[烛光生存狂]-法国冲锋枪小史

THE SMGs IN THE FRENCH ARMY IN 1939-1940

End of 1918 the French troops face a new German automatic individual weapon. This weapon is the Bergmann MP 18-1 SMG (9x19mm, 32 cartridges, weight of 5.9 kg). Only 15 days after the armistice of WW1 the German SMG is tested intensively and the French army requests a SMG in the 1921 armament program. It should fire the 9x19mm ammunition at a rate of fire of 400-500 rpm, at a range of 200m, with an internal mechanism similar to the German SMG but it must be lightweight, only 3 to 4 kg. The future SMG should be simple and robust. It is intended for raids, trench warfare and close combat in general.

Before the official requests, the STA (Section Technique de l'Artillerie) begins in 1919 the development of a SMG. Various prototypes of the Pistolet Mitrailleur (PM) STA are built and tested between 1921 and 1925. Until 1924 this SMG is the single French candidate.

The Manufacture d'Arme de Saint-Etienne (MAS) develops the MAS 24 type 1 and type 1bis (9x19mm). The PM STA, the PM MAS 24 as well as the MP 18-2 and the Thompson 1921 SMGs are tested by the commission of Versailles. The MP 18-2 and the Thompson are judged too heavy and the French army wants a SMG firing the 9x19mm whereas the Thompson is chambered in .45 APC (11.43x23mm). The PM STA is compared to the MAS SMGs in February 1925. The STA SMG is judged excellent and 8,250 SMGs are ordered in August 1925. The PM STA Mle1924 is the first official French SMG.

The STA SMGs of the first production batches are equipped with a bipod and the iron sight is graduated up to 600m, the maximum range of the 9mm Parabellum projectile. This seems today a bit strange but the weapon was thought to be also possibly used as LMG. The bipod is abandoned after the first batches. The STA SMG is the first French SMG, it is modern for its time. The Beretta Mle1938 was born about 10 years after the PM STA Mle1924 and is very similar to this French SMG.

Nonetheless, after the adoption of the PM STA Mle1924 the manufacturing is hampered by imbroglios in the high spheres of decision. The SMG in surprisingly not seen anymore as an offensive weapon but rather as a personal defense weapon, a bit like today's PDW SMGs (Heckler & Koch MP5K and MP7, FN P90 etc.), replacing the pistols for the officers and the crews. The frontline soldiers have to use their cartridge (8x50Rmm at that time, later 7.5x54mm) at full range whereas the officers, telephonists, drivers, gunners, collective weapons crews, tank crews, fortification crews etc. can be armed with a SMG as emergency weapon. Therefore the SMG should be very compact and lightweight. The SMG is nonetheless still seen as a good weapon for trench warfare and raids but only for small groups of men (and therefore small quantities are required). This philosophy and the adoption of the 7.65x22mm (7.65mm Longue) cartridge for close defense (same calibre as for the SACM Mle1935A and the MAS Mle1935S pistols) according to this doctrine will lead the French army to miss the opportunity of having a large number of SMGs in 1940. From 1925 to 1928 only about 1,000 PM STA Mle1924 are produced. They saw action before WW2 in Morocco during the Rif war. The 7.65x22mm SMGs are used as personal defense weapons whereas the 9x19mm SMGs are used for raids.

The adoption of the FM Mle1924 (later FM Mle1924/29) LMG will also slow down the development of the French SMGs during the 1920's and 1930's. All the credits are used for the replacement of the FM Mle1915 Chauchat as squad LMG. The LMG is seen as sufficient as automatic weapon. The officers and crews can be armed with carbines (mousqueton Berthier Mle1892 M16) and/or pistols/revolvers. There don't seem to be an urgent need for SMGs. The production of SMGs is always postponed because of financial issues.

The MAS (Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne) will propose various SMGs in 9x19mm and 7.65x22mm from 1924 to 1935, all based on the former MAS 24, leading finally to the MAS Mle1935. In 1936 different SMGs are proposed to the French army :

•PM MAS Mle1935 (7.65x22mm)

•PM CEV (Commission d'Expériences de Versailles) (7.65x22mm)

•PM CEI (Commission d'Expérience de l'Infanterie) (7.65x22mm)

•PM ETVS (Etablissement Technique de Versailles) (7.65x22mm)

•PM Thompson Mle1921 (11.43x23mm)

•PM Bergmann 18-2 (9x19mm)

Finally improvements are asked for all the SMGs e.g. foldable stock and foldable magazine (like on the later and famous MAT Mle1949 SMG). Of course the foreign SMGs are still too heavy for the French requirements.

An other manufacturer enters in the game : the SACM (Société Alsacienne de Construction Mécanique) with Charles Petter, one of its very good engineers. This society produces already the Mle1935 A pistol. In 1935 the SACM proposes a new SMG but it is tested only in 1937. The "Petter" SMG is finally accepted as the PM Mle1939. It should enter in service after the mobilisation as the second official SMG of the French army and should be tested among the troops like the PM ETVS and the PM MAS 35. Nonetheless the order of 3,000 SMGs is rejected by the SACM, the manufacturer is indeed already too busy producing the Mle1935 A pistol, barrels for the Hotchkiss Mle1914 MG as well as barrels for the Lebel Mle1886/93 and MAS Mle1936 rifles. Only 50 PM "Petter" will be delivered to the French army.

Beside the need of a small and lightweight SMG for personal defense, the interest for a SMG in 9x19mm for raids and trench warfare has not disappeared. From 1935 to 1940 the contacts with Bergmann and Thompson are maintained but things are always delayed.

A new source is found when many Spanish republican troops seek refuge in France. They are disarmed at the border and many weapons are seized and stocked. The French can then test Russian tanks, Russian MGs (some will be used in AA defense), Oerlikon AA guns (later officially adopted and ordered as 20mm CA Mle1939) and various small arms including SMGs (Erma-Vollmer MP, MP 28, MP 34 or their Spanish copies in 9mm Largo). The biggest number of seized SMGs is constituted by 3,250 EMP but with only 1,540 magazines.

The French army has also 300 Suomi M/31 SMGs and 150 of them are directed to the north-eastern front during the 1939-1940 winter. In 1938 3,000 Thompson Mle1921 (and 30,000,000 .45ACP cartridges) are ordered to the USA and they are all delivered by end 1939. They are nonetheless judged too heavy, bulky and too expensive. Just before WW2 1,000 MP28-2 SMGs are ordered for the French police and it seems that not all of these weapons were delivered before the war. The French army studies the possibility of ordering Bergmann SMGs but this is cancelled due to the nationality of the manufacturer.

On 3rd September 1939, French enters WW2. During the "Phoney War" most of the combats consists in patrols, raids and fore posts skirmishes which would especially require SMGs. After several weeks the requests for SMGs accumulate on the desks of the High Command. Every SMG is then put into service : the old MP 18-1 seized in 1918, several MP 18-2, the ex-Spanish Erma MP, all the others available SMGs in 9x19mm and several dozen Spanish copies of German SMGs chambered in 9mm Largo. The Erma MP becomes the typical SMG used by the "groupes francs" but from the 3,250 seized SMGs only about 1,000 are used due to lack of magazines. The French SMGs in 7.62x22mm are also sometimes used but they are more frequent as personal defense weapons. Typical infantry or cavalry units are also sometimes equipped with SMGs but generally only 1 or 2 per whole platoon.

The corps franc is a special infiltration and deep reconnaissance unit. It is the equivalent of the German Stosstruppen. Concerning WW2, these corps francs were created in September 19

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