French troops - American Kit???!

[Richard Morgan]

According to Liddell Hart, roughly 95,000 French troops were evacuated alongside the B.E.F. at Dunkirk. These I believe, were then re-equipped with BRITISH kit before continuing to fight as the Free French forces. Why then are all the French in CMBO that (I have seen) wearing American uniforms and using American Kit?

Have I got my facts wrong here? (I am quite prepared to be shot down in flames over this).

[von Lucke]

Because, after the Americans invaded North Africa, the formerly Vichy army signed on to the Allied cause (much to the disgust of the Francaise Libre troops who had been fighting alongside the Brits since '41), and where ostensibly re-equiped by the Yanks.

At first, the British equiped French retained their distinctively quasi-Franco-British uniform (British kit with the kepi blanc) so the "real" Free French could distinguish themselves from the "fake" Free French (formerly Vichy).

That is, until all the fighting and divisiveness got on the other Allies nerves, and the "real" Free French were forced to integrate --- and accept Amercian equipment in the process.

[Major Tom]

Most French troops evacuated at Dunkirk were sent back to France to form up new units before the fall. More were again evactuated after that, but the numbers never got up to the 90 000.

Most of the Soliders left in England decided to be loyal to the Vichy French regime, and were sent to North Africa, later to join the Allies in 1942.

The French troops seen in CMBO were predominantly based off the 2nd French Armoured Division. An entire French Army, based off of the North African troops did fight in Europe. The reasoning for using generic US soldiers for French troops was done by BTS because most French formations used a combination of US and French helmets. Having French helmets along with US helmets would have increased the complexity of the units in the game more than they wanted.

It was a matter of supply. French uniforms were no longer being made, and once their original ones wore out, they had to get replacements. British uniforms were in sufficient number so that until 1942 they could be equipped by them, but after 1942 American uniforms became even more plentiful.