The AMC Schneider P 16, also known as the AMC Citroën-Kégresse Modèle 1929 or the Panhard-Schneider P16, was a half-track that was designed for the French Army before World War II. M3 Half-track A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with regular wheels on the front for steering, and caterpillar tracks on the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

Development

The P 16 was developed in 1924 by Citroën from the earlier Citroën-Kégresse Modèle 1923. It was very similar in conception but had an enlarged armoured hull, built by Schneider, and a stronger 60 hp Panhard engine. In June 1925 an order was obtained for a pre-series of four vehicles. In October that year a first production series of ten is ordered. Citroën found itself unable to produce the vehicles and the order was delegated to Schneider. Citroën is a French automobile manufacturer, founded in 1919 by André Citroën. ...

The pre-series vehicles get the company designation Modèle 1928 or M 28 after the year they were delivered; the production vehicles are likewise named Modèle 1929 or M 29. The official name however is the AMC Schneider P 16. The P 16 was thus accepted as conforming to the specifications for a wheeled AMC, or a AMC N°1, as stated by the Supreme Command on 12 April 1923, although the vehicle wasn't specifically designed to meet them. "AMC" stands for Automitrailleuse de Combat. Although automitrailleuse is today a synonym for "armoured car", in those days it was the codename for any Cavalry armoured vehicle as the Cavalry was in 1922 forbidden by law to employ tanks. In fact their rôle was pretty much that of a main battle tank as the Cavalry would not acquire real modern guntanks until 1935. "P 16" refers to the Panhard 16 engine. Confusingly, the pre-series vehicles only were fitted with it, while the production vehicles have the Panhard 17. In total 96 vehicles of the main series were produced, resulting in total of 100 vehicles.

Description

The AMC Schneider P 16 is a small vehicle, 483 centimetres long, 175 cm wide and 260 cm high. As the maximum armour thickness is only 11.4 mm, the weight is accordingly low, 6.8 metric tons. Combined with a four cylindre 60 hp engine in the nose of the vehicle this results in a high maximum speed for the period, of 50 km/h. A fuel tank of 125 litres allows for a range of 250 kilometres. It employs a Kégresse half-track drive developed by Citroën-Kégresse, without power transfer to the steerable front wheels. The track doesn't have real links, but consists of an internal steel band, embedded in rubber. There was a crew of three: the commander in the turret and two drivers in the hull, the second facing the back in order to drive the half-track in that direction immediately when ambushed. This "dual drive" feature is typical for a reconnaissance vehicle. Nicholas II Delaunay-Belleville with Kégresse track A Kégresse track is an unusual kind of caterpillar track which uses a flexible belt rather than interlocking metal segments. ...

In the M 28 an octagonal turret is placed on top of an octagonal fighting compartment; the turret has a short SA 16 37 mm gun in front and a 7.92 mm Hotchkiss machine gun in the back. Small drums in front of each front wheel help to climb obstacles.

The M 29 has a changed configuration. The fighting compartment is square and the machine gun, now a 7.5 mm "Reibel", is co-axial with the gun in the front of the turret. The small drums are replaced with three of a very large diameter, the widest in the middle, allowing to climb a 50 cm obstacle. There are 100 rounds for the 37 mm gun; 60 HE and 40 AP; 3,000 rounds for the MAC 31: 1950 or 13 magazines standard bullets and 1050 or 7 magazines AP-bullets; the 7,5 mm "Reibel" had a maximum armour penetration of about 12 mm.

Operational History

The P 16s first served in eight of the autonomous Escadrons de Automitrailleuses de Combat (EAMCs), which in 1932 were allocated to four of the five Cavalry Divisions; later they were partially transferred to the Chasseurs d'Afrique in North-Africa and to the Infantry who deployed them in the Groupes de Reconnaissance de Division d'Infantrie, the reconnaissance units of the motorised infantry divisions: 1e GRDI, 3e GRDI, 4e GRDI, 6e GRDI and 7e GRDI each had during the Battle of France a nominal organic strength of twelve for a total of sixty. Combatants France United Kingdom Canada Czechoslovakia Poland Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg Germany Italy Commanders Maurice Gamelin, Maxime Weygand (French) Lord Gort (British Expeditionary Force) H.G. Winkelman (Dutch) Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Wilhelm von Leeb (Army Group C) H.R.H. Umberto di...

Literature

• Leland Ness (2002) Jane's World War II Tanks and Fighting Vehicles: The Complete Guide, Harper Collins, London and New York, ISBN 0-00-711228-9
• Pierre Touzin, Les véhicules blindés français, 1900-1944, EPA, 1979.
• Pierre Touzin, Les Engins Blindés Français 1920-1945, Volume 1, SERA, 1976.