MAT 49 ? Not folding Hotchkiss ? 
The only time I paid much attention to French history was the revolutionary, and Napoleonic era, and when they intersect with the British.
Imperial England, especially in the Victorian era with better fire power are the ones that interest me,From Clive in India to Karamojo Bell where ever the hell he was.
I think that those people did a very , interesting job of governing huge populations, and invasion by creeping encroachment. They also shoot hell out of the foolish idea WW I Generals were all straight down the middle Dunderheads.
Watching Forgotten Weapons though, France was in the fore front of arms development quite often
I often think the Lebel sums up "A wonderful idea screwed by clerks."
And THAT little gem is worthy of Augustus .
The MAT-49 looks really cool to me. I like the folding mag and collapsible stock, which let the whole thing go into a fairly small bag when the Foreign Legion was jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.
One of my other faves is the
Soviet PPS-43, which I consider one of the best -- if not
THE best -- SMGs of WWII. They took economy and simplicity to a whole 'nother level. I also like the
Owen from Australia, though it's ugly enough to make the
M3 "Grease Gun" look like a handmade double rifle by comparison.
I'll bet you like "Zulu" and "Zulu Dawn"! I can also recommend the Sharpe books, if you like the Napoleonic period. One of my favorite WWII movies with lots of British military in it is currently on Netflix: "A Bridge Too Far". One of Sean Connery's best roles.
I like both the French and the British aircraft of WWI. The speed of development was amazing, but the aircraft were simple and cheap enough that a new design could be flying pretty quickly. One particular favorite is the
Airco DH.2, with its pusher prop and the "pod" that the pilot sat in, with just the controls, a small windscreen and a Lewis gun in front. I've been playing the classic
1990 game "Red Baron" for a long time now. While imperfect, the flight model is pretty darn' good and features fun things like the DH.2's vicious spin characteristics. A spin that goes on very long either tears the airplane apart or results in hitting the cumulo-granite undercast. I have found, however, that a DH.2 spin gets you out of someones's sights in a hurry, even though it was an accident.
I've taken the little DH.2 up against much better aircraft, and the nimble little fighter does better than you might think. I imagine switching out the Lewis drums while in combat wasn't fun, though at least it's easier with the gun right in front of you than with the mounts on top of the upper wing, like in the SE5a or the Nieuport 11.
I don't think I'm drifting anymore. I'm already out driving through the cornfield, like
Bart Simpson on the way to Knoxville.
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