Military Vehicles - France: Illustrated History Books & Guides

Essor de la motorisation, du cheval de guerre au cheval vapeur 1914-1918

In August 1914, when the First World War broke out, France fielded 89 horse cavalry regiments. At the same time, the army's fleet of vehicles only had 220 of its own.
In a few weeks, the direction taken by military operations would impose a complete inversion of proportions. The cavalrymen dismounted while the requisition brought several thousand of the 80 000 motor vehicles of all types in use in the country into the armies. This was the beginning of a motorization that would be at the origin of a formidable industrial boom.

After having painted the portrait of a magnificent cavalry, but outdated despite the glorious actions it delivered during the first weeks of the war, this work evokes the progressive takeover of the battlefield by the automobile, the armoured cars, the trucks, then the tanks.

Product details

Author:	Jean-Claude Demory
Details:	144 pages, 11 x 8.5 in (28 x 21.5 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	150 b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2008)
ISBN:	9782726887066

La Jeep dans l'Armée française (Tome 1) : 1943-1954

Jeeps served for sixty years in the French army, participating in three major conflicts and numerous external operations. These "funny little cars" seduced the French from their arrival in Algeria in 1942, with their maneuverability, their robustness and their ability to overcome the worst obstacles.
With these wonderful cars, the French Expeditionary Force left for Italy, then France and Germany, where jeeps were omnipresent, sometimes limited by the harsh climate of the Vosges and the Alsace plain, but always ready to pounce as soon as the weather was milder.

After the peace in Europe, jeeps remained with the troops in occupation in Germany, accompanying those repatriated to North Africa or sent to Indochina. During the 9 years of the Indochinese conflict, their use was often limited to connections and convoy escorts facing an aggressive enemy and difficult terrain.
Overseas, where roads were rare and climatic conditions difficult, jeeps regained their importance thanks to their ability to overcome obstacles and their lightness, allowing them to go where a truck or an armored car could not.

This first volume describes the Jeep in the French Army in the years 1943-1954.

Product details

Author:	Paul Gaujac
Details:	144 pages, 1 x 0.8 in (2.5 x 2 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	250 b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Histoire & Collections (F, 2023)
ISBN:	9791038013766

La Traction Avant Citroën sous l'uniforme

Born in 1934, the legendary car designed by André Citroën would experience, due to the events that plunged the world into war five years later, a rich and astonishing military career. Thousands of them joined our armies during the Phoney War, then experienced the horrors of disaster.
The Traction then, much to its chagrin, changed sides and the Germans, who were very fond of it, would drive it all over Europe, from the Arctic Circle to distant Russia.

But, at the end of 1942, the Traction appeared again under our flags, this time victoriously engaged in the Tunisian campaign, with strange armoured versions.
Then came the liberation of France, the epic of the maquis, the white stars and the three letters F F I which flourished on the bodies. The "beauty of Javel" then became one of the symbols of the resurgent France.

A formidable visual epic made possible by the assembly, piece by piece, over decades, of an exceptional iconography: 375 illustrations including no fewer than 260 period photographs, almost all unpublished, and 28 profiles created especially for this work, presenting the authentic military colours and markings.
THE book awaited by die-hard fans of the Citroën Traction Avant and all fans of automotive and military history.

Product details

Author:	François Vauvillier, Bertrand Delamotte.
Details:	136 pages, 12.4 x 9.25 x 0.67 in (31.5 x 23.5 x 1.7 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	375 b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Histoire & Collections (F, 2013)
ISBN:	9782352502654

La Traction Avant Citroën sous l'uniforme (Volume 2)

The Citroën Traction Avant was the most produced car in France before 1940: more than 250 000 units traveled the roads of the country and the world at that time. It is therefore logical to see it, during the Second World War, accompanying armies and civilian populations on all fronts, in all regions, including the most remote.
The omnipresence of this car is undoubtedly also due to its performance: modern and safe, it is used by the French army, especially as a requisition car, and perhaps even more by the German army which uses it massively in all its intervention zones, and finally, by the resistance.

