May 1940 - The Belgian ACG-1 tank squadron in combat | Tank Battles of WW2 

I'm sorry to hear that. I live close to the Lys battlefields, we've got a few memorials here in Kuurne and Ooigem dedicated to those who fell during the fighting at the Lys.

Ask any M4 Sherman tanker in Europe.

The ACG-1 was actually a pretty decent tank. It had of course a few shortcomings. The frontal armour was 25mm. A PaK-36 could defeat that. But it wasn't much less than on German tanks (max 30mm). No radio on the ACG-1. It sometimes had issues with overheating in hot weather. Renault did not supply many spare parts. On the positive side: A two man turret on a French tank! Plus it had a lot of diascopes, vision slits and a periscope for good visibility. It also had an actual turret hatch on the top unlike the closed cupola on H-35, R-35, Somua... and a wide escape hatch on the back of the turret. The ACG-1 was armed with the Belgian C47 cannon (+7.65mm Hotchkiss MG). They carried both HE and AP ammo. Armour penetration was better than the PaK-36 and the guns on the German tanks. Great gun! The ACG-1 had a top speed of 42km/h and a horsepower to weight of 12.4 hp/ton. Decent stats. In short: great gun, decent mobility, good visibility, decent ergonomics for the time, rather light armour, no radio. In fighting capability similar to the Panzer 35(t) and 38(t).

@@user-lg4mm3mf8i If I was a crew member in 1940 I would make sure that "wide escape hatch" was well-maintained!

@@terraflow__bryanburdo4547 Oh my god the tank is on fire.

In the bastogne barracks there's some extra info on these tanks. Between the lines you could read we basically got ripped off by the french and they sold us tanks that were already completely worn out and super unreliable. But still these guys pushed on, knowing they didn't stand a chance.

My pleasure! I hope you enjoyed it, or at least found it interesting.

duh.

Well, it was while making this video that I realized that the avatar now - the Belgian circle - suits me better as I'm from Belgium myself.

@@TheAceDestroyer L'union fait la force (sorry about the Frenchification). I tried to look up the Flemish Movement quickly and got very confused. I hope that's not offensive.

@@jayfrank1913 haha no, it's 'L'union fait la force' in French and 'Eendracht maakt macht' in Dutch (Flemish)

@@TheAceDestroyer Thanks, Ace!

Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have any footage of Belgian planes, nor from the areas fought, so I can't really make a video out of it at the moment. However, I can recommend 'The Silent Attack' by Gonzales, Steinke and Tannahill. The book has a chapter on the air combat between the Belgian and German air force during the opening few days of the offensive.

The Belgian army air force (part of the army not an independant airforce) had several types. The most modern were the Hurricanes Mk I with two bladed propellors. First ones were bought from the UK. SABCA at Gosselies had a license to produce them in BE. 1 new type was just finished on May 10th with a new propellor. The BE versions would get 4 x 13.2mm FN Browning guns instead of 8 x 7.65mm. All Hurricanes were destroyed/damaged within the first 2 days. There were some Fairey Battle light bombers. These tried to bomb the captured bridges near Eben Emael. All shot down AFAIK. They also had Gloster Gladiators. Some destroyed on the ground. The others flew escort for the Fairey Battles. All shot down AFAIK. The third somewhat modern fighter type was the CR.42 Falco. A decent number survived the first bombings. These engaged in air combat with the Luftwaffe and shot down some German planes. The most numerous type was the Fairey Fox. This type had been produced by SABCA in Belgium. Several different versions existed. Good plane for the mid thirties. Obsolescent by 1940 compared to fast monoplane's like the Me 109, Hurricane, Spitfire... Other that that there were some Fairey Fireflies, Renard parasol aircraft, prototypes...

This is a Belgian propaganda film from 1939. There is footage of the army airforce in it as well. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-amj1HSr9ss8.html

F2000 thanks I am working on a gladiator and a few cr-42s at the moment

@@SGusky www.luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/de-belgische-raids-op-het-albertkanaal

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoy my videos! Although the subject of Belgian resistance offers many interesting stories, it's like you said, photo's let alone moving images are terribly hard to find.

That, as a Belgian by birth, makes me mad :( Idiotic politicians. Same in the Netherlands. The pollies kept cutting the military budget, including the Navy of a country with overseas "possessions" (Netherlands East Indies). Little Belgium upsetting the Germans? Somebody was getting paid, laid, or both.

They called it an armored car for political reasons. That's not the same as suggesting they effectively sought out a shitty tank because they did not want to "anger the Germans". I assume the choice was primarily made because of budgetary constraints. When looking at interwar tank doctrine and most contemporary tanks it was not - at first glance - a bad choice. However, Renault delivered a tank that was worse than specified. One (perhaps its only?) saving grace was the two man turret design :D

Thanks! Greeting back from Kortrijk (Courtrai)!

