White AM modele 1915/1918

The White AM was a French armoured vehicle that was supposed to meet the demands of the French army for such vehicles for the Western Front and the beginning position war.

In 1915, when the Western front was consolidated and the war of movement was transformed into a war of positions, the French army demanded armoured vehicles so that they could attack the German positions and support the infantry.

In addition to imported vehicles from abroad, the French economy also tried to make such vehicles of its own production available to the army.

For this purpose the chassis of the American company White was used, which was built in France under licence. The armoured body was then built and made available by the company Ségur & Lorfeuvre. This model with the American chassis was classified as White AM model 1915 and a total of 20 units were built.

Later the Nude chassis was used and only the engine and the gearbox came from White. This model was then classified as White AM model 1918.

As special attention was paid to the protection of the crew, the body of the vehicle was completely armoured. For this purpose about 30 bolted panels on a rigid steel frame served, whereby the front part of the vehicle was somewhat narrower and only the driver sat in it, but the rear part had bulges on both sides to be able to take up the two shooters. The commander moved freely in the vehicle.

For the view there were armoured hatches on all sides which could be opened if necessary. Such hatches were also on each side of the engine to be able to carry out repairs. For cooling a row of armoured shutters served at the front of the vehicle.

In contrast to other armoured vehicles which only had one weapon, the turret of the White AM was built bigger so that two weapons could be mounted and two shooters could find space in it. A 37 mm cannon for the front and a 7,5 mm Hotchkiss machine gun for the rear were selected as standard armament. In some vehicles, however, only two machine guns were used. To protect against grenades, the roof of the turret was partially sloped. On the left and on the right there were doors and behind the turret the armoured boxes with the tools were attached.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While the White AM model 1915 was built mainly for testing and training purposes and only in small numbers, a total of 200 units of the model 1918 were built and used on the western front.

Until the end of the war in 1918 the White AM vehicles served at the front. Afterwards they remained in the French army.

 

 

 

 

 

Between 1928 and 1932 the remaining vehicles were rebuilt and modernised and then used again in the French army as White-Laffly AMD-50 (96 vehicles) and AMD-80 (28 vehicles).

At the beginning of the Second World War, some of the vehicles were brought to the French colonies in North Africa and served there until 1943 when they were replaced by the modern M8 Greyhounds. Another part was captured by the German Wehrmacht after the surrender of France and served for a short time for training.

 

 

 

Data sheet:

Designation:	White AM modele 1918
Manufacturing country:	France
Introductory year:	1917 / 1918
Number of pieces:	200 pieces
Arming:	1 x 37 mm Puteaux cannon 1 x 7,5 mm Hotchkiss M1909 Machine Gun
Maximum speed:	ca. 65 Km/h
Engine:	6 cylinder White engine with 50 HP
Weight:	6,5 tons

 

 

 

 

 

You can find the right literature here:

 

The Encyclopedia of French Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles: 1914-1940

France, alongside Britain, represents the birthplace of a new weapon that will revolutionize the art of war: the armored tank. And even before the appearance of this new piece of armament, it was in France around the turn of the twentieth century that we see the appearance of the first armored and combat vehicles.

In encyclopedic form, without forgetting any of the principal one hundred autos (tanks and armored cars) and their 200 variants and derivatives (troop transport, bridge layers, anti-mine tanks, etc..), This book offers a panorama absolutely full of all the vehicles that have succeeded or surrounded the Great War until the beginning of World War II.

A detailed though concise text concise, this work offers precise tables presenting all the specifications of the primary vehicles. With abundant illustrations (rare period photographs, sumptuous color profiles) this book an essential reference for both specialists and amateurs.

Click here!

 

 

Armoured Fighting Vehicles of World Wars I & II: Features 90 Landmark Vehicles from 1900-1945 with over 370 Archive Photographs

Features 90 landmark vehicles from 1900-1945 shown in over 370 colour and black-and-white archive photographs

Click here!

 

 

French Tanks of World War I (New Vanguard)

This title examines the emergence of the first modern tank, the Renault FT. It is a little known fact that France fielded more tanks in World War I than any other army. However, France's early tanks suffered from poor mobility and armor compared to their contemporaries. Indeed, their initial use on the Chemin des Dames in 1917 was a bloody fiasco. In spite of initial set-backs, the French army redeemed its reputation with the Renault FT.

The Renault FT pioneered the modern tank design, with armament in a revolutionary central turret and the engine in the rear. More importantly, the Renault was designed to be cheap and easy to manufacture. Discover the history of the early French armor developments and their triumphant new design, the Renault FT, that helped to turn the tide of war in the favor of the Allies.

Click here!

 

 

Armoured Warfare in the First World War (Images Of War)

A hundred years ago, on 15 September 1916, on the Western Front during the Battle of the Somme, the tank made its debut on the battlefield. The first tanks were crude, unreliable, vulnerable weapons, but they changed the character of land warfare forever, and Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history of these pioneering armored vehicles is the ideal introduction to them.

In a selection of over 150 archive photographs he offers a fascinating insight into the difficult early days of this innovative new weapon, describing its technical history and its performance in combat. While the Battle of Cambrai in 1917 is often held up as the first large-scale tank battle, tanks had already served at Flers-Courcelette on the Somme, during the Nivelle offensive and the battles of Messines and Passchendaele.

His book shows that the development of the tank was fraught with technical obstacles and battlefield setbacks. It was invented by the British and the French at almost the same time to help break the deadlock of trench warfare, and the British deployed it first in 1916. Belatedly the Germans followed the British and French example. The initial designs were continuously refined during two years of intense warfare. Finding the right balance between power and weight, getting the armament right, and working out the best tactics for tanks on the battlefield was a tricky, often deadly business.

Click here!

 

 

 

 

 

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