M P Robinson - The AMX 13 Light Tank

IMAGES OF WAR

THE AMX 13 LIGHT TANK

IMAGES OF WAR

RARE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM WARTIME ARCHIVES

M P ROBINSON, PETER LAU AND GUY GIBEAU

First published in Great Britain in 2018 by

PEN & SWORD MILITARY

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

47 Church Street, Barnsley,

South Yorkshire.

S70 2AS

Copyright M P Robinson, Peter Lau and Guy Gibeau 2018

ISBN 978-1-52670-167-1

eISBN 978-1-5267-0169-5

Mobi ISBN 978-1-5267-0168-8

The right of M P Robinson, Peter Lau and Guy Gibeau to be identified as Authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available

from the British Library.

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This is the first single volume history of the AMX13 written in English. Our objective was to prepare a comprehensive survey of a weapon that has served 25 armies in one form or another for nearly 70 years. Our focus on the production versions of the AMX13 was decided early on to keep this project to a manageable size. Further study of the many experimental versions of the AMX13 will hopefully be pursued in future. This project bore fruit thanks to our many helpers. Thierry Guillemain, Jerome Hadacek, Steve Zaloga, Simon Dunstan, Pierre Delattre, Marcel Toulon, Philippe Besson, Jakko Westerbekke, Massimo Fotti, Christoph Zimmerli, Lionel Gonnet, Alain Dpr, Daniel Hecket, Denis Verdier, Jean Ancher, Juan Gillard, Michel Huhardeaux, Dante Cesar and the many other contributors are listed in our photo credits. We thank them all for their kindness.

Many soldiers contributed to this book. Colonel Thomas Seignon, Major Bernard Canonne, Coronel Carlos Antonio Arroyo Alonso, Colonel Olivier Carneau, Master Sergeant Luis Pitarch Carrion, General Jorge Andrade Piedra, Major-General Sir Laurence New, the late Commandant Noel Legros, and Lieutenant-Colonel Dick Taylor amongst many others stand out for the large contributions they made in the researching of this work. We also thank Colonel Marc Clerc, commanding officer of the Groupement Blind de la Gendarmerie Mobile for his kind help in documenting the GBGMs use of the AMX13. This book was researched from published sources as diverse as the AMX13s order book, in many languages. These sources are listed in the notes section, and many were skillfully identified by Peter Lau with his exceptional attention to detail. Of these, Pierre Touzins writings and those of the armaments engineers of the DGAs COMHART series were notably useful. Writing with Peter and with Guy was wonderful and I thank them both for their thoroughness and their skillful research. As many will know, Guy left us before our book saw print, and I take this occasion to pay him homage.

Lieutenant-Colonel Guy Gibeau wrote a great deal of this book and it was his fond wish to see it completed. Guy was born the son of a tanker who served in Indochina, Algeria, France and West Germany. Guy grew up on bases around tanks, and he saw his path in life from a young age. Guy began his national service at Nancy with the 26e Rgiment dInfanterie just prior to his 20th birthday. He underwent his junior officers training during the summer of 1973, and was posted to the 19e Groupement de Chasseurs Mcanise (finishing his national service in March 1974 as an aspirant). The day his national service ended Guy volunteered as a regular officer.

In August 1977 Guy was promoted to lieutenant in the regular army and began his specialization training for the mechanized infantry. He served as an AMX13 platoon commander and as an AMX13 SS11 platoon commander in the 8e Groupement de Chasseurs Mcanise at Wittlich from September 1978 until July 1982. He was promoted to capitaine in August 1982 and moved to the 150e Rgiment dInfanterie at Verdun as an AMX13 squadron commander. In late 1985 his 2e escadron converted to the AMX30. Guy went on to become the regimental gunnery officer, then the regimental NBC officer and finally the operations officer tasked with maneuver and mobilization planning. After the Cold War ended Guy served at the STAT (Section Technique de lArme de Terre) detachment at Bourges until July 1993 in command of the infantry weapons test section. Guy was promoted during this period to Commandant. Subsequent assignment back to the 19e Groupement de Chasseurs from August 1993 to July 1996 was followed by staff postings in Germany and France. Guys promotion to lieutenant-colonel in April 1997 was followed by 13 years of service in the administration of the Rgion Terre Nord-Ouest military district. Guy and his wife Brigitte had 5 children, and that family was Guys pride and joy. As we finished this book Guy succumbed after a seven-year battle. Guys knowledge of the AMX13s long service in the French Army, and of the regiments it served in are evident throughout this book. For Peter and I, it was an honour to have written AMX13 with Guy; to have known him, and above all to have been his friend. He is sorely missed, and we dedicate this book to him.

The AMX13s origins lie in the aftermath of the Second World War. This diminutive tank was designed against the backdrop of French ambitions of national resurgence and entered production in a period when France was dependent on American aid. Commonly described as a light tank, the AMX13 was designed as a turreted tank destroyer. Its design was an ambitious step beyond contemporary practice and away from dependence on American technology. The AMX13 programme concentrated a large industrial group under national direction. It was quickly marketed towards export customers within and outside NATO, and it became the base for a vast list of variants nearly all of which still serve today.

France finished the war completely dependent on the goodwill of the United States for its military matriel. The Free French Army armoured force was equipped along American lines in 194445, and it fought the Western European campaign organised into US style armoured divisions. American aid under the Marshall Plan and the Mutual Defense Assistance Act (MDAA) financed the reconstruction of Frances strategic industries between 1948 and the late 1950s. Against the backdrop of rebellion in the French colonies the Americans agreed in 1948 to help rebuild the French economy and armed forces. A significant caveat existed in that agreement that American supplied goods and weapons could not be used to fight the Vietminh in Indochina. On 4 April 1949 the North Atlantic Treaty was signed; NATO was created and the U.S. Congress extended the MDAA as part of the larger aim of rebuilding Western European allies to contain communism. The revised American position was timely as France could no longer afford the war against the Vietminh. American aid included the transfer of manufacturing technology and equipment allowing the French defence industry to implement modern efficient manufacturing methods. Lastly the MDAA incorporated the system of offshore orders enabling American funds to be spent procuring weapons sourced from allied nations. Export markets for both the British and French defence sectors were created allowing countries friendly to America to purchase modern weapons such as the Centurion and the AMX13. The French Army in Indochina became dependent on America for military supplies until its eventual defeat. Thus America enabled France to rebuild its postwar army and continue trying to hold its colonies until the early 1960s.