U.S. soldier playing dead inside a French Renault FT-17 tank knocked over on its side, 1918
U.S. soldier playing dead inside a French Renault FT-17 tank knocked over on its side, 1918. Photograph belonging to @drakegoodmanofficial. Today I'll write about the French tanks of the First World War, namely the Schneider CA-1, the Saint-Chamond and the Renault FT-17. Inspired by the British Mark tanks, the French arms producer Schneider took the lead for the production of the first French tank in 1916. They developed the Schneider CA-1 tank, which saw action first in the French Nivelle Offensive in April 1917. The Schneider CA-1 was designed to open passages for the infantry through barbed wire and destroy German machine gun nests, with a 75 mm cannon as well as 2 machine-guns. However, it suffered from poor mobility, insufficient fire-power, a cramped interior, and vulnerability to German artillery. Nevertheless, they were used by the French all the way up until September 1918. The second tank built by the French was the Saint-Chamond, first deployed in May 1917. The Sai...