Brutinel's Canadian Independent Force and some French Cavalry (and more Chasseurs)

In preparation for a forthcoming Amiens scenario I've been preparing some mobile forces for the anticipated breakthrough.

This is in the form of Brutinel's Canadian Independent Force and some French Cavalry. Not all of these will be required for the scenario though.

Brutinel's Force consisted of two Motorised Machine Gun Brigades, armed with the few remaining Canadian Autocar armoured vehicles and mostly lorry mounted machine guns, some of which may well have been armoured. This was supported by lorry mounted 6" Mortars and a battalion of Canadian Cyclist troops. They were deployed at the join between the French and Canadian troops during the battle.

My lorry mounted machine guns are Heroics and Ros models with a machine gunner stuck on top, which sort of works. The 6" mortars are converted from a pack of 120mm german mortars and the Heroics and Ros lorry mounted AA gun model.

Brutinel's Headquarters

Lorry mounted 6" Mortars

Canadian Cyclist Battalion

Brutinel was an interesting character. A French immigrant to Canada who was running his own successful business, on the outbreak of war he was on the verge of returning to France as a reserve Captain when he was persuaded to head up a new force of specially designed and built armoured cars. 

Brutinel and staff from Musée Héritage Museum

Unfortunately by the time these arrived in the UK after training things had become static on the Western Front and no one was quite sure what to do with them. They were eventually sent to France where they were mostly used on foot to reinforce crucial sectors with extra machine guns and Brutinel became Commanding officer of Canadian Machine Gun troops in France. 

Recruitment poster for the Canadian Cyclist Battalion from the Canadian War Museum

However when things became more mobile after the German spring offensives, Brutinel's force came into its own. The allies were very much caught on the hop as all of their Rolls Royce armoured cars had already been sent to other, more open, fronts. Brutinel's Canadian Autocars were the only mobile force available, shortly to be reinforced by the 17th Bn Tank Corps hastily converted to some Austin armoured cars originally intended for Russia but held back by the Bolshevik take over. 

Canadian Autocars

Canadian Autocars advancing from the Vimy Foundation site, photo courtesy of Library and Archives Canada.

They did exemplary service over the next few months, and as a native Frenchmen in charge of a Canadian mobile force there was no one better to cover the join between the two armies at Amiens.

There are one or two interesting articles online about Brutinel and his Machine Gun Brigades

here

here

and here



I have also been recruiting some French units in the form of...

...French Chasseurs...

...and French Cavalry, with dismounted markers skirmishing out front