When the Second World Conflict started, German management ordered using blitzkrieg ways to rapidly overwhelm their enemies. One of many key elements of this technique was using Panzerdivisions, which, when mixed with land and air forces, proved to be very efficient in opposition to different international locations.
Panzerdivisions have been used closely throughout the German invasion of Poland, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. They proved to be rather more efficient than Allied tank models – that’s, till they got here into contact with the French Char B1. The tank was a pressure to be reckoned with, a lot in order that the Germans captured many to be used later within the conflict.
Growth and design of the Char B1
The concept for the Char B1 was first proposed in 1919 by Gen. Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne, who wished a “Battle Tank” that might break by means of enemy traces, destroy fortifications and demolish tanks. Quickly after, in January 1921, a fee headed by Gen. Edmond Buat started work to create what Estienne envisioned.
5 firms – Delaunay-Belleville, Renault, Schneider, Forges et Aciéries de la Marine et d’Homécourt (FAMH), and Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée (FCM) – developed prototypes to check on a check course. Every was manned by a three-person crew, and it was determined the longer term tank could be based mostly on the cooperative design from Renault and Schneider.
The design included a 75 mm howitzer gun, a Holt-track developed by Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée and 40 mm-thick entrance armor. One other variant, generally known as the Char B1 bis, was modified to characteristic 60 mm armor and an APX4 turret with a 47 mm SA 35 gun. Renault ultimately turned the primary producer of the tanks, regardless of B1s being produced by different manufacturing firms, as nicely. They have been very costly to construct, costing 1.5 million French francs every.
Flaws within the Char B1’s design
Regardless of its heavy use by the French within the early levels of the Second World Conflict, the Char B1 had some severe flaws. It couldn’t journey as quick as different tanks, with a high velocity of solely 17 MPH (the bis was even slower). It additionally flew by means of gas faster, which means navy models needed to carry further provides, which have been heavy.
Regardless of the comparatively fashionable nature of the Char B1 bis, its radio was solely in a position to transmit instructions in morse code. Even when higher radios have been put in, they have been troublesome to listen to over the engine. B1s additionally had extraordinarily ineffective turret methods, as they have been manned by a single individual. This meant the commander needed to shoot, reload and provides orders all on the identical time.
Dealing with the German invasion
Whatever the issues with the B1 Char, it proved to be an efficient in opposition to numerous German tanks. The Panzer II, for instance, used a 20 mm gun, which the B1 ended up being solely invulnerable in opposition to. Given this tank was used most by the Wehrmarcht, the French had an unbelievable benefit.
Different Panzer tanks – the III, 38t and IV – solely fared marginally higher. In the event that they have been inside 100 meters of the B1, they did have an opportunity to penetrate its armor, however their success wasn’t significantly good. Smaller anti-tank weapons have been sometimes profitable, however this didn’t happen frequently.
The one weapon that proved to be constant in stopping the French tanks was the 88 mm flak gun. In a single occasion, a tank was hit with 90 shells, misplaced each its most important weapons and nonetheless managed to combat, solely to be taken out by a flak gun.
German use of Char B1s
Whereas these Char B1 was profitable in opposition to the enemy, it wasn’t robust sufficient to cease France’s fall in 1940. After seeing how profitable the B1 was, the German forces captured as many as they might to be used of their Panzerdivisions. They didn’t function as a part of the primary tank traces, however have been used as second line machines or as coaching and provide autos.
A few of the tanks had their turrets eliminated and mounted onto German bunkers surrounding the seashores at Normandy. Most uncommon was {that a} quantity have been made into platforms for flamethrowers and renamed as Flammwagen auf Panzerkampfwagen B2s. One of many German coaching models, Panzer-Kompanie 224, used these modified tanks throughout Operation Market Backyard in September 1944.
The French recapture their Char B1s
Using Char B1s by the Germans, significantly throughout the latter a part of World Conflict II, gave the French the right alternative to reclaim the autos for themselves. French resistance fighters, particularly, have been in a position to repatriate many who had been deserted. They have been then used throughout the liberation of Paris.
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The Free French Army additionally collected 19 B1s, which had been deserted within the Renault manufacturing manufacturing facility, and allotted them to Royan and La Rochelle, the place the Germans have been nonetheless holed up. Two have been additionally become minesweepers and assisted within the clear up after the conflict.
