AMR 33 - Operational History

Operational History

The 115 vehicles available in 1934 were first assigned to the five cavalry divisions, a squadron of fifteen (three platoons of four, two reserve tanks and a command tank) for the GAM (Groupe d'Automitrailleuses) of each, except 5e DC which got ten and 4e DC which, all with priority from the first production batch, received forty: a squadron for its 4e GAM and its 18e Dragons and another ten for its 4e BDP (Bataillon de Dragons Portés). In 1935 5e DC received the three rebuilt prototypes, bringing its strength to thirteen. AMR 33s were also allocated to two independent cavalry regiments: 9e Dragons which received eight from the first batch of 65 and 11e Chasseurs which received twelve from the second batch of fifty. The organic strength thus equalled the total AMR 33 fleet. The rôle of the AMR 33s in the cavalry divisions was largely that of direct support of the dismounted horsemen.

In 1935 it was decided to transform 4e DC into an armoured division in case of war. For its sole tanks this division would have had six squadrons equipped with the AMR 33. Its fighting power would thus have been very limited indeed. Both in 1936 and 1937 however a real armoured division was created, first from 4e DC and then from 5e DC. These 1 DLM and 2 DLM (Division Légère Mécanique or "Mechanised Light Division") had three squadrons of AMRs each to accompany their motorized infantry (among many other types). At that time however the mechanical unreliability of the AMR 33 had become obvious and it was decided only to use the AMR 35 in the Cavalry armoured divisions, concentrating the AMR 33s into the remaining DCs. Each of these would now have a larger RAM (Régiment d'Automitailleuses) with two AMR squadrons, these again enlarged to four platoons of five plus two reserve tanks and a command tank. Total division AMR strength would thus be 46. As there were three divisions however, their need for 138 vehicles could not be met by the existing numbers of AMR 33s. Therefore 1re DC was to use the AMR 35 and the only units deploying the AMR 33 remained 2e DC and 3e DC. At the outbreak of the Second World War, France participating from 2 September 1939, total organic AMR 33 strength was still 92.

However, to create a larger number of motorised units, from 1 December 1939 till 15 February 1940 the last two cavalry divisions were disbanded and their personnel and matériel, supplemented with discarded older matériel from the former cavalry divisions, was redistributed among five new Divisions Légères de Cavalerie ("Cavalry Light Divisions"). It was first decided that these within each of the two battalions of their Régiment de Dragons Portés (motorised infantry regiment) would incorporate two AMR 33 platoons (half a squadron), which, together with two reserve tanks and a command tank, would create a demand for five times 23 or 115 vehicles, slightly lower than the available total of 118. In view of the poor general maintenance condition of the type this was again changed: the 1re DLC would use the AMR 35 instead and the other four DLCs would increase their strength to 26 by adding three reserve tanks; apart from this organic total strength of 104 a general matériel reserve of fourteen would thus be created.

On 10 May, the day of the German invasion, this measure was shown to have been still insufficient. Only 5e DLC had its official strength of 26, the other three divisions having apparently not yet started to make an attempt to increase their strength: 2e DLC fielded 22 AMR 33s, 3e DLC twenty and 4e DLC 23, for a total strength of 91. There was thus a matériel reserve of 22 vehicles. In the Battle of France the type fared very badly. The DLCs in the Ardennes unexpectedly encountered the main German armoured force and could only fight a delaying battle for which the AMR 33 was not very useful. It was poorly armed and armoured — and very unreliable because of its one good point: its speed which wore out the suspension units. It was faster than any German tank of the time. Around 10:00, the 10th of May, near Vance, AMR 33 N° 83950 of 3e DLC had the dubious distinction of being the first French tank to be destroyed in the battle, being hit by German anti-tank gunfire, killing the crew. During the first week of the fighting 75% of the AMR 33s was lost, often because of a breakdown.

On 7 June 1940 the 7e DLM was created, an emergency unit, of which 4e RAM was part. That regiment had an allocation of fourteen AMRs; to this number probably nine AMR 33s belonged from the matériel reserve. All these vehicles would again be lost before the armistice of 25 June.

Some captured AMR 33s were used by the Germans as the Panzerspähwagen VM 701 (f), probably mostly in France itself.

A single vehicle survives at the Musée des Blindés at Saumur.