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Peugeot Armored Car (Model 1914)

1914 WORLD WAR 1

History of Peugeot Armoured Vehicles (Model 1914)

Mechanized warfare was born out of the practical use of armored vehicles on the battlefield during the First World War (1914-1918), and it is the responsibility of future armies to invest in this type. The Peugeot armored car was developed in France and, like other armored vehicles of the time, was based on a commercial four-wheeled truck chassis. Introduced at the start of the war in 1914, it was brought to the front to stop the German offensive in Paris, and in total around 270 examples of this type were built.

Unlike other armoured vehicles of that period, Peugeot vehicles could be armed with a 37mm Puteaux SA-18 cannon (many of which were equipped with simpler machine gun weapons). Alternatively, this can be replaced with a machine gun for better anti-infantry performance.

The completed Peugeot armored vehicle weighs 4.9 tons, is 4.8 meters long, 1.8 meters wide and 2.8 meters high. Inside, it was staffed with four or five people, including the driver, commander and full-time gunner.

The vehicle is powered by an in-house Peugeot petrol engine with an output of 40 hp, enabling road speeds of up to 40 km/h and a range of up to 140 km.

The main weapon is located in a movable turret on top of the hull. The turret design features a sloping front roof section and cylindrical sides for basic ballistic protection.

The barrel protrudes from the front of the assembly and gains a more or less unrestricted angle of attack in the area around the vehicle.

The armor of this vehicle matches that era - the armor runs from the hood through the cab to the rear of the vehicle. Only the underside of the chassis is unarmored, as are the four rubber tire wheels. The heavy-spoke wheels are in the corner of the design, as their placement stems from their original commercial truck origins, which are hardly a military system.

This often makes the off-road performance of armored vehicles in war poor, limiting their overall effectiveness to some extent.

This line of vehicles continued to evolve even after entering actual war service, ultimately increasing capabilities. In the early days of the war, when the various fronts were still fairly unstable, these vehicles were mostly of greater value. After all parties dug deep and accepted "trench warfare" as the norm, these cars had to do far less front-line work due to poor off-road performance, limited armor protection and heavy handling weight. In addition, the arrival of tanks later in the war further limited the value of armored vehicles in front-line positions, forcing many to avoid direct harm to security and patrol operations.

Nonetheless, the Peugeot series was used until the last year of the war, and in early 1918 took part in major campaigns for the French army.

Peugeot armored vehicles were eventually used by the armed forces of Poland, Serbia and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the post-war period. In service with the Polish army, they were furiously used during the Soviet-Polish War (1919-1921), and the fleet of vehicles consisted entirely of ex-French military vehicles.

Likewise, the example of the Serbs was passed down from the French, and later to Yugoslavia, where they ended their service.