A front three-quarter view of one of three of Samur tank museum’s FT tanks, this vehicle is an updated FT-31 and features the shortened Reibel 7.5 mm machine gun, 1700 of which were available to French forces at the outbreak of World War Two.
It is the morning of 26 September 1918. Deafening explosions and machine gun fire crash over head as the American army in France has just launched the Meuse-Argonne offensive. It will be the largest battle in US history so far with over a million troops involved alongside their British and French allies.
The Meuse-Argonne offensive will take place along a 400 mile stretch of frontline, over 47 days ending with the 1918 Armistice ended the catastrophic four year war. This epic battle would see the first truly large scale use of tanks by US forces. It was Renault FT tanks that would prove pivotal in the support of such as the 35th Division which under German fire began to fall apart until Brigade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel George S Patton, on seeing that the 35th is in disarray sent in his Renault FTs, given to the US army by France as they had no tanks of their own, to attack the German machine gun positions.
Patton's tanks initially got stuck in shell holes, barbed wire and trenches, but under his foul mouthed and fearless instruction he and his troops dug roots out of these pits, only for Patton to be shot in the groin, an injury he survives to go on to become perhaps America's most famous tank commander.
The Renault FT would go on to be produced in America as the 6 ton tank M1917 with 950 produced of 4,440 ordered, but that's only the US part of the story.
FTGENESIS
The Renault FT (not FT 17 as often called) began life as the brain child of Colonel Jean Baptiste Eugène Estienne, a fellow of tremendous energy and specialist in military engineering, including aircraft, artillery and tanks . Estienne had a concept for a new tank or " Char " that would be produced in numbers large enough to accompany 20,000 infantry men, while armed with light artillery and capable of transporting men, equipment and supplies deep behind enemy lines. Such a vehicle if to be produced in large numbers would have to be manufactured by the hundreds if not thousands preferably by a large company with an assembly line, to this end Esitenne approached Louis Renault with his idea for a new and modern tank.