Tanks (WW 1) - France: Books - History, Types and Construction

French Tanks of World War I (Osprey)

This title examines the emergence of the first modern tank, the Renault FT. It is a little known fact that France fielded more tanks in World War I than any other army. However, France's early tanks suffered from poor mobility and armor compared to their contemporaries.
Indeed, their initial use on the Chemin des Dames in 1917 was a bloody fiasco. In spite of initial set-backs, the French army redeemed its reputation with the Renault FT.

The Renault FT pioneered the modern tank design, with armament in a revolutionary central turret and the engine in the rear. More importantly, the Renault was designed to be cheap and easy to manufacture. Discover the history of the early French armor developments and their triumphant new design, the Renault FT, that helped to turn the tide of war in the favor of the Allies.

Information

Renault FT & M1917 Light Tank

During its 25-year service, the Renault FT tank was used in many countries around the world: France, Italy, Poland, the United States, Belgium, Brazil, Greece, Turkey, China, the Baltic countries, Soviet Russia, Japan, Romania, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Yugoslavia.
It was in service during both world wars.

The structural arrangement created by L. Renault with its transmission and drive wheels at the rear, combat compartment in the middle of the hull, and a movable turret, has become a classic construction solution for tanks and is still used nowadays. It was a base for new tanks manufactured in the United States, Italy, and the Soviet Union.

Information

Le char léger Renault

The Renault light tank, sometimes wrongly called the FT 17, is a French tank that appeared in combat in May 1918. Its design, with a turret rotating 360 degrees, is revolutionary. Built in very large quantities, it accompanied the French and American armies during the offensive of the summer and autumn of 1918, participating in the defeat of Germany.

The book presents the development, the different variants and the combat engagement of the Renault light tank.
This 32-page booklet, illustrated with excellent period photographs and color illustrations by Éric Schwartz, is part of a series of monographs published by Ysec Éditions on the weapons and vehicles of the Great War.

Information

Le char Schneider

The Schneider tank was the first tank of the French army. Its prototype, born from the impetus of Colonel Estienne and engineer Eugène Brillié, of the Schneider et Cie company, was ordered in 400 copies.
The first copies were delivered in September 1916. They were used in combat for the first time on April 16 1917, at Berry-au-Bac, during the offensive on the Chemin des Dames. More than half of the 82 tanks engaged were destroyed.

The Schneider, which moves well on all terrain, is handicapped by a space too restricted for a crew of six men as well as by its side armor too weak and its fuel tank placed at the front. All this will be improved and it will participate in many battles until the armistice.

This 32-page booklet, illustrated with excellent period photographs and color illustrations by Éric Schwartz, is part of a series of monographs published by Ysec Éditions on the weapons and vehicles of the Great War.

Information

La Grande Guerre des chars

When the front stabilized in 1914, the armies dug in. The offensives of 1915 showed that it was impossible to break through the front. New weapons had to be found, especially on the Allied side, in order to regain the ground lost at the start of the war.
The British and the French then worked, without any connection between them, on land battleships capable of operating in no man's land. Thus were born the tanks in 1916, then the French tanks in 1917. They revolutionized warfare on land.

Information

Renault FT - Le char de la Victoire

The "Victory Tank". This is the term that history uses to describe the Renault FT, a light tank whose eminently modern formula would set a precedent. Produced in large quantities and thrown into battle in large numbers in 1918, this armoured vehicle, both manoeuvrable and high-performance, thus played a leading role in the operations carried out by the Allies in this decisive year of the Great War.
However, its career did not end with the First World War and continued for many more years, both in combat and in schools.

This book, written by Jean-Baptiste Petrequin and Paul Villatoux, two recognized specialists in the field of military history, looks back at the genesis of this armored combat vehicle, its various developments, its operational engagements as well as its different versions both in France and abroad.
Around fifteen diagrams, some of them unpublished, and a hundred photos complete a dense and precise story.

Information

Le Char Saint-Chamond

The Saint-Chamond tank, a failed machine and almost incapable of moving off-road, which is a shame for an assault tank, was only produced because of a war of influence within the French general staff.
Despite its flaws, 400 were ordered, which made it possible to form twelve groups of Saint-Chamond tanks (AS 31 to AS 42). They were engaged only four times during the conflict: at the Laffaux farm in May 1917, at Malmaison in October 1917, at the Battle of Matz in June 1918 and finally, on 18 and 19 July 1918. It was later replaced by British Infantry Tank Mk V tanks, which were very superior off-road.

This 32-page booklet, illustrated with excellent period photographs and color illustrations by Éric Schwartz, is part of a series of monographs published by Ysec Éditions, the Mark I, IV, V infantry tank, the 75 cannon and the Argonnenbahn.

Information