Renault R35 french tank

[Tyco200]

So glad Char de Gualle tried hard, and did amazingly, to fight off Blitzkrieg. He was the only one who understood. He also used good radio systems, and used well done tanks such as the Char D2, Hotchkiss, S-35, etc.

[Tyco200]

France's equipment was amazing. CharB1, AMC-36 (first slopped armored tank, not T-34 which was all but useless), Renult R-35s, Hotchkiss H-35. They did fight hard. Harder than the British. Sadly, Britain slaughtered their navy, in some ways stabbed them in the back (except for trying to help them/hence fearing the capable French navy in Nazi hands) etc.

[proulxmontpellier]

It also seems that there was a degree of treason from the high ranking French officers, who seem to have preferred the Nazis to the Allies, but couldn't, of course, say so. Most petty officers or sergeants I have interviewed and were at the Front in 1939/40 told me that the ammunition they received was never adapted to their armament. This is also the thesis of a man who was in the French Intelligence Services and was murdered during the Occupation, Marc Bloch.

[XxMiLlErAnGerxX]

Tout nos char des années 30 40 sont magnifique.Malgré leur quelque défauts,ils étaient à même d'accomplir leur objectifs au combat.Sans parler des divers motif de camouflage appliqué à cette époque,tous aussi beau les un des autres!

[tonedeaf49]

According to Wikipedia, French deaths during the Battle of France fell somewhere between 55,000 and 85,000. Deaths of French POW's were about 24,600. The French soldiers fought well, but their tactics were outdated, their communications were totally inadequate and their senior commanders were stuck in a WWI mindset. And don't forget, the majority of the soldiers holding the perimeter at Dunkirk weren't British, they were French.

[Briselance]

@tonedeaf49

"According to Wikipedia"

Not only according to Wikipedia, but also according to hte reports and memories of French, British and even German soldiers who fought the campaign of 1940 and lived long enough to write the thing.

[DonMeaker]

Needs more reverse gears

[captmark97]

@DonMeaker Are you suggesting the French were cowards in WWII? Or are you sore because they wisely stayed out of the Morass of Iraq? The truth is that 1.35% of the French died in WWII. Compare to .94% for the UK or .32% for the US.[Wikipedia.] Cowards should be made of weaker stuff. Were you in a war? Don't judge others who were.

[Briselance]

@DonMeaker

Reverse gears ? Oh, you mean to park it on the street, don't you ? ^^

[Biess133]

lol

[roudy1689]

wow it looks brand new!! awesome tank...

[TheXenomorph1]

The Renault and the Hotchkiss were very similar in appearance.

[SD78]

The Renault was reasonably well armoured at the expense of speed, meaning it was too slow and had too short a combat radius for a light tank, but not a powerful enough main armament for a medium tank.

The one-man turret didn't help either.

[druisteen1]

@XplosiveProductZ

so  you hhave a little dick

[druisteen1]

@XplosiveProductZ

yest ,, for cut her and your balls

[hardcorecrusher12]

those tanks where also named as hotchkiss am i rigth

[lepivert]

Hotchkiss 39

[ppplll000999]

@hardcorecrusher12 Wrong, Renault R-35 & Hotchkiss H-39 though looking similar are completely different tanks. Renault R-35 is a lighter tank weighing 4,600 lbs less than Hotchkiss. It is easier to distinguish the two by looking at the roadwheels. Renault R-35 has 5 roadwheels each side while Hotchkiss has 6.

[MBguy2008]

@ppplll000999

Very true! Both had been considered by the French Army for tank battalions meant for infantry support with the slower, slightly better armoured, and more reliable R-35 winning out. The H-35's and the later H-38 and H-39 were provided to the light mechanized divisions (the DLM's) but also found their way to supporting the infantry.

[ciechanow]

Beautiful!

[druisteen1]

@NicaKrnKid

it's for fight a machine gun , only that ...

[captmark97]

@NicaKrnKid Are you suggesting the French were cowards in WWII? They didn't surrender. That's why they were called the Fighting French. The French had 1.35% of there population killed in WWII compared to .94% for the UK and .32% for the US. [Wikipedia.] Cowards should be made of less heroic stuff, don't you think?

[DonMeaker]

@captmark97 It is important to note that the French in WWII did surrender. Petain was the head of the French government that surrendered. DeGaulle was a new addition to the Cabinet, and left rather than surrender, but not elected to anything, but had led an effective armored counterattack. Most French casualties in WWII took place after they surrendered, not because of cowardice but because the Germans were not the kind of people to whom one could surrender and expect honorable treatment.

[NicaKrnKid]

@captmark97 i agree.just a stupid joke

[moktarbom]

at da start of WW2, da french got some good tanks, better ten panzer mk 1s n 2s in terms of armor and fire power. its the allied strategy,tank tactics and leadership that failed them.

[markbradleyf1]

If anyones interested; I saw a French WWII rifle for sale on ebay.

Never been used; and only dropped once!! :-)

[Sodnal]

Moron.

[captmark97]

@markbradleyf1 Are you suggesting that the French were cowards in WWII[? How do you account for French deaths of 1.35 % in WWII compared to .94% for the UK and .32%for the US.? [Wikipedia.} It seems they didn't run from danger at all.

[DonMeaker]

@captmark97 French deaths were mostly from maltreatment by Germans after the surrender by the Petain government.

[Paciat]

Like the british tanks like the VickersE or Matilda I better.