@Frank DeFalco Would you believe there was a Jewish family that ran their shop through the whole war without being bothered by the authorities? Would you believe a feral pig charged my friend's Dad, and the Dad let lose with his 30-30, firing from hip, emptied the gun (7 or 9 rounds), and pig fell dead at his feet? The pig weighed 930 pounds. The pig was donated to help another guy out. They slung the pig over the box on a Ford Courier pickup truck, and the feet drug on the ground on both sides.

@Pedro Kantor It was understandable, tanks were seen as offensive weapons, specifically to break thru defenses (trenches). The Belgians, like most Europeans, had no intention of breaking thru anyone's defense, so what tanks they bought was more "well everyone else is doing it" than any strategic national requirement. The German plans changed more based upon the experience in Poland and the potential of mechanized forces.

Tanks like the ACG-1 were expensive and Belgium didn't have experience in producing these. Not sure if they had all the necessary industry and tools. So they would have to be bought elsewhere. Belgium did have the production capability to make lighter T-13 self-propelled anti-tankguns. These were a lot cheaper, faster and simpler to make and could be made locally. Simple, light tankdestroyers with a big gun for the time made a lot more sense for the Belgian defensive doctrine. The commander of the chasseurs ardennais was offered ACG-1 tanks but replied that he would rather have 3x as much T-13's instead.

The experience from august/september 1914 led to the Armoured Car brigade (ACM). The experiences obtained in Russia had no big influence on the idea to have tanks or not (after WW1 the Belgians had Renault FT17). Main reason to have no tanks, was neutrality as tanks were seen as an offensif weapon.

Thank you! I'm glad to see that you're enjoying the content! By the way, welcome to the channel!

The AceDestroyer thank you for the warm welcome, I can’t wait for more content from you!

Thank you! Danke!

Thanks! Haha, yes I'm indeed from Belgium. I'm from the area of Kortrijk.

I'm glad to hear that, as I'm Flemish as well (Kortrijk).

@@TheAceDestroyer i am from Gent

sorry me again.i followed the invasion of Belgium may 1940 with great interest.I don,t know if you ever read the book "Hitler in Flanders" written by Siegfried de Baeke .You could make an interesting follow up documentary .Hitler is following the footsteps of his time during the first world war at the advent of the second world war all the way to Duinkerke.it also covers the controversy that he fathered a child during the first world war in a West Flanders village.keep up the great work

Haha, no worries! I haven't read it, although I have heard of it. I don't really make videos like that. However, I have been planning to make some more 1914-15 videos where I could briefly mention Hitler (like the battle of Geluveld or Wijtschate), but I will never make a full video focusing on the man and his wartime career. I only tend to focus on smaller-scale battles and the tactics and developments surrounding the actions.

@@TheAceDestroyer operation switchback could be another interesting one

Thanks! I'm glad you like it!

I'm glad the pronunciation is correct as I'm from Kortrijk myself!

@@TheAceDestroyer for a "westfluut" you are doing great 😁

Thanks! In this case, there were hardly any English sources, but as I'm from Belgium myself, there were a few Dutch and French sources on the subject.

@@TheAceDestroyer for your information : you can find a lot of information in the Tank Museum News nr 122 edited by the Belgium Tank Museum vzw

@@TheAceDestroyer Thanks. Again - great work and keep the content about May 1940 rolling. I have recently read a book "Dunkirk: Fight to the last man", which covers Fall Gelb from British perspective, but there is really not enough on that topic.

@@100Kakdela I've got the book 'Destination Dunkirk' at home, which also covers the British perspective. I've found quite some good information on the Battle of Leuven/ Louvain in 1940, so I think I'll make a video on that too.

@@TheAceDestroyer I was in Leuven just last year. Would love to see that! Also found an interesting book "Fall Rot", which is covered even less than Fall Gelb. It covers the second stage of battle for France. Planning on getting it soon.

Tanks encyclopedia has some basic info on the Belgian AFV's: tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/belgium/ww2_Belgian_Tanks.php

Well, I think I'll have to disappoint you I'm afraid. I tend to stick to ground warfare. I also try to keep WW1 videos to a minimum. Although it's something I'm hugely interested in, I am aware that the majority of the viewers are far more keen on seeing WW2 content. None the less, a few videos concerning my WW1 research can be found in my videos.

Thanks!

Thanks! It would have been hard for me to pronounce them wrong as I'm from Kortrijk myself.