Pages of the book "La Traction Avant Citroën sous l'uniforme (Volume 2)"

By supporting all the travel needs related to the conflict, it became a key player, from the pre-war period until the Liberation, then it responded to the new needs that appeared after 1945. We find it in everyday life, but also in the great moments of History. It is this reality spread over a dozen years around the conflict that we discover through this set of period photographs, most of which have never been published.

Product details

Author:	Emmanuel Cardoux
Details:	144 pages, 12.4 x 9.1 in (31.5 x 23 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Histoire & Collections (F, 2021)
ISBN:	9791038011595

Le VLR Delahaye - Le véhicule de liaison et de reconnaissance de l'armée française 1946-1970

After World War II, the French army outlined the need for a lightweight and versatile vehicle: capable of transporting personnel and equipment, easily turning on roads, overtaking columns, driving in slow convoys, and operating on rough terrain, while being armed with a light machine gun.

In response, Delahaye, a company known for luxury cars and fire trucks, took on the challenge of producing a French alternative to the American jeep.

In this book, Patrick Wagner tells the story of this vehicle, which would become much more than just the "French jeep". A large chapter illustrates each component of the vehicle with photos and drawings, making the restoration of the now-collected VLRs easier.

Product details

Author:	Patrick Wagner
Details:	196 pages, 12.6 x 9 x 0.71 in (32 x 24 x 1.8 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	500 b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	Histoire & Collections (F, 2013)
ISBN:	9782352502890

Les voitures de la Gendarmerie Nationale

Heir to more than two centuries of history, the national gendarmerie is present not only on French territory but also in external theaters.
Although attached since 2009 to the Ministry of the Interior, this elite weapon, with around 100 000 people, retains its military status.

In order to carry out the many missions assigned to it, it has a fleet of vehicles comprising thirty thousand vehicles. A wide range of models of all types and brands has continued to improve over the years since the early 1950s, when the gendarmerie had its own budget to fulfill its vehicle orders.

This work, rich in more than 400 almost unpublished photographs, allows you to discover or rediscover the models in service in this corporation for decades, but also vehicles previously unknown within the French gendarmerie.

Product details

Author:	Pascal Meunier, Laurent Jacquot
Details:	192 pages, 12.2 x 9.25 in (31 x 23.5 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	484 b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2014)
ISBN:	9782726897546

Usines de guerre 1914-1918

While the mobilization of August 1914 led to a general slowdown in industrial production, the evolution of the conflict after a few months towards a war of position posed new problems. The production of goods for the armies and their continuous supply became a priority for the players in the productive economy.
Like all sectors, the automobile and cycle sectors had to take part in the war effort of the allied nations. In the workshops, the production of shells and weapon components became a priority. The specific skills of automobile and cycle manufacturers were also put to use for the production of airplanes and then tanks.

Aware of the temporary nature of the conflict and the exceptional orders associated with it, companies prepared for the post-war period. Automobile and bicycle manufacturers entered the era of mass production and adopted a new coordination of tasks and a new division of working hours. The figures of this reorganization were André Citroën and Ernest Mattern (Peugeot).
These organizational changes had many social consequences. In the arms factories, the arrival in the metallurgical workshops of new, less qualified populations was made possible thanks to a new division of tasks. The involvement of women was strongly noted there. It became the symbol of the generalized participation of populations in the war effort. The evolution of the workforce, the changes in production methods, the war context is also accompanied by an adaptation of labor law and the appearance of new health and medical facilities.

In parallel with the Parisian exhibition, this work immerses us in a period of history during which the automobile industry underwent profound changes.

Product details

Author:	Collectif
Details:	208 pages, 11.4 x 9 in (29 x 24 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	209 b&w and color photos
Language:	French
Publisher:	ETAI (F, 2015)
ISBN:	9791028300494