[Fridomfry]

From 1936 on, the French army' doctrine evolved: Higher authorities planned autonomous tank divisions, equipped with faster tanks, to break through enemy forces. 2 such divisions were ready in 1939, 2 more were formed hastily in 1940. They had Somua S-35 (40 km/h, a good 47 mm SA35 gun), and heavy B1bis (25 km/h top speed, 4 men, a radio); with their excellent armour and gun, B1bis could destroy any German tank, and were unvulnerable to them. They actually won in all tank-to tank battles.

[YamaniNetsi]

I am not familiar of any tank-to-tank outcome between French and Germans, I do know that, where it counts, all armour-to-armour, or armour-to-infantry engagements were won by Germans. WWII was not a chivalry affair - tanks did not battle other tanks like some knights. If a German tank couldn't penetrate French tank, it could out-maneuver it, it could call for infantry, AT or close air support. What the French crew could do? The outcome is well known.

[fp470]

Teh early Germano-French conflcit of ww2 was predominantly decided by superior numbers, doctrine and the support of the Lufftwaffe which sadly gets written out of Germany's war machine on the battlefield not just city bombing. The victory over france wasnt easy for the Germans and it Von Rundstedt and Von Bock, veterans since ww1 were excellent commanders who overcame the French. (cont)

[fp470]

...cont. The French whilst inferior in numbers didnt have bad stuff compared to the Germans of 1940, although they lacked a truly offensive infnatry armament (still not enough mgs per battalion ratio). It was really 3 tings that knocked over france. 1. The German generals actually won it more than anything else- it wasnt easy at the time. 2. The inabilty for British and french to coordinate (again) 3. Faulty French doctrine (they wont come through belgium again).

[YamaniNetsi]

# 1 reason - French soldier and officer corp was decomposed by leftists run amock in France in 1930s. Since Liberalism is a mental disorder, France had no chance

[Fridomfry]

You are right to stress that WWII battles were not a chivalry affair, and I certainly didn't mean that. I have precise examples of battles where French tank units proved evidently superior to German tanks, until the Lufftwaffe intervened and settled the matter (fp470's comment is perfectly true).

[YamaniNetsi]

Most of tanks in WWII were destroyed by AT artillery not air force, so perhaps it was German gunnery not air force that killed French tanks?. I would love to learn about the instances you are referring where French tanks won battles against German tanks (hopefully Pz III and Pz IV)

[Fridomfry]

I am not an expert in these matters, I only read the memoirs of General Billotte (then a captain, commanding an "escadron" of B1bis; and the biography of General Touzet du Vigier, commanding the French 1st Armoured Division. There are certainly many other officers' diaries and regimental histories, on both French and German sides. True, both had efficient anti-tank gunnery.

[YamaniNetsi]

Thank you! I will look them up. Hopefully these are available in English, if not, I'll have to "brush up" on my French :)

[adamford130]

The poor bastards didn't stand a chance against the tanks of the blitzkrieg.

[mattnm34]

ça fait peur, surtout pour un engin qui coûte je sais pas combien et qui malgré sa technologie ne fait pas de différence entre des civiles et des militaires quand elle distribue la mort...

[moreno1310]

Sweet!

[Jazon098]

it was poor tank.Polish army had some

[JAGDPANTHER20]

That was one of the best of the time!

[Fridomfry]

The Renault R35 was a light tank designed for infantry support, in the mid-1930s, to replace the F17 of 1917. So it was well adapted to this outdated tactic. It was slow, and its crew of 2 men was overwhelmed with multitasks!

Other French tanks were, indeed, the best of the time : Somua, B1bis, etc. proved superior to the best German panzers of 1940.

[YamaniNetsi]

Fridomfry - all French tanks were disastrous because they were built for a wrong doctrine - all of them spotted no radio, on man in a touret!, slow speed (except Somua), etc, etc, France did not have a chance! In any engagement, Panzers demolished French armor. Unfortunately!

[Tyco200]

@Fridomfry Hell yes! B1bis itself was more for a match. That French Wolf named Berne II took down 14 tanks. All of which were Panzer III/IV. Give France a month more, and Germany would've taken much worse air losses.

[HautBlanc]

C'est bien, vu le budget on va pouvoir s'en resservir. Suffit d'ajouter un gps.

[alainwalter]

mais le camouflage est impeccable!

[DonMeaker]

@alainwalter Ce cette mieux avec plen de reverser

[druisteen1]

@HautBlanc

tu sais pour bousiller un mec avec une mitrailleuse enn afghanistan

sa suffit amplement

c est encore mieux que le PVP

[druisteen2]

@HautBlanc

il n'en reste qu un seul en france

[Napoleon2607]

c'est reparti comme en 40 ! lol

J'adore ce char même si la plupart des gens préférent le Somua ou le B1 Bis !

France 40 , en force ! N'oublions pas les 92 000 soldats Français morts pour la France en 1940 !

[alainwalter]

C'est vrai! c'est surtout le commandement qui n'a pas été à la hauteur.

[YamaniNetsi]

Notwithstanding honorable French losses, this tank, along with B1 Bis, is a manifestation of ineptitude of French military thinking, idiotic generals who specs such a machine. That, among other social problems plagued France in 1930s have contributed greatly to France's shameful defeat in 1940.

[fp470]

These tanks were actually a match for the German Panzer 1 & 2 WHEN combined with infantry. Early ww2 doesnt see the uber German tanks, its primarily the implementation of tanks and dcotrine. The French tanks werent bad the German army beat the french army rather than two tank corps battling it out.

[YamaniNetsi]

I agree with the 2nd part of your message. Still, Pz 1 and Pz 2 were not real tanks. First one was a tankette, and the 2nd, arguably, was a very light tank, basically good for maneuvers, not for real war.

[druisteen2]

@Napoleon2607

ne les oublions pas