@@TheAceDestroyer aha! Dan maar in't Nederlands. Ik ben van Gavere. Top video's die je afleverde, altijd een plezier om naar te kijken... Wist totaal niet dat je vanuit "de buurt" was... Grappig

Hello! No, it's not a remake. It's my first take on this subject. Thanks! You too!

@@TheAceDestroyer Hmmn, I must've watched it this morning, early, and not had time to comment ; then come back and watched it again this afternoon...(?). Oldtimers Syndrome (!). Have a good one. ;-p Ciao !

The Belgian war museum has a turret that was recovered from the coastal defenses. I don't think that it's on display for the moment. The French Saumur museum has a French AMC-35.

@@user-lg4mm3mf8i Thanks for replying.Keep up the good work 😎

Thank you very much! Well, I'm from the area of Kortrijk myself, so the Flemish pronunciations shouldn't pose a problem.

@@TheAceDestroyer Ik had het net gezien :-) Maar toch als West-Vlaming is het misschien nog een knappere prestatie om zo een goede uitspraak te hebben. ;-) Proficiat met je kanaal, heel professioneel gemaakt en heel erg leerrijk! Just noticed in your bio. But still even as an habitant of West-Flanders it might be even a higher achievement to have such a good Dutch pronounciation. ;-) Congrats on the channel, very professional and very educational to see (also local) war history

Thanks! Yes, I'm from Belgium. I've got plans for a few more May 1940 videos, so who knows I might tackle that.

Sending the oldest and best 1st DLM + the 25th and 9th DIM motorised infantry divions to Breda was one of the dumbest things the French did :D. They didn't really do anything useful up there. Their original purpose was to be a reserve force in the north of France. A far far better plan :D. They wasted their fighting power in NL and messed up the Belgian logistics by demanding priority access on the railway lines.

@@user-lg4mm3mf8i With the knowledge later, indeed it would be better to have reserve behind the lines of the 9th and 1st army. But the allies didn't know or suspected an advance through the Ardennes. The plan was to make a united front with all allied countries and The Netherlands to work together and stop the Germans to get to the North Sea and important harbours like Rotterdam and Antwerp. It's a pity that the French armoured cars didn't go to the Moerdijk bridges to get rid of the Germans so that the bridges could be blown. Then the Dutch lines would be in tact and German parachutists in Rotterdam would be without support and could not fight for long. Then (maybe) the Dutch could help the allies a few days more.

@@harcovanhees394 Well linking up with the Dutch was rather awkward and difficult. The lines only met in the small area around Antwerpen and Breda. In case something went wrong the Dutch would fall back northwest to Vesting Holland (the region of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag). The Allies would fall back southwest to France. The Westerschelde prevents a connection over land beyond Antwerp. So maintaining a land link is difficult. From a strategic point of view, the best plan would have been to concentrate most Dutch forces around Vesting Holland. This way they could provide a lot of airbases and seaports for the British RAF and Royal Navy. As well as a foothold to bring in more British troops. Of course this would have left most Dutch territory lightly defended.

@@user-lg4mm3mf8i You're wright but the neutrality demanded to defend all borders even with Belgium. There have been some secret talks between the generals of both nations but they couldn't agree, The Dutch general Winkelman would like that the French got further to the Peellinie but that was not what the Belgians wanted to do and the Dutch had no other defencible lines in North Brabant. So the Germans could get around the Peellinie via Belgium. The French wouldn't either. By the way, the English did almost nothing, just landed in Hoek van Holland and stayed there for a couple of days. There was no coördination in the preperation also because of our Neutrality.

Thanks! Haha ja, we zitten inderdaad al een paar weekskes vast.

@@TheAceDestroyer Your pronunciation of Dendermonde gave you away ;-) .

Yes, I am indeed from Belgium.

Belgium was invaded on 10 May 1940. The Belgian army surrendered on 28 May 1940. The evacuation at Dunkirk took place from 26 May to 4 June 1940.

Like F2000 mentioned, this happened before Dunkirk. In fact, throughout the video you can see the Germans (red area) coming ever closer to the sea. Dunkirk is just off the map, but you would find it on the left of the map, if you would follow the coast.

@@TheAceDestroyer I thought allies made a line at some river in belgium?

@@user-lg4mm3mf8i Thank you.

@@pancakes3250 The Belgians were dug in on the Albert Canal. The French and Enlish moved east up to the Dyle line. This fortified line ran from Antwerp to the French positions on the Meuse more or less. The Belgian fell back west to the Dyle line. The plan was to stop the Germans here once all the Allied forces were dug in behind these fortifications. Unfortunately the Germans broke through to the south in the Ardennes and outflanked the Dyle position. After that, the Allied fell back step by step to the coast, from one river to the next.

It was a decent design but still had some teething issues.