAT carrier etc